The recent 259-0 disapproval of ICE’s point man John Morton by his fellow coworkers lends itself to an unwanted pattern in federal law enforcement agencies. Just last year the U.S. Border Patrol’s union, National Border Patrol Council put forth a similar vote and declared “no confidence” in their leader, David V. Aguilar. The unanimous “no confidence vote” from the U.S. …
Alert the Media: San Diego County Taxpayers Association Opposes Proposition D
In a move that didn’t catch much of anyone by surprise, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association’s Board of Directors overwhelmingly voted to oppose Proposition D, the City of San Diego’s half-cent sales tax increase which will come before San Diego voters on the November 3, 2010 ballot. Proposition D imposes a half-cent sales tax increase on all eligible purchases …
Union intimidation in College Board race? Who’s really lying?
Read below about Orrin Kole, a candidate for an open seat on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) board, who had some interesting “contacts” from labor reps in the days approaching the deadline to file for office. Interesting that the union head, Jim Mahler, claims that he and his operatives contacted Kole because, as he put it, “We don’t want …
Breaking News: Pfeiler Files for City Council
Current Mayor of Escondido, Lori Holt Pfeiler has just filed papers at the deadline to run for city council. Lori, who announced last year she would not be seeking re-election as mayor has decided to stay with politics. She joins a crowded field of 7 candidates vying for 2 council seats. Current incumbent, Marie Waldron is seeking re-election to her …
Taxpayers Not Even at the Table
This op-ed originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune Mildly optimistic about recent progress in negotiations with the state’s 21 unions, but disappointed in what appears to be the “deal,” we now need some answers. Roughly three months before California goes to the polls, why would a lame duck governor be able to bring parties that have heretofore been unwilling …
Headlines From The Future
Join me, as we break through the boundaries of time and space to visit newspaper headlines 20 years in the future. The first thing we discover is that there are no more newspapers, but their electronic counterparts do still have headlines, such as, “Supreme Court Rules The Entire Constitution To Be Unconstitutional” “Animal Rights Activists Demand Permission To Marry Pets …
Sheriff Joe attracts a crowd of critics and fans in San Diego
Leave it to Arizona’s top Sheriff Joe Arpaio to attract a crowd at a conservative luncheon held in San Diego yesterday. Not one to shy away from his critics, Sheriff Joe was more than happy to say a few words to the 100 anti-Arpaio protesters from a north county group called Escondido Human Rights Committee. Before Sheriff Joe gave his …
“Blue Chip” Recruit– East County Realtors name Alan Smith their new Executive Officer
You’ve heard the expression, “It’s nice when Good Things happen to Good People”? We have a story like that with news the East San Diego County Association of Realtors has named Alan Smith as new Executive Officer. That’s not just a 1st-round choice, it is a Lottery Pick for the East County Realtors. Alan Smith has worked for every good …
Planning for the Worst: A Lesson in How Not to Think Like a Bureaucrat
A local San Diego veterinarian recently informed me about an issue that veterinarians across the country are having with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accreditation process. Accreditation by the USDA is required for any veterinarian wishing to issue health certificates for animals traveling between states or out of the country. In the past, once a vet was accredited, they …
DeMaio Releases Plan to Restore Browned Out Fire Stations
Councilmember DeMaio today released a plan to restore browned-out fire stations — using cost savings in the FY11 budget that his office uncovered. DeMaio issued the following statement along with the release of the plan: “Public safety does not and should not be a casualty of the city’s financial problems. My office has identified $4.2 million in immediate cost savings …
November Candidates
The candidate list is “up” at the Registrar of Voters. Remember that if a name is listed, that doesn’t necessarily mean the person filed for the office by the Friday deadline. See if the name is listed as “qualified,” meaning they actually finalized the qualification steps to run. If an incumbent has not filed in a race, potential challengers have …
Labor and Latino leaders begin voter registration drive
With less than 90 days until the November midterm elections, California labor unions and Latino community leaders are ratcheting up their voter registration teams in an effort to minimize Democratic losses. “For Latinos, the 2010 election is more than merely electing one candidate or another, it is about taking an active role, now more than ever, in the decisions that …
Evidence the SD sales tax is doomed
When the San Diego city sales tax was first agreed to this week by the city council, there was a short “Breaking News” piece on the U-T website. The next day there were over 200 comments. But what struck me was the OVERWHELMING rejection of the tax by commenters. Normally there is a hyperactive cadre of government employees commenting away …
San Diego doctors rally against Obamacare
A sea of white coats filled Spanish Landing in downtown San Diego to present a united front against government-controlled health care. A group of physicians formed the National Doctors Tea Party and have begun their cross country trek; however these doctors are on a mission to educate Americans about the perils of Obamacare. A bevy of speakers addressed the crowd …
Did Lorie Zapf’s Big victory surprise local Liberals? — Some were Flabbergasted !
Last week I wrote a column about SD Rostra’s success in correctly predicting Upset victories in June by Juan Vargas and Lorie Zapf. Not very controversial, right? But a writer for a SD liberal publication attacked, saying (A) Zapf’s victory was no surprise, and (B) no one said she would miss the runoff and (C) we Rostrafarians were “Morons”. As …
The perfect candidate for Congress — or whatever
This campaign ad could work for a candidate in either party! It should be shown in our schools. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5cGYBV2TQ
CalPERS complicit in Bell scandal — they lied
Recently CalPERS expressed shock and surprise at the huge public administrator salaries in the small, poor city of Bell. But they lied. Turns out that FOUR YEARS AGO internal memos at CalPERS expressed concerns about this rip-off — but no action was taken. Even more outrageous, CalPERS stated that while it was a problem to give huge pay increases (and …
Ruth Sterling “Opts Out” Against Art Madrid
After causing a bit of a buzz last week when she pulled papers to “consider” running against La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, Councilmember Ruth Sterling got what many knew she would from the beginning: Cold feet. Sterling did not file her candidacy paperwork by Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline, leaving only realtor Laura Lothian in the race against Madrid. Lothian has …
City of Bell scandal continues to grow
The scandal in the city of Bell continues to grow — and to toll the death knell for runaway government pay and benefits. It’s hard to imagine that this raped city will not declare bankruptcy shortly. Breaking News: More Bell City Employees Were Receiving Big-Time Salaries Written by James Spencer August 6, 2010 The phone still rings in the city …
Why aren’t government agencies forced to show the long term obligations of pension deals to the public?
http://open.salon.com/blog/richard_rider/2010/08/06/city_of_bell_scandal_continues_to_grow Why should a city be allowed to pass their obligations to others? It’s obvious that the City of Bell greatly overpaid some of their employees and the pool of cities to which they belong will be forced to pick up the retirement tab. Now let’s look at the proposed San Diego Sales Tax increase. As Council member DeMaio has …
Recent Comments