From the San Diego Daily Transcript… DeMaio files for mayoral run By ELIZABETH MALLOY, The Daily Transcript San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio has filed the paperwork to run for mayor in the 2012 election, but downplayed the move in a written statement. “Fixing the city’s pension and budget problems are my top priorities, and if running for mayor will …
San Diego Mayor’s Race Part 2
It looks like the establishment candidate for Mayor will be Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. Gossip downtown says that Fletcher has secured the support of Mayor Jerry Sanders, and that he is talking to the Mayor’s political consultant, Tom Shepard. It’s also circulating that Fletcher and DA Bonnie Dumanis have an understanding that if he runs (which looks certain) she will not, …
DeMaio Urges San Diego Residents to Reject Another Water Rate Hike
65% Increase in Water Bills Since 2007 – Yet City Failed to Deliver on Promised Reforms from 2007 Rate Increase Councilmember Carl DeMaio expressed disappointment that the City Council voted to forward another water rate hike on hard working San Diego families instead of fixing the wasteful spending within the Water Department. At the urging of the Mayor the City …
City Of San Diego Serves Up Turkey to Taxpayers A Bit Early
For anyone still wondering why voters are so skeptical of political promises, look no further than the latest failure to enact reform by the City of San Diego. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association pointed out in a news release issued today that one of the ten reforms taxpayers were led to believe had been enacted prior to the November …
San Diego City Mayor’s Race Part 1
Anyone who watches as much tv as I do was bound to see ads this election season for Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. There were a good number of them, and on broadcast. Fletcher is in a safe Republican seat so I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Then it hit me a few days ago: Fletcher can’t use the money …
TONIGHT: Post-Election Analysis with Consultant Hoy, Pollster Nienstedt
I’m not exactly the most devoted GOP meeting attendee. But I’ll be there tonight to hear the recap of the wildly dead-on pollster John Nienstedt and Nov. 2 success-story consultant John Hoy. I had the honor of working with both men on Proposition A – which crossed the finish line easily with more than 70 percent of the vote. Conversely …
Got No Campaign Dough? Go Viral! (And Win Swell Prizes)
Everyone in politics knows the importance of money. Big campaign war chests scare off competitors, get you lots of TV time to say whatever you want, and fund the fees of every consultant in the universe which means your opponent can’t hire the big talent. So if you’re an underfunded campaign, you’ve got to rely on creativity. Thank God for …
No On D Puts On A Really Big Show
Having big funding for a campaign is dandy. But when you’re being outspent by the opposition, creativity must step in and take over. In the case of the campaign against Proposition D, San Diegans Against Government Waste doesn’t have the funds to make the big television ad purchase like the labor union funded campaign in favor of the sales tax. …
Calling All Would-Be Campaign Consultants: No on D Needs YOU
Think most political campaign ads suck? Think you can do better? Now you have the chance, and you could win a really swell prize too. The No on D campaign has opened up a viral video ad contest asking for people to submit their own “No on D” ads. There aren’t any formal rules, although I’ll advise you right now …
End Run, Touchdown!
The quarterback gives the play in the huddle. Just after the snap, the defenders push to the center and the quarterback gets plowed from the side. The reason: the line decided to go with another play. In case you’re wondering, the public is the quarterback in this end run on the tax cap increase for the Centre City Development Corp. …
City Council Fails to Reform Their Own Pensions
Yesterday the City Council passed a symbolic resolution that they represented as their commitment to reform. Less than 24 hours later, the same City Council not only refused to advance comprehensive reform of their own pensions, they refused to even allow the reform to be discussed. The Union Tribune addressed the needed reform on Sunday with a question. You can …
Ringing the Pension Bell
“10 former city employees will split $61 million dollars for the rest of their lives. Did they win the lottery? No…they will receive it in payouts from the City of San Diego pension system.” “I was shocked by what I discovered in the City of Bell and am shocked by what I discovered in the City of San Diego. San …
DeMaio, Faulconer and Business Owners Declare Managed Competition Deal Is “Unfair” and “Unworkable”
City Leaders and Unions Set to Approve Deal that Effectively Kills the Voter-Mandated Fair and Open Competition Program Councilmember Carl DeMaio joined a national expert on managed competition and several local small business owners to outline numerous flaws in the proposed City Managed Competition Guide. “The unions do not want to give up their monopolies at City Hall and this …
Volunteer Saturday to Defeat Prop D
Please join Councilmember Carl DeMaio and our grassroots team this Saturday, Sept 25 for a few hours to help defeat Prop D — the blank check sales tax increase in the City of San Diego. Volunteers Needed To Deliver LawnSigns Saturday, September 25 (9:30am to 4:30pm) 5703 Oberlin Drive, Suite 107 San Diego, CA 92121 Prop D gives city politicians …
Art, Schmart
A robust public discussion (my favorite kind!) is taking place over the issue of public arts funding. Reporter Lynn Stewart of San Diego 6 aired a story last week pointing out that the City of San Diego had budgeted $300,000 for art at two fire stations, while at the same time fire stations were being shuttered in rolling “brownouts” to …
SD Chief Operating Officer’s Memo Claims That City Has Made “Significant Reductions”
I’m truly puzzled how one can come to this conclusion. Below are financial figures for the city by several departments over the course of 2003 to 2009. A few occasional departments show a sporadic reductions, but one doesn’t have to be financial wizard to recognize that they general trend is clearly increased spending year over year. Such inaccurate language from someone so high up in the private sector would end their career.
DeMaio Offers Alternative to Proposed Water Rate Increase
Releases White Paper Documenting Wasteful Spending in City Utilities Department and Related Water Agencies On the same day that the Mayor proposed yet another increase to San Diego’s water rates (for a total increase of 65% since 2007) Councilmember DeMaio released a white paper highlighting numerous examples of increased spending in the city’s Utilities Department and outlined several steps to …
Second Lawsuit Filed Challenging Proposition D
This just in to Rostra: the “fiscal impact analysis” prepared for Proposition D, the City of San Diego’s half-cent sales tax initiative is being challenged under California Elections Code §9295 in a lawsuit which alleges that the required analysis provided by the City of San Diego is “not impartial, not accurate, and misleads the public.” “It’s time the voters are …
SD U-T Article Listing Top Pension Expenses By Name And Position
As most SD UT readers have probably seen, this morning had another great piece highlighting opulent retirement compensation by the city. Example: a retired librarian pulls down a pension of $143,577.
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