Below is a letter from San Diego County Taxpayers Association President & CEO Haney Hong sent to to Dean Spanos, President of the San Diego Chargers, regarding the measure on the November ballot asking San Diego voters to increase the hotel tax to help pay for a downtown stadium and convention center annex. Mr. Dean Spanos Chairman of the Board …
Watered-Down SB 350 Still Threatens California
This op-ed originally appeared in the Riverside Press-Enterprise Once in a while, even in the California state Legislature, we witness democracy in action or a rare moment when a well-intentioned, but harmful, strongly supported and lobbied bill, is rejected due to a lack of votes. In the final days of the Legislature’s 2014-2015 session, the right number of elected officials listened …
Picking the pocket of the Public
Encinitas is a city of about 63,000 friendly people. It has a healthy balanced budget and healthy reserve funds. It also has among the best credit ratings of any municipality in California. I take pride in whatever small amount my 12 years of City Council service contributed toward its fiscal stability. The new city council has decided it has more …
Pension Reform Panel
SDCTA Breakfast Panel: The Future of Pension Reform: What’s Next? Date: Thursday, March 14, 2013 Time: 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM Organizer: San Diego County Taxpayers Association Sponsor: REFORM San Diego Panelists Include: Carl DeMaio – Founder and Chairman of Reform San Diego Hon. Jan Goldsmith – San Diego City Attorney Tim Davis – Partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen, …
Public Pensions: What to Expect in 2013
Courtesy of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) is keeping a close eye on several significant changes to public employee pensions expected to impact state and local governments starting next year. Several stem from Assembly Bill 340, or “Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013.” The bill, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, impacts new …
Propositions AA, EE: Endorsing Organization’s Bias Questioned
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) has been considered by public opinion polls to be the leading public policy organization for over sixty years. Dr. Gary Gonsalves, M.D. , the founder of volunteer-led taxpayer advocacy group Stop Taxing Us claims that the SDCTA has an inherent conflict of interest, when analyzing and endorsing school bond issues, because of its …
Faulconer Speaks Out Against Proposal to Increase Pension Debt
San Diegans voted for Comprehensive Pension Reform to fix the pension problem now. In fact, much of the City of San Diego’s financial turnaround over the past few years is attributable to local leaders taking the bull by the horns and not putting off difficult choices to future generations. Today, Kevin Faulconer continued to speak out against a plan that …
San Diego Unified is Poway By The Sea
San Diego Politics & Media Mashup Cross-posted at FlashReport I want to highlight a story in Thursday’s U-T San Diego: “Tax Group to Oppose San Diego School Bonds” It’s worth your attention because it does a nice job of laying out a financial crisis similar to the one in Poway that has received national attention. In short, the San Diego Unified School District is Poway …
Financial Plan? San Diego Unified School District says we don’t need no stinkin’ financial plan!
Recent revelations about high-interest, long term financing of a school bond measure by the Poway Unified School District cannot have escaped the attention of a single school official in San Diego, the state of California, or nationwide for that matter. Citizens are outraged and sounding off. Watchdog groups are calling for reforms that would prevent this type of financing scheme …
Last Major Mayoral Debate – Today
The San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR), one of my clients, is hosting the last major mayoral debate. When: Wednesday, May 30 Time: Registration & VIP Reception at 11AM; Lunch at 11:45AM; Debate at 12:15PM Location: Town & County Conference Center in Mission Valley. Debate is in the Golden Pacific Ballroom. VIP Reception is for media, candidates and guests and is in …
At Least the Fleece Awards Were Cute: SDCTA Hands Out 2012 Goldens
Smart governing decisions saving taxpayer dollars and collaborative initiatives took top honors, while cavalier attitudes and lost opportunities were called out and shamed at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA)’s 17th annual Goldens Awards Dinner, held at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in Mission Valley. Remote controls were nowhere in sight as the evening’s theme “Taxpayer …
Belly Up To The Bar 2: The Official Goldens Drinking Game
Just in time could be my life’s mantra. I am reminded by Thor’s Assistant that no Official Drinking Game has been devised for tonight’s epic 17th annual San Diego County Taxpayers Golden Fleece and Watchdog Awards. Calling Ms. Tipit to the rescue. DISCLAIMER: In this litigious, risk-averse society, we must pause here to admonish anyone reading this column that it …
Proposition B Will End Pension Spiking
From The Lincoln Club of San Diego County:
Shift to PR Concerns U-T’s Top Editor
Politics & Media Mashup: your weekend news aggregator leads off with a look at the reporter-to-PR shift. Also included: Links to some of the week’s best stories about local, state and national politics as well as social and traditional media. Jeff Light, executive editor at U-T San Diego, is concerned about the reporter-to-PR shift. So concerned that he put together this …
Walter Cronkite is rolling over in his grave after SDCTA Breakfast Forum
Five people who have a lot to do with the news you read, hear and see on a daily basis in San Diego got up early to talk about the role of news media organizations as advocates. What they had to say may surprise you… especially if you’re still living in the era of Walter Cronkite. The San Diego County …
San Diego Mayoral Debate Mashup
[captionpix imgsrc=”http://sdrostra.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/invite.jpg”] The Lincoln Club of San Diego County, San Diego County Taxpayers Association & The City Club sponsored Friday’s Mayoral Debate at the U.S. Grant Hotel. All four major candidates — City Councilman Carl DeMaio, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Congressman Bob Filner and State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher — attended the standing-room-only debate. This was the first debate to include …
Belly up to the bar: The San Diego Rostra Mayoral Debate Drinking Game
For true San Diego poliwonks, New Year’s Eve was just a warm-up act. We know many of you have been saving yourself for the real deal: Political Debate Season 2012. Starting Friday, January 13 with the first official San Diego Mayoral Debate of 2012, we will soon be subjected to a seemingly endless series of candidate debates and it will …
How about a healthy serving of pork for Thanksgiving?
In Poland it’s called “election sausage” In the Czech Republic, it’s known as “goulash.” It’s called “sweetener” in the UK. In the USA, we call it pork. But everywhere including on San Diego Rostra it means government waste and it’s a turkey for taxpayers no matter how you slice it. We serve up plenty of pork around here. Now the …
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