Kroll's Wolves, Who Fleeced the City of $20 Million, Return To Chase Foxes
In August of 2006, Kroll, Inc. issued a report about San Diego's financial reporting problems. The firm had been hired to decide whether a mild report by Vinson & Elkins, or a stronger one by City Attorney Mike Aguirre, best …
Judge Says Federal Court Can Hear Blackwater's Suit
Judge Marilyn Huff ruled today (Friday, May 30) that the suit by mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide against the City can be heard in federal court. The city attorney's office argued that it was a minuscule local matter and there was …
More Fat Cats Give Money So Mayor Can Select Own Auditor
Late filings show that more real estate developers and others wanting favors from the City of San Diego are dumping money into Propositions A, B and C. Proposition C is the dangerous one: it permits the mayor to name the …
Sanders, Gwinn, Dumanis Have Quietly Plotted To Shift Family Justice Center to YWCA, Says Aguirre. The Planned Move May Trample on Rules
Working secretly, Mayor Jerry Sanders, former City Attorney Casey Gwinn and DA Bonnie Dumanis have been planning to shift control of the City's Family Justice Center to the YWCA, says a new study by current City Attorney Mike Aguirre. Actually, …
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Plummets 35 Percent As FDA Thumbs Down Developmental Drug
Stock of San Diego biotech Ligand Pharmaceuticals is down 35.10 percent at 9:40 a.m. today (Wed., May 28) as an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration said that GlaxoSmithKline's blood-clotting disorder drug Promacta is no more effective than …
Blackwater Sues City, Claims Its Bid for Border Facility Thwarted by Politics
Blackwater Worldwide, the controversial mercenary firm, has filed suit in federal court claiming that the City is thwarting for political reasons its attempt to have a training facility near the border. Earlier, Blackwater was stopped in its bid for a …
San Diego Housing Prices Plunge 20.5 Percent in Last Year, 25.9 Percent from 2005 Peak
Prices of San Diego existing family homes plummeted 20.5 in March from a year ago, according the Case-Shiller index, published by Standard & Poor's. San Diego prices are down 25.9 percent from the peak in November of 2005. Over the …
Handful of Fat Cat Developers Backs Yes on C; Large Number of Citizens Backs No on C
San Diego's system of plutocracy, or government by the rich and for the rich, is poignantly on display in the lineup of backers for Prop. C, the measure on the June 3 ballot that, incredibly, would permit the mayor to …
Ignoring Phony Accounting, Peters Tells NY Times That San Diego's Pension System Is In Good Shape
City Council President Scott Peters has taken big bucks from organized labor in his attempt to get elected city attorney. He has wasted little time repaying the favor. In the letters section of today's (May 25) New York Times book …
AG Jerry Brown Claims He Didn't Know San Diego Has an Upcoming Election. Is Brown Staggeringly Stupid or Does He Think San Diegans Are Staggeringly Stupid?
Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose office produced the openly political, cerebrally embarrassing report saying that Mayor Jerry Sanders wasn't corrupt in his Sunroad dealings, is quoted in this morning's Union-Tribune claiming that he didn't know an election was coming up …
Pathetically Amateurish AG Report Puts SD Spotlight on Brown. And Maybe on His Wife, Too, a Board Member of Jack in the Box
The astoundingly stupid report by the Attorney General's office, supposedly showing that Mayor Jerry Sanders is not corrupt, may put AG Jerry Brown in San Diego headlines for some time. (Can you imagine what would happen if every time one …
Governments' Pension Numbers Often Meaningless. Actuaries Cave to Pressure, Says New York Times, Citing San Diego
Today's (May 21) issue of the New York Times describes how government pension programs get in trouble because of phony numbers and actuaries who cave in to pressure. San Diego's official numbers were one reason the Securities and Exchange Commission …
AG's Report Clearing Sanders Is a Joke, as Expected. Here's Some Advice: Follow the Money
In the summer of last year, the office of Attorney General Jerry Brown said it would investigate whether Mayor Jerry Sanders deserved the "corrupt" tag for his behavior in the Sunroad scandal. City Attorney Mike Aguirre had used that word, …
NFL Owners Opt Out of Players' Union Contract. There Could Be No 2011 Season. Chargers Less Likely To Leave
National Football League owners today (May 20) voted unanimously to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement with players. The players union says that a lockout is possible in 2011. "All this means is that we will have football now …
Real Estate, Nightclub Developers Solicit Sanders Donations. Surprised?
Real estate developers continue to beg their fellow builders to give money to Mayor Jerry Sanders in his bid for reelection June 3. Consider Mark McMillin, chief executive of Corky McMillin Companies. This is the company that after giving heavily …
Number of San Diego Unemployed Drops Sharply in April from March, but Is Still Up from a Year ago
San Diego County recorded encouraging employment gains in April, according to the state Employment Development Department. The number of unemployed persons was down 6.3 percent from March, although it was up 22.2 percent from a year ago. April's unemployment rate …
Sanders Claims City Can Return to Bond Market. Oh? That Will Be Up to Investors. Bond Rating Agencies Suffer from Bad Reputation
Mayor Jerry Sanders today (May 15) exulted, "This is the most significant day in the City of San Diego in the past four years. The City once again has access to the bond market." Sorry, Jerry. Investors will decide that. …
Was Dan Broderick Really a Model of Integrity?
On Saturday (May 17), the Daniel T. Broderick III Award willl be given to attorney Mike Neil. The award has been given since 1990 by three legal groups to the local attorney who supposedly best examplifies civility, integrity and professionalism. …
Psssst! Wanna Make 90 Percent a Month? Those Who Bit on Escondido Ponzi Scheme Got Taken to the Cleaners
Clementine Estrada pleaded guilty in federal court Friday (May 9) to a conspiracy charge related to her operation of two Escondido scams: the Crystal Rose and Sterling Rose Capitalization Programs. She promised investors returns of up to 90 percent a …
Local Media Not Mentioning Transgressions of Their Stars
San Diego news media have not been reporting the sins of their reporters. On April 28, Milan Martinic, 47, of Ramona, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville, Florida, to wire fraud. He was running a Ponzi scheme that fleeced more than 20 …
Purported Ethics Commission Pulls Another Slimy One. This Is So Blatant It Could Backfire
San Diego's alleged Ethics Commission is back to its pre-election dirty tricks. The caper is still another example of how city government and the Union-Tribune collaborate to thwart reform and keep the establishment in power. Today (May 10) the U-T …
Union-Tribune Lays Off Three Who Spearheaded Electronic News, Radio Efforts
The Union-Tribune today axed three executives who played key roles in the Copley Press online news efforts. Suddenly gone as of today, according to very good sources, are Chris Jennewein, who was head of the company's non-newspaper efforts; Ron James, …
Excessive Labor Costs Force Vallejo to Vote for Bankruptcy
The Vallejo city council voted unanimously to file for bankruptcy late Tuesday (May 6). Excessive labor costs are the main factor, although the Bay Area suburb has also been hit by the housing crisis lowering property values and the state …
Famed Business Writer's Book Says Pensions Bankrupted San Diego
The long-awaited book on pensions by top business writer Roger Lowenstein is now out and being reviewed. Its prescient title is "While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as …
Celebrities Have Donated Money to Jerry Sanders, Including a New Celebrity: Marie Walsh
Executives in the trash hauling business are known for giving lavishly to political campaigns. Alan Walsh, husband of Susan LeFevre (aka Marie Walsh) has been a significant donor to Mayor Jerry Sanders, among several others, including board of supervisors candidates …
Memo to Fred Sainz: Clean Up Your Language -- But First Learn How To Spell
In the now-infamous email of September 7, 2007, mayoral flack Fred Sainz sent some naughty words to his close associate, Union-Tribune editorial writer Bob Kittle. Here are some of the words that Sainz put in the email to Kittle: "bullst," …
Here's an Example of SEC Nailing the Small Fry, Ignoring the Superrich
In a post today below this one, I describe how San Diego attorney Gary Aguirre is trying to expose the double standard of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency chases wee offenders and utterly ignores the superrich who use …
SEC Lets Superrich Off and Chases Small Fish; Now, Lawsuit May Show How This Regulatory Mischief Works
San Diego attorney Gary Aguirre has won a major battle in a lawsuit against his former employer, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While working at the agency, Aguirre thought there was good reason to look into John Mack, head …