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Burrowing Owl Moves in to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Wonderful! Thanks for reporting this. Can't wait to get up to Torrey Pines again.— March 4, 2012 8:17 p.m.
Shepard Fairey's mural on the back of the building at 30th and Ivy in south Park.
Glad some positive use could be made of this extremely ugly architecture! Yellowish cinderblocks on a prime corner of South Park. Who allowed that?— March 4, 2012 8:14 p.m.
Rumor: Manchester Buying Orange County Register
Not surprising. The former UT and VoSD's David Washburn is in Orange County's corral. http://voiceofoc.org/site/about/ It's all one big, happy family....of merged, controlled "news."— March 4, 2012 7:50 p.m.
Manchester Gives Another $25,000 to Romney Super PAC
They have that same Mad-Men look...the Republican Party is more about "Restore Our Past" but they don't have the courage to give that name to their super PAC. Their motto should be "Lean Backward." As for Meg, the Mad Men would have never let her out of the kitchen, and with her looks, she'd never get into their suites.— February 21, 2012 5:30 p.m.
USD Student's Police Work Leads to Recovery of Stolen Laptop
Wow, this is a cool story. Kudos to the guy who had the App. I want it! The SDPD handled it very well, I'd say. We don't live in a police state, and cops cannot just go pounding on doors on the word of someone who says someone else did something. The victim of the theft made the right move in finally going to the location and getting confirmation that his suspect was present. Then the cops could rightfully come to the scene, which was basically a pending confrontation that could go south. Everyone did the right thing, and the police department behaved with appropriate caution and restraint. You can imagine that people might just make false allegations, trying to the use cops to burn someone; if the cops were reactive to every complaint, or spent time investigating every phone call where someone says someone else did something, ...you get it. But most importantly, we do NOT want to live in a police state.— February 18, 2012 9:04 a.m.
Judgment Finalized In Legal Battle Over Golden Hill Maintenance Assessment District
Thanks for notifying the community of this, Dorian. The Reader has always been the first and best source, often the ONLY source, of the actual events surrounding this long saga. For anyone who doesn't know what this was all about, it's simple: First, the assessment district was not a legitimate MAD, such as those involving developer-created community parks and improvements, with Park and Recreation oversight, in the newer, wealthier northern county neighborhoods. That is the reason the lower court and appellate court both deemed the Golden Hill MAD unconstitutional. The Planning Department-created Golden Hill MAD was what the City called a "commercial MAD"; the assessments did not provide the constitutionally mandated proportional and special benefit to each of the 3500 property owners. Instead, the money collected primarily benefited local business owners, almost none of which even owned the property housing their businesses. Second, the Golden Hill MAD was the type of public-private partnership described in Paradise Plundered, where the City Planning Department worked in secret with a select business group and empowered them to forcibly collect property owner money, to use to "improve the property owners' quality of life" in any way the business group decided. In this case, the Economic Development division took a cut of the assessed money but always looked the other way when the business group abused their power. The City has fallen on its own sword, thanks to the scheming of the Planning Department and its self-interested business cronies. In 2006, the Planning Department had plans to create more of these illegitimate MADs in the poorer, inner urban areas, but the 2007 lawsuit stalled the plan. The Western Pacific Beach MAD was abandoned in 2007. Amazingly, the City has started up again: the recently failed North Park Overlay MAD was illegitimate in exactly the same way as the GH MAD. The City is lucky NP residents failed to pass the new MAD, or there would have been another lawsuit, and the City would have lost again. One note: The Golden Hill MAD's origin goes all the way back to 2000, when a survey circulated in the neighborhood, suggesting the need for assessments to pay for private security services. That survey was created by Marco Li Mandri and Scott Kessler. There was recent news that Li Mandri has been hired (with David Alvarez admitting the City was behind the hiring) to survey some select Barrio Logan property owners, in order to create a Barrio Logan commercial MAD, paid for by assessing property owners. And in East village, the newly formed EV BID is discussing (probably with Li Mandri) the formation of a MAD. That is very odd, since all EV property owners already pay into the downtown PBID. The San Diego plunderers never sleep.— February 10, 2012 9:22 a.m.
Councilmember David Alvarez Says Community-Benefit Districts Will Help Galvanize Barrio Logan
Last month, a local resident and property owner heard about the survey and contacted David Alvarez' office, asking for information about it (such as who had been surveyed, who were the people on the steering group). Some people long involved in the community in the area right around the new Mercado development knew NOTHING about the survey and DID NOT get one. Why? An Alvarez staffer responded vaguely, provided no answers, and said this was the business of a private company, suggesting that Alvarez knew nothing about it. So now he DOES admit knowing? Why the secrecy and the refusal to respond honestly? The use of the term "community benefit district" is warm and fuzzy, avoiding the reality that a forced assessment tax is imposed on the property tax bill. Property owners and all community business owners have a right to know everything about such a plan, from the very beginning. The private company, New City America, paid to conduct the survey is owned by a familiar bad guy and City sycophant in San Diego, Marco Li Mandri. Shea Properties may have paid the usual $20,000-30,000 fee Li Mandri charges to quietly get assessment districts underway on behalf of the City Economic Development department (which takes a cut of the assessments for the onerous duty of barely overseeing the private business group they put in control of the taxes collected), but keep in mind that Shea is now the landlord of the Mercado's 6.8 acres that the City "conveyed" to them for $100. Shea will be a huge part of the weighted vote, along with the City, which owns much land in the area. Add in the nearby properties owned by Mitchell Investments and other investment groups that want to control and gentrify Barrio Logan's future, and any kind of MAD, PBID, or BID is a done deal. Alvarez, you disappoint. It didn't take long to co-opt you, did it? All you had to do was publicize this, loud and clear, at the time you first got involved. You have failed the test. MADs, BIDs, and PBIDs controlled by private business groups are primarily about empowerment of the private group. It leads to the most wasteful use of taxpayer monies imaginable. And why would anyone believe that a Barrio Logan assessment district is necessary after reading the glowing economic and fiscal analysis of the Mercado development? You decide if the City shouldn't have enough new net revenue from the Mercado to keep the sidewalks clean: http://taxpayersadvocate.org/index.php?option=com… "In its first full year of operations after lease up, the proposal will generate an annual NET fiscal benefit to the City and Agency in excess of $900,000 (est. $909,114)."— January 28, 2012 10:22 a.m.
Layoffs at Voice of San Diego
Sorry if I was unclear about the compulsive tweeting by VoSD management: I meant to suggest that, if all of that social gossip time spent by the two upper-level managers had instead been spent doing journalism, perhaps the entire outfit would be more readable and successful. I'm sorry to say that I do not think the "community" issues (excepting the SDUSD issues) reporting was all that terrific. Much of it was poorly written, incomplete, and wrong on the facts. I have good reason to believe that this was sometimes by design of the management, in supporting the goals of Sanders and the City, but also because of the writer's inexperience and disinterest in doing investigative journalism with the courage of conviction. For the most part, as with the U-T, it is what was NOT reported by VoSD that was slanted to favor the City and local power brokers. As for endorsing Dumanis v. Fletcher, it's like those votes that occur in City Council: one Councilmember, assured that there are enough votes to pass or reject an issue as preferred or as politically expedient, will vote the other way to curry favor with certain groups. As with all magic acts, keep your eye on the hand doing the subtle activity, not on the hand doing the flagrant endorsement.— December 11, 2011 11:37 a.m.
Layoffs at Voice of San Diego
Yes, VoSD, even fully staffed, is not a daily thrill. Articles stay on the front page, placed in several locations on the page to make the page look loaded, for days on end, growing stale, with no real news appearing. This is contrary to what I expect from online information from even the simplest blog. Sorry for anyone losing a job, BUT...I'm sure the three promptly submitted applications to the City's public relations office. Sanders' and Goldstone's offices are already home to several writer layoff refugees who regularly and loyally promoted the City and its point of view while at the U-T. For example, Rachel Laing, Alex Roth, and Jonathan Heller, currently master tweeters and constant Twitter companions of all VoSD employees, are all busy promoting Sanders and Goldstone from the inside, after doing it so well at the U-T. Oh yes, also Gerry Braun, sold-my-soul-to-the-Devil-in-Chief former U-T columnist, now promoting in all ways for Gentleman Jerry, mostly busy now tweeting and promoting Jerry's desired successor, Nathan Fletcher.— December 10, 2011 12:11 p.m.
Planning Commission Rejects Interim Height Ordinance
Add KUSI to the local propaganda machine. KUSI generally follows the mandate the new U-T owner has described for the paper and other deciders of what constitutes "news" and what is "right and good": "Local newspapers need to be a cheerleader for what's right and good for the country, such as promoting the new stadium or whatever," Manchester told KUSI anchors. "I felt that there's been a lack of that here in San Diego." Or whatever ...— December 9, 2011 8:47 a.m.