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More and More Californians Leaving the State
Enjoy yourselves! Texas??? There's a job at WalMart just waiting for you. And if you love high and uncontrolled property taxes, compensating for all of the NO-TAX corporate give-aways, it's the place to go! Did I mention Rick Perry, boy genius and racist in chief? Or the charge for your kids to ride the PUBLIC school bus? Yep. Yall come on down. Open Carry law, even into the court room? Oh, and there's been a horrible drought and it aint over.— November 29, 2011 7:18 p.m.
Council to Consider Kessler Settlement
How long does someone have to be employed to get retirement bennies? Kessler was hired in mid-2006, terminated in Dec 2009.— November 12, 2011 8:04 p.m.
Council to Consider Kessler Settlement
P.S. Watching the Carl Vinson basketball event, with Obama on board...saw Councilman Faulconer in the crowd. Anyone see any other local pols???? How did Faulconer get tickets?— November 11, 2011 7:08 p.m.
Council to Consider Kessler Settlement
From the City's paperwork: "Plaintiff Scott Kessler (Plaintiff), a former Deputy Director of the City’s Economic Development Division, was an at-will employee laid-off in November 2008 as part of the Office of the Mayor’s managerial reorganization. The Mayor’s Office chose to retain a more senior management employee whose position had been eliminated during the mid Fiscal Year 2009 budget cuts, by placing her in Plaintiff’s former position. Plaintiff’s complaint, however, alleges that the City’s stated reason for his lay-off is merely pretext. Plaintiff claims he was retaliated against and wrongfully terminated because he was a cooperating witness in a San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) investigation, as well as because he disclosed information to the City’s Ethics Commission. The proposed settlement will resolve all claims, including attorneys’ fees and costs, brought by Mr. Kessler." The employee who replaced Kessler was Beth Murray. There were all kinds of layoffs going on in 2009/2010, including Murray's boss, the head of CPCI, Bill Anderson. Anderson conveniently shifted over to a major City contractor position (wow; isn't this prohibited?): http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-anderson/14/9… Maybe Kessler can find work there. Or not.— November 11, 2011 6:58 p.m.
None
Dorian, thank you for bringing this audit to public attention. First of all, kudos to Auditor Luna and staff for a beautifully done analysis. Second, ...Yes, SurfPup, vendors that work predominantly w/children DO need background checks. It seems very constitutional, sort of along the same line of thinking that admits that bank tellers should be checked for financially related criminal histories, or would-be security guards or cops should be backgrounded. Personally, I was very interested in this audit because I am one of the few homeowners with a residential alarm, with a permit granted by SDPD. When I was first issued a permit in the 1980s, the cost was $12 every two years. It is now $100/2 years. My system has never generated a false alarm, yet my costs have skyrocketed because the SDPD hasn't properly fined those whose systems do cause frequent false alarms, nor do they fine those who have un-permitted alarm systems. If SDPD follows the advice in this audit, perhaps my permit fee can be reduced to a fairer price. The document is worth reading, if nothing else for the superior work by Luna's Audit Department: http://docs.sandiego.gov/councilcomm_agendas_atta…— November 5, 2011 9:05 p.m.
Murals in the Barrio
Thank you for this story. Here are two links to Torres' murals: http://www.pbase.com/amoxtli/salvador_r_torres http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb8b69p58g/?l… There was a Coastal Emergency Work permit, dated June 7, 2010. It seemed to indicate the imminent demolition of the old Kelco building on the southeast corner of Cesar Chavez Pkwy and Harbor Drive: "The decision by City staff will be made without a public hearing no less than forty eight (48) hours from the Date of this Published Notice. The decision to approve an Emergency Coastal Development Agreement by the Development Services Department Staff can be not be appealed. There is no official Community Planning Group review required."— November 3, 2011 6:34 p.m.
San Diego Unified Board Member Scott Barnett Releases His "Plan to Save Our Schools"
Who could take Barnett seriously? He has a history of conveniently espousing positions that earn him either money or headlines. He is the Mitt Romney of small-time, small-minded local politics. Does he still rake in money as part of the San Diego Taxpayer Advocates? Where is his big buddy Lani Lutar on this?— October 31, 2011 7:37 p.m.
Breaking! Reader Editor Holman Opens Up and Swallows Pride
Ay-yi-yi...I always overlook the "Almost Factual News" header...I get suckered every time.— October 27, 2011 2:46 p.m.
Fraudulent Block Grant Claims
Post-HUD, San Diego's new CDBG rules made $50,000 the new minimum grant. That may have been in response to the practice of bestowing smaller grants, around the time when Ben Hueso left his Economic Development job and was elected to office, by councilmembers to nonprofit business associations in their districts. Some of those "little" $20K-$40K CDBGs were used by the business associations to pay PR people to promote business-association-controlled MAD formation, for example. That's over, thank goodness!— October 27, 2011 1:52 p.m.
Fraudulent Block Grant Claims
Here's a list of all fiscal year 2011 applicants and recipients, just to get an idea of how CDBG money is allocated in San Diego: http://www.sandiego.gov/cdbg/pdf/fy11allocations.… The three categories are CED (Community/Economic Development Projects) PS (Public Services Projects) CIP (Capital Improvement Projects)— October 27, 2011 12:06 p.m.