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Monsanto: Pay for damaging San Diego
The courts went ahead and created legal theories that permit the original tortfeasor or to remain liable. Obviously, the courts should have consulted with you first but you were not born yet.— March 23, 2015 6:08 a.m.
Monsanto: Pay for damaging San Diego
99% of the PCBS were manufactured by Montsanto Company under the name "Pharmacia." PCBS cause non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The contamination is worldwide. It is persistent in the environment. In farmed fish, PCBs levels are high. I do not eat any fish.— March 19, 2015 4:37 a.m.
Big money talking in One Paseo ballot war
Water and transit infrastructure needs to be provided before more development. I would raise the sales tax by one-half cent. We could solve our pension shortfalls, provide modern public transportation, and fix the potholes in the roads. Many politicians want to allow developers to build without necessary infrastructure. SANDAG voted to petition to the Supreme Court of California to overturn the trial court and the Court of Appeal decisions that widening Freeways and highways with federal funds will not satisfy the climate action plan for the region in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2050. The reason given is "clear guidelines and local control." Yet, the City Council does not want to listen to communities, (nor Sacramento). San Diego is being arrogant. The City Council and SANDAG want power to ignore community and state authority. Little dictators need a lesson. These self-serving politicians want to accept campaign contributions from developers and or/unions and finance their relections. Pathetic.— March 12, 2015 9:29 p.m.
Big money talking in One Paseo ballot war
Protecting San Diego's Neighborhoods will hopefully unite all of San Diego against developers. Our greatest asset in San Diego is the environment. We must build sustainable communities using Smart Growth and TOD - "transit-oriented development." It is healthy to get out of your automobile and walk to public transit. Americans are overweight and unhealthy. Walking that half mile to public transit makes all the difference. One Paseo is not "Smart Growth; it is density without "convenient public access to an established network of public transportation." Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating sustainable communities in the urban core or along transit corridors is Smart Growth. That transit-oriented growth reduces commuting expenses and stimulates economic growth. The Governor's Office of Reserch and Planning has issued proposed new Guidelines under the California Environmental Quality Act. One Paseo does not follow these guidelines. The proposed project is 100% automobile-dependent. There will a tram that the developer proposes to pay for but that is not the type of public transit that will eliminate family commuting expenses, decrease vehicle miles traveled, create economic growth along public transit corridors that will decrease automobile travel. Sherri Lightner and Martin Emerald respected the desires of the local Community Planning Boards. I wrote to all Councilpersons before the hearing and testified at the hearing. Todd Gloria and David Alvarez both went back on their campaign promises to listen to the communities' wishes. They had political reasons that outweighed their campaign promises and concern for Smart Growth principles that they espouse. The general population in San Diego must keep these politicians honest. Otherwise, they will isolate each community separately. Let's all stick together.— March 12, 2015 9:15 p.m.
Less Briggs, more potholes, says Goldsmith
@HonestGovernment Thanks for the information about the tree case and privatization of services.— February 26, 2015 6:40 a.m.
Shut up! Shut up!
The UT carries an editorial in the 2-11-15 condemning Peevey. So the "problem" is not Don Bauder "following" Michael Aguirre. "Peevey's arrogance and sense of infallibility led him to conclude that rules were for other people." This is Don Bauder' s fault? It is one thing to raise rates on consumers but inexcusable to endanger public safety at San Bruno and SONGS. I believe that only full discovery of all documents followed by examination under oath can expose the truth. I told this to PUC at a public comment session at Costa Mesa regarding the unfair settlement st SONGS. The PUC wanted to avoid hearings on the issue of whether Souhern California Edison acted prudently in the operation of SONGS. For one thing, this culture of placing profits over safety endangered 8.5 million residents who cannot flee a meltdown. I am of the opinion that attorneys are prohibited from meeting ex parte with "decision-makers" by Rule 5-300(c) Rules of Profesdional Conduct unless the conduct is in writing and served on all other parties. Rule 5-300 (c) defines "decision -maker." Cal. 1984-82 and Cal. 1977-43 are ethics opinions that extend these rules to administrative hearings. The PUC procedures are inadequate to protect the public. As stated by the UT editorial, "Who knows what - if anything - relevant to the shutdown that Peevey might have said to then-Edison lawyer Stephen Pickett in their 30-minute meeting that March at Warsaw's Bristol Hotel. Utilities will recover 70 percent of the 4.7 billion cost of San Onofre's shutdown from ratepapers. Peevey did not directly benefit from that settlement that we know of pending further investigation. Attorneys must avoid ex parte contacts with decision-makers unless the contact is in writing with a copy to all other parties. Peevey has no power to absolve ethical lapses by lawyers. The Supreme Court of California and the State Bar decide these matters, not the PUC. I know that ex parte contacts in Environmental Law is the hot topic in seminars. This is a classical example of why attorneys have this prohibition. Such contacts should be avoided by attorneys. Judges do not allow these contacts without the express permission of all parties. Such contacts undermine the integrity of the administrative process.— February 11, 2015 8:46 a.m.
Former public utilities president's home searched
Don, Thanks for the correction about PG&E. The VP involved in the judge shopping worked for them, obviously, rather than SDG&E. Sorry for that typo. The proposed SONGS settlement was opposed by Ray Lutz in his motion because of the inference of extreme pro-utility bias of the PUC as evidenced by the judge shopping, etc., by the Chairman Peevey. The administrative law judge overruled the motion to stop the settlement from being approved. I did not mean to imply that that judge was judge-shopped. But the motion was based on an inference that could be drawn about the Chairman. The awarding of fees to attorneys for intervenors who "play ball", and ultimately go along with settlements that favor utilities and their investors, is anti-ratepayer. With the Chairman being sent on lavish holidays in Europe, etc., and the other shenanigans documented above, it is impossible to regard the PUC as anything other than a kangaroo court. I intend to take up these matters with the legislature and the next Governor. Brown is not inclined to change this. He returned Peevey's campaign contributions.— January 30, 2015 8:51 a.m.
Former public utilities president's home searched
Judge shopping in collusion with a Vice President of SDG&E in the San Bruno affair was grounds for Peevey to recuse himself or step down before the SONGS settlement was approved. But he didn't do so. Peevey's wife is state Senator, Liu (Glendale). They live in La Canada. This is a circumstance that deepens the series of "coincidences." Then there was the issue of the ex parte meetings with only some of the intervenors. This process only added to the appearance of impropriety. What was the big rush to settle SONGS without a determination by the CPU on the issue of "prudence" of the operator, Southern California Edison? An evidentiary hearing on Phase Three was necessary to establish whether there was "prudent" management of the nuclear power plant. I objected at the public comment meeting in Costa Mesa. I told Peevey and the Commission that documents should have been produced by Southern California Edison and the authors cross-examined under penalty of perjury, as is the practice in a lawsuit involving billions of dollars, and that there was no basis for a settlement without a record of who was at fault. What was also clear was the failure to give Senator Boxer documents and the endangerment of 8.5 million people. These companies do not want their documents to become public because they are "proprietary." I suspect that there were many discrepancies that would not withstand scrutiny. The settlement should be set aside as a taking without "due process" in violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments. Ex parte contacts with a decision-maker are generally prohibited by the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys. Now with the criminal investigations, the appearance of impropriety is only heightened. Some of these attorneys made very good arguments against the settlement but ended up recommending settlement because the Commission was "unfair." This was like pulling punches. I got the impression that some of the intervenors needed the money. Moreover, the attorneys threw in the towel because of the obvious bias of the Commission which they claimed made further efforts "futile." I have never heard such an argument before. Aguirre stuck to his position, as did Ray Lutz. I read all the briefs and listened to their "arguments." There were many excellent arguments against settlement of SONGS. This criminal investigation itself is now another reason to suspect collusion in SONGS settlement. If there was misconduct in San Bruno, a reasonable inference was that there was similar misconduct in the SONGS settlement but the Administrative Law Judge overruled that motion! Her ruling looks suspect now. It is past time to reform the PUC.— January 29, 2015 9:02 p.m.
Less Briggs, more potholes, says Goldsmith
Cory Briggs is essential is exposing the hypocrisy of anti-tax Republicans who use debt to hide a tax hike. The City Attorney has a poor litigation record. He has to hire in O'Melveny and Meyers in Los Angeles to do his appellate work at great expense. His office lost a 7 million dollar case to Brown Greene on a tree case where the City of San Diego failed to maintain Queen Palm trees. They saved $300,000 in arborists but rendered a local man a paraplegic. It is these fiascos that cost in the long run. Raise sales taxes one-half cent. Potholes and injuries all go away. So do lawsuits.— January 18, 2015 11:29 a.m.
Wanted: New CPUC president's erased emails
Emails show a trail of money and influence- buying by utilities. Aguirre also asks for text messages in his Public Records Act requests.. Smoking guns are now hidden in text messages. These are public records even though sent or received on private electronic devices if they relate to public business. Only be standing up to this corruption by throwing light into the dark shadows of the dirty backroom deals is there any hope for ending crony capitalism. Governor Brown should have asked Peavey to step down before the SONGS settlement was approved. There was no hearing on whether Edison was "prudent" so there was no basis for the amount of the allocation of the economic losses. I was disappointed in the Intervenors who met ex parte to make a quick settlement with Edison. I made public statements in Costa Mesa to the PUC about the lack of discovery before settlement. The members of the PUC hung their heads in shame, yet they approved the unfair settlement to.cover up the lack of prudence. All of Southern California was endangered, too. Barbara Boxer knew all of this but has lost her Chairmanship of the Resources Committee with the recent surge of the rightwingers. Aguirre and Severson will get to the bottom of it.— January 17, 2015 3:52 p.m.