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City accused of not releasing public documents, sued for violating public records act
For the record, another "local," Kevin R. McCook, VP of Development, Shea Properties, was selected to be the President of the Barrio Logan Association. McCook will have a long commute from his 3000-sq-ft home in San Marcos when he speaks to the Barrio residents and convinces them that they should pay a private tax to *his* group. To be precise, Alvarez said this, in his newsletter: "*The Association will fund community specific services in Barrio Logan that the City of San Diego does not currently provide*." The "Association" being the local Barrio property owners, of course. You might want to ask Alvarez *what* it is that the city doesn't provide that is so important to McCook, and LiMandri, and Alvarez.— April 18, 2013 4:52 p.m.
City accused of not releasing public documents, sued for violating public records act
...cont... The latest young, green DCA to be assigned the task of assuring the council that what they want to do with assessment districts might be "defensible" in court was introduced by Lanzafame in the October 9, 2012 Barrio Logan MAD hearing (click the last item, Item S500; it was quietly placed on the docket at the last minute, so no public speakers other than LiMandri would show up). Everyone should watch this charade, to see an absolutely typical example of how it goes, here: http://granicus.sandiego.gov/MediaPlayer.php?view… LiMandri makes an appearance in the end, so watch it all. The supporting document, a completed Barrio Logan Engineer's Report, was removed from the docket website shortly after the council approved it. Nothing else has happened since October, but keep your eye on BL as the "defensibility" is fine-tuned. LiMandri recently registered the Barrio Logan Association with the State of California. David Alvarez has touted this "local" association as having the goal of pushing an assessment district. Gee, when did LiMandri move from his home in Ken-Tal, or from his biz digs in Little Italy, and become a Barrio Logan local?— April 18, 2013 3:43 p.m.
City accused of not releasing public documents, sued for violating public records act
A public record that requires no formal request is the video archive of council proceedings. Anyone who has the time and stomach should go back and review the many council meetings related to assessment district formations and renewals. Therein you can observe council members, City Attorney staff, and Economic Development staff lying, game-playing, and tap-dancing around the legal issues. Council members who have shamed themselves in this way: Atkins, Gloria, Hueso, Faulconer, Peters, Young, Emerald. Currently, Gloria and, sadly, Alvarez are leading the way in chicanery, for the next LiMandri-designed, still-illegal, gerrymandered MAD that will be quietly imposed, in Barrio Logan. DCAs who have publicly lied and obfuscated in council sessions, on behalf of those councilmembers and business groups who want improper procedures to be approved, include DCAs Kim Kaelin and Mara Elliot. Adam Wander has participated in these shameful processes. Mary Lanzafame is the head of this group in the CA's office. There's only one remaining Economic Development staff involved in illegal assessment districts, Luis Ojeda. The others, Scott Kessler and Beth Murray, were fired or forced out. The company that used to do their dirty work, SCI Consulting, has been replaced by another willing participant, Kopel & Gruber. ...cont...— April 18, 2013 3:36 p.m.
Liquor store owners agree to $6,000 ethics fine in Filner hit piece case
The Neigborhood Market Association, among other things, recently backed a Chaldean community member running for city council in El Cajon. That candidate was small business owner Bessmon (Ben) Kalasho (he lost). Ben and his family rail a lot against the El Cajon government for waste, and against taxes of any kind. Boy, do they ever hate taxes. Especially business taxes. I wish that all of the NMA biz owners could understand that taxes are the hallmark and backbone of American democracy. Taxation has been the way that America rolls since the earliest days of settlement in a vast, rough country. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, remote villages taxed everyone in order to build and maintain roads and civic structures, to care for orphans and elderly. Payment wasn't necessarily money, but could be labor or wolf skins...anything that fairly represented a contribution to the collective good and safety. It's a good history for the smart, ambitious, well-educated first-generation citizens to study and reflect upon. Honest government is always our goal, at every step of the way.— April 18, 2013 1:03 p.m.
Mayor Filner proposes cutting City Attorney budget. City Attorney responds with $2,500 gift to Republican Party
#goldsmithswad Yep.— April 15, 2013 3:53 p.m.
Settlement reached in City's lawsuit over downtown assessment district's errant engineer's report
I'm confident that the city didn't file a suit against SCI exclusively, or even mainly, because of the PBID errors. The suit against SCI was filed only after the city's loss in appellate court, re Golden Hill Neighborhood Assoc v. City, in which SCI was also involved. That court ruling against the city wasn't based on the errors in the assessment roll, which was part of the case, but about the entire process being illegal, rendering the inflated assessments moot. As for the assessment roll errors: what SCI used was what they got from the city, and the rolls, filled with errors, were approved by the staff inside the Economic Development Dept and by the City Council. The errors were quite favorable to inflating the amounts that could be assessed, which was fine with the city, done on purpose. SCI was complicit and facilitating, but the fraud and errors were designed by the city.— April 15, 2013 9:05 a.m.
Deputy City Attorney: "San Diego already has an arts and entertainment district."
Ha! Good one.— April 10, 2013 4:17 p.m.
"Papa Doug" backs a Bush with lunch at UT San Diego headquarters
¿Cómo se escribe m-e-d-i-o-c-r-i-t-y in español? [This needs changing][1]: "No other serious challengers have filed to run against George P. Bush in 2014." [1]: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/George…— April 10, 2013 4:15 p.m.
City Attorney weighs in on formation of downtown arts and entertainment district
Weighing as a bantamweight - The Fighting Toupe: Males of this class of chicken are notable "for their aggressive, puffed-up disposition." (thanx, wiki). Females lay 100s of eggs. The Fighting Toupe has laid about 8. So far. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/1…— April 10, 2013 2:47 p.m.
El Cajon tobacco dealer gets four years in prison
I also approve. When I did smoke, a long time ago, I rolled my own. Much cheaper, as you can see by the tax/surtax tally. Never went anywhere w/o my can of Bugler and rolling papers. Classy!— April 9, 2013 3:16 p.m.