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Did Qualcomm cash grease Peters endorsement?
Exactly. Peters has always had Jerry Sanders' back.— September 4, 2014 6:42 p.m.
Welfare cheaters
AlexC and SJT - I have no problem with the Affordable Care Act or WIC/SNAP programs, or with people needing help. I do have a problem with dishonesty on any level. clockerbob -This article refers to three separate things (I think): 1. A new program allowing use of food-aid benefits to purchase prepared food. 2. An audit of HHS centers that dispense the EBT cards to food-aid-eligible persons. 3. A federal indictment of grocery and other store owners who had conspired to become qualified by USDA to accept EBT cards, for the purpose of fraudulently exchanging cash, instead of food, for the EBT cards. The needy persons got cash instead of food, but less cash than the face value of the EBT cards. From an [Augusta Chronicle story][1]: > Once the purported stores were opened > and approved as WIC and Food Stamp > vendors, many of the defendants > allegedly canvassed low-income > neighborhoods and solicited WIC and > Food Stamp participants to illegally > exchange their benefits not for food, > but for cash, the government said. > > The defendants then allegedly bought > WIC and Food Stamp benefits for cash > at a fraction of the amount they > received from the USDA by redeeming > the benefits they had purchased. The > defendants also allegedly conspired to > launder more than $18 million in > proceeds received from their fraud > upon the WIC and Food Stamp programs. > > Karen Citzen-Wilcox, the special agent > in charge of the U.S. Department of > Agriculture Office of Inspector > General, said the investigation and > prosecution “should send a strong > zero-tolerance message to those > individuals who create businesses for > the purpose of specifically defrauding > the taxpayer” benefit programs. EBT cards issued by HHS are like ATM debit cards: each card has a total value representing the monthly amount that a food-aid-eligible person is entitled to receive. Each time that person visits a participating store, the value of the food they buy is debited electronically on the card. [1]: http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2014-06-1…— August 28, 2014 1:21 p.m.
Pretty slick, City
For the eight "commercial" MADs (which was how the Golden Hill MAD was structured, meaning that a private business group, rather than Park & Rec, gets to run the MAD and gets paid for it out of the property assessments), your statement that "**a small number of large property owners can tilt the election in their favor**" is significant in the poorest assessment districts. In those districts many of the absentee owners are wealthy land investors living out of state or out of town, or in rich enclaves of North County or Coronado. More importantly, how much land does the City (not counting the County) own in the poor districts? The Council approved the 2014 commercial MADs on July 29. [The document][1] supplied to the Council for the approval hearing shows the weight the City had in Barrio Logan and City Heights in tilting the vote in favor of passage. The weight of the City's vote was similar in effecting passage of the illegal MAD in Golden Hill. It should also be noted that the City's Economic Development Department takes back a [4% fee][2] for the burden of co-administering, with the business group, the commercial MAD. [1]: http://dockets.sandiego.gov/sirepub/cache/2/3gwfg… [2]: http://dockets.sandiego.gov/sirepub/cache/2/3gwfg…— August 28, 2014 10:40 a.m.
Welfare cheaters
Another level of fraud: I looked up the CalFresh webpage for San Diego, and the participating restaurants. The goal, as expressed by Health & Human Services and SD County, "As part of [Live Well, San Diego!][2]" is "to support positive, healthy choices." Using the search block and zip code 92101 for participating restaurants, page after page lists only Burger King, Domino's Pizza, Wendy's, Carl's, Weinerschnitzel, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. Healthy? No. A corporate gravy train? These national chain minimum-wage-paying fat havens are benefiting on the other end of the food-poverty chain they help create. A brilliant idea. Wonder who lobbied whom for this? [1]: https://211sandiego.communityos.org/zf/profile/se… [2]: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/hhsa/programs/ssp/rest…— August 27, 2014 1:29 p.m.
Influence 101
The same person who would have been on the correct side of every local issue, opposite Faulconer's always-wrong side of same issues, would be very adept at this job.— August 27, 2014 1:04 p.m.
Buzzing up
You are so right.— August 7, 2014 7:57 a.m.
Buzzing up
How utterly tacky. Just when you think the coastal-Republican types will don their tidy business wear and LL Bean-type casuals,and start pretending to behave somewhat civilly, like Gentleman Jerry did in his early candidate interviews ...— August 6, 2014 3:39 p.m.
San Diego's famed urban planner — leaving so soon?
The local ULI members know exactly who they want in that position. They are about developing, rather than planning. "Planning" at ULI simply means plotting to change code, using euphemistic, PR-based language to obfuscate what is really being changed. Fulton's credentials far exceeded those of the people waiting in the wings to take his spot.— August 2, 2014 6:55 a.m.
Calm down, Mr. Congressman!
I care. Stoecklein's facile answer about the tax dodge isn't surprising, given the history of the people involved. But there is something very wrong with MTS. The MTS board repeatedly votes w/o any discussion on issues of importance. Jablonski's Linked-In cv states he has an unspecified "BS" from a Massachusetts university. It's becoming more and more apparent what the BS is. Jablonski makes over $420,000/yr and has 10.5 weeks of paid time off. Someone is bound to uncover a beneficial connection between him and/or MTS boardmembers and the 99-yr lease holders of this rail line.— August 1, 2014 4:47 p.m.
City of San Diego Auditor Luna gets snubbed
It makes me angry that what you report here is just taken for granted, as the way it works in San Diego. But thanks for putting this article together, Don. We have to keep recording the facts of the greedy, power-hungry, corrupt people behind the government that prevails in San Diego. There are many years' worth of sub-stories of improper conduct and legal violations (at taxpayer cost) linked to Development Services (esp. Kelly Broughton, now at DSD in Chula V; Filner got rid of him, thank goodness, but that hasn't deterred DSD's progress on the dark side), Sanders, and the DCAs under Goldsmith. The bad acting continues under Faulconer, business as usual. Citizen lawsuits and outside investigations (e.g., HUD looking at CDBG money improperly used by DSD and the council, with the City Attorney's knowledge) have been the only deterrents and have had any any impact. It sickens me that Kamala Harris has not been willing to risk her political future by doing what needs doing. Ed Luna is a solid man and one of the few honest officials in San Diego. He must have a really perfect private life, or the same people who took down Filner would have eliminated Luna already. In any case, he'd better be very cautious.— July 30, 2014 6:35 p.m.