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Aguirre To Announce Wednesday That He Will Run for Second Term
BOOM! It looks like it is lights out for Scott Peters and the rest of the trained circus chimps opposing Mike! I hope they all split the opposing vote, and gives Mike a 50+% majority. Someone email Peters, tell him it is "Game Over"!— March 3, 2008 7:43 p.m.
Municipal Bond Market Chaotic as City Council Looks at 2005 Financial Report
There is NO way San Diego can get back into the bond market-we have WAY TOO many problems. We have a huge pension mess which is still no where near being fixed or under control, and the fact that we may have to file BK over it prevents us from going to the bond market. Who in their right mind would buy bonds from a City that may have to file BK??????? Wall Street is not Sucker Street-and there is no market for San Diego muni bonds.— March 3, 2008 1:05 p.m.
Stadium Subsidies Provide All of Pro Sports' Profits, According to Author
On the early baseballs team that moved, all of them were moved based on low fan attendance, and low revenue. The one exception may have been the Brooklynn Dodgers, but I do not know for sure if that team had financial problems. The Oakland A's were originally from Philly, then they moved to KC, and then Oakland- as you have stated-but those moves were for revenue reasons. Same with the early pro football teams-back then football was nothing compared to what it is today and many teams moved based on low revenue. Now remember, the entire NFL-Raiders lawsuit came down to one thing, whether the NFL's 2/3 owners approval was needed for a move (or 3/4??, it was one of those numbers-forgot which one). Back then teams in the NFL could NOT just pack up and leave, it had to be approved by the owners. Davis said the Raiders were his team, and he could move them if he wanted to, and that is how the court saw it also (all legal analysts said that a move to require a SIMPLE majority would have passed the legal test, but the NFL never implemented that). The NFL saw the finacial advantages to what Al Davis was doing, and a second team moved 2 years later-the Baltimore Colts-for the EXACT same reason, Baltimore would not pay up the $$$$$. Of course we have seen more NFL teams move in the last 20 years than at any other time in the past. In any event, the costs of building these BILLION dollar stadiums have wrecked financial ruin on the Cities, San Diego a perfect example. The only ball park that is what I would call even CLOSE to a fair deal for everyone was the Giants new park-but thet included $120 Million of taxpayer money and millions more in free land. The China Basin land had not been generating much $$ for SF, so I dont see the freebie there the same as Mission Valley. Smart people know that these pro sports stadium deals are pure corporate welfare, plain and simple. It just amazes me, in this day and age of instant knowledge at our fingertips, that more people are blinded by these scams. You always knew the score though Don, all the way back to when you rallied against the 68 million Jack Murphy expansion (man, that is peanuts compared to today). You always brought the bottom line to the people. Always.— March 3, 2008 8:46 a.m.
San Diego is not overbuilt in housing
#18. there is a lot about Goldsmith that hasn't come out yet. But it will. Best, Don Bauder __________________________ I take it Don that you know something that the rest of us don't (we already now Goldsmith wears a rug, and a very bad one at that!!)...... Please-do tell!— March 2, 2008 7:06 p.m.
Stadium Subsidies Provide All of Pro Sports' Profits, According to Author
#2. Response to post #1: One of my best sources on this topic, a Chicago area economist, calls Al Davis "the master extortionist." Davis's sticky fingers extracted loot from several municipalities in the course of his team's moves. I don't think he gets all the blame, however. _______________________________ Although some teams may have had public help in getting their stadiums built, Al Davis was the FIRST team owner-in any sport- to play one city off against another. Davis told Oakland he wanted the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum improved or he would move to LA, they said NO (with the NFL's support of not allowing a move without 3/4 owner vote and approval), Davis said he was moving. The NFL and Pete Rozelle said NO, you cannot move. Davis sued the NFL and won. The rest is history. That was it, virtually every single NFL team has since used the ploy, the Chargers have now used it twice within an 8 year time span (although they have not succeeded yet at their second attempt in fleecing the taxpayers)-and so have all the other pro sports teams. The NFL should be sending Al Davis monthly residual checks for setting the protocol to rape the taxpayers. This move by Al Davis was so popular that now you have City workers doing the EXACT same thing-city workers tell City A to pay what city B gets paid, or we go to city B. City B says pay us what city C pays or we go to city C. City C says pay us what city A pays or we go to city A. So it is a constant one upsmanship that goes on in perpetuity.— March 2, 2008 6:15 p.m.
Stadium Subsidies Provide All of Pro Sports' Profits, According to Author
David Cay Johnston has some excellent books, this is just one of them. Thank Al Davis and the Raiders, moving from Oakland to LA in 1981-that was the template for extorting local municipalities.— March 2, 2008 2:15 p.m.
San Diegans for City Hall Reform pushes more authority for mayor
#84. Pat Flannery's blog yesterday said it best: the opening of the council records clearly shows that Scott Peters is a baldfaced liar, as well as a union whore. __________________________ Brutal. But 100% true.— February 29, 2008 5:02 p.m.
Union-Tribune Warns Union of 40 Percent Wage Slash, Healthcare Cuts; Teamsters To Resume Campaign To Cut Paper's Circulation
Don, can you post a link or let me know how to acess your info in the above post (#34 Center on Policy Initiatives says that a single adult must earn $13.71 an hour), I could use that study in a current case I am working on. Thank you.— February 29, 2008 4:56 p.m.
San Diego Unemployment Rises to 5.1 Percent in January; County Loses 26,200 Jobs
And with job loss comes an economy slow down, and with an economy slow down comes lower tax revenues. With lower tax revenues comes bigger cash flow problems. Now, you think the City used to have cash flow problems, wait until the next 2-3 years roll around. The longer we wait to file BK the worse off we become. This proves it (or will prove it). We have to use BK as a hammer on the public unions to negotiate some of their excesses. Vallejo is going to avoid BK, only AFTER the public unions saw that BK was a 100% done deal-only then did they cave in with concessions.— February 29, 2008 4:52 p.m.
San Diegans for City Hall Reform pushes more authority for mayor
Here is San Diego in 1 year, San Diego version 2.0. VALLEJO, Calif. -- This one-time shipyard city turned Bay Area commuter village is considering a move that is rare both in California and across the nation -- declaring bankruptcy. A somber City Council prepared to vote this evening after putting the bankruptcy issue on the table earlier in the week during an emotional hearing that drew hundreds of concerned residents. Civic leaders blame Vallejo's current money woes on a downturn in the housing market and the high cost of providing public safety. Police and firefighters account for 80% of Vallejo's budget, city officials say, due to ballooning overtime bills and lucrative union contracts that have boosted base salaries, benefits and retirement plans. Link here folks; http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vallejo29…— February 28, 2008 5:01 p.m.