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Tom Gildred gets Entrepreneur of the Year award, but was he the innovator?
Seems the spin cycle wrung out some of the dirt on this deal, but not all. As the court re- washes this load it will be interesting to see who ends up going down the drain.— December 14, 2013 2:19 p.m.
Harrowing tales of Lindbergh Field air traffic
Now we have our choice; assaulted and/or groped on the ground by government TSA official. Or painted as targets in the sky by other government controllers. Herded like cattle on the ground, led to slaughter like sheep in the air are only two of the reasons more and more are choosing to avoid airports and commercial carriers.— December 7, 2013 8:22 a.m.
Barista sues downtown Starbucks for age discrimination
I pray she recovers every dime she was wrongfully deprived AND the manager as well as the corporation is held completely accountable for treble damages.— November 20, 2013 10:15 p.m.
Local cities secure new funding for DUI checkpoints
Attorneys always argue probable cause (PC) issue of the arrest. If you can undermine the PC for the arrest the case will be dismissed. There is no PC in a checkpoint, just random stops based on a set formula for the night. Hard to claim we can beat the rap in those instances. Personally I am opposed to these checkpoints as they are another vivid example of our eroding rights under the Fourth Amendment Right of Search and Seizure.— November 16, 2013 1:11 p.m.
Study says City of San Diego underfunding health benefits
I thought that's what Medicare and Medicaid were for. BTW have you seen the tax rates in those so called advanced nations or the quality of medical care in places such as Cuba where the government makes all the decisions ...on everything. Too many people think they are entitled...too few are willing to bare the costs. Can improvements be made? You bet they can and should be. But the current plan, the Obamacare Tax Act, inappropriately named Affordable Care Act is NOT affordable and NOT the answer.— November 14, 2013 7:27 a.m.
Study says City of San Diego underfunding health benefits
This is an interesting post considering the City's 30+ year history on retiree health care. More specifically in (I believe) 2010 the City negotiated with all of its employee groups this exact issue. The agreement reached offered four options, one only available to employees with substantial years over service. The other options included one with substantial NEW contributions by the employee. Another option designed a new 401k styled medical for retiree where the risk is shifted from the City to the employee. Like the pension system, retiree health care costs will diminish because of the negotiated changes. However, the new wildcard in the health care deck is Obamacare...if the projections and promises made by the President don't materialize, all bets are off!— November 13, 2013 8:15 p.m.
Qualcomm opens coffers for Fletcher's cause
So this is what Citizen's United and the SCOTUS has brought or should I say BOUGHT to us. Billionaires and Multimillionaires throwing their wealth around as free political speech. What does Mr. Fletcher say or for that matter think about this??? And, will his position change next time the wind changes direction. Fletcher's record of changing party affiliations/political philosophy is, well how should I say it, interesting to say the very least. While City political offices are suppose to be non-partisan in nature, the office holders are not. I'm just wondering if Mr. Fletcher knows what he will believe IF elected. In the meantime what are the good citizens of San Diego suppose to believe?— November 13, 2013 1:36 p.m.
City faces lawsuit over condos' defective pipes
It's simply about communication and coordination. It's been sorely lacking in our city for years and it's no better today even with 50 million dollars spent on the City's "new" computer systems. Just think about all the times you seen money spent on new street overlays only to be torn up six months later by Water/Wastewater Dept to replace aging piping. As an "Enterprise" department Water/Wasterwater will merely pass the cost of their foul ups onto the ratepayers. When it's not your money waste ALWAYS happens.— November 10, 2013 10:22 a.m.
Detroit's "laughable" pension tomfoolery akin to San Diego's
For clarification purposes; The 13th check is issued when SDCERS has "realized earnings" greater than the assumed rate of return which is currently at 7.5%. For example SDCERS' fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 had net earning of 13.6%. In years when realized earning fail to meet the threshold, 13th check payments are not made. This happened in 2009 and 2012. The SDCERS Board is merely following the law, in this case the SD municipal code in issuing the checks. They, the Board, do not decide what the benefit is, they only administer the system, paying a benefit by following the law. The employer, in this case the City, sets the benefit level. Regarding your questions how many get this benefit and how much is paid. With recent pension system revisions the City of San Diego eliminated this benefit for any employee hired after July 1, 2005. Thus this is a sunsetting benefit with fewer and fewer retirees each year. Current retirees and about 7400 of the 10,000 active city workers are eligible to receive it. Generally speaking the payment is about $30 for each year of service. For example if you had 30 years of service times $30 for each year your 13th check benefit would be $900. But some substantially older retirees do get a little more, earning $45 for each year of service. The average payment in 2011, the last year a payment was made, was about $715.— October 30, 2013 8:44 a.m.
Detroit's "laughable" pension tomfoolery akin to San Diego's
Profits about the assumed rate of return, which was historically 8%, was referred to as the "waterfall". One of Jack McGrory tricks for balancing the city's budget during his tenure as city manager was too take those "excess profits" and pay for the Wilson / Blair health care promise to retiree. But low and behold the IRS says that's a no-no. Taking investment gains out of one retirement pension system to pay an OPEB is illegal. There were many years the city raided the fund's "profits" to pay for things it did not want to tell the taxpayers about. Once caught with its hand in the retirement cookie jar, the city went to a pay-as-you-go method of funding the health care promise rather than going to a prefund method. Then, healthcare costs exploded as it did for all of us and costs were out-of-control. Nowadays the city finally saw the light and negotiated with its employee groups creating a plan which has reduced future healthcare obligations for BOTH current and future employees. Is there still a deficit of unfunded healthcare costs... Yes. All due to promises made by Mayor Wilson and Manager Ray Blair more than 30 years ago and carried on by their successors. (Where were the media watch dogs back then?) Promises made, facts conveniently omitted from audits ( gov't accounting rules are a farce...even today, while improved rules have tightened things up, if use some of them you'd go to jail if you worked in the private sector). So healthcare costs never funded, let alone pre-funded it will take years to make up those payments in arrears. Like it or not, and most don't, we as taxpayers have a moral obligation to fulfill promises made by our elected leaders to our elderly retirees who fulfilled their end of the Wilson/Blair deal. Sadly the voters still choose NOT TO do due diligence before casting their ballot. However, on a going forward basis it is obviously in our own best interest as taxpayers to carefully examine and analyze any new bargains negotiated by our so called leaders. While holding them accountable for their actions.— October 26, 2013 8:26 a.m.