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Claim says deputies used excessive force
So Lemon Grove, who contracts with the County of San Diego for law enforcement is not named in the lawsuit? The Sheriff’s contract for Lemon Grove safety is so miserly that the City itself should be a defendant. Lemon Grove has such a severe and negligent coverage of law enforcement resources that they should shoulder some of the claim. For example, recall Ferguson, Missouri? The city where Walter Scott was fatally wounded? They have a population of 21,200 residents and 72 members of the police force, 54 commissioned officers. Lemon Grove has a population of 26,000 people according to the 2010 census. Lemon Grove, at any one time has 4 to 6 officers on patrol. Compare and contrast. Lemon Grove is woefully understaffed for law enforcement needs. Under these kinds of circumstances there is a lot of pressure on the deputies to respond and control events, whether criminal or domestic. Lemon Grove has changing demographics which for lack of a better word are, shifting, the need to increased law enforcement contacts. Lemon Grove leadership has its heads up their proverbial ass and are blindsided to the immense demand for more law enforcement capabilities. Deputies are tense. Their contacts in the city are increasingly violent and uncooperative. They did not use deadly force; they used the tools which have been proven in 99.9% of cases to be effective and non-lethal. But some contacts are intoxicated or have other health issues that the deputies are not aware of when they contact an individual in a crises or criminal response. This is not negligence on the part of the County, but on the overwhelmingly unrealistic demands the city Lemon Grove expects from its dismal deployment of law enforcement capabilities. Ferguson, Missouri has a smaller population than Lemon Grove, but Lemon Grove has 20% of what Ferguson, Missouri deploys for enforcement. The bottleneck is always at the top of the bottle and Lemon Grove has been behind the curve, not able to meet the needs of the law enforcement required by the community. Lemon Grove cannot fix their streets, God knows when they will be able to control their crime. The way things are going, it’s not going to get any better soon.— December 13, 2017 8:19 p.m.
Thanks for the food desert, Albertsons
I hate Albertson's. Overpriced, never have any check-out lanes open. (Thank you unions). Their shopping carts need rehab or disposal. Their clerks could take a page from Trader Joe's... 7 lanes open. Albertson's is not doing me a favor by being overpriced, under-staffed and making me wait in line longer than the time it took me to shop. Albertson's is why Amazon will crush them. Albertson's has their corporate heads up their.......— December 9, 2017 10:49 p.m.
Otay motherlode: pounds of heroin, coke, fentanyl...
I don't know if there is, but I think there should be enhanced punishment/sentences for those who abuse their SENTRI privileges.— December 8, 2017 7:50 a.m.
Otay motherlode: pounds of heroin, coke, fentanyl...
I thought they did take it seriously? Drugs are only second to oil as Mexico's largest export.— December 7, 2017 5:58 p.m.
Hard times for the United Auto Workers
My early experience with the UAW was when I was an engineer at McDonnel-Douglas in 1989 working on the tooling for the USAF C-17 Globemaster in Long Beach. We could not move a desk or a chair without getting in trouble for not contacting “transportation.” It was a union issue and we would get in trouble for not letting the union move something. When I walked the assembly floor I would see welders sleeping in their work locations. Some employees would clock-in and then head for the beach, returning later, tanned, to clock-out. On some occasions drunk employees would climb the fence (to avoid going through the guard stations). If they got caught they would be defended by their shop steward. Nothing could get those union people fired even if they climbed onto their boss’s desk naked and urinated. Union workers worked so slow we used to joke that if they didn’t move faster maintenance would paint them. This was also my first exposure to H-1B imports from Britain who had per diem and other perks that were better than their direct counterparts. UAW was called the “Useless Aircraft Workers” in the plant (I know it means United Auto Workers). Fundamentally I agree with the original concept of collective bargaining, workplace safety and so forth. But it seemed to be a way to dumb down and drag out the work that needed to be done. Lot’s over the over budget military projects can trace their problems to that union. The ambitious workers were not recognized because the lazy ones would tell them to slow down and “milk the job.”— December 7, 2017 5:54 p.m.
Qualcomm's takeover-thwarting strategy
Too bad the poison pills are only placebos.— December 4, 2017 7:17 p.m.
Ouch: 40 percent spent on rent
The major problem is that the city is a major suburb managed by transient city executives that use Lemon Grove as a springboard for seeking higher and more prestigious assignments elsewhere. Lemon Grove is ripe for “intern” type management. Yet our “city manager” earns more money that Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsome. I could go on and on. But I am just baffled at how a city can be hostage to such poor leadership and management and the people continue to vote for these idiots. They have a street project that has gone on for 3 years and may not be completed for another 2 years. It’s a simple project that any other municipality with decent leadership would have demanded an on-time completion within budget. But not sleepy Lemon Grove. They built the Golden Gate Bridge in 4 years. Lemon Grove can’t even keep the streets clean yet make them driveable. As the crime rises and the revenues decline, keep Lemon Grove in mind as one of the biggest follies in self-governance that California has ever witnessed.— December 3, 2017 8:52 p.m.
Ouch: 40 percent spent on rent
Lemon Grove is in decline because of demographics. When I grew up in Lemon Grove I walked to school. I walked to high school through a celery and pepper farm. There was a big nursery (Hunter’s Nursery) now reduced in size because of the I-125 freeway. We used to have a dairy (Miller Dairy) and could smell the cows in the summer. We had a veterinarian a block away (Dr. Burns who became the mayor of Lemon Grove). We had dentists, doctors, lawyers, stock brokers and attorneys. Now we have a ghetto. A city where the traffic and parking laws are not enforced. It’s like the Wild West in Lemon Grove. You could literally drive through the city running red lights and running stops signs without any consequences. With just two to three deputies on duty at any time, the law enforcement resources are consumed with the trolley troubles and various property crimes that are on the rise. The city of Ferguson Missouri has a similar population with 55 sworn officers. Lemon Grove is a ticking time-bomb. The city incorporated in the late 1970’s by a clan of local proponents of independence from the county. They did not realize that the community was too small to grow into a tax creating entity that could be independent. Lemon Grove is not Del Mar. Now, the city gains its revenues by falsifying the sanitation district needs and transferring millions of dollars from sewer taxes to the bloated and mismanaged city government. Lemon Grove has become Encanto North. Businesses are closing, storefronts are vacant and the community is becoming a food desert. That is what happens when the deputies have to visit Home Depot daily for petty theft. When the deputy resources are consumed with the crime at the two trolley stations (mobility for the homeless and gangs). I predict the city will eventually have to consider being returned to the county or annexed by the City of San Diego. Both of which do not welcome that outcome. Why should they rescue a civic ship wreck? Jerry Jones, the longest serving city council person is behind most of the city’s troubles from his support or a myriad of bad decisions and kicking the can down the road. He covers for the sewer taxes that are now the highest in the county. When I asked Jerry Jones about active business development and incentives he gave me some vague answer that that was not the city’s business but a problem with the business community not considering investment in the city.. or something. Cont.— December 3, 2017 8:51 p.m.
"Reform by red tape" slowing H-1B sharply
Don, it might be worth looking into just to get some numbers. But my understanding is that Qualcomm India employs over 50,000 "engineers." If spaghetti code is what they consider quality. Throw enough Jell-O at the wall and some will stick. In India they pay interns and newbies as low as $8.00 an hour. Qualcomm is always hiring at it's India campuses and communist China. Those folks who supply North Korea with missile launchers and nuclear technology. But what the hay, as long as Walmart get's its container loads of crap from China, who cares where America jobs go or what threat their evil alliance with Kim Jong-un is. https://www.qualcomm.com/company/careers/location…— December 1, 2017 9:26 p.m.
Ouch: 40 percent spent on rent
I live in Coronado and own a property, where my mother lived in Lemon Grove. Now my mother is in assisted living and I am looking into renting out or selling that property. One thing I have noticed about Lemon Grove is the increasingly trashy looking appearance of the residences. I have no idea of the owner/rental ratio but I would suspect property ownership is very low. The streets are clogged with parked cars. On the streets and on the lawns. There are multiple families living in residences so there are in many cases 5 cars to a house. I understand that I can probably collect $2500 a month or more for a 3BR 2BA 1200 square foot home. I might rent it but I feel it would be better to cut bait and sell so I don't have to collect rent from tenants. The community is in a major decline and the city has no path to improving the community. Crime is on the rise and the city has limited law enforcement resources. It is a recipe for disaster because as the crime rate rises and the revenues stagnate, the marketability of single family homes will decline. The Zillow website illustrates declining rent rates. There are also many families fleeing the community as real estate listings are at all time highs. At what point is the rent worth the effort of living in a community where the future is more density, traffic and crime?— November 30, 2017 7:47 p.m.