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Your Week — Daily event picks
Planning Commission Unanimously Approves "Granny Flats" But Are "Granny Flats" Just Code For Condos and Mini-Dorms
tradinlady, you seem to be lobbying for the building industry on this. This law spells disaster and it does not help the "poor" in any way. It turns these neighborhoods into ghettos which inevitably leads to crime and apathy. These neighborhoods could truly be redeveloped" but just drive up and down El Cajon Blvd and you will see the BIA has no CLUE how to "fix blight" as they continue to take tax dollars and build blight.— August 2, 2011 11:34 p.m.
Have you ever had to call 911?
Yes and no exageration, I waited on hold for 20 minutes to speak to someone. My friend was in a horrible bike accident and was bleeding everywhere. he had scalped himself and the sweatshirt I was using to stop the bleeding was completely soaked and insufficient to stop the bleeding. I could not believe I called and got a message to wait for an operator....20 minutes later someone answered. its hard to hold a turnakit on someones head while you hold your cell phone in the other waiting for the operator.— July 31, 2011 1:31 a.m.
Three-Alarm Fire in Hillcrest
we need to insist on a thorough investigation by metro arson strike team which has doen an absolutely incompetent job investigating arson by building owners. I am troubled by this story. The building is 1 of the oldest and 1 of only a handful of edwardians. It was extremely rare and very valuable and the fact that it went up so fast allegedly from a spark from the neighboring roofing contractors is suspect to say the least. That would mean that these roofing contractors were there the second the fire started and if they were dealing w/ equipment that was creating sparks they surely would have had fire extinguishers on hand. Fires dont accelerate this fast and become this hot w/o an accelerant. The apt was vacant so filling it w/ accelerants would have been easy for the owner. All I know is we need to ask alot of questions because historic buildings ALWAYS catch on fire especially when someone wants to tear them down and knows they wont be allowed to. Please SD Reader stay on this story. Ask questions like "who is the owner" is it the same owner that owns the restaurant building w/ the roofing contractor. Was anyone of the 20 apt residents homes at time of fire, did the owner file an insurance claim?,,,that is key because owner-arsonists do not file claims because they dont want the insurance investigators to investigate the cause of the fire because they do a MUCH better and more thorough job than MAST. Is a lawsuit being filed againt the roofing contractors? If the owner is just going to take the hit w/o filing any claims that is highly suspect. the sad thing is that WE have to be the ones to ask questions and be vigilant because MAST does not do their job. Believe me I have witnessed some of the most obvious cases of owner arson and they do not investigate. So we have to be paranoid.— July 7, 2011 2:05 a.m.
Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park
parking at Balboa park is rarely a problem, It should be left alone. If more people start using it then so be it. It will encourage people to get on their bikes and walk to the park. we do not need to accomodate every single vehicle in this city. And I dont think this is a case of "charge for parking" or pave over more land. Leave it free and as is. No more land. They are only taking a handful of spaces out by removing them from the center. That is not going to make a difference in the big picture. But that isnt what this about anyway. Its about Sanders getting access to $ through these big bonds which he probably leverages thru some shady bank tricks like GS did w/ Greece and its about him stealing more revenue from the people by charging for parking. He is still cooking up schemes to make up for the 1/2 cent sales tax increase we shot down.— July 7, 2011 1:42 a.m.
Fire in Hillcrest
I dont know why MAST metro arson strike team is so incompetent. Its pretty easy to tell if something is arson. The tell-tale sign is that there is no lawsuit and there is no insurance claim. If neither of those happen I will be very suspicious so I hope they are filing insurance claims as we speak.— July 6, 2011 6:36 p.m.
Fire in Hillcrest
I hope someone investigates this. Its always historic buildings that go up in flames here and the Fire Dept never adequately investigates. 4555 Texas was set on fire twice while developer Gary Taylor was trying to get his demo permit. He finally tore it down w/o permit when. Craftsman at ElCajon and Alabama went up in flames after the developer came by yelling at the homeless guy sleeping in the backyard several days in a row. Coincidentally all of the homeless guys belonging were tossed under the house and set on fire. He was very shaken up by the situation, insisting he never ever had or used any candles or put his stuff under the house that the developer was "burning him out". Coincidentally it was a house slated for demo w/o a valid demo permit.— July 6, 2011 5:36 p.m.
Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park
This is classic bait and switch by Sanders and Jacobs and if you before you get excited about Jacobs the philanthropist just look at his other philanthropic actions. The community he helped is deeply resentful of how he destroyed their community and their businesses by bringing in giant big box retailers in the Village at Market Creek development and it drove all the local business out. Suddenly philanthropist Jacobs was in the affordable housing business. And suddenly this philanthropist was much more concerned about his investors than the helping the neighborhood. here is a great article explaining what happened... http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/neighborhoods/arti… "From his seat at the Starbucks last week, Charles Johnson looked out the window and across the parking lot to his now-shuttered restaurant on the other side. "It was my wife's dream, not mine," he said. "She has cooking in her blood." They opened Magnolias Authentic Southern Dining in 2004 with high hopes of bringing the Creole okra gumbos and crawfish ettouffees of their native Louisiana to southeastern San Diego. They closed the restaurant June 26, $745,000 in debt on a startup loan and years' worth of back rent, Johnson said. Magnolias is the latest in a string of closures of resident-owned small businesses at Market Creek Plaza, a retail center developed in southeastern San Diego's Diamond neighborhoods with a goal of providing business opportunities to local entrepreneurs." http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/neighborhoods/arti…— July 6, 2011 5:25 p.m.
Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park
you are 100% right DS. The bottom line is Sanders is a LIAR. He lies and lies and lies. Look at how he handled the midnight stadium deal in Sacramento. I have never seen a mayor have more contempt for his own citizens than Jerry Sanders. This is why he never even respects us enough to meet to discuss these things. He does everything behind closed doors w/ no input from the citizens. His attitude is "this is my city and I do whatever I want and if you dont like it tough $h!t", This is no doubt a slimey deal for ACE parking and step 1 in the move to get citizens to pay for something that we should not have to pay for.— July 6, 2011 12:52 a.m.
Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park
This is also step one of making all parking at Balboa "paid parking". This is typical sanders. Create some fantasy that everyone will support, then once you get the OK and the access to the money you scr#w over your constituents by changing it...taking out all the good stuff and leaving in the bad. Look at McMiilin and NTC and how that went?— July 5, 2011 9:43 p.m.
Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park
the mayor is just framing it this way but when has he EVER been honest or EVER cared about the aesthetics of SD. This is about him getting access to money. They are going to write HUGE bonds to pay for the parking structure and the access destroying the Cabrillo bridge. Then suddenly Jacobs will drop out and the part of the plan that takes the cars out of the park will be taken out. This is about a giant parking structure for ACE parking and a giant line of credit so the mayor can keep hiding all the fraud and abuse of SD $. Come on people wake up!! Can you really trust Jerry Sanders?— July 5, 2011 9:40 p.m.