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Union-Tribune Warns Union of 40 Percent Wage Slash, Healthcare Cuts; Teamsters To Resume Campaign To Cut Paper's Circulation
To put it in perspective: The purchase price of David Copley's yacht (let alone the ongoing operating expenses) would pay for almost 1000 man-years of the labor they are cutting at $16/hour.— February 24, 2008 8:46 p.m.
San Diego's Police State: Blogger Flannery Booted Out of Dumanis Press Conference
Isn't what they did to Pat Flannery technically a crime? Perhaps misdemeanor battery, which would fall to the City Attorney to prosecute? That would be entertaining.— February 17, 2008 7:41 a.m.
San Diego future without water
Don, You've got it all wrong. Tropical landscapes are our birthright here in San Diego. We just need to get people in Colorado, Arizona and Nevada to stop hording so much water and let it all come to us. My grandfather watched firsthand as the Owens Valley died to help quench LA's thirst. He watched thriving orchards and farmland dry up and turn into desert, and a huge lake turn into a dust bowl. What LA did to the Owens Valley San Diego can do from the Imperial Valley all the way to Colorado. It's the least we can do. A wonderful legacy to leave for our children.— February 13, 2008 11 p.m.
San Diego future without water
Don, response to #6: I didn't mean to say that global warming is not real. Rather, I am saying that it doesn't matter whether or not global warming is real and/or human caused, because we should be taking the same steps regarding energy and water conservation and alternative sources of both regardless. That being the case, I think that pushing the idea of man-caused global warming is actually counter productive and may distract from and take away support for achieving the end goals. If you take out the global warming politics (which have become very partisan and polarizing) and discuss purely national security and economic future (oil dependency) air quality (gas cars) and water reserves (and how to increase and/or extend them) I think we would get more bipartisan broad-based support and would have a better chance of achieving the desired goals.— February 13, 2008 10:49 p.m.
U-T To Get Plans for New Structure Feb. 13; Newsroom To Get New Plans Next Day
Don, I let my subscription to the UT lapse over the summer (although they still sent the paper for another month). I wasn't planning on resubscribing because the paper has become so ridiculously thin, bu t then they sent me a please-come-back offer of $1.15 a week for thurs-sun for 6 months. It's hard to believe they can print and deliver it for that much. I keep hoping for a decent paper, but for that price it is worth it just for the occasional coupon.— February 10, 2008 10:21 p.m.
Government Employees Pull Far Ahead of Private Sector Employees in Pay, Fringes
JF, There are a lot of ways to look at and massage the numbers. I pointed out the numbers from the study I did because they showed a vastly different picture than the numbers you were presenting. The study also talks about base pay, not real pay, which includes opportunities for copious overtime. It talks about pension contributions, but not pension benefits. At what age are you eligible and what is your multiplier? These things are very important in any comparison, but I did not see them in this study. The study also implies that a disproportionate percentage of San Diego fire fighters are at the very high end of the salary scale. It doesn't matter what the relative payscales are for different positions are if San Diego is top heavy. I don't know whether it is, but that would be very important to know in any accurate comparison. Another consideration is just what does it mean to make the median salary in a field where everybody is overpaid? Does anybody feel sorry for the guy at the end of the Padres bench who is only making the league minimum of over $300K? We should all cry for him, right? After all, nobody makes less than him so he would be in the bottom 0% according to this study. I am not necessarily against the firefighters current pay or against the raise they are currently seeking. I am saying that it is virtually meaningless to use this study to cry poverty.— February 4, 2008 11:26 p.m.
Government Employees Pull Far Ahead of Private Sector Employees in Pay, Fringes
JF, Also from that report: "Based on these "adjustments", 6 of the 10 San Diego fire classifications are above the median for both the minimum and maximum pay. With the exception of Fire Fighter I, the majority of San Diego's employees are at or near the maximum pay scale based on tenure. With this understanding areas to note are: > The majority of San Diego's fire employees are Fire Fighter IIs at maximum salary which ranks at the 58th percentile. > Engineer and Captain when combined become the majority of San Diego's fire employees and are ranked at the 73rd percentile for maximum salary. > Fire Fighter IIs that receive paramedic pay rank at the 89th percentile for maximum salary when compared to Dual Role Paramedic/Firefighter classifications. > EMT is the highest of the 5 agencies with single role EMTs.— February 4, 2008 7:11 p.m.
City Employees To Hold Anti-Aguirre Rally at Democratic Meeting
One thing I never seem to hear mentioned when discussing the city pension mess, is why there is a pension in the first place. The pension for city workers is in lieu of social security. They do not pay into social security and are not entitled to social security benefits. As such, it is not fair to make an apples to apples comparison between the city pension to the pension of a private company. That said, it is an abosolute joke that the government forces private employers to pay into the government ponzi scheme, but allows government employers to opt out and offer a real pension. I wish my company had the option of investing my 15% contribution into a real pension as well. Of course, the government being the government, they steal from the city pension. They play games during salary negotiaions so that the employees are relieved of a portion of what they should have paid in place of a raise, and then the city doesn't pay in what they promised. The unions are in collusion, cuz they know the deals are shady but pass them anyway while feathering their nests. The fact that the unions are anti-Aguirre and anti-Frye is an abhorrent sign of just how incestuous the political relationships are in San Diego.— January 8, 2008 3:05 p.m.
Does U-T Know $128,000 from $20 Million? Obviously Not
Who is Alex Roth? He seems to be the one writing all the Aguirre hit-piece editorials that appears as "news" stories in the UT.— December 19, 2007 7:59 p.m.
Former Charger Pleads Guilty To Making False Loan Applications, Evading Taxes
Response to #13: Done! You can now call me Lazarus. Don, of course, is correct that an internet troll is a fishing reference. It is coincidental that the homonym you sited from Scandanavia also happens to apply to many internet trolls.— December 16, 2007 6:43 a.m.