City Admits Error, To Include Information on Pension Overpayments in Documents
Mayor Jerry Sanders today (Dec. 5) said that the City will disclose information on the more than $8 million of payments to 102 retired employees in violation of Internal Revenue Service rules. The disclosure will be made in an attachment …
U-T's Bungled Buyout Will Probably Lead to Best People Leaving
In all probability, beginning tomorrow morning (Dec. 5), the best and brightest people in the Union-Tribune newsroom will line up to get first crack at ending their careers. The reason is the abysmal, hurry-up way in which the buyout was …
City's Outside Accounting Firm Told to Restate 2005 Financial Results
City Attorney Mike Aguirre today (Dec.3) told the accounting firm of Macias, Gini & O'Donnell to issue a corrected City 2005 financial statement. The City's report, certified in October, did not disclose that more than $8 million in pension overpayments …
U-T Announces Massive Buyout Plan
Merry Christmas to all. The Union-Tribune today (Dec. 3) announced a plan to reduce the staff significantly -- a total of 43 in the newsroom alone, along with other employees throughout the company. The plan is called "voluntary separation program," …
Union-Tribune To Lop 15-20 More Heads
Gene Bell, president of the Union-Tribune, sent a memo Wednesday in which, typical of the newspaper, the bombshell was concealed in Little Mary Sunshine prose. Bell told certain employees November 28 that the paper is making changes that are designed …
Are Gene Testing Kits a Fad? San Diego's Illumina Cares
People are paying around $1,000 to get a test that will give a glimpse of their genome -- whether they are prone to cancer, Alzheimer's, etc. San Diego's Illumina is one of the companies providing smart chips for these tests, …
Now Overstock.com Getting Sued
Overstock.com has made headlines by charging in a lawsuit that a hedge fund and a research firm conspired to drive down Overstock's shares. The research firm is Gradient Analytics, whose cofounder and research head, Donn Vickrey, works from Carlsbad and …
Port, Chula Vista Can't Afford Gaylord Giveaway
The deal has been slip-sliding, but some county leaders still want the Port and the City of Chula Vista to subsidize, massively, a waterfront hotel for Gaylord Entertainment. But Scott Barnett of TaxpayersAdvocate.org, following up on a study he did …
Environmental Groups File Suit Over City's Rose Canyon Move
Three environmental groups have filed to block the city council's approval last month of a $5 million design of a road through Rose Canyon Open Space Park. Friends of Rose Canyon, the San Diego Audubon Society, and Endangered Habitats League …
John Kern Not Among Those Paid Over IRS Limits
John Kern, former chief of staff to former Mayor Dick Murphy, was not among the ex-City employees who were compensated above Internal Revenue Service limits, as reported earlier on this blog. My apologies. Best, Don Bauder
Jack Continues To Make Turkeys of Fast Food Competitors
San Diego's Jack in the Box fast food chain is gobbling up the industry. In its most recent yearly financial report, Jack reported that same store sales, or sales in outlets open at least a year, rose 6.1 percent over …
McGrory, Inzunza Among Those Who Got Cut of $8.2 Million
The city attorney's office has learned the identities of some of the former City of San Diego officials who were cut in on $8.2 million of questionable pension benefits shelled out by the pension fund. The $8.2 million exceeded Internal …
Muni Bond Market Turmoil Likely To Hit San Diego
The financially-ailing City of San Diego has been hanging its hat on tapping into the municipal bond market once long-delayed audited financial statements are completed. But the muni bond market is being hit by the mortgage crisis. Muni bond insurers …
City Attorney To Sue SDCERS Over $146 Million Fleecing of Taxpayers
The board of the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) yesterday voted to have taxpayers pick up the $146 million tab for purchase of service credits that City workers purchased cheaply prior to 2003. City Attorney Mike Aguirre says …
Aguirre Backs Off Request for Information from KPBS
City Attorney Mike Aguirre today (Thursday, Nov. 15) rescinded a request he had made under the California Public Records Act for local public broadcasting station, KPBS, to provide information on its programming policies. He had spoken with a First Amendment …
City's 2005 Financial Statement Rife with Misinformation
Back to business as usual.The long-delayed and recently-released 2005 City financial statement contains misstatements about the $8.2 million in benefits that exceed Internal Revenue Service limits, but went to 102 retirees anyway. The 2005 financial statement does not disclose the …
Moores Abruptly Resigns UC Regent Post
John Moores, majority owner of the Padres, resigned today (November 12) from the University of California Board of Regents "effective immediately," according to a press release. A resignation "effective immediately" is not normal protocol for a regent. The governor will …
City Employees Paid $8.2 Million Above IRS Limits
At least 102 City retirees have been paid a total of $8.2 million in excess of Internal Revenue Service limits,according to City Attorney Mike Aguirre, quoting an August 22 letter from the City's pension system actuary. Aguirre plans to release …
Copley's Pulitzer Winner Leaving, Say Reliable Sources
Marcus Stern, the Washington, D.C. reporter for Copley News Service who broke the Pulitzer Prize-winning story on Duke Cunningham's corruption, is leaving Copley at the end of the year, according to several very knowledgeable inside sources. Also leaving is Gordon …
Council Sells Out to Developers -- Again
The City Courtesans -- er, City Council -- prostituted themselves to the real estate industry again today (Nov. 6) under the guise of providing affordable housing. Councilmember Donna Frye, the only member to vote against the density bonus measure, argued …