Reconstruction Will Boost Economy
In the long run, the sagging San Diego economy will get a boost from the fires. Insurance money will come in to the county, and homes will be rebuilt. "Reconstruction in San Diego County will eventually put a floor on …
Wildfire Hits Potrero
Tiny Potrero in East County, the town battling the efforts of the mercenary firm Blackwaterto put a training camp there, has a new problem. A wildfire began at 9:23 Sunday morning. There are 300 firefighters on the sceme, 3 helicopers, …
For City to Stave Off Bankruptcy, There Must Be Sacrifices
There are ways to help solve, or at least alleviate, San Diego's pension crisis. The question is whether greed and politics will stand in the way. For example, current City workers have been purchasing service credits -- buying pension benefits …
Bersin's Brief and Belated Response
On Thursday, I phoned Alan Bersin, and agreed to email him questions about his large investment in a Montgomery Field building close to the controversial Sunroad building. I was interested in whether his loaning of an executive to Mayor Sanders …
Bersin's Building Almost Kisses Sunroad's
On March 12 of this year, Alan Bersin, chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, wrote Mayor Jerry Sanders to confirm that the authority would assign a top-level executive "to help resolve issues surrounding the Sunroad Enterprises building …
Francis May Be Edging Closer to a Run
Steve Francis may be thinking more seriously about challenging Mayor Jerry Sanders in next year's election. The San Diego Institute for Policy Research, founded and financed by Francis, has moved its headquarters to La Jolla to separate itself from Francis …
Charlotte Russe Out of Fashion With Wall Street
Stock of San Diego-based Charlotte Russe Holding, a retailer of clothes for young women, has been more than halved this year, even though sales and earnings are up nicely through the first nine months. Wall Street analysts keep saying that …
Flannery Says Sainz May Have Committed Felony
On his well-read blog, www.blogofsandiego.com, Pat Flannery says that Mayor Jerry Sanders's flack Fred Sainz may have committed a felony by ordering Rick Reynolds, who was recently fired as Sanders's assistant chief operating officer, to erase a public record. Fred …
U-T Lets Sanders Off Hook Again
The Union-Tribune published a good story Sunday morning showing how the City was warned of Mount Soledad problems during the summer. The paper commendably expanded on posts two days earlier on this blog and Pat Flannery's blog. But there was …
City Had Many Soledad Warnings During Summer
Mayor Jerry Sanders, upon returning from Washington, D.C., immediately declared that the Mount Soledad landslide was an act of God and that the City had not been involved. Documents released by his own office demonstrably show that Sanders's statement was …
Here's Memo That Got Rick Reynolds Fired
In late September, Rick Reynolds, the City's assistant chief operating officer, was fired, along with Lance Wade, purchasing and contracting director. Wade told me that Reynolds was fired because he warned Mayor Jerry Sanders's spokesperson, Fred Sainz, about the dangers …
Will Congress Tackle Sports Subsidies?
Economists are asking Congress to stop the pro sports subsidies that are one cause of the nation's neglect of infrastructure. A Harvard ecnomists said that since 1990, pro teams have received $18.5 billion in subsidies, and there is no evidence …
Will U-T and Republicans Attack Leslie Devaney?
The U-T editorial page and local Republican Party have made fools of themselves once again by claiming that City Attorney Mike Aguirre broke city laws by permitting 6 employees in his office to donate all of $1,640 to his election …
"We're Taking Over," Says Peters
City councilmember Scott Peters, who purports to represent La Jolla on city council, boasted in council chambers recently, "We are taking over the city attorney's office." By "we" he apparently meant the city council. Although supposedly a lawyer, Peters apparently …
McGrath Says U-T Editorial Was Libelous
Don McGrath, a top deputy in the city attorney's office, says the Union-Tribune committed libel per se against him in its editorial Oct. 10. The editorial, already the laughingstock of campaign finance experts, claimed that City Attorney Mike Aguirre had …
U-T, Republican Party All Wet As Usual
Yesterday, City Attorney Mike Aguirre got an urgent email from Bob Kittle, Union-Tribune editorial writer. Kittle demanded to know if Aguirre had broken city law by taking the whopping sum of $1,640 in campaign donations from 6 of his employees. …
Pension Fund Getting Gamier
At a meeting September 21, the board of the San Diego City Employees' Retireent system approved a program to put 5 percent of assets into private equity -- the pools of capital that raise funds through low quality debt to …
Spring Valley Couple Charged by FTC
The Federal Trade Commission has charged Lawrence and Stephanie Jordan of Spring Valley with making claims for women's health products that were not backed by scientific evidence. The couple's companies, Springboard and Pro Health Labs, sell alternative hormone replacemet products …
Sanders's Charter Committee "Civic Sham"
In an op-ed in the Oct. 7 Los Angeles Times, Prof. Steve Erie of UCSD and Vice President Norma Damashek of the League of Women Voters write that Mayor Jerry Sanders's Charter Reform Committee is a "civic sham." The mayor …
47 Earthquakes in Early September
Katheryn Rhodes, Point Loma engineer, points out that in late August and early September, there were 47 earthquakes in San Diego. All were near Mission Beach in the vicinity of the current landslide at Soledad Mountan Road and Desert View …