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County Sheriff Race Heats Up As Incumbent Gore’s Workplace Retaliation Revealed

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Candidate for San Diego County Sheriff Dave Myers has decided that having his office relocated to a broom closet just might constitute workplace harassment.

He issued a statement today denouncing incumbent San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore, calling attention to what he described as retaliatory actions since declaring as a candidate for the County’s top law enforcement post in the 2018 election.

Myers has served in the Sheriff’s office for 32 of his 34 years in law enforcement and is running a campaign based on the need for substantial reforms in the department.   [Read more…]

Right Wing Scam Supporting Pedophile Fails: Democratic Institutions Under Attack

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As the daily outrages coming out of the Trump administration pile up, it’s important to not overlook the fact that all the institutions of democracy are under attack from the right.

All the talk of tax increases and/or decreases amid the GOP’s rush to pass a major piece of legislation doesn’t take into account its biggest accomplishment, namely constructing a financial framework for government guaranteeing the eventual rollback of the New Deal.  

Having eliminated the system of checks and balances within the Senate, a wave of judicial confirmations is underway designed to cripple the ability of ordinary citizens to seek redress.   [Read more…]

District Attorney Candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright Runs on a Reform Agenda for San Diego

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The 2018 electoral contests with the most immediate impact on San Diego will take place in June, not November. All of them involve countywide positions– Assessor, Sheriff, and District Attorney.

The race between Geneviéve Jones-Wright and Summer Stephan for DA is about enacting meaningful policies protecting our communities, sans the current double standard for what constitutes justice.

There is, as former prosecutor-turned innocence lawyer Mark Godsey pointed out in a recent interview, “a huge disconnect between what the public thinks about our criminal justice system and the reality of it.”   [Read more…]

Progressive Activist Calendar – November 25 – December 4, 2017

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Welcome to the abbreviated holiday weekend version of the Progressive Activist Calendar.

I was having such a good time I almost forget to put it together. Three events you need to to be sure to notice: The #Me Too March (November 25), The first forum featuring Both candidates for District Attorney (November 28), Justice for Johnathan Coronel Protest  (December 2)   [Read more…]

Happy Thanksgiving – [Break Time]

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We’ll be easing off our usual publication schedule until Monday.

My next regular column will appear on Monday, November 27. I’m going to use the next few days to consolidate some research for future stories, clean out my files, and enjoy the holiday, while trying to ignore the tantrums of the Tweeter-in-Chief..

The weekly Activist Calendar (sans the usual sermon,) will be published on Friday. If anything major breaks, I’ll jump into writing mode.

I am grateful for all the efforts by SDFP’s editors, our contributors, and especially our loyal readers. Have a restful weekend. Take time to appreciate what is good in your life.   [Read more…]

San Diego Is No Different Than Sacramento or Washington When it Comes to Sexual Harassment

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It seems as though 15 minutes can’t go by without a new revelation about some influential man being called out for sexual harassment. Sadly, the problem extends way beyond the rich, famous, and powerful, as a recent Huffington Post article about hotel housekeepers and casino workers explained. And then there’s the whole thing where women simply being in a public place are subject to a wide variety of what should be astonishing behavior, as documented recently in a photo essay at the Guardian.

Today’s column will take a spin around the media world to emphasize just how big a deal this overdue reckoning is, and offer up a few side thoughts along the way I felt were worth considering.

I’ll start local and work out from there.   [Read more…]

Help Wanted: A 21st Century San Diego County Sheriff

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What if San Diego had a leader in law enforcement who could see beyond warehousing the homeless? What if we had a Sheriff who wasn’t proud of the fact our jails are dumping grounds for the county’s mentally ill humans? What if we could find a way past the “us versus them” mentality, where fear drives the relationship with the government agency touching the most lives?

The question for voters in the 2018 election for County Sheriff shouldn’t be “what if;” it should be “why not?”

California’s electorate has (over and over and over again) spoken up. The days of lock ‘em up and throw away the key are over. Some of our public servants don’t like that idea. There are plenty of reasons to believe current Sheriff of San Diego County, Bill Gore, is one of those people.   [Read more…]

100,000 Diapers Needed; Here’s How You Can Help – Progressive Activist Calendar November 17-27, 2017

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We’re headed into a holiday week, and let’s face it, doing something positive locally in light of what’s happening elsewhere is a good idea. I promised Ironworker Johnny Swanson I’d support the diaper drive this year. So, ripped from the pages of Facebook, the pitch begins below… 

“One in three American moms struggles to provide clean diapers for her children. Food stamps and WIC programs do not cover diapers and families are often forced to make tough decisions because they can’t afford to buy diapers.

Last year, the San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council, inspired by the leadership of Ironworkers Local 229 Organizer Johnny Swanson and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher’s Annual Holiday Diaper Drive, decided to step up and see how many diapers we could collect from our members, contractors, allies, and friends, to support the families struggling in our communities. We collected over 75,000 diapers (!!!) and were able to kickstart the creation of the San Diego Diaper Bank, which is now housed in the San Diego Food Bank.   [Read more…]

County Jail Deaths Don’t Matter in San Diego

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The decision of the county’s police oversight group to not look into the deaths of twenty-odd human beings should serve as a reminder of how true justice is a much rarer commodity than most people realize.

As part of my research into the upcoming elections for County Sheriff and District Attorney, it’s been made clear to me that oversight of the agencies vested with the power of arrest and the administration of justice is largely an illusion.

On one level this is about the frailties of humans; peer pressure to maintain the integrity of the tribe in the face of constant threats. The unspeakable cruelties of injustice are seemingly compartmentalized away from public view so the ongoing–and often misguided–crusade against crime can continue.   [Read more…]

County Elections Matter: Matt Strabone’s Campaign for Assessor/Recorder/Clerk

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Will the Blue Wave of victorious Democratic party candidates in recent elections include San Diego?  

The incumbent office holders of down-ballot county seats are hoping they’ll fly under the progressive radar come June 5, 2018. That’s because candidates in San Diego County can win outright –avoiding a November runoff– with a simple majority vote. Though county contests are technically non-partisan, the reality is local office holders at the county level are among the last local bastions of Republicans.

A smaller turnout and the older, more conservative profile of primary voters has all-but-assured an indefinite tenure for county positions like Assessor/Clerk, Sheriff, and District Attorney. And, when they’re ready to retire, they simply quit mid-term, ensuring a carefully groomed deputy appointed by five white Republican County Supervisors will have the advantages of incumbency in the next election.   [Read more…]

Gropey Old Perverts Need a Tax Bill Win to Keep Billionaire Contributions Flowing

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Republicans in both the House and Senate are working as fast as they can to pass a tax law overhaul. The House version will likely pass if the party leadership can slip some anti-anxiety drugs into the drinking water for GOP deficit hawks. The real battle will be–as it was with TrumpCare–in the U.S. Senate.

Despite promises to have all the pieces for some version of this legislation ready for the President to sign by the end of the year, chances of it happening are mighty slim.

It will take fifty Senators, plus the tiebreaker from Vice President Pence to pass whatever emerges from the House-Senate reconciliation process, a process that will be considerably harder if the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama, Roy Moore, loses in the December 12 special election.   [Read more…]

2018: Time to Clean House in County Government

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Imagine, if you will…

A place in California where a single official believes he has the power to turn back the clock on same-sex marriage… A place where investigations into the deaths of people in jail are dismissed… A place where elected officials get to pick their successors…

…A place where a politician can pick up the phone and order police retaliation on people whose views he doesn’t share… A place where hundreds of millions of dollars sit undisturbed while homelessness spreads unabated, while a single elected official can pledge $150 million for a sports stadium.

Welcome to San Diego County, a place where the basic functions of government have morphed into fiefdoms of neglect and a culture of corruption prevents transparency.   [Read more…]

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