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Convention Center Ruling Reinforces Private Tax Scheme

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Props 13 and 218 necessitate convoluted scheme to effectively privatize public assets

The privatization of public resources took another step toward reality yesterday, although in this particular case it may not be a terrible thing. In a tentative ruling, Judge Ronald Prager determined that the unusual taxation method being used to finance the $520 million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center is perfectly legal, giving the project the green light.

The San Diego hotel interests and the City Council decided that they wanted the expansion project to happen, and they didn’t think they could get the 2/3 vote of the public in order to raise the TOT (a logic that might also be applied to the TMD, but more on that in another post). Instead, they used a provision in Prop 218 that allows local property owners to choose to tax themselves without a public vote.   [Read more…]

Judge Tentatively Rules in Favor of Convention Center Expansion Project

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San Diego Convention Center Expansion Project back on schedule to begin construction in 2014, with 2017 completion date.

In a ruling issued today, judge Ronald Prager ruled that the funding mechanism for the Convention Center Facilities District that was set up to fund the $520 million Convention Center expansion project is legal and the project can proceed as planned.

At issue was whether the hoteliers could legally vote to essentially raise taxes that they charge on hotel guests outside of the city’s existing transient occupancy tax, which currently sits at 10.5%. Two separate attempts in 2004 to raise the TOT both failed, despite the 2004 measure earning nearly 62% approval of the voters. State law at the time required that any measure proposing to raise taxes of any kind required the approval of a full two-thirds of the voters in order to become law. The second ballot measure in November 2004 earned over 58% approval of the voters.   [Read more…]

Health Insurance Scams Leave People High and Dry

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 Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Group make hundred of millions selling useless mini-med policies

Part Two of a series on the Business of Health

In Part 1 we told about how hospitals have a huge computer file called a Chargemaster that details prices for every possible item a hospital can charge for. These prices don’t have anything to do with reality because in fact there is no market for health care services.

In a truly capitalist economy there would be a competitive market by means of which people could check prices and choose the service that’s the most reasonable in terms of price and other factors. It’s called price discovery.

Hospital charges represent a dark market just like over the counter derivatives because it’s next to impossible to get hospitals to reveal their prices for any of their services. According to an extensive article in Time, the author was given the brushoff and even told it was illegal every time he tried to get pricing information. Therefore, the Chargemaster details prices that are sky high and out of sight compared to the paying abilities of most Americans.

In Part 2 we will cover the plight of many folks who thought they had sufficient health insurance coverage only to be told that their insurance policies were useless and they would be required to pay cash upfront if they wanted to access hospital services.
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Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 1

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We spend more on artificial knees and hips every year than Hollywood collects at the box office.

A recent exhaustive article in Time magazine details the exhorbitant charges that hospitals are imposing on the American people, charges that have nothing to do with the actual costs of services provided. A woman in Stamford, Connecticut suffering from chest pains called 911. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Stamford Hospital, a non-profit institution, four miles away.

After a few hours of tests she was told that she just had a case of indigestion; her heart was fine. So she went home. Her bill: $21,000 – for a false alarm. That breaks down to $995. for the ambulance ride, $3000. for the doctors and $17,000. for the hospital. Unfortunately, she had no insurance because she had been out of work for a year.

The American medical marketplace is such that those least able to pay are charged the most money. Their prices are determined by what is called a Chargemaster, a massive computer file thousands of items long. Every hospital has one.   [Read more…]

Tourism Marketing District Could Be Made Subject to Living Wage Ordinance

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Obstinance of San Diego City Council and big hotel interests stymieing TMD deal, tourism ad campaigns.

The Bob Filner era in San Diego is only in its infancy stages, but it has certainly not disappointed in the fireworks department. The sometimes brash yet affable new mayor has left no doubt that there’s a new sheriff in town, and the old wink-wink nudge-nudge ways of doing business Downtown have come to an end. Filner made his disdain for the “downtown special interests” a major focal point in his campaign, and thus far he’s held true to his word.

The most recent big controversy at City Hall—until yesterday, that is—was Filner’s refusal sign, and thus finalize, a contract drafted during the Sanders administration to provide the Tourism Marketing District $30 million per year for the next 39 years, ostensibly for the purpose of promoting San Diego as a major tourism destination in various media markets around the country. The agreement calls for levying an additional assessment on hotel guests on top of the transient occupancy tax that even San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith calls legally dubious (he says it’s in a “legal gray area”).   [Read more…]

Reflections from a Rally at the Hilton Mission Valley

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Much has been made of Bob Filner crashing the City Attorney’s news conference a little while ago but we shouldn’t forget that in that flurry of feistiness he pointed out that there are people among us, fellow citizens, family, friends, you name them, who are paid tacky wages. Like hotel workers.

He made it clear that the tourist industry isn’t going to ply their trade with $30 million dollars of the city’s money unless they pay hotel workers what they deserve.

How refreshing is that, a mayor for the people, a man standing up for the folks who make visitors to “America’s Finest City” comfortable and well fed, with nice pools for a swim on well manicured hotel grounds. These people get out and about town and spend money by the ton and the people who added so much to the fineness of their stay don’t get anywhere near their fair share of this bounty.

The hoteliers, however, get way more than their ownership status should allow and around these parts they have historically treated their workers as though they don’t care about them. The reason being? Because they don’t care about them.   [Read more…]

The Curtain Closes on Birch North Park Theatre?

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The intersection of 30th Street and University Avenue is the physical center of North Park, as well as the hub the commercial and cultural activity in the neighborhood.  In the early 1900s this corner earned the moniker of “Busy Corner“, a title that would be fitting today as well.  Standing at Busy Corner throughout the years would give a clear view of the many changes that have occurred throughout the decades since the first homes and businesses appeared in the first decade of the 1900s.

In 2012, after filing for bankruptcy, the Lyric Opera  sold the mortgage note on the property to David Cohen, owner of the West Coast Tavern that is housed in the front of the theatre building.  Mr. Cohen is now trying to foreclose on the Lyric Opera and take ownership of the building.  A hearing on the issue took place before Judge Margaret Mann in downtown San Diego on Wednesday, February 27th, but no ruling was issued and the case will be continued on March 7.

Pending a decision in court there are many possibilities for the future of the space but no clear direction.   [Read more…]

Alma Rodriguez: The ‘Little Napoleon’ Behind Queen Bee’s Art and Cultural Center in North Park

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Alma Rodriguez’s childhood nickname was “Little Napoleon.”

At first glance, the obvious reason is her just more than 4-foot stature. But after a conversation about how she came to be the queen at the Queen Bee’s Art and Cultural Center in North Park, it’s her determination and self-proclaimed “need to be in control” that earns her the title.   [Read more…]

20 Arrested at Mission Valley Hilton Protest over Job Security

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Twenty people were arrested Friday evening during a protest at the HiltonMissionValley hotel during a protest stemming from the refusal of management to take step to protect employee jobs during the sale of the property. Tarsadia investments is currently negotiating to buy the location.

Those arrested included hotel workers, family members, clergy and community advocates. The hotel has been the focus of organizing efforts by union advocates for months now. Employees were recently forced to re-apply for their jobs by the current owner, HEI Hotels and Resorts, a move aimed at breaking the back of a burgeoning employee organizing effort.

Employees were told by management on January 13th that they face mass layoffs. The hotel filed notice with the state of its intention to lay off workers on under the state’s WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) system run by the Employment Development Department.   [Read more…]

Today’s College Graduates: In Debt and Unable to Find a Job

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The American mythology that getting a good job requires a college degree is turning out to be a hollow promise, a mythology devoid of any connection to reality. Today’s college graduates are being weighed down with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and many of them are either unemployed or working in jobs that don’t require a college degree.

A recent study has shown that half of recent college graduates can’t find jobs. Those who graduated since 2009 are three times more likely to not have found a full-time job than those from the classes of 2006 through 2008. Of those who did find a job, the study indicates that 43 percent had jobs that didn’t require a college degree. Sure the top 10% will get jobs right out of college, but for everyone else disappointment in the job search abounds. Even recent PhDs are facing stiff competition for fewer available jobs, and many of them end up driving taxis for a living.

At the same time that college graduates are not finding work, there are 3.7 million job openings, but these are the kinds of jobs college graduates aren’t equipped to do.   [Read more…]

Screwed Again – And Not By Any Man –This Time by Dollar Rent A Car

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Several days ago my granddaughter had to make a fast trip to Arizona to see her ailing father. She is leaving for Australia in a few days to be with her children and wanted to see Jimmy before she left. Unfortunately she does not have a credit card and “DOLLAR RENT A CAR” would not accept her debit card as payment for the one-way rental.  She called her mother and asked if she would sign the rental agreement but her mother – my daughter Michele – was suffering the ill effects of a nasty case of Shingles and could not get out of bed.

Guess who was next on Kyla’s list.  Grandma.

Although reluctant to do so, I felt sorry for her and didn’t want to have the guilt if something happened to Jimmy and she did not get to say “good-bye” so I agreed to do so.   [Read more…]

San Diego and the TMD

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It’s time for the San Diego City Council to work within the law instead of desperately searching for ways around it.

Can’t we all just get along?—Rodney King

Yesterday the San Diego City Council heard comments on the city’s Tourism and Marketing District. You might have heard about it in recent weeks, because it’s been the source of a lot of controversy down at City Hall.

The TMD became a major news item last week when Mayor Bob Filner crashed a news conference called by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. Let’s just say that the two men don’t agree on a whole lot, and the exchange was one of the more entertaining political back and forth’s in San Diego history.   [Read more…]

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