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Filner and Crappy Stadium Blamed for Chargers’ Loss

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By Doug Porter

There are a boatload of people who’ve declared their intention to run for Mayor of San Diego.

The Daily Fishwrap has hammered home the meme that ours is a city teetering on the edge of ruin following nine months of bullying and grabbing on the eleventh floor of city hall. Hotel executives are metaphorically scattered throughout the Gaslamp District with tin cups in hand trying stave off the looming economic disaster brought on by the former Mayor’s insistence that taxpayers be protected.

Into this power vacuum have stepped the San Diego Chargers, a professional football team owned by an ultra-wealthy family that believes it’s entitled to taxpayer assistance in building a new football stadium.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a full court media press on over the last few days extolling the virtues of a recycled proposal for a downtown venue that would turn San Diego into a world class city overnight.  Former Mayor Jerry Sanders was on KUSI TV this morning saying, “We’ll find the Chargers a new stadium in the not-too-distant future, I predict.”

Yes indeedy, a new stadium will make everything okay.  Our long regional nightmare will be over.   [Read more…]

Can Congress Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time? October 5th Immigration Reform Rally Planned for San Diego

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By Doug Porter

Between Tea Party types seeking to bomb ObamaCare and neo-cons looking to bomb Syria it would seem our elected representatives have decided they’re just too busy to deal with immigration reform this year, according to today’s New York Times.

Although the Senate passed a bipartisan bill back in June and immigration reforms advocates had a successful summer campaign that included hundreds of visits to Congressional offices, rallies and town-hall style meetings, the Times story says “Republican angst about losing Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential campaign has faded.”

The prospect of a delay is generating frustration among supporters of the legislation, who felt emboldened by a summer in which conservative opposition in House districts largely fizzled and immigrant groups seized the chance to lobby lawmakers on their home turf.

  [Read more…]

How I Became a Surrogate for Bob Filner Without Even Trying

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Lee Burdick Wrote It Down, So It Must Be True

By Doug Porter

A document from the Filner administration has surfaced via a public records act request that may be of interest to SD Free Press readers. It consists of notes taken by Filner chief of staff Lee Burdick during a July 20th staff meeting. Next to the word “Communications” typed on the agenda are notes that include “Surrogate” alongside a list of names that includes myself, Don Harrison (of San Diego Jewish World) and John (sic) Elliot (broadcaster).

We became aware of this document via a comment posted at SDFP, one that I (and others) interpreted as an attempt to denigrate my credibility.  The author of said comment denies this was his intent.

A little background is in order…   [Read more…]

23 Candidates Running for San Diego Mayor (and Counting) As Councilman David Alvarez Declares His Candidacy

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By Doug Porter

A mayoral contest best characterized thus far by the quantity of candidates took a turn towards being much more interesting yesterday as Democratic City Councilman David Alvarez entered the race.

Should he end up in the winner’s circle come February (which is when a final runoff will decide the victor), Alvarez will be the first mayor of Mexican descent since the city emerged from being ruled by trustees (bankruptcy) back in 1887.

This is no small thing in a city with a growing Hispanic (28.8%) population.  It wasn’t so long ago that brown-skinned people were prohibited from buying homes in many San Diego neighborhoods.

Alvarez is also popular with many on San Diego’s Labor Council, whose participation in get out the vote efforts in recent elections has boosted turnout in less affluent neighborhoods.  His electoral base is mostly south of Interstate 8, which changes the dynamics of an election many thought would be decided by mostly white, older voting blocs in other areas of the city.   [Read more…]

Let’s Start a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ Program for Mayoral Candidates

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By Doug Porter

It seems like ‘neighborhood’ is the new ‘sustainable’ for candidates in San Diego as the campaigns for the mayoral special election on November 19th get underway.  Yes, indeedy, it seems as though this buzzword is on everybody’s lips.

What the word ‘neighborhood’ actually means to the various candidates is what we’ll be looking to find out in the coming weeks. Both the effen (my new shorthand for the anointed candidates that “everybody knows” will win) brothers emphasized the new ‘n word’ in their initial pronouncements.

Meanwhile things are going on in San Diego’s neighborhoods and communities of interest that are symptomatic a return to the business as usual mentality that has dominated the local landscape for generations.   [Read more…]

The Pawns Line Up in San Diego’s Mayoral Race

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“The U-T wants only what is best for San Diego” – quote from editorial warning Carl DeMaio to obey publisher Doug Manchester’s wishes

By Doug Porter

It was a day to remember in San Diego’s political history.  Three high-profile politicians opted to decline the opportunity to enter the contest for the top spot in the eighth largest city in the United States.  That’s like three customers going into a Starbucks paying for a latte with a hundred dollar bill and saying “keep the change”…or a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Carl DeMaio did a stellar job of playing the media as to his intentions. “According to a source with direct knowledge of his plans” DC’s Politico and other media outlets ran with the story saying the former city councilman had decided to drop his candidacy for Congress to run for Mayor. He posted a photo on social media with supporters holding campaign signs for both Congress and Mayor.

The 11am press conference on San Diego’s harbor featured a podium sign strongly suggesting DeMaio was in it to win it for the mayor’s seat. One reporter even pre-typed a Tweet to that effect and ‘accidentally’ hit ‘send’ as DeMaio’s speech meandered across the political landscape. It was clear the former councilman was enjoying playing the press and his “special interest” opponents.   [Read more…]

To Bomb or Not to Bomb (Syria), That is The Question

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By Doug Porter

Once again the world faces an ogre whose actions threaten the sensibilities of good people everywhere and any neighborhood or ethinic group that gets in his way. I am speaking of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the latest in a series of post-cold war functionaries to break bad on the world and their own people.

Syria, like much of the post-colonial world, is a nation-state created at the point of a gun by its European conquerors.  Assad is just another functionary entrusted with keeping stability in an unstable region.

He and his father before him were placeholders for Soviet interests in the Middle East. Today Syria and Iran stand alone against the Sunni masters of Saudi Arabia, a US surrogate increasingly open about operating on its own agenda.   [Read more…]

History is Being Made! Modern Day People and Actions Worth Honoring on Labor Day

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By Doug Porter

While the image of Labor Day as one of rest, recreation and charred meats has been drilled into our collective consciousness by the mavens of Madison Avenue, I want to interrupt this program to point out that history is being made this year.

Today we’ll be taking a look at some the people locally and nationally on the front lines of the fight for decent wages and working conditions.

Courtesy of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (ICWJ) you’ll meet George, Marisol, Valaria and Daniela as they tell about their struggles to get by here in San Diego.

Writer Bob Dorn met fast food workers Debra Flores and Diego Rios at our city’s first Fight for Fifteen demonstration last Thursday and serves up a big serving of what their lives are like.

Jim Miller writes about the history of Labor Day, how it’s meaning has been lost and what’s being done to get the ‘move’ back into the labor movement these days.

And I’ve come up with a list of things going on that you might not have heard about in between the latest breaking news on singer Justin Bieber and Kourtney Kardashian’s latest sideboob shot.   [Read more…]

Filner’s Final Day: The End of an Administration Doesn’t Have to be the End of an Era

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By Doug Porter

The national media will no longer be covering San Diego’s local politics after today.

Bob Filner, the 70 year old ex-Congressman who’s been described in recent months as a masher, sexual predator and grabby bully will no longer be ‘terrorizing’ the city as of 5pm this afternoon.

Mostly the attitude expressed in the media is “Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out”.

So now we can get back to business as usual. If only it was that simple.   [Read more…]

Who Doesn’t Want to be Mayor of San Diego?

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By Doug Porter

And you thought getting rid of the last Mayor was a circus? Wait until you see the field of dreamers looking to replace him on November 19th.

The list of candidates filing with the city clerk’s office about their intention to vie for the top job in San Diego grew to thirteen yesterday and includes only one well known politico, Nathan Fletcher.

Telephone polls are being conducted, one of them asking questions about a potential candidate who doesn’t even live in the city of San Diego.  Readers over at SDRostra, the local conserve blog, report being polled about Matt Romney, son of former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The younger Romney doesn’t even live within the city limits; he resides in the 4S Ranch development north of Rancho Penasquitos.

Among the more interesting questions being asked by poll takers are questions linking the timing of the election to passage of a city-wide living wage ordinance. That same poll, believed to have been paid for by a labor union, also asked about City Councilman David Alvarez—somebody who’s not been the subject of much speculation when it comes to mayoral candidacies.   [Read more…]

Fast Food Workers Organizing in San Diego; First Action Set for Thursday

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By Doug Porter

Standing up for better wages in the fast food restaurant industry; it’s been like the little engine that could.  Last November it was just a couple hundred fast food restaurant employees in New York City.  By July the movement grew to include thousands of workers across seven other cities, including Chicago, Detroit, and Seattle.

On Thursday, August 29th, one day after nationwide commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the march for “Jobs and Freedom”, fast food and retail workers in 35 58 cities nationwide will stage one day strikes, job actions and demonstrations.

Here in San Diego the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, led by Rabbi Coskey will be answering the nationwide call for higher wages and better working conditions.  They’re urging people join them at 1st and Broadway on Thursday at 10am to stand in solidarity with fast food workers around the country. (More info here)   [Read more…]

The DeMaio Dilemma: Congress or City Council?

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By Doug Porter

Will he or won’t he? Run for mayor, that is.

It’s my contention (I’ve been wrong at least once before) that former City Councilman Carl DeMaio will not be entering the upcoming mayoral contest.

First, there’s my transactional analysis of what he’s doing on Twitter.

Yesterday his followers were invited to two fundraising events, “Young Professionals for Carl DeMaio” (tonight at the Hard Rock) and (for those who are young at heart and brain addled) a birthday celebration for the former city councilman on September 12th that specifically mentioned his candidacy for Congress.   [Read more…]

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