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The Starting Line – San Diego’s Double Standard on Electioneering Dirty Tricks

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Last week I reported on misleading mailers being sent to residents in San Diego’s District 4. There’s a special election on March 26th for the City Council seat vacated late last year by Tony Young. I profiled District 4 and the nine candidates last week.

Chances are nobody will win this contest outright (50%+1 is required), so the real deal next Tuesday is about who will make it into the runoff. And it looks to me like our local Republicans, even though they don’t have anything more than a token candidate in the race, are trying their best to influence the outcome.

This contest is important to all San Diegans because the winner will likely be a key vote on a City Council hesitant to get with Mayor Filner’s program to shift the emphasis of development away from downtown and towards the many neighborhoods of our city. And it’s already very clear that our downtown interests aren’t going to give up their privileged position at the public trough without a fight.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Citizens Outraged Over Calif. Public Utility Commission Private Meeting

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Key Vote on Fossil Fuel Plants Set for Thursday

Clean energy advocates and neighborhood groups opposing further construction of fossil fuel generating plants in the San Diego region are calling up the public to protest a closed conclave being held by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in La Jolla on Wednesday, March 20th.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor yesterday denied an emergency appeal to stop the California Public Utilities Commission from holding a closed-to-the-public meeting with power companies and other ‘stakeholders’.

As a result, the CPUC, CEC, Cogentrix, SDG&E, CleanTech, and other industry and corporate stakeholders (excluding the public and the press) will meet in San Diego one day before the CPUC votes on whether the power plants are actually needed, and four months after the CPUC already rejected the proposed fossil fuel-burning plants as not needed.

The public is asked show support by attending a press conference and clean energy media event set for 11:30 to 12:30 on Wednesday at the  Scripps Seaside Forum at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD) – 8610 Kennel Way, La Jolla, CA 92037 (parking at Kellogg Park/La Jolla Shores, several blocks south on El Paseo Grande).   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Saving the Grand Old Party: They Got One Part (Old) Right

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The long awaited post election analysis and plan of action for the Republican Party was released in Washington this morning. While there are reportedly 219 recommendations, we’ll give you the short version inside because it’s like watching a train wreck and you can’t look away.

Whether it was the young man suggesting slaves benefited from being given “food and shelter” at a session on race consciousness, or the rantings of the National Rifle Association Wayne La Pierre, there was plenty of wingnuttia on display as the shock troops of right huddled and muddled. Of course then there was Sarah Palin doing her ‘Statute of Liberty’ pose with a Big Gulp as a stand up for freedom moment.

  [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Top Pay for Wells Fargo Exec Confronted Over Foreclosures in Carlsbad

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The Los Angeles Times is out with a story this morning about how John G. Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo Bank made more than any banker in America last year — $22.87 million.

Some people might say he’s earned it lately, as Wells Fargo Bank has seen a rough month in the public relations realm.

First this story surfaces about Larry Delassus, a retired and disabled man from Hermosa Beach. He dropped dead from a heart attack in court as his attorney argued for Wells Fargo to stop foreclosure of his home.

Yesterday the Wells Fargo CEO was confronted by Betty Badro, an angry homeowner facing immediate foreclosure, as he attempted to give the keynote speech to the American Banker Retail Lending Conference at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort. The luxurious Carlsbad resort is the same location used by the infamous Koch Brothers for their secret reception and biannual fundraiser for conservative causes back in June.

The SD Free Press’s exclusive coverage of the Carlsbad confrontation has gone viral on the internet. Of course, there’s not a peep in the local daily newspaper.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Mayor Filner Takes to the Streets, Carl DeMaio Re-emerges to Obstruct Plans

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Mayor Bob Filner is making two high profile appearances as the week winds down to highlight pro-active aspects of his agenda for San Diego. Meanwhile, the proxy war aimed at thwarting his programs continues, as opponents wage their own media onslaughts.

This morning Filner’s holding a press conference with ex-councilwoman Donna Frye to announce details of an open government initiative designed to make the inner workings of the City more accessible to citizens. The Mayor’s decision to bring the popular ex-councilwoman into his administration has been widely lauded.

The Mayor’s defeated opponent, Carl DeMaio, is also taking the stage today, with an op-ed piece in UT-San Diego this morning and a morning speech at an event hosted by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. DeMaio’s message would seem to be a clarion call to warn San Diegans about Filner-approved ‘double-dipping’ for city pensioners.

The Mayor is trying to make it possible for Donna Frye to work in his administration and get paid for her time. Period. End of story.

Taking a cue from his Congressional brethren, DeMaio’s mission is to simply obstruct where ever possible, using alarmist rhetoric to cover his real intentions. You can bet that nobody in the mainstream San Diego media will see through this ruse; the ex-Councilman will be all over the evening news.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Rumors of LA Times Koch Bros – Manchester Deal Rise and Fall with the Sun

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Los Angelenos were caught up yesterday in successive waves of speculation that the regions’ dominant daily newspaper was about to be purchased by billionaire brothers/conservative activists Charles and David Koch. Alt paper LA Weekly broke the story, followed by echoes from the Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and even Forbes.

The Weekly story claimed multiple sources in reporting that the Koch brothers were contemplating purchasing “either the Tribune Co. newspaper group, which includes the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun or the entire Tribune Co., which includes more than 20 stations like WGN and KTLA Channel 5.”

An unnamed member of the LA Times editorial board was credited with adding that the Kochs were actually acting as financiers for a bid by UT-San Diego publisher Doug Manchester. The embellishments appearing in various reports and comments about San Diego’s media mogul were nearly as ridiculous as the local daily’s self promotional efforts.

INSIDE: IRS Employees Protest Sequester Cuts, Judge Rants on SDReader Wrongs, Pedestrians Fight Back   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Welcome to Paul Ryan’s Budget Nightmare

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Congressman Paul Ryan’s blueprint for the Republican Party budget, rolled out for all to see this morning, presents a sweeping view of the future. (Here’s your copy.) In 10 years, the budget deficit will have disappeared. The progressive income tax structure will be replaced by a two tiered system. Obamacare will be gone.

It will be a dream come true if you happen to be wealthy.

INSIDE: Let the Poors Eat at Burger King, Some Taxes are More Equal Than Others, Gosh, I Wonder Why Trolley Ridership is Down?   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – North County SPRINTER Transit Troubles Stem from Lack of Outsourcing Oversight

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The SPRINTER transit line serving commuters between Escondido and Oceanside has suspended service for at least two months, effective last Friday, due to problems with the braking systems. Accelerated wear patterns on brake rotors were discovered during an inspection last week by officials with the California Public Utilities Commission.

Nearly eight thousand users of the North County rail system will be re-routed to express bus services until repairs can be made. (UPDATED) The North County Transit District outsourced many services with this system, starting from day one in 2008. A restructuring in 2010 moved bus operations to private contractors.

Maintenance and operations of SPRINTER vehicles was handed over to Veolia Transportation, which sub-contracted the work out to Bombardier Transportation. A spokesman for the Transit District told KPBS the companies under contract failed to report the issue of the non-compliant brake rotors to North County staff.

A recent KPBS report by i-newsource raised questions about the oversight of outsourced contracts at the agency for security. Now it would appear that maintenance contracts also need to be reviewed for oversight considerations.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Fake Video About San Diego ACORN Yields $100,000 Settlement; Wingnuts Continue Defamation

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You’d think the right wingers would give it a rest. But the myth of the evil-doers at ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) continues to live.

Four separate investigations by various state and city Attorneys General and the GAO released in 2009/2010 cleared ACORN of any illegal activities. Law enforcement officials found its employees had not engaged in criminal activities and that the organization had managed its federal funding appropriately.  Videos purporting to show illegal activities were found to have been deceptively and selectively edited to present the workers in the worst possible light.

So it’s with some small satisfaction that former members of that group were in a celebratory mood yesterday after court documents were released revealing that James O’Keefe, the conservative activist whose hidden-camera stings were at the center of the controversy, agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employee of ACORN.

INSIDE: North Park Water Tower, District 4 Dirt, Balboa Park Redux, Digging in South LA   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – End Welfare for UT-San Diego’s Owner and his Friends; Raise the Minimum Wage

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Today’s UT-San Diego editorial represents the height of hypocrisy.

Titled ‘Minimum wage hikes deliver maximum pain to the poor’, it goes on to tell us in no uncertain terms about the terrible things that will follow should Congress act on a bill introduced on Tuesday by Democratic Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and George Miller of California that would raise the hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 — and add an annual adjustment to keep pace with the cost-of-living index.

At the heart of the issue over wages is a business model that relies upon ‘corporate welfare’ either through tax breaks or subsidies (including their labor costs).  Aside from the fact that it’s remarkably short-sighted, such a business philosophy also leads to increases in wealth differential. They get richer, everybody else gets poorer. And that’s exactly what’s happening in the US today.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Report: California Leads the Nation in Right Wing Extremist Groups

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The popular image of the Golden State is that it’s a hotbed of liberalism; it’s the “left coast” of the country in conserve-speak. The Republican Party is all but irrelevant, and even Orange County, the former bastion of conservatism is no long safe for the GOP. It would seem that, having been defeated in the electoral arena, some right wing activists are moving into the grey areas of political activity.

So it may come as a surprise to some that a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued yesterday names California as the national leader when it comes to the number –82–of conspiracy-minded anti-government so-called “Patriot” groups. Such groups have seen substantial growth since the 2008 election of President Obama and are described as becoming increasingly militant.

In 2008 there were 149 such organizations nationally, rising to 512 in 2009, jumping again to 824 in 2010, to 1,274 in 2011 and increasing yet again in 2012 to 1360. The report warns:

Now, in the wake of the mass murder of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut school and the Obama-led gun control efforts that followed, it seems likely that that growth will pick up speed once again.

Inside: Has the NRA Gone Too Far for Firearm Manufacturers?, Yes We Can Kill; Here Come the Drones, Letter Talks About Hoteliers’ Damage to San Diego, Food Riots Likely to Become the New Normal   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Mayor Filner Keeps Up the Heat on Hoteliers

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Get ready for more UT-San Diego editorials calling Mayor Filner a bully.

He’s calling into question the deal struck between former Mayor Jerry Sanders and the downtown crowd giving them control over the Convention Center’s sales and marketing. Yesterday Filner’s office released a letter calling for an end to that agreement, demanding return of those functions to a City sponsored non-profit.

This agreement was the quid pro quo demanded by hoteliers in 2012 in return for their cooperation with an increase in taxes to pay for the Convention Center expansion.

INSIDE: SABOTAGING THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT? – VOUCHERCARE IS NEXT ON GOP AGENDA   [Read more…]

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