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The Starting Line – Are California Voters Ready to Amend Proposition 13?

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Polling Group Finds Support for Splitting Property Tax Rolls

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has been asking Californians what they think about issues and politics since 1998. Over time they’re work has become recognized as the gold standard for public opinion polling in the Golden State.

Yesterday they released the results of their 130th survey, taken shortly after the November elections, asking 2001 respondents about their outlook on the future, electoral reforms, potential fiscal, governance, and initiative reforms, the passage of Proposition 30, the state’s public higher education system, water policy, and elected officials’ handling of plans and policies for the state’s future.

And apparently voters are ready to consider a big change to Proposition 13, long considered a sacred cow in California politics.   [Read more…]

SuperStorm Sandy Aftermath: Power Companies Unnecessarily Immiserated Millions

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Weeks after Hurricane Sandy struck, millions of people were still without electricity. At its peak Sandy left 8.5 million without power. A lot of people were angry. Why did it take so long to get the power back on even with crews coming from as far away as San Diego? One power company in New Jersey came in for a lot of criticism – Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L)- owned by First Energy based in Ohio.
Although we San Diegans have blessedly been spared from the ravages of hurricanes, tornadoes and other weather disasters, we are still at the mercies of aging utilities much in need of repair and upgrading. In particular, our local power and light company, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) has been neglecting maintenance and upgrading similar to what JCP&L did prior to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.   [Read more…]

Field of View: Bob Filner’s Mayoral Inauguration at Balboa Park

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There was standing room only at the Balboa Park Club as Bob Filner was sworn in as San Diego’s 38th mayor on Monday, Dec. 3.

Mayor Filner thanked City Council members and outgoing Mayor Jerry Sanders for “reforming city finances and for getting us on the track to financial stability” before reaffirming his campaign promise to focus on San Diego neighborhoods, eliminate homelessness, protect our beaches and expand maritime operations.

“For the first time in a decade, we can see the possibility of restoring city services, of rebuilding our neighborhoods and of planning for our future,” Filner said. “Because the real heart and soul of our city are its neighborhoods. They define our city’s character and our residents’ quality of life.”   [Read more…]

Beyond the “Conservative Entertainment Complex”

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In the weeks following the election, David Frum made waves by explaining the shock in conservative circles over Romney’s loss with a bit of interesting media criticism: “Republicans have been fleeced and exploited and lied to by a conservative entertainment complex.”

Of course, those of us with a historical memory longer than five minutes found it amusing to hear this from Frum, the author of George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech. Indeed, Frum was one of the central ideologues promulgating lies aboutIraqand demonizing dissent as unpatriotic. I guess it takes one to know one.

Still, despite the bitter irony of Frum playing the role of truth-teller, he is on to something.   [Read more…]

Field of View: Old Town San Diego

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Old Town happens to be my very first home in San Diego. As a baby, I lived on Conde Street in a house that has since been torn down. In fact, a lot has changed in the (muffled)-something years since then. Much of the surrounding area has become a tourist hot spot that is faithfully avoided by the locals, but Old Town proper still remains a charming a step into the past for me literally and emotionally.   [Read more…]

Marijuana Decriminalization Drops Youth Crime Rates by Stunning 20% in One Year

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The Center for Public Integrity / By Susan Ferriss

Arresting and putting low-level juvenile offenders into the criminal-justice system pulls many kids deeper into trouble rather than turning them around.

 

Marijuana — it’s one of the primary reasons why California experienced a stunning 20 percent drop in juvenile arrests in just one year, between 2010 and 2011, according to provocative new research.

The San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice (CJCJ) recently released a policy briefing with an analysis of arrest data collected by the California Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Statistics Center. The briefing, “California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low,” identifies a new state marijuana decriminalization law that applies to juveniles, not just adults, as the driving force behind the  plummeting arrest totals.

After the new pot law went into effect in January 2011, simple marijuana possession arrests of California juveniles fell from 14,991 in 2010 to 5,831 in 2011, a 61 percent difference, the report by CJCJ senior research fellow Mike Males found.   [Read more…]

Macy’s CEO to American People: Drop Dead

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By Lynn Stuart Parramore / AlterNet / Nov. 21, 2012

Macy’s is a powerful symbol of Thanksgiving, with its festive parade and freakishly large floats. But Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren is part of a group of greedy, unpatriotic CEOs who would like to seize this moment of American hardship and tear the rug out from under hard-working families. Moms, dads, grandparents, kids—he’d like to take a little something from each of you. Especially if you’re poor: he’d really like to get into your purses.   [Read more…]

‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’ that Made Couples Study the Bible Now Suing for Taxpayer Dollars

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By Sarah Seltzer / AlterNet / Nov. 30, 2012

Crisis Pregnancy Centers are problematic on many levels: they often engage in deceptive practices, setting up shop near abortion providers to confuse women, handing out medically inaccurate information and sometimes even coercing patients.

Many are Christian conversion clearinghouses in disguise , as well.

One such “Christ-centered ministry” in Vermont, part of a national umbrella network of Christian CPCs, got rejected for a federal loan for a variety. Now they are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line— Why Building the Carlsbad Desalination Plant is a Good Thing for San Diego

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The San Diego County Water Authority gave the nod yesterday to a thirty year water purchase deal that will clear the way for a privately constructed desalination plant to operate in the north county.

Frankly, I don’t see this as a controversial decision. I’ve read the arguments pro and con. I think the desal plant is a good idea. Let me explain why.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan Livin’ La Vida Logan: Estrella del Mercado Apartments Finally Open!

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By Brent E. Beltrán

On October 1, 2012 the latest addition to the renaissance of my much maligned community, Barrio Logan, finally opened up. The 92 unit Estrella del Mercado apartments is a beautiful, affordable housing community built by Chelsea Investment and Shea Properties.

This project has been in the works for over two decades and with the mid-December opening of the Northgate Gonzalez Market will reach the end. The site was initially going to be built by private developer Sam Marasco and the nonprofit MAAC Project (which built the nearby Mercado Apartments in the 1990’s). But, due to whatever legal, economic and political schemes and squabbles Marasco and city hall were up to, the project fell apart. Devastating a community that always ended up with the short end of the stick. Eventually the city of San Diego sued Marasco to get the land back. The city won in court and in 2010 gifted the land to the new developers who moved with lightning quick speed to get the project done.   [Read more…]

Riding the Rails in the West – The State of Amtrak

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Part 1: Are We There Yet?

By JEC / Special to the San Diego Free Press

Its 6am – still dark with a morning fog when we board the Pacific Surfliner in San Diego. While there is a train leaving at 6:35 am, Amtrak urges passengers booked on the Coast Starlight to take the first train out at 6 am, likely based on experience with frequent delays. But today’s train leaves on time with a few dozen blurry eyed passengers. We were bound for Chicago via Oakland.

Days before we departed, I had mentioned to my doctor I was about to leave on a train trip, from San Diego to Chicago via Oakland. He looked up, surprised, “what, you can do that, take a train from here to Chicago?”

  [Read more…]

San Diego For Free: Walking – It Does a Body (and Mind) Good

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A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Walking – It Does a Body (and Mind) Good

Address & Neighborhood: Anywhere
Best For: Ramblers, wanderers, cubicle dwellers, homebodies, lost souls
Free times: Anytime

In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.
– John Muir

One of the most simple and enjoyable activities that is good for both body and mind is walking. Living in San Diego affords the opportunity to stretch your legs anytime of year, indeed any day.   [Read more…]

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