San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

The Who, What, Why, When, Where And How Of SANDAG Prop A

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The San Diego Association of Governments has been under fire for poor forecasting and potentially deceiving the public about revenue projects from Proposition A.

At the February 24th meeting of SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments, the Board of Directors comprised of the 18 jurisdictions of San Diego County, heard an explanation of the bad forecast used to anticipate revenue generated from Proposition A, the 1/2 cent sales tax increases which failed on the November 2016 ballot.

Ray Major, SANDAG’s head of technology services and chief economist, explained through a series of power point slides the problems which he has uncovered in the formulas used by the agency to forecast revenues and other economic indicators. Only having been in the post for a little over a year, Major described finding a problem with the Retail Sales Tax estimates, which generated the emails the Voice of San Diego published in their story.

The Board took this opportunity to express their concerns and request an independent investigation into the details surrounding who knew what and when and why the Board had not been made aware of the mistake much sooner.   [Read more…]

My Girlfriend’s a Robot, but I’m a Drone

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By Bob Dorn

Hi.  I’m a robot?

Are you amazed I can talk like a freshman on speed?  

Don’t be.  It’s all just zeroes and ones, yeses and nos, exes and minuses that can account for the way I so humanly can flick my long blonde hair over my earpiece, or, in the case of my boyfriend, yell Wahoo!!! when there’s a story about the Chargers pledging $1 million for a new stadium on the waterfront.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Border Brownshirts Already Running Amok

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The ‘gloves are off’ is a terrible thing to say to anybody with a gun and a badge

We’re already seeing glimpses of what ‘empowered’ agencies charged with immigration enforcement will look like in the Trump era, and it’s not a pretty sight.

What seems to be clear at this point is that some enforcement personnel in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol (two separate agencies, both in Homeland security) aren’t even waiting for the official go-ahead.

San Diego has been lucky–thus far– when it comes to the negative impact of recent executive orders on immigration and refugees. I suspect the reticence of the local ‘migra’ forces may have something to do with the potential for civil unrest as much as anything else.   [Read more…]

The Real Fake News

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Fact-checking is a feeble response in a world where what we think we see and know is more important than the actual truth.

Donald Trump’s continued attacks on the American news media as “the enemy of the American people” have generated quite a stir in mainstream media circles as one might expect. And surely there is good reason to be disturbed by this administration’s punitive stance towards the press.

But what virtually none of the analysis of Trump’s attacks on “fake news” or Steve Bannon’s assaults on what he calls “the corporatist global media,” which both he and the president label “the opposition,” note is the irony that while the new regime is attacking the power of the corporate media, they are also busy installing corporatists in nearly every position of power and pushing an agenda that is every right-wing billionaire’s wet dream.   [Read more…]

A Message to the Grass Roots: Be Wary of Corporate Democrats in Sheep’s Clothing

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The momentum created through movements such as the Women’s March on Washington and the various Indivisible Groups is great and is noticed. All the strategists in the Democratic party – who, by the way, couldn’t excite and capture this level of energy during the last election – are conniving to capture and steer this energy for the Party’s gain. In other words, going forward, what may look like grassroots organizing and politicking will more than likely be a front for the “corporate Democrats” the movements are pushing against.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: County Supervisors Vote No on Feasibility Study for Community Choice Aggregation

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“What’s the rush?”– Supervisor Kristin Gaspar

By Bruce Bekkar, M.D. and Donald Mosier, M.D.

On February 15, our County Board of Supervisors voted against staff’s recommendation to conduct a feasibility study on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA).  

An increasingly popular option throughout California, CCAs (also known as CCEs) provide local residents an alternative to investor-owned utilities and a chance to select a mix of less carbon-intensive electricity at competitive prices.  A San Diego County CCA program would be a big step towards a cleaner, healthier future for everyone.

Community Choice Aggregation programs came into being in California in 2002 with the passage of AB 117 in the California State Legislature.  This Bill created the framework for establishing local, not-for-profit public agencies that would partner with existing utilities to provide additional electricity choices for state residents.
  [Read more…]

On Tuesday, House Republicans Will Betray Their Oaths, Their Country, And The American People

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By Dartagnan / Daily Kos

On February 28, 2017, the United States will witness the what may be the single greatest act of collective treachery by its elected government officials since the Confederate States voted to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861.

And in all likelihood, the U.S. media will completely ignore it.

On Tuesday the Republican-dominated House Judiciary Committee is expected to reject House Democrats’ Resolution for a formal inquiry into the the potential ethical and legal violations committed by the Trump campaign apparatus in its contacts, communications and financial transactions with Russia during the run-up to Trump’s election last November, and throughout the transition since then. It will also reject calls to examine evidence of Trump’s solicitation and receipt of foreign gifts intended to influence American policy and the potential violations of the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: Feb 19-26

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, toons, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, cartoonists, and sourced writers on: Trump, Radical Anti-Semitism, Indivisible taking on Issa and others, inequality in America, council troubles in National City, The DC Shuffle, MOXIE’s Blue Door, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Self Portrait #8

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Three coats of gesso
brushed across naked canvas
painted by sunrise
  [Read more…]

Weekly Progressive Activism Calendar for San Diego, February 24-March 5, 2017

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We’re Not Going Away! More Than Three Dozen Ways to Get Involved

Duncan Hunter’s on the Run! The Los Angeles Times ran a hilarious article about the San Diego Congress-Critter’s pathetic attempts to close down his offices in the face of ongoing protests. Also, Congressman Darrell Issa tried and failed to co-opt the local resistance this week.

Two hundred representatives are not even bothering to try and meet with constituents during the February break. But that hasn’t stopped people from picketing their offices and flooding their switchboards with calls demanding answers on immigration, health care, and a host of other issues. And it’s not going to stop anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Congresspersons Susan Davis and Scott Peters spoke before full houses this week, answering questions and seeing up close and personal the passion people are feeling these days. As Democrats, these representatives didn’t face crowds that were necessarily upset, but the message of resistance was just as strong.   [Read more…]

2 Investigations Requested at National City’s Council Meeting

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Independent Investigation On Whether SANDAG Deceived the Public: Mayor Ron Morrison on the Board of Directors

Summary: The Voice of San Diego reported that SANDAG may have deceived voters, telling them Measure A would generate $18 billion over 40 years, although they knew this was untrue. Mayor Morrison was a SANDAG Board of Director and residents wondered if he knew about the deceit. 

Residents during public comments and two council members asked that the California Attorney General do an investigation. The motion failed in a 3-2 vote. A subsequent motion asked for an independent investigation without the California Attorney General, which passed unanimously.

On February 21st, Voice of San Diego reported that prior the November 2016 election, voters were told Measure A would generate about $18 billion over 40 years. Newly uncovered emails, however, revealed SANDAG staff knew as early as 2015 that the $18 billion figure was unrealistic. (The measure failed.)   [Read more…]

Big Oil Capture of Calif. Politics Shatters the “Greenest State” Narrative

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California oil lobby tops spending in 2015-16 session with $36.1 million>

By Dan Bacher

In spite of California’s reputation as a “green leader,” Big Oil is the largest corporate lobby in the state and exerts enormous influence over the Governor’s Office, Legislature and regulatory agencies.

As usual, the California Oil Lobby was the biggest spender in the 2015-16 legislative session, spending an amazing $36.1 million as of December 31, 2016.

The spending amounts to $1.5 million per month — nearly $50,000 per day — over the last two years. The $36.1 million surpassed the $34 million spent in the prior session, according to a report by the American Lung Association in California. “That’s enough money to buy 103,000 goats,” reported Stop Fooling California.   [Read more…]

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