Francis hits the Mail

Steve Francis has taken his pitch to the mailboxes, it seems. A friend of mine told me this evening that she received an 8 page mailer from Steve Francis - proclaiming him to be the "independent for mayor." (She is a Democrat, PAV) The mail piece was described as a typical introduction piece, just like his commercials, with pictures of him and wife, him as a boy scout, etc. Nothing about his right of center politics, just feel good stuff. Anyone know who is doing his mail?

Friday - Quick Hits

I'm shocked! Another anti-Aguirre piece in the UT today. UT

The 9th circuit strikes again. Revives defamation suit against Supervisor Dianne Jacobs. UT

From the irony department, the UT decries the partisanship in city council races. UT

More on Art Madrid. Now La Mesa councilmember want county D.A. to investigate Madrid incident. UT

Residents in Kensington a going to court to stop the development of Kensington Terrace. UT

The Sprinter rail service hasn't even started yet, and NCTD to be fined for water pollution violations. UT NCTimes

Hypocrite Sal Rosselli Exposed!

A letter was sent by Tyrone Freeman the President of SEIU-ULTCWU to Sal Rosselli the President of SEIU-UHW-West.

In the letter Tyrone tells Sal that he just learned that Sal has been having secret back-door meetings and deals with a group of nursing home employers over economic issues covering bargaining unit workers where the two SEIU unions have joint representation to a master collective bargaining agreement. He goes on to say it is a violation of the responsibility and fiduciary duties of a union leader and in violation of the fundamental principles of trade union democracy.

The secret deal was signed by Sal's union on 1/21/08 with the employers of Covenant Care, Kindred, Country Villa, Sun and Salva. None of SEIU-ULTCWU members or even their staff were apart of the agreement or conversations, which means member contracts were being negotiated without the members or their knowledge. The reason for this posting is the hypocrisy of Sal, who has tried to call out SEIU International's President Andy Stern for doing exactly what Sal is now caught doing himself, making deals with employers without member involvement. In addition, Tyrone states Sal has been doing this without Sal's own members, the rank and file workers, but a group of hand picked workers bound to the secrecy of a pledge.

The secret agreement uncovered states that both sides (Sal's union and the employers) will be "off-the-record", except where terms of this agreement are sought to be enforced, absent the written consent of all parties. It goes on that all parties shall not disclose their conversations to the media, the NLRB, or other government agencies, a mediator, arbitrator or court of law. However, if you are under oath with a THREAT of judicial contempt, then tell the parties, before testifying.

Tomorrow in Los Angeles Sal is arranging a protest of Andy for what Sal has just been caught doing. The interesting question who now turns out, who turns out knows about this back door deal and will they still support Sal? Finally, will Sal's own members believe these uncovered documents or follow him blindly into the abyss.

Cross-posted at Calitics.

Thursday - Quick Hits

Old Police headquarters on Market St. is headed for redevelopment as a commercial center. UT

Wow! The UT has discovered that gay people live in other neighborhoods besides Hillcrest. UT

Art Madrid saga continues. Independent investigator might be hired as early as next week. UT

Still more on Art Madrid. La Mesa Police release dispatches from night of incident. UT

County's top administrator to pen a column on the life and times of being a government bureaucrat. UT

Mini-dorm ordinance is headed back to city council for approval. UT

SANDAG panel asserts that Sunrise Powerlink contradicts San Diego County's long range energy goal. NCTimes

Enviros split endorsement in D3

I received an interesting announcement today. The League of Conservation Voters San Diego chose to support Todd Gloria in the San Diego City Council District 3 race. Anyone who has been watching this race closely has to be a little surprised. The Sierra Club came out early to support Stephen Whitburn and John Hartley, basically saying anyone but Gloria. Then, there was a lot of talk about the number of enviros that were lining up for Whitburn, because of all the developer money that showed up on Gloria's campaign disclosures. So, how did he squeeze a sole endorsement from the League? Their board is full of real enviros, so this is really a coup for Gloria. Or, maybe a signal that people on the ground think he has it tied up?

Wednesday - Quick Hits

With real estate crisis, city is having hard time selling property to meet budget shortfall. UT

Oceanside school officials decide to place $195 million bond measure on June ballot. UT

SDGE agrees to tear down steel power towers along bay front in Chula Vista. UT

Fair and balanced UT still doing the PR work for Gaylord Entertainment. UT

UCR wants to build medical school. UT

Tuesday - Quick Hits

Another gun battle in Tijuana, this time between the army and members of a kidnapping ring. UT

Sanders begins radio ad push for re-election. UT

Peters presently is an "inactive" member of State Bar. VOSD

Questions being raised on how Red Cross spent donation money during wildfires. UT

Council votes to put measure on ballot, that would allow the mayor to continue selecting the city auditor. UT VOSD

National City may join plan to zone waterfront between residents and industry. UT

Carlsbad set to vote on pay raise for city workers. NCTimes

Don't be Afraid!

San Diego Ready to Build Up, Not Out

For the first time since 1979, the City of San Diego is reviewing and updating its general plan for growth and development. The report is more than 300 pages long and not even *I* am nerd enough to read it all (ok, not yet), but it's kicking up quite a stir as it recommends a rather dramatic shift to infill, redevelopment and other building up instead of out priorities. Why the shift? Well, there's no more room. As the U-T points out, only 4% of San Diego remains open for new development. Which means it's time to start thinking like an actual city instead of neverending suburbia.

This notion has of course stirred up plenty of controversy. Some of it is legitimate, like Councilmember Donna Frye's concerns about infrastructure and services keeping up with increased density. Some of it is mostly just people just trying to cover their own butts without regard for the broader picture. I'm all for making sure that the projects are executed correctly, but criticisms along the lines of "if it's done wrong, it'll be bad" really don't help me much.

Calitics has, on many occasions, discussed the need to change the way California thinks about development. Robert in Monterey has led the way on the notion that building density and a non-car based transportation system is key to the next generation of planning. So while I'm cynical like many people around town who say "The plan has these wonderful platitudes but on every page," I'm also encouraged by just the notion of setting a goal of building forward-thinking urban density.

San Diego's take on it will apparently focus on these ten priorities:

The proposed new blueprint for San Diego is guided by 10 principles. They are:

An open-space network formed by parks, canyons, river valleys, habitats, beaches and ocean.

Diverse residential communities formed by the open-space network.

Compact and walkable mixed-use villages.

Employment centers for a strong economy.

A regional transportation network of walkways, bikeways, transit, roadways and freeways that link communities to each other and to employment centers.

High quality, affordable and well-maintained public facilities.

Historic districts and sites that respect San Diego's heritage.

Balanced communities that offer opportunities for all San Diegans.

A clean and sustainable environment.

A high aesthetic standard.

Mayor Jerry Sanders, in a serious battle with fellow right-winger Steve Francis (hitting from the left and the right cause there's no major Dem in the race) for November's mayoral election, is dusting off his anti-labor credentials by complaining about the promotion of living wage regulation for low-wage industries like, say, tourism. Center for Policy Initiatives has coincidentally (not at all a coincidence) reminded San Diegans this week that the local economy has not exactly been churning out the big bucks (pdf). Via email:

In San Diego County, two-thirds of all jobs created since 1990 are in the bottom third of wage levels -- with median pay of $24,500 a year. Research from the California Budget Project shows that even a person living alone needs $28,000 a year to meet basic living expenses in our county.

Nice. So San Diego is producing jobs that pay too little to live in San Diego, thus the living wage is a bad idea. Clearly. Living is bad. Affording to live in San Diego is bad for the local economy. Jerry Sanders is an economic mastermind.

But where this really will start hitting problems is when people have to pay for it. Not because people are unwilling to pay for good stuff, but because of the near-toxic combination of politicians who demonize government inefficiency (that they contribute to), the media that laps up the notion (because it's easier than being a legitimate watchdog), and the years of (to put it nicely) crap government in San Diego.

But as Planning Commission Chairman Barry Schultz puts it, "if we want to have this vision we have to be willing to contribute our part."

Exactly.

Cross posted from Calitics

Monday - Quick Hits

I think the word is called zoning. Groups seek to created a buffer zone between residents and waterfront. UT

Extension of Route 52 to connect with Route 67 is underway. Don't expect to drive on it until 2010. UT

Firefighters use controversial Sunroad building as part of training exercise. UT

NCTD ironing out last of the problems before the Sprinter rail service starts. UT

Questions continue to pile up regarding the desal project in Carlsbad. NCTimes