Friday, October 21, 2011

VOSD: Downtown Is Starkest Contrast Between Filner, Fletcher

But another significant city issue showed the starkest contrast between the two: downtown redevelopment.

Filner wants to eliminate it. Fletcher's the one who recently extended its lifespan for two decades.

Read the article here.

SDNR: Fletcher endorsed by probation officers

The announcement came one day after the San Diego Police Officer's Association and the San Diego chapter of the Peace Officers Research Association of California showed their support for Fletcher's campaign.

Read the article here.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

LGBT Weekly: Strange bedfellows: DeMaio, Hedgecock and Lysol Larry Stirling

That is what is so troubling about recent endorsements of mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio. DeMaio has rolled out the endorsements of Roger Hedgecock and Larry Stirling; both of these men have a homophobic past in which they have expressed animosity and shown hostility toward the LGBT community.

Read the article here.

SDUT: San Diego mayoral candidates talk stadium

Wednesday night's San Diego mayoral debate featured an exchange between Democratic Rep. Bob Filner and Republican Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher about the new Chargers stadium being backed by current Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Read the article here.

VOSD: Style in the Mayor's Race

At this point in San Diego's mayoral election, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher can't compete with their Republican counterpart Councilman Carl DeMaio on his knowledge of city issues.

Actually, let's be real. It's doubtful Dumanis and Fletcher ever will — or even try to.

Read the article here.

SDUT: Does a candidate's unwillingness to debate opponents influence your voting decision?

Check out the votes and results here.

Protest Rally Tomorrow for School Funding and to make Nathan Fletcher listen to his Constituents.

In the three years that Nathan Fletcher  has been representing constituents in the 75th AD, including members of the Poway Unified School District community, California public schools have undergone their worst financial crisis since the inception of the state constitution in 1849, and the constitutional establishment of California public schools.  Over $17 billion have been cut from public education and the per pupil loss in the Poway Unified is over $1,300.  Even before 2008, schools were struggling with constant underfunding. 

Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher has signed a pledge to vote against allowing his constituents the opportunity to vote on a revenue extension measure, on the June 2011 special election ballot, that would protect education from deeper budget cuts. 

Without this revenue extension measure, the Legislative Anaylst’s Office (LAO) reports that funding for schools would fall by at least $2 billion, or more than $335 per student.  The Governor has stated that the cuts to schools could be twice that amount, which would be devastating for our classrooms.

Currently the Poway Unified School District has Kindergarten classes of 28 students, middle school classes with more than 40 students and high school classes with more than 50 students.  We are in survival mode.  If voters are denied the opportunity to determine the fate of the tax extension measure we will be facing a $25 million budget shortfall in 2012-13 and a budget so dire the following year that it is beyond comprehension.

Protest rally tomorrow, Friday 21, from 8:20AM to 9:20AM on the street corner at Los Penasquitos Elementary School in Rancho Penasquitos (14125 Cuca St., San Diego, 92129
)

SD Reader: Juan Vargas Gets $1000 of Roski Campaign Cash


Majestic Realty honcho Edward P. Roski, Jr., locked in a battle with AEG's Philip Anschutz for the chance to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, gave $1000 to help retire the campaign debt of state Sen. Juan Vargas, now seeking the congressional seat that fellow Democrat Bob Filner is giving up to run for mayor.

Read the article here.

SDUT: The empty chairs at mayoral debates

It is still more than seven months before the June 2012 primary election that will whittle the list of candidates for mayor of San Diego from the current crop of 15 down to the top two, and we are hesitant to rush things along too much. But it is nevertheless disappointing that two of the leading contenders have not yet joined in debates.

Read the editorial here

VOSD: What the Police Endorsement Says About the Mayor's Race

To be sure, it's not as if this move was entirely unexpected. Fletcher carried a bill at the union's behest through the state Legislature last year. Fletcher's signature achievement, a law that gave tougher penalties to sex offenders, had strong law enforcement backing.

Fletcher's political consultant, Tom Shepard, owns the lobbying company that represents the police union. Marvel said his lobbyist, Kimberly Hale Miller, recused herself from the union's endorsement discussions.

Read he article here.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

SDUT: The GOP chairman’s Twitter trickery

Is that really the ethical standard that local Republicans would set for their chairman? All is fair in politics? Trickery is part of the chairman’s job if it can help the party win?

We think the bar should be higher.

Read the editorial here.

Coalition calls on Carl DeMaio and Bonnie Dumanis to participate in A Better San Diego Mayoral Forum


***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***

Coalition calls on Carl DeMaio and Bonnie Dumanis to participate in A Better San Diego Mayoral Forum

WHAT:          
San Diego Mayoral Forum Press Conference presented by A Better San Diego; www.abettersandiego.org 


EVENT:         
Press Conference to promote A Better San Diego Mayoral Forum being held on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 at Balboa Theatre starting at 6:30 p.m. San Diego mayoral candidates Congressman Bob Filner and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher have agreed to participate in the Mayoral Forum, while Councilman Carl DeMaio and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis have declined invitations.

WHO:            
Norma Chavez-Peterson, Director/Lead Organizer for Justice Overcoming Boundaries, and other A Better San Diego coalition members will deliver a pre-forum address to call attention to Wednesday’s Mayoral Forum and call on candidates Carl DeMaio and Bonnie Dumanis to participate. Chavez-Peterson and coalition members will be available for interviews following the address.

WHEN:          
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011                     
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m

WHERE:       
Balboa Theatre (outside the main entrance)
868 4th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Meet San Diego Mayoral Forum moderators: Norma Chavez-Peterson (Justice Overcoming Boundaries) and Lorena Gonzalez (San Diego Labor Council)
- Preview the San Diego Mayoral Forum being held the following night at Balboa Theatre
- Question and answer session
- Public setting to ask why other major mayoral candidates are not participating

ADMISSION:
This event is FREE and open to the general public. Call for details. To reserve your seat for the San Diego Mayoral Forum, go to www.abettersandiego.org.


A Better San Diego
www.abettersandiego.org
# # #

Monday, October 17, 2011

Scott Peters is running for Congress


I am writing today to share some very exciting news with you -- I've decided to run to represent San Diego's 52nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.  We've had enough of the gridlock and the blame game.  It's time to get something done.  It's time for a change.

Some of our Representatives, including the incumbent, Brian Bilbray, have worked in the Beltway for so long, they've forgotten they work for the people back home.  The unrelenting partisanship in Congress has put our economy at even greater risk at a time when families already face unemployment and uncertainty at levels most have never experienced.  We deserve better.  I am proud of my record in public service as an independent and reasonable voice working to achieve results, and I'll bring that approach to Washington to help end the gridlock which has hamstrung our current Congress.

The American people -- especially San Diegans -- don't care about party politics as much as they care about their jobs, their quality of life and their children's futures.  They are embarrassed and worried that our national Representatives can't put aside their personal politics and put the people they represent first.

I learned from my parents that each of us has a responsibility to do what we can to help others, to make a difference, and to stand up for what's right, even when it's not easy.  This country has given me so much -- a great public education, a beautiful community and tremendous freedom and opportunity. I want our kids and our grandkids to have the same.

As I've told my children, the only time you lose is when you don't try.  The time is right for San Diegans to have new representation in Washington.

The next thirteen months will be both a very exciting and trying time for my family and me.  It will not be easy.  But I am committed, and with your help, we will be successful.  We share and hold dear many of the same principles that make our region and our nation so great.  I hope I can count on your support.

Sincerely,

Scott Peters