Labor Council Membership Endorses City of San Diego Propositions A, B and C

The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council announced its endorsement of Propositions A, B and C, which would amend the San Diego City Charter to ensure greater independence of the City’s auditing process, forbid the City from outsourcing the jobs of Firefighters, Lifeguards and Police Officers, and provide voters with the opportunity to vote in 2010 on whether to continue the Strong Mayor Form of Government in a responsible and balanced manner.

Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez noted that a coalition has formed to support the checks and balances the Labor Council championed very early in the charter review process, such as (1) increased independence for the City Auditor, (2) a fair mayoral veto, and (3) patience to see the trial Strong Mayor government play out before judging it.

“Although we disagreed during last year’s Charter Review, I am excited that San Diegans from all sides of the discussion can come together to rally around a package of reforms that we have said all along will keep City Hall accountable to working families and their neighborhoods,” Gonzalez said.

Propositions A, B and C were placed onto the ballot by the San Diego City Council after a contentious charter review process. Despite heavy pressure by a few in the community who wanted to concentrate more power in the hands of the Mayor, the City Council proposed a very balanced set of charter amendments that will improve the charter changes voters made in 2004 and 2006.

The Labor Council also endorsed George George (San Diego City Council, District 5), John Lee Evans (San Diego Unified School Board, Seat A) and Steve Castaneda (Chula Vista City Council, Seat 4). Additionally, the Labor Council recommended to the California Labor Federation the endorsements of Robert Hamilton (49th Congressional District) and Mike Lumpkin (52nd Congressional District).

George won the Labor Council’s endorsement after impressing union members with his on-the-job experience protecting San Diego’s homes. George served in the San Diego Fire Department for 31 years and later became the Fire Chief of Solana Beach.

“In a region that is woefully underfunded when it comes to fire protection and public safety, San Diego’s neighborhoods will really benefit by having an experienced first responder like George fighting to do what’s right on the City Council,” Gonzalez said. “Voters know the difference between real-life experience in the field and empty buzzwords when it comes to keeping neighborhoods safe.”

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

The Mayor Attempts Power Grab

Special City Council Meeting
Consideration of the Recommendations of the Charter Review Committee

Monday, January 14, 2008 at 6:00pm
City Administration Building
Council Chambers -- 12th floor
202 C Street

Check out the Mayor's Charter Review Committee Final Proposal here.

President Peter's Recommendations

Take the following action: Receive the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee. Provide direction to draft ballot language for any items to be placed on the June 2008 ballot. Such ballot language and actual placement on the ballot to be voted on at a later City Council meeting.

The recommendations that are being presented will completely change the make-up and the system of checks and balances set up in City Hall. Let your voice be heard!

Click here to see the City Council Agenda for the special session.

Power Grabs, Officially In During The Holiday Season

Something smells fishy. San Diegans for City Hall Reform, the group that helped Sanders campaign for outsourcing last year, has over $111,000 ready to go for apparently any cause that Sanders would like, as reported in a VOSD article back in August. The group stated yesterday that they found the cause that they want to use the funds for: a charter reform initiative; especially since Sanders' committee did not get their way with the charter reform recommendations that were presented to the City Council Rules Committee in November. Even though at the time perception lent a different idea that Sanders had another "change of heart" with a memo he released just before the committee went to council, when all along they had Plan B ready to go--they just held back on it because Plan A would not cost them as much money.

John Davies, who happens to be a member of the San Diegans for City Hall Reform and served as the Chair of the Mayor's Charter Review Committee (Sanders appointed Davies), said in today's VOSD article, "If the City Council subsequently agrees to place provisions substantially the same as those contained in our initiative on the ballot in 2008, we will terminate our initiative effort." It is now clear that Davies had ulterior motives when he chaired the Mayor's committee. Therefore, Davies lied to the public and represented another cause other than the people of San Diego.

Concerned citizens and local media should take notice. Apparently, power grabs are in during the holiday season. San Diegans for City Hall Reform has the machine set up and ready to change the city charter even if the public's representatives think that it is outrageous, along with countless community groups.

Mayor's Charter Review Committee to Present at Rules Committee

The Mayor's Charter Review Committee will be presenting their recommendations at the City Council Rules Committee meeting today, November 7th in about an hour. This issue will certainly be a major position of debate for the 2008 season.

You can see the committees proposed changes and what the changed proposals would mean to San Diego at: http://goodgovsandiego.blogspot.com/

The Mayor's committee plan is to put these initiatives on the June 2008 ballot. The proposed changes to the charter include: the creation of three additional city council seats, making the strong-mayor form of government permanent, increasing the mayor's veto power with a two-thirds super-majority of 8 council members in order to override a veto, making the mayor executive director of the Redevelopment Agency and the ability to make nominations to the Port District.

A couple of recent articles give an overview of the committee's decisions and go into detail about the backroom style of the committee:

San Diego's backroom 'reform' L.A. Times Op-ed by Steve Erie and Norma Damashek
What a Super-Size City Council Would Look Like VOSD's Evan McLaughlin

Quick to Recommend: An Overview of the Mayor's Charter Review Committee

Somehow, in a six month period a committee put together by the Mayor has been able to go through the San Diego city charter, while not only actively listening to the public for their input, but hearing from all experts on the subject, and being completely objective without any allegiance to their clients (a couple of the committee members are lobbyists that have corporate clients, including Sunroad). It is quite an accomplishment. Well, that is at least what they want the people to believe. Instead, the process illustrates that the agenda was carved out from the get-go by the Mayor's staff before the committee even sat down for the first meeting.

The committee did not stray from the path. The Mayor's Charter Review Committee's finalized recommendations will be discussed at the October 24th meeting of the San Diego City Council Rules Committee. The draft report of their recommendations can be found here. The Mayor's committee plan is to put these initiatives on the June 2008 ballot. The issues include: the creation of three additional city council seats, making the strong-mayor form of government permanent, increasing the mayor's veto power with a two-thirds majority of 8 council members in order to override a veto, making the Mayor executive director of the Redevelopment Agency and the ability to make nominations to the Port District.

It is pretty obvious that this is just a power grab by our city's Mayor. The committee has done its part, so it will be up to the "spin doctors" to market these changes as "necessary" and "vital" for our city. I am sure that they will be warming up in the bullpen in the next month or so and given the Mayor's special fund of over $111,000 that Voice of San Diego (VOSD) exposed in this article, they will not be hurt by a salary cap. Hopefully, the public is able to figure out the real motives behind these changes, and realize that the veto issue for example, has not been such a major problem for the Mayor, let alone the residents of San Diego.

In addition, here are a couple of recent articles that give an overview of the committee's decisions and go into detail about the backroom style of this committee:

San Diego's backroom 'reform'L.A. Times Op-ed by Steve Erie and Norma Damasheka
What a Super-Size City Council Would Look Like VOSD's Evan McLaughlin
Charter Suggestions Move Forward VOSD's quick overview