Carl DeMaio Not Playing Nice with Others!

According to the UT, Carl DeMaio and some of his campaign flunkies didn't like the idea that D-5 candidate George George has a 4ft by 8ft on his property. This video illustrates, how first some of the classy DeMaio campaign workers tried to place some signs next to George's. When that apparently didn't try to take the sign down. Is George's candidacy really that big of a threat to DeMaio?

Carl DeMaio Asked to Remember That Tax Day Applies to Everyone

As millions of Americans fulfill their patriotic duty and file their income taxes, the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council is forced to remind Carl DeMaio to send in his tax return by the end of the day.

In the past five years, DeMaio and his Virginia-based think tank have been penalized several times for failing to file taxes in a timely manner. DeMaio’s behavior has resulted in penalties, liens and the suspension of the corporate status of his company, Performance Events.

Members of the Labor Council will be at the Margaret Sellers Postal Center in Carmel Mountain Ranch to ask taxpayers to remind DeMaio of the April 15 filing deadline if they see him.

“It is a slap in the face to hard-working and honest citizens that Carl DeMaio struggles to follow the same tax laws that we all observe,” said Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez. “For a so-called ‘watchdog,’ he certainly seems to have trouble following the rules.”

DeMaio’s Performance Events, an organization that guides companies towards taxpayer-funded government contracts, remains suspended for failure to pay taxes to California’s Franchise Tax Board.

“The irony of a company that relies on taxpayer dollars to operate failing to pay its taxes is shocking,” Gonzalez said. “On the one hand, he wants to line his pockets with taxpayer money. Yet on the other, he hasn’t followed tax rules.”

In addition to corporate failures, DeMaio has struggled to pay property taxes on his two San Diego properties.

More information on Carl DeMaio’s history of missed tax deadlines can be found at www.dirtydemaio.com.

The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council is a coalition of 119 local unions that represent 120,000 working families in the region. The Labor Council strives to ensure that all workers in the region earn a fair wage and health care for their families.

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.”

Dirty DeMaio

San Diego needs real leadership - not more mismanagement and dirty politics. We need leaders who look beyond their own personal gain and work for all San Diegans.

What we don’t need is more dirty politicians – but that’s exactly what we would get with Carl DeMaio.

When DeMaio showed up at City Hall in 2002, nobody knew what was behind his buzzword-driven proposals for “cleaning up City Hall.” It turns out that it’s DeMaio’s own record that needs cleaning up. The truth is, Carl DeMaio is just one more dirty politician. And his record proves it:

DeMaio claims to be a fiscal watchdog. In fact, he can't even balance his own books and has regularly violated tax laws.

DeMaio says he’s running to represent fellow San Diegans. In fact, he recently said in a sworn affidavit that he is a resident of Arlington, Virginia.

DeMaio has criticized City Hall corruption and special interests. In fact, he is a lobbyist and consultant who represents corporations and special interests.

See for yourself. Get the facts on DeMaio's dirty record and help clean it up. Go to DirtyDeMaio.com.

This message was paid for by the thousands of firefighters, nurses, teachers and other workers of the San Diego Labor Council.

DeMaio Musings

I spend a lot of time in District 5, and recently discussed the topic of Carl DeMaio with friends and family in the Carmel Mountain Ranch/Rancho Bernardo area.

The discussion is often pretty short, with friends being able to tell me he’s going to fix San Diego’s finances followed by silence. No one can answer how DeMaio, as just one of eight votes on the City Council, is going to be able to do this. No one can tell me his plan for solving all our problems. Just that DeMaio can fix everything, as if he were magic.

The fact is that to this point DeMaio has been somewhat of a one-trick pony insisting that the solution to solving all of San Diego’s fiscal problems is by selling-off city services one-by-one. Good luck telling parents in D5 that their children can’t visit their branch library because it closed early or their child’s Little League games at Community Park or Highland Ranch Park are canceled due to poor conditions, all because the contractor has profits as higher priority than service.

Having grown up in the heart of District 5, living there until I was 25, I know there will be questions about what are DeMaio’s plans after he “fixes” city finances. This is where I think he will struggle due to the area’s ultra-conservative values.

I remember debates in my high school civics class where the majority of the class would argue, passionately, that the widow of a fallen soldier should not receive any government assistance since she was “foolish” to marry and have children if she couldn’t have been able to afford life without her husband. My senior year a fellow progressive-minded student and I searched for a teacher who would brave the stigma from ultra-conservative parents and sponsor a campus Future Democrats Club (we found a closeted gay teacher, but with just two members in a school with 2,800 students we couldn’t sustain a full club).

So I can’t help but think that, as sad as it may be in this day and age, DeMaio’s sexual orientation will be a factor in this election.

This is still an area of the city where there was more outrage that a student was asked to remove a t-shirt referring to a Bible verse than that said t-shirt was hateful towards fellow classmates.

This is the same area where a local country club recently settled an anti-discrimination lawsuit with a lesbian couple.

This is the same area where the fear of high school girls wearing the wrong type of underwear resulted in a disgraceful school dance.

It’s unfortunate, but I have to think at some point DeMaio is going to run into problems from those spouting traditional family values.

Now Maienschein for City Attorney!

The VOSD is reporting tonight that district-5 councilman Brian Maienschein is going to run for city attorney.[Link] This comes the same week that William Gentry dropped out of the race.

Carl DeMaio Sells Private Think Tank

Voice of San Diego reported yesterday that Carl DeMaio is selling his private think tank for an undisclosed amount to Thompson Publishing Holding Co. What exactly will that mean for the Performance Institute?

Well, don’t worry about Carl he has his own plan for the future, which includes running for the District 5 City Council seat. Let’s just hope that he is not as successful with his next venture as he was with his first.