Connecting the dots to the People’s Ordinance

I was reading the Cafe on Voice of San Diego and Craig Benedetto was posting about the cost the City of San Diego incurs from the People’s Ordinance to collect the City's trash without charging them a dime up front. He was saying it should no longer be free.

So, I started doing some research -

Not on topic: I thought it was interesting Craig represents Sunroad as their lobbyist before the City of San Diego and another 10 other lobbyists either have or do represent Sunroad in addition to Craig before the City of San Diego. Amazing how many of those lobbyist have given Sanders money too.

Back to topic. It would seem Mayor Jerry Sanders wants to bid this service out to the same people that dumped major money into his election. I don't know that for a fact he has a deal with them, but it should be no different then the selling city property deal he gave away to his contributors. Also, at this point no trash hauler has registered yet with the City of San Diego. They have only wrtten Sanders campaign checks. Isn't it stranged they dumped money into his election and the City doesn't affect their company? Why would a business use its money for something so wastefeul. No pun was intended about the trash haulers. Also, it is funny I can't find the contribution reports from San Diegans for City Hall Reform and who the "people" that supported the contracting out proposition last year, only the opposing side filed. Oh, Craig dumped money into the Mayor and the San Diegans for City Hall Reform, which is controlled by the Mayor too.

So, this is probably the test balloon by Sanders to see if he can outsource the trash haulers. Here is a phrase the Mayor is use to hearing, you've been caught, busted!

Lastly, a friend warned me about outsourcing trash and told me to look at the City of Imperial Beach. They have outsourced some of their city services, include trash and that portion of the city budget increases higher then the in-houses service costs every year when the companies "re-bid" the service. You can call it holding the city hostage, because the city can't afford to bring the service back in house. The re-start up cost is too much after it is gone.

School Board Candidate

San Diego Unified School Board member Mitz Lee (R) is running for the City Council District 5 seat. That leaves her school board seat in District A vacant. Gone are the days when an open seat goes to a Republican by default here in San Diego. We have a well qualified, progressive candidate running for this seat.

Dr. John Lee Evans is a clinical psychologist in private practice. He works with children and families on educational issues, and he administers psychoeducational testing. He was an active parent volunteer in SD Unified's schools when his children were growing up. He served on various committees (school site council, parents task force, and governance team),and he volunteered in the classrooms where his children attended.

John served in the Peace Corp in Honduras when he was younger. He worked with rural teachers. Dr. Evans also directed an educational enterprise that provided workshops, training, and language classes for teachers. As a community college instructor, he taught Psychology and ESL.

John is an advocate for progressive issues in San Diego. After picking John's brain on numerous educational issues (including all the current hot topics), I am convinced that John will make a fine school board member. He will help bring consensus to our current school board.

Fairy Tales and Fables

The Labor Council staff always has a good laugh when we see the right-wing blogs make things up and post it as fact.

They recently ran a tidbit about our political director, Lorena Gonzalez’ plan to leave her position to run Marti Emerald’s District 7 City Council campaign. Today, we saw a South Bay media outlet run with this rumor, without contacting anyone at the Labor Council to verify its accuracy.

First, there is no truth to Lorena’s rumored departure. When I asked Lorena about this, she laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her chair. Second, as far as we have heard, Marti Emerald has yet to decided if she will run. Third, if she does decide to run, Marti isn’t a lock for a labor endorsement. We do have a process, with endorsement voted on by our membership.

The moral of the story: Don’t believe everything you read on right-wing blogs.

Saved by the Republicans?

So, next week – on Tuesday – the San Diego City Council will decide whether to sign an amicus brief in a California Supreme Court case to make same-sex marriage legal. The reports out of City Hall’s 10th floor are all over the place. One insider said only Toni Atkins is a sure vote. Others have indicated that they heard about commitments from Scott Peters, Donna Frye and – get this – Jim Madaffer! I haven’t heard anything about where Ben Hueso and Tony Young will end up on this. Conventional wisdom says Districts 4 and 8 are not big Marriage Equality areas, but I think both have enjoyed support from the GLBT community in the past. The most shocking thing I've heard is that Kevin Faulconer could be thing swing vote. Is it true? Might we actually achieve a victory in civil rights thanks to 2 Republican votes?

Even more interesting, how will this play in the Council races for next year. I can’t help but wonder how the various candidates would have voted if they were in office…

Marti Emerald, Will She or Won't She

Well, it can't be avoided. Sooner or later, we would have to ask the question. Will Marti Emerald run for City Council? Clearly, the downtown establishment and developers think she will, and are running scared. They are already pouring the money into ethically-challenged April Boling's campaign, with hopes to keep Marti out of the race.

For one, I hope to God that Marti does decide to run - and shows the establishment the true definition of a reformer. Unfortunately, a friend informed me that her recent back surgery didn't go so well and that she is still mauling over her decision. But, I have to admit, even if she doesn't run... it was a good rumor that forced a whole lot of red cash to be spent on opposition research and polling.

Kudos Marti!

Labor Council Labor Day Picnic This Weekend

The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council celebrates the American worker with its annual Labor Day weekend picnic this Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.

This year’s picnic will be held at Cesar Chavez Park in Barrio Logan.

More than 3,500 tickets have been sold to the event, which also includes a ticket to that night’s Padres game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Festivities will include free food and drinks, kids games and music. Elected officials have been asked to help serve food, as a way to honor the regions’ workers.

For discounted $10 tickets to both the picnic and Padres game, call the Labor Council at (619)283-5411.

The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council is a coalition of more than 100 local unions. The Labor Council represents 120,000 working families in the region. The Labor Council strives to ensure that all families in the region earn a fair wage, health care for their families and have the ability to retire in dignity.

Wingnut Alert!

I have to give up to Jon Fleischman over at the Flash Report for coming up with quite the theory on why the State Senate recently passed a bill placing an "straw vote" regarding Iraq on the February primary ballot. According to Fleischman: "[w]ell, it doesn't take much thought to understand that this measure authored by Democrat Senate President Don Perata is a cynical plot to drive up liberal turnout for the election on which the Perata/Nunez Career Politician Term Limits Weakening Initiative will appear. Perata (and Nunez) are completely fixated on trying to blow a hole in the state's term limits so that they can cling to their prestigious offices."

Wow Jon, and Republicans are as pure as the driven snow! They would never try anything cynical like trying to pass an initiative to change the way the state allocates its electoral votes.

Kudos to The Teamsters...

It was reported this afternoon that the Teamsters union is filing suit against the Bush administration's ridiculous plan to open the border to long haul Mexican trucking companies. "The Teamsters, other trucking and safety organizations and dozens of lawmakers have sought to block the program, which they contend is unsafe. The union is seeking an emergency injunction from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco." [Link]

This effort to open up the border for Mexican trucking is part of a much larger effort by international shippers to avoid the unionized West Coast U.S. ports for the non-union Mexican ports. Just another part of NAFTA agenda.

Rumors

OK, I really hate to spread rumors. But when you hear a juicy one, with even an ounce of credibility, you have to bite. I got an e-mail today that the progressive forces in San Diego have been trying to find an alternative to Mayor Sanders that could actually have some hope to win. The fear is - as I hear it - that Donna Frye will jump in and make it impossible for a more moderate Dem to make a credible run. So what are some of the names being batted around? Juan Vargas, Steve Peace, Dede Alpert, Christine Kehoe, and some mystery TV personality... Personally, I could deal with just about anyone over Jerry Sanders, but I am intrigued about ANOTHER person with name recognition and celebrity considering a run in San Diego. If Marti Emerald runs in 7... and someone with similar status pops up for Mayor, this election season could look like sweeps!

KLSD What's Next?

Yesterday over 500 listeners rally in the Clear Channel offices parking lot in Kearny Mesa to show their support for KLSD 1360am and its progressive talk radio format. When rumors began to circulate last week that KLSD was going to change its format to sports talk, grassroots activists went to work. In a short time, they manage to collect over 1100 signatures with an online petition and turnout 500+ supporters early on a Monday morning to make their case to station management not to dump the progressive format.

Speaking to the crowd gathered in the parking lot. Station program director Cliff Albert stated: "that while various options are under consideration, they want the Progressive voice to remain heard loud and clear in San Diego." So what is next for KLSD?

While some people have speculated that Clear Channel's decision to change KLSD format here in San Diego is part of a much larger effort to kill progressive radio across the country. Low ratings have contributed to KLSD's predicament. In the most recent Arbitron ratings for the Spring 07 period, KLSD received a paltry 0.9 share or 25th place in the San Diego market. This was down from a 2.2 share or 19th place the station had garnered in Winter 07 period a drop of over 50% in its listenership.

Unless something dramatically alters the landscape progressive talk on 1360am here in San Diego is going to end soon. Last week it was reported that KLSD had applied to move its transmitter to Santee and increase its signal to 50000 watts. If they are allowed to increase their signal, I suspect that KOGO, currently the highest rated am station in San Diego, will move from 600am position to the newly increased 1360am position, allowing KOGO to be heard as far away as the Temecula/Rancho California area. As for KLSD look for them to move to the low power 800am signal that is currently home ESPN radio.

UPDATE:

A friend reminded me that Cliff Albert who is program director for KLSD is also the program director for KOGO and the other Clear Channel owned talk radio stations in San Diego. It seems like there isn't much incentive for him to see KLSD succeed if it is going to come at the expense of KOGO. I'll discuss this more on a later post.

The Best They Have to Offer?

Over the weekend I was having a conversation with a colleague up North and discussing the Republicans choices in some local races. (OK, I was lamenting about how the Reeps had cleared the field for David Bejarano in the 78th, and where that left us locally.) Then the conversation came to the San Diego Council seats. Going through the Lincoln Club-endorsed candidates brought a chuckle. In this conservative stronghold this is the best they could come up with? In District 1, we have a Jewish man who led the fight to save the cross. Can you say self-loathing? In his previous life, downtown’s establishment candidate Phil Thalheimer was fired from his position as an orderly in a mental health facility, because he was not “a people person”. Now that is someone I want helping run the 8th largest City in America. At least he stopped wearing that silly wig. Then you have District 5. Federal Contractor Carl Demaio polled himself in the 6th District last year…and when he found out he couldn’t beat Donna Frye, moved into the 5th District to give it a run there. I am glad he came out of the closet, to show other young, closeted LGBT Reeps how accepting the San Diego Republican establishment can be… but I hear there may be some additional dirty laundry in that closet. Then you have District 7. Ethically-challenged April Boling is trying to reinvent herself for the voters who prefer a neighborhood candidate. But, does she really think she can convince the educated voters in D7 that with her stint as Murphy’s lap dog on the Pension Committee, and her record number of fines from the City Ethics Commission, that she is anything but part of the problem. Next year should be fun…

Hey, Chula Vista and Oceanside ... Were You Listening?

During Saturday night's Chargers television broadcast, commentators Billy Ray Smith and Ron Pitts took some time off from the game's play-by-play to interview a very special guest. The guest was none other than the mayor of Glendale, Arizona Elaine Scruggs.

The Chargers were in Glendale playing a pre-season game against the Arizona Cardinals at their fancy brand new stadium, that coincidentally will play host to the Super Bowl next February. The good mayor was on television to sing the economic virtues of stadium development for mid-size cities like Glendale, or Chula Vista, or even Oceanside. This is not the first time Elaine Scruggs has preached the gospel of a new stadium building. This past May, she was the featured speaker at the Current Issues Forum of San Diego entitled "Where will the Chargers touch down."

It is quite clear that new stadium in Glendale is going to play a prominent role in the narrative the Chargers are to construct as part of their PR campaign to get a new stadium. I suspect we will be hearing a lot more as the football season progresses.

On the bright side, at least Mark Fabiani will be so busy as Chargers spokesperson and he won't have the time to screw up any more Democratic presidential campaigns like he did with Wesley Clark in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.

I Guess not Everyone likes Pete Wilson....

As reported in the UT today, yesterday's unveiling of a statue in honor of Pete Wilson here in San Diego was greeted by several hundered protesters. Who were there, to remind the attendees at the ceremony, that San Diego's once "boy mayor" grew up to serve an indistinguished stint in the U.S. Senate, followed by an ignoble tenure as governor during the 1990s.

Wanted: A San Diego Mayor with Integrity

Mayor Jerry Sanders ran for office as a former San Diego police chief saying he would clean up the city government. He said he would be different then the last two San Diego mayors. His tenure would be marked with an open and transparent government, it would be run by the people and not by the special interest, it would be non-partisan and he would not raise taxes. He would set us back on sail to where we all wanted the city to go.

However, along the way Sanders lost his way and his government has been the complete opposite. Instead it has been marked with secrecy, special interests deals, partisanship fighting, tax increases and distrust. It seems like Mayor Sanders' choose to emulate President Bush running as a uniter, but becoming a divider.

Since his swearing in ceremony over 2-1/2 years ago, Sanders has held closed door special interest secret handshake meetings on behalf of developers. Remember the downtown development impact "fees" and the Sunroad deal.



He moved to raised our taxes. Remember he said at his opening ceremony he would raise our water taxes. However when he was called out he backed down. However, he has come back with selling it as a fee increase. I don't buy the arguement it is a fee and not a tax. When the government charges a taxpayer money it is a tax and when a company charges a customer money it is a fee. End of story. He has fought with almost all the city's elected.

In addition, Sanders has been caught raising large sums of money and coordinating a non-candidate campaign fund with no cause yet, just collecting campaign donations. Lets say pay to play, because the people contributing are the same people making money hand over fist from Sanders so called reforming government. Let Donna Frye raise money this way and people from Sanders camp would be on the war path. Shouldn't there be more questions by citizens and the media?

When Sanders or his staff is caught red handed they pull the old deny, deny, deny, make counter accusations and then continue to deny. When it does not work, then someone eventually disappears from his staff. By now he has lost almost all his top non-political staff.

Lets make the argument that Jerry Sanders might had entered the race as a kind man wanting to change San Diego for the better. So, today regardless of what he was when he ran today he is either guilty of the same mishandling of our city as the last two mayors or he is over his head and can't understand his own position or lastly he is dimbwitted and lets his political hacks pull his strings. Regardless it seems his tenure is the Wizard of Oz story. He you want to believe in fairy tales, then don't look behind the curtain, because you might be afraid of what you see.

San Diego deserves better, they deserve someone with integrity, they deserve someone how will re-set our sail and make us again America's Finest City. If you know that type of person, there is a seat to be filled next year as Mayor of San Diego.

Save KLSD - Save Democracy Rally

The following e-mail has been making the rounds:

Dear All,The only liberal/progressive broadcast media outlet in San Diego County is about to be shut down. Clear Channel, who owns KLSD 1360 AM, is in the process of switching the liberal talk format to yet another Sports Talk station.

We need our voice in media – and you can help. The political spectrum from old fashioned liberal Democrats, to peace activists, to independent progressives should all be extremely concerned about what’s happening right here in our community. This is a national issue.

Let’s take a stand, right here and right now. The relentless march of right-wing media consolidation must stop – and we are the only people to do it. It is given to us to make a difference.

We must work together and take all measured steps to show that we won’t back down, we will be heard, and we will win.There will be two gatherings, both outside of the Clear Channel’s offices at 9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92123. [Map]

The first meeting will be to help organize the big rally. All interested individuals and groups, who are willing to work on this issue, should meet on Saturday, August 25th at 9:00am. At 10:00am we will announce the specific plans for the big rally on Monday.

The main rally, the one that is most important to have a massive turnout, will be at 7:30am to 9:30am Monday, August 27th in the parking lot of Clear Channel. Please be careful where you park, as the police may be there handing out tickets. If you park in the lot of a local business, be sure to make a purchase.

We must also be prepared to work beyond these two events.

Right now, here’s what you can do to help:

• Distribute this message to every one of your friends, everyone in your group.
• Call KLSD, get on the air, say you’re mad as hell and we’re not going
  to take it anymore.
• Call Air America and tell them we’re working to save KLSD.
• Prepare to get to the rally on Monday – also come to the organizational meeting on Saturday, if you can help, or just can’t make the Monday rally. The most important thing will be to have hundreds of people in Clear Channel’s parking lot at 7:30am on Monday. The press will be there, every major progressive group in the county will be represented there, and we will be heard.
• Listen to KLSD and support their sponsors – call the sponsors, even if you can’t buy something right now, let them know you heard about them from KLSD.
• Don’t think that someone else will do this for you – you must make the effort.
• More information can be found at http://www.saveklsd.com/ and
  www.nonstopradio.com/sandiego.html (a site that helps support communities in our situation – this has happened before, and stations have been saved).
• Also an email group has also been formed at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saveklsd/.

Please, if nothing else, just be there on Monday. Car pool if you can, reach out to friends and neighbors to make this happen. It’s more important than any of us can imagine.

Thanks, We hope we can count on support from the following organizations to reach out to all their members and affiliations: San Diego Democracy for America - Progressive Democrats of America - East County United PAC - - Activist San Diego - Guerrero Azteca Peace Project - San Diego Democrats - San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice - San Diego Veterans For Peace - Democratic Clubs of San Diego County - Clean Elections - World Can't Wait- San Diego Democracy for America - North County Democratic Unity - Progressive Democrats of America - East County United PAC - Activist San Diego - Guerrero Azteca Peace Project - San Diego Democrats - San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice - San Diego Veterans For Peace - Democratic Clubs of San Diego County - Clean Elections - World Can't Wait - North County Democratic Unity?

*PROTEST*- Save KLSD - Save Democracy- *7:30am to 9:30am *RALLY* Monday,* August 27th* in the Parking Lot of Clear Channel’s offices at 9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92123.

Candidate Gore?

Press release pm Wednesday from the California Draft Gore organization is going to start a signature collection effort in order to put Al Gore's name on the February California presidential primary ballot.

Reasonable Senate Republican Please Stand Up

Okay, after 52 days late Sacramento finally completed their job and approved a state budget. This was only after the state government's budget was held up by Senate Republicans to supposedly show fiscal responsibility, but after the Governor agreed to their demands, only 2 out of 15 voted for it.

We must question their fiscal responsibility:
Is it responsible for a company or the state to not pay its vendors, not pay its employees expenses and not pay the interest on its bonds? No, but the Republican Senators expected vendors to hold back on their invoices without charging interest. No, but the Republican Senators expect the employee credit card companies would not charge interest of these workers for racking up work related costs that required reimbursed. No, the Republican Senators expected the market to wave their hand and skip asking to be paid on the interest on state bonds.

This is reality of the Republican Senators actions: It was reported in the U-T that Gary Byrnes from the Hillcrest Manor Sanitarium in National City Byrnes was owed $260,000 from the delayed state budget, had exhausted the reserves and credit line and was required due to the Republican Senators to operate on a loan from his relative and the help of staff members who agreed to work without pay. He should have asked our own San Diego regional Republican Senators Wyland, Battin or Hollingsworth for the loan.

Is it fiscally responsible for a corporation or a chamber of commerce board to allow a third of their board of directors to hold up its yearly budget? No, but the Republican Senators think it is okay when it comes to themselves.

The Republican Senators claimed the budget still was not balanced and were against tax increase, but rather favored cut to services. What about the marvel idea of eliminating some of the millionaire tax breaks rather then looking at cutting the poor?

If you are married, then the next time you you have to pay a credit card bill, tell them your spouse is opposing the payment and you will work it out in 52 days. Oh, if they question you about interest, tell them you should not have to pay it, because you learned this is fiscally responsible from the actions of our own Republican Senators.

Also, Republican Senators had a chance before the budget was due to make their case and should not have been allowed to hold hostage taxpayer services, businesses and public workers.

When Talking-the-Talk is not enough

Most people are familiar with the ongoing struggle among the employees at Children’s Hospital to form a union. I wanted to share this article from last week’s OC Weekly about the efforts of health-care workers trying to form a union at the Sisters of St. Joseph hospital in Orange. What I found intriguing was that Sisters of Joseph have a long Social Justice tradition:

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange trace their roots back to 17th-century France; the order is well-known for a solid record of commitment to the poor. They’ve marched with Cesar Chavez and supported janitors’ and garment workers’ union-organization efforts. They opened their first hospital in Eureka in 1920 after the big flu epidemic of 1918, giving birth to a health-care system that is now 14 hospitals strong and served just more than 2 million patients last year.

According to the article, “[t]he St. Joseph Health System says it endorses its employees’ rights to unionize,” however, it has poor track record on allowing its own employees to actually unionize. The entire article is very interesting read on the difficulties faced by workers when they try to organize, even if they work for an organization that has a history of Social Justice.

Spray Paint not Included

This morning UT reports on a San Diego-based marketing firm call Brickfish that has been hired by an Alexandria, Virginia think tank called the Reform Institute to create an online competition titled “Design Your Portion of the Border Fence.” As ridiculous as this sounds, the competition which runs until September 12th, will be awarding a Grand Prize winner. Who stands to earn a $1000 scholarship to the school of “life.” In addition, they’ll also awarding a Passion Prize and prizes for the Best American Side and Best Mexican Side of the fence. Who knows maybe the next Diego Rivera will be discovered!

Bob

OK, so I have to ask… is anyone really surprised about the recent stories about Bob Filner’s aggressive behavior? Come on, we all knew he had a temper, that he is assertive, strong-willed and sometimes rude. But, isn’t that why we love him? It is that same “lack of filter” that makes him such a strong advocate for progressive causes. He rarely shows caution in taking on anyone who tramples on the little guy. Notice his recent stance against Establishment-Mayor Cheryl Cox and her lack of leadership on Gaylord. So, I read the stories, yawn and say “that’s our Bob.” So, he may be an ass, but at least he's OUR ass.