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06/07/10 |
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Chula Vista's Prop G -
an analysis. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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The heated arguments over Chula Vista's
Prop G have centered around whether Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) increase
or decrease the cost of public works projects. Both labor and developers accuse
each other of increasing costs through exclusionary labor practices. But I think
there is more to it than that. I think the truth is much deeper. This is not
about cost. More ....
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05/24/10 |
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Would Lorie Zapf bring "strategic fraud" to City Council? |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Lorie Zapf, a candidate for City Council District 6, is
attempting to turn a bust into a boon. Last week Dave
Maass of CityBeat broke a
story busting her for being in default on her family
home in Clairemont. Responding to CityBeat Ms. Zapf
tried to paint herself as the champion of all families
who are attempting to negotiate a modification of their
mortgage with their lender.
More ....
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05/06/10 |
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Strong Mayor = Insider Deals. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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I went to a strong-mayor forum (Prop D) last night at
the San Diego County Health Complex sponsored by
Common Cause and
Empower
San Diego, with
guest speakers Donna Frye and Carl DeMaio. It was well
attended, informal, with lots of great comments and
questions. Carl and Donna are a great double act and the
crowd loved it. More
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05/04/10 |
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The CCDC tax increment
"cap" game. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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As my contribution to the public debate called for by
City Council on April 27, 2010 when it postponed a
decision until June 22, 2010 about whether to extend
downtown redevelopment by raising its tax increment
"cap", I offer the following
suggestion: the City Council should direct CCDC to concentrate on
the area east of 10th Street outlined in red in the
picture below. More
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04/24/10 |
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Cruise Ship
Terminal Financing and Berthing Agreement |
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by Pat
Flannery
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This
Agreement is a must read for anybody who wishes to
understand what is happening on the Embarcadero. It
makes the infamous Charger's Ticket Guarantee seem like
a sweet deal for the City. With this Agreement the Port
Commissioners tried to cede control of the Embarcadero to a
Panamanian corporation. They thought that by signing
this Agreement the
NEVP was dead. But it is not. This Agreement is
legally flawed. The Port cannot grant what it does not
have. More ....
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04/19/10 |
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Library Lease to
School District - another giveaway. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Today at City Council, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith paid
off a 2008 campaign debt to Ben Hueso. In doing so he
indulged in a type of tortured reasoning I hope he never allowed in his courtroom
when he was a Superior Court Judge.
More ....
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04/15/10 |
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The Mayor's
Embarcadero Plan sunk by Cruise Ships. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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One of the biggest mistakes Mayor Sanders
made was to fall for whatever
slick sales talk Steve Cushman used to cajole him into
backing this used-car salesman for a third term as Port
Commissioner, despite term limits. It
has now cost him the North
Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP). It lies in ruins
because of Cushman's cruise ships.
More ....
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04/09/10 |
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The Union-Tribune has slandered Marti Emerald |
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by Pat
Flannery
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The following sentence appears in
today's
U-T article regarding yesterday's much talked about
ethics hearing involving an alleged Marti Emerald
campaign reporting violation:
"The delay allowed Emerald to
collect contributions to cover a debt that had not been
disclosed." More ....
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04/07/10 |
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The Union-Tribune is negotiating for the Port
District |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Read
this
Editorial in today's U-T.
In hiring Ron Powell, a veteran Union-Tribune reporter
as its spokesperson, the Port hired the ability to get
friendly editorials like this to run in the U-T at
critical moments like this.
This is critical moment for the Port District's North
Embarcadero (Cruise Ship Terminal) plan. It needs to
pull off another switcheroo.
More ....
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04/05/10 |
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Are the Port District and the Convention Center
giving away public money? |
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by Pat
Flannery
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At its monthly meeting tomorrow the Port District will
be asked to consent to the assignment and assumption of
a lease from
Fifth Avenue Landing LLC (FAL) to the San Diego
Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC).
More ....
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04/03/10 |
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Coastal Commission's "April Fools" Staff Report. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Yielding to intense pressure from Carnival Cruise Lines,
a Panamanian Corporation, and its political allies, the Coastal Commission staff
has issued
this Report,
"Approval with Conditions", in an attempt to provide
political cover for the Commission to grant an illegal
"conditional" permit for the Port's cruise ship terminal
on Broadway Pier. More
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03/28/10 |
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Is there a McConville-White House connection? |
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by Pat
Flannery
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It is very suspicious that Jim McConville, the notorious
statewide "straw-buyer" mortgage scamster, has not only
escaped jail but has had his enormous debts wiped out by
the U.S. Government using bankruptcy, while all the time
the FBI has enough evidence to arrest him 10 times over.
More ....
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03/24/10 |
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How the Mayor's staff lied about the $185 million bond. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Have you ever had a sickening feeling that someone is
lying to you but you can't quite put your finger on how they are
doing it? That's how some members of the City Council must
be feeling regarding the Mayor's contentious $185 million
"lease-lease" bond issue - those who are not in on the
lie, that is.
More ....
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03/22/10 |
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The City's $185 million bond issue would be illegal. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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The City Council has docketed its final approval of the $185
million "lease-lease" bond issue for this Tuesday as
Item 50 on the Consent Agenda. That's right the
"Consent" Agenda. I intend to go down and "pull" this
Item from the Consent Agenda so that Council Members may
reconsider.
More ....
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03/11/10 |
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Is Municipal bond debt the next Wall Street scam? |
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by Pat
Flannery
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Last Tuesday, March 9, 2009, San Diego City staff from
the Debt Management Department and from our City
Attorney's office acted as salespeople for J. P. Morgan,
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street
moneylenders, arguing before City Council for a bogus
financial instrument called a municipal "lease-lease"
that would put the worst excesses of the real estate
borrowing bubble to shame.
More ....
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03/09/10 |
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Voting while under the influence - of money. |
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by Pat
Flannery
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A recent land use vote at City Council provides a
fascinating peek into the moral characters of our six
Democratic City Councilmembers. The issue at hand was a
proposed street vacation in front of the La Jolla home
of Democratic Party mega-contributors, Bill and Lisa
Barkett.
More
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