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San Diego
Video News

Progressive San Diego "Election Reflection"

DeMaio/Frye Press Conference

Bill Anderson at Balboa Park

Bidwell "outs" the Mayor

Mike Aguirre on Sainz/Kittle email

Donna Frye and the Auditor Fox

Steve Francis
re. City Auditor

Frye
Internal Auditor

Francis
Mayoral Veto

Aguirre
Labor MOL

Frye
DPWG

McNally - Atkins

McNally DPWG

Aguirre DPWG

Peters opposes Independent City Actuary

Davies and Millikin
Charter Reform

Scott Peters
Charter Reform

Pat Flannery
Charter Reform

Donna Frye
Charter Reform

Tony Young
Charter Reform

Steve Whitburn
Charter Reform

Kevin Faulconer
Charter Reform

Atkins Walks Out

Mayor Overrules Building Inspector over Sunroad

The Real Jerry Sanders

Internal Audit
Discontinued

Frye's Reaction to
audit discontinuance

I am not a crook

Managed Competition

Purchase of Service Credits

Aguirre & Francis

Managed Competition |
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Recent Blogs
We the voters? 07/21/08
More to SEDC scandal than Carolyn Smith's bonus. 07/17/08
Aguirre's new campain manager. 07/11/08
A
further SEDC question for Mayor Sanders. 07/11/08
The real political battle is: city services vs.
city pensions. 07/09/08
Kittle's irrational hatred of Aguirre has got to stop. 06/25/08
The Francis team unwinds after the election.
06/24/08
Is
there corruption in the Grant Thornton contract? 06/22/08
No
need for political parties in San Diego any more. It's now Ben & Jerry's
Flavor "Imagine Whirled Peace",
06/19/08
City Attorney Mike Aguirre will appeal Blackwater. 06/16/08
Sanders' "critical priorities" are developers. 06/16/08
Progressive San Diego holds "Election Reflection" forum. 06/11/08
Donna Frye is hedging her bets. 06/09/08
City Attorney race - the result. 06/04/08
Mayoral race - the result. 06/04/08
Mayoral race latest poll. 06/03/08
Today's Grand Jury Report on CCDC puts Sanders $5
million "contribution" in perspective. 06/02/08
The absentee vote count will herald citywide results early. 05/31/08
State rights, city rights, citizen rights are what a U.S. court says
they are. Blackwater's financial interests prevail
05/30/08
A
Mayor-appointed City Auditor would close the doors of City Hall to the
people, further alienating them.
05/30/08
Was Backwater one "ministerial" permit too many? 05/29/08
Did Blackwater buy their "vocational school" permit? 05/27/08
The Mayoral Race.
05/26/08
The City Attorney's Race.
05/26/08
The art of lying took a new twist last night - Sanders threw MacSweeney
under the bus.
05/23/08
The Sunroad Timeline. 05/21/08
We are perilously close to
being a police state. 05/20/08
The U-T endorses the "Big Lie" - pension
amortization. 05/18/08
The City Council
must resolve the impasse - no escape. 05/15/08
Jerry Sanders, the banker, goes to Wall Street. 05/16/08
Will the unions move in for the kill, now that they have weakened Mayor
Sanders? 05/14/08
Will it be business
as usual at City Council today? 05/12/08
San Diego politics is not for the faint hearted. 05/11/08
Breaking down the mayoral vote - a glimpse of June 3rd. 05/07/08
The truth about City employees - there are more, not less. 05/06/08
Sanders' ship of state is on "a sea of troubles". 05/03/08
Mayor Sanders is risking public money for an aide. 04/29/08
The Mayor is not out of the wood on the "missing
email". 04/29/08
Sanders' fox and the City's fragile financial
chickens. 04/27/08
More foul language from this Mayor. 04/23/08
Aguirre introduces Goldsmith to the Debt Limit Law.
04/18/08
The missing email. Sanders
has a decision to make. 04/19/08
The weekly feed at the public trough: my report.
04/16/08
Are pension benefits pension benfits? Dumb question. 04/10/08
Jerry Sanders is
Dick Murphy II.
04/09/08
A clear message from the
SEC. 04/07/08
Kensington residents show the way. 04/03/08
The Friends of Jerry Sanders got a $1 million windfall.
03/28/08
Union-Tribune:
prime-time lies, buried retraction.
03/13/08
A
look at Jerry Sanders new "Pension Plan" - Watch your wallets. 03/05/08
The truth is out: Peters lied.
02/28/08
Who will Wall Street listen to - Sanders or Francis?
02/27/08
Should the Mayor appoint the City Auditor?
02/23/08
The truth about that August 2005 closed Council
session. 02/19/08
Peters will represent the unions if
elected City Attorney. 02/18/08
San Diego is fast becoming a police state.
02/15/08
How "Public" is our "Public" TV station, KPBS?
02/08/08
An ongoing battle about who appoints the Internal
Auditor.
02/06/08
Steve Francis speaks before City Council on
Mayoral veto.
02/04/08
The Strong Mayor and Labor negotiations. 02/04/08
Hiding pension data may prevent
access to markets. 02/01/08
Why we must have
an elected City Auditor. 01/06/08
Democracy
San Diego style.
01/09/08
High Noon - Monday at
6:00 PM - City Hall.
01/13/08
Close encounters of the scary kind. 01/17/08
Donna Frye discloses her ambitions at Whitburn fundraiser. 01/19/08
Resolving our wildlands-urban interface problem together. 01/20/08
An
Independent City Actuary is anathema to Scott Peters. 01/22/08
Marti Emerald: herald of change. Here comes the Troubleshooter. 01/25/08
I am now a Franciscan - a Steve Franciscan that
is.
01/25/08
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We the voters?
07/21/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
Below
I have created a series of graphs
analysing the citywide voter registration in San Diego
as of the June 3, 2008 Election.
Citywide total:

The
first series of graphs shows the
citywide voter registration broken down by
party for each Council District
and the second series breaks the same voters
down by
Council District
for each party.
The map opposite shows the location of each Council
District and below is the number of registered
voters in each District.
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District 1 |
99,147 |
17% |
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District 2 |
90,216 |
15% |
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District 3 |
68,924 |
12% |
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District 4 |
56,299 |
9% |
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District 5 |
82,243 |
14% |
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District 6 |
77,335 |
13% |
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District 7 |
70,078 |
12% |
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District 8 |
49,203 |
8% |
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Citywide |
593,445 |
100% |
Why do we have a Republican Mayor? What is wrong with
this picture?
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More to SEDC scandal than Carolyn Smith's bonus.
07/17/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
The history of
two commercial lots on Market S treet in South East San Diego,
tell much about how the insider system works in
San Diego. Click on the picture opposite for a video
.
These particular lots were purchased by the current
chairman of SEDC, Chip Owen, for $1.8 million on May 1, 2000 and
resold the same day to SEDC, for $2.3 million, an instant profit of a half
million dollars. Not bad for one day's work without
putting up any of his own money.
Chip Owen's secret half a million dollars profit on that
day could not have happened without the cooperation of
SEDC's President, Carolyn Smith. This insider
cooperation has raised questions of conflict of interest
if not outright fraud on other projects for example
nearby Valencia Park.
Acting on a tip, the online newspaper Voice of
San Diego, started an investigation into certain bonus payments made to SEDC
President Carolyn Smith.
But here's where it gets complicated. On January 12, 2007, the present owners
of one of the lots, Har-Bro Construction Company,
purchased it from SEDC for only $300,000. Jim Waring,
Sanders' former staffer, signed the grant deed. Sanders
will therefore be reluctant to dig into Chip Owen's land
deals for fear of other dubious land deals tumbling out
of the closet.
I suspect the Voice of San Diego tip came from
Councilmember Jim Madaffer. It is well known that
Madaffer wants to be the Redevelopment Czar after he is
termed out on the City Council this November. The
creation of this position will require the scaling back
of SEDC and CCDC. The firing of Carolyn Smith would
serve nicely.
Sanders probably agrees, but has a different person in
mind for the top Redevelopment job. His close staffer,
Janice Weinrick, who lives with her boyfriend, the
Mayor's favorite real estate broker, Lin Martin of Grub
& Ellis, are Sanders' near neighbors in Kensington.
But all Madaffer needs is one year at that $250,000 a
year Redevelopment job and then Janice Weinrick or some
other faithful servant of the Mayor can have it.
You see, city retirement is a product of years of
service and final year's salary. Madaffer is not about
to retire on a percentage of his Council salary. If he
can quadruple his salary just for one year he can
quadruple his retirement for life. City employment is
all about gaming the pension system. It's all they ever
think about.
So a deal will be worked out. It is how things
are done in San Diego.
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Aguirre's new campain manager.
07/11/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
I had lunch today with Mike Aguirre's newly appointed
campaign manager,
Steve
Rivera.
Currently Steve is Regional Director for the 21st
District of the California Democratic Party.
Mr.
Rivera expressed confidence that he can get his client,
Mike Aguirre, over the finishing line ahead of his
Republican opponent, Jan Goldsmith, in November. Click
on the picture opposite for a video of his very first
interview.
By contributing one of their best and brightest to
Aguirre's campaign, the Democratic Party seems to be
signaling its determination to hold on to the office of
San Diego City Attorney for another four years. It now
looks like this non-partisan race will be very partisan
indeed.
Rivera looks like an excellent choice. He is bright,
articulate, with a very winning personality. If anything
he seems a little shy, but that is more likely to be
part of his winning personality than a lack of
toughness. He assured me that he fully understands the
task he is embracing. "I like a challenge" he said. I
assured him that he had found one and wished him well. I
asked him if he was ready to do battle with Bob Kittle
and he just smiled. His opposite number, John Hoy,
Goldsmith's campaign manager, is a perfect gentleman
compared to "bare-knuckles" Kittle.
But this is what we have all been waiting for; let the
battle for the constitutional soul of San Diego begin -
the law vs. an insider elite.
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A
further SEDC question for Mayor Sanders.
07/11/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
First, read this "Alternative
Reality" story in the Voice of San Diego today, then
read today's "Oversight
Needed" editorial in the Union-Tribune. It is great
that these two San Diego publications are competing with
each other for the next Pulitzer Price in investigative
journalism.
But here's the problem. I posted a comment to the "The
People's Reporters" Cafe San Diego on the Voice Tuesday
July 9, 2008, which was promptly taken down after less
than an hour. As you can see,
Ian Trowbridge's comment # 8 remains the last
comment (mine was #9).
Why did the Voice censor my comment? I started by
congratulating them on discovering the irregular "bonus"
payments to SEDC President Carolyn Smith. Then I
suggested: "now that you have the Mayor's attention"
tell him about the $500,000 profit made by Chip Owen on
May 1, 2000 when he "flipped" a property to SEDC. I
provided
this link.
I wrote a personal email to Will Carless questioning the
removal of my comment but received no reply. I find that
very strange. Why would Carless and Donohue not want to
investigate the much bigger scandal of a $500,000 secret
profit made by current SEDC Chairman Chip Owen? My hat
is off to the Voice for going after Smith for
facilitating Owen's dubious financial shenanigans, but
why stop there?
I also provided the Voice with
this link. Carolyn Smith wrote
this
letter to Jim Waring on July 11, 2007. Apparantly
Waring had read my blog dated July 3, 2007 and had
requested an explanation from Ms. Smith. Her July 11,
2007 letter did not explain the secret profit made by
Owen nor why Waring later sold the Market Street
property for $300,000.
Why in the world would the Voice of San Diego pull back
on its investiagtion of Owen? Is it OK to go after a
staff person, Carolyn Smith, but not her powerful boss,
the SEDC Chairman Chip Owen?
I think both the Voice of San Diego and the
Union-Tribune should stop their petty journalistic
squabling and discover the truth about what is going on
at the South East Development Corporation (SEDC). Now
that they have the Mayor's (and the public's) attention,
they should pursue this story with all the resources at
their disposal.
Chip Owen, or any insider, should not have been allowed
to make a secret profit of $500,000. Jim Waring should
not have been allowed to sell 2.09 acres of developable
city land for less than the price of a one bedroom
condo. I will await the Mayor's explanation, even if the
Voice of San Diego, "now that they have his attention",
refuse to ask him.
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The real political battle is: city services vs. city
pensions.
07/09/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
I went to the regular monthly meeting of the Democratic
Party last night that endorsed Mike Aguirre for City
Attorney.
Click
on the photo opposite for a video interview with Mike
immediately after he received this important enorsement.
Addressing the meeting before the vote was taken,
Aguirre spoke passionately about "what is best for San
Diego".
He said: "my opponent has spent
a lifetime speaking, voting and working against
what we care about. He opposed equal rights,
wage earner rights and a woman's right to choose."
That seemed to hit a chord with the audience. Three
people spoke in favor of Mike's endorsement. Nobody
spoke in opposition. The vote was unanimous by a show of
hands. Not one hand went up in opposition.
The local Democratic Party now seems to be united with
Aguirre in what they both "care about". This is good
news for those of us who care about "citizen rights".
San Diego has a long history of rule by privileged
insiders. Perhaps now the emphasis will be on "citizen
rights" instead of "developer entitlements" and "pension
rights".
One set of "privileged insiders" that did not turn up to
protest Aguirre's endorsement last night was the city
employee unions. They lost their long-time champion,
Scott Peters, in the June primary election, in which the
city unions were undoubtedly the biggest losers. Now the
fight is between the left and the right: Aguirre vs.
Goldsmith. An Aguirre/Peters contest would have been:
the left vs. a pseudo-left.
Much will now depend on Lorena Gonzalez, leader of the
San
Diego-Imperial Counties
Labor Council. Will she allow the San Diego City
employee unions' tail to continue to wag the Labor
Council dog? Only the firefighters
IAFF Local 145 and
AFSCME Local 127 belong to the Labor Council. The
main bulk of City employees, represented by the
MEA and
POA,
do not belong to the Labor Council. Why then does
Gonzalez allow them such influence? They are not even
paying into her organization! Maybe that will change
now. It should.
If what "we care about" vs. what
"they care about" comes to define the city
elections in November, then it should be a nice clean
fight between insider privileges vs. city services.
Goldsmith is the champion of the insiders and Aguirre is
the champion of the outsiders.
The defining moment will come when Lorena Gonzalez
decides whether her Labor Council represents the
insiders, the MEA, or the city taxpayers who look to the
MEA membership for city services. Then the real
political battle, city services vs. city pensions, will
be joined.
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Kittle's irrational hatred of Aguirre has got to stop.
06/25/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
Bob Kittle wrote
this
editorial in the U-T on Monday June 23, 2008
regarding the $10.5 million recovered by Mike Aguirre in
four malpractice suits. Nevertheless Kittle
complained in his editorial:
"Had
the City Attorney's Office handled the settlement
negotiations itself, taxpayers would have collected the
$3.1 million that was paid to the lawyers."
If Mike Aguirre had invented a cure for cancer Bob
Kittle and the U-T would complain that he hadn't done it
sooner. So I checked with Aguirre's Second-in-Command,
Don McGrath to find out the truth.
McGrath told me that he had worked hands-on supervising
these two fine attorneys, Bryan Vess and Dan Stanford,
attending almost every court hearing and mediation. He
told me that he had kept the City Council fully informed
throughout the long and difficult legal process.
McGrath
gave me an on-camera interview in his office on Friday,
June 20, 2008. Click on the photo to see the video.
McGrath anticipated that Kittle would do exactly what he
did - slam him for recovering
$7,166,458 for the City.
"This money has
been paid over to Jay Goldstone and the City Treasurer
for payment of other legal bills, pension deficit and
any other City debt Mr. Goldstone and his department
choose to retire." said McGrath. Not a
word of thanks from Mayor Sanders or his
joined-at-the-hip Aguirre-hating spokespersons, Bob
Kittle and Fred Sainz.
Here is a letter to the editor published in today's U-T
from one of the outside attorneys involved in the
recovery, Dan Stanford. It says it all - with a little
sarcasm - thanking Kittle
"for staying positive".
"The
view from a contingency attorney
Regarding “Regarding “Malpractice deals/Taxpayers
lose a third to contingency lawyers” (Editorial, June
23):
No good deed goes unpunished. Thank you for your
editorial congratulating fellow attorney Bryan Vess and
me on our recent litigation successes that add over $7
million to the city's general fund. In times of such
economic drought, it is good to see you focus on these
positive results and the fact that the glass is
two-thirds full.
These were difficult cases that required
specialized expertise in professional malpractice, plus
a track record and reputation in the field, which is not
expected to be found in any city attorney's office. Not
only did we agree to handle these risky cases, but we
reduced our normal contingency fee and advanced all
costs on behalf of our city.
The results demonstrate our experience and
reputation, as well as our willingness to fight major,
national law firms that hired multiple, major national
defense attorneys. They billed and collected more than
we have been paid.
Your thanks and gratitude for generating positive
results in excess of $7 million is greatly appreciated,
and it makes all the long hours of hard work and lost
sleep over unsure outcomes and costs advanced
worthwhile. Besides, we can only imagine the editorial
you had in mind if the lawyers hired by the City Council
had lost these cases and billed the city millions of
dollars by the hour! Thanks for staying positive – and
for your support!
DAN STANFORD
San Diego"
The cases involved were: Callan
Associates and Gabriel Roeder Smith, $4,500,000
recovered, Caporicci & Larson, $900,000 recovered,
Calderon, Jaham & Osborn $750,000 recovered, Vinson &
Elkins $4,350,000 recovered, for a total of
$10,500,000 recovered.
The outside attorneys took $3,133,333 plus $200,208,
that left a net gain to the City of $7,166,458.
McGrath explained on Friday:
"I initially hired Heller Ehrman on an hourly basis, but
received a very strong message that the City Council
would not support hourly legal fees. Therefore, I
presented the idea of a contingent fee arrangement to
the City Council, which was agreed to in all instances
unanimously by them."
There are pending cases against bond
counsel Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Kroll
attorneys Willkie Farr that could net the City tens of
millions of dollars. No dount Kittle will complain about
them too.
In a paroxysm of nastiness Kittle threw this piece into
his editorial:
"As part of its wide-ranging
investigation of Aguirre, the State Bar of California
has subpoenaed city billing records of payments made to
Vess and Stanford, and investigators have interviewed
Vess. But the purpose of the bar probe is unclear."
What is he inferring? Besides, the State Bar does not
divulge information on ongoing investigations. Either
Kittle is lying or the State Bar has broken its own
rules. Surely the former. There is no end to Kittle's
hatred. It is abnormal. It is unnatural. And it must
stop.
This State Bar investigation was instigated by Scott
Peters who ran against Aguirre for City Attorney. Kittle
rails against the city unions and their pension benefits
but has done everything he can to help Peters
preserve their bloated pensions. What is in the water
down there in Mission Valley that feeds the insane
hatred that pours out of Bob Kittle and Chris Reed for
Mike Aguirre? Whatever it is, it is irrational, it is
evil, it is destructive and very, very bad for San
Diego. End it. Please!
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The Francis team unwinds after the election.
06/24/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
I did this post-election on-camera interview with
Charles Gallagher, Steve Francis's
campaign
manager, on Monday afternoon, June 22, 2008. Click on
the photo for the video.
I got a little "blind" sided by the window coverings. It
seemed during the shoot that there would not be a
backlighting problem, but there was. My apologies for
the image quality, but the campaign insight makes the
video worth watching.
Mr. Gallagher is a very likeable politico and would have
been a refreshing change at City Hall. He loves to talk
politics, without the slightest hint of ill will towards
his opponents. He loves it all.
He had just returned from Rome where his sister is the
Vatican correspondent for CNN. He told me he had been at
the Vatican the same time as Tim Russert, just days
before Tim's tragic death. I could not help being
reminded of Tim as I watched Charles. He has the same
twinkle in his eye. Like Tim, you could not help but
like the guy.
I have a feeling we will be seeing more of Mr. Charles
Gallagher. Perhaps I will get an interview with his boss
Mr. Francis when Steve and his lovely wife Gayle return
from a vacation celebrating their 25th wedding
anniversary. Happy anniversary Steve and Gayle.
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Is there corruption in the Grant Thornton contract?
06/22/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
The privatization of "inherently
governmental functions" through a Federal process known
as
OMB A-76 (an OMB circular) was
brought into serious question in a
special report published February 2007 by the
Washington Post. It documented the appalling conditions
at the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), the
so-called "Home of Warrior Care". The report ended with this
paragraph:
"In
December, a contracting dispute held
up building repairs.
"I hate
it," said Romero, who stays in his
room all day. "There are
cockroaches. The elevator doesn't
work. The garage door doesn't work.
Sometimes there's no heat, no water.
. . . I told my platoon sergeant I
want to leave. I told the town hall
meeting. I talked to the doctors and
medical staff. They just said you
kind of got to get used to the
outside world. . . . My platoon
sergeant said, 'Suck it up!' "
"Suck it Up!" I expect
that will be Mayor Sanders'
suggestion to the City unions on Monday when
this Item comes up for Council approval.
Sanders has signed a contract with
the Bush Administration's favorite
defense privatization consultant,
Grant Thornton LLP (who
participated in the Walter Reed
privatization fiasco) for
"indefinite delivery, indefinite
quantity" privatization
services.
The Grant Thornton person in charge of the San
Diego account is Mr. Ramon
Contreras, Principal, Grant Thornton
LLP, 333 John Carlyle Street, Ste
500, Alexandria, VA 22314.
It is interesting
that Contreras appears on the
"Defense and Intelligence" page
of Grant Thornton's
web site. Here
is his
resume.
Note that Contreras also happens to
be a presenter on "Strategic
Sourcing" for Carl DeMaio's
Performance Institute.
Isn't that interesting! Is San Diego
to be the poster child for the
takeover of local government by
giant Washington-based private
"service providers"?
San Diego already appears as a
client on GT's
"State
and Local Governments"
page. Grant Thornton considers itself under contract to
the City. Here is
a letter
from Lance Wade, the former
Purchasing Director, dated April 12,
2007 purportedly confirming that contract.
However, the City Attorney's signature is
required on all City
Contracts according to
this MOL dated February 11, 2008
and more importantly according to Charter
Section 40. The Grant
Thornton contract did not receive
that signature. It still hasn't.
Here is
the latest signature page.
The first anybody heard about this
supposed contract (outside the Mayor's
office) was when on April 4, 2008,
Mark Patzman, the Program Manager
for Managed Competition, requested
the City Attorney's office to
"expedite review and approve" a
1472 (the form required to put an
item on the City Council agenda) to
ratify the supposed Grant Thornton contract
referred to in Lance Wade's letter
dated April 12, 2007.
In response,
Deputy City Attorney Michael
Calabrese wrote
this letter to Mark Patzman on
April 8, 2008. Calabrese
explained that he could not approve
the 1472 to "ratify" the Grant
Thornton contract as "the underlying
agreement is invalid for several
reasons". Therefore "no agreement
exists for the City Council to
approve, extend or ratify".
Scott Peters nevertheless put it on
the Council Agenda for April 28,
2008, only to "send it back to the
Mayor" when the day came. Perhaps
he decided to wait until after June
3, not wanting to tangle with the
unions over Managed Competition
during an election.
Now that the election is over Peters
no longer needs the unions. He is
playing the rich-man's game again,
the (now out-of-the-closet)
conservative he has always been. So,
he
has put outsourcing of city jobs back on the
Council agenda for Monday June 23,
even though
the 1472 still does not
have the City Attorney's signature.
If Peters was in the runoff with Aguirre he would be
playing the unions' game and sending
outsourcing of city jobs "back to the Mayor" to
die on the vine. He knows that Joan Raymond's blue
collar union,
AFSCME Local 127
will be
wiped out under Managed Competition.
Even the all-powerful MEA will take
severe hits, which many people
support.
The great irony is that the fate of
thousands of union jobs is now in
the hands of Aguirre. Why should he
fight their battles for
them? Peters was their champion. Now
he's gone. Their current champion,
Ben Hueso, is backing the
arch-conservative and Mayor's ally,
"Judge" Jan Goldsmith (you can't use
that honored title to run for any
office)?
Will Hueso protest the fact that
this item is even on the Council
Docket without having received the
City Attorney's signature? Probably
not. Will Hueso lead the opposition
to this obviously illegal contract?
Probably not. He will leave the
fight to Aguirre. So, Aguirre could be
forgiven for letting the unions
stew in their own juice on Monday.
The unions have protested Aguirre's
"meddling" in policy. This might be
a good time for Aguirre to heed
their advice. Calabrese's letter
makes the law clear. Hueso and the
City Council must now decide to
follow the law as outlined by
Aguirre, or follow the Mayor in
disobeying it.
Click
on this picture for a video
of
the Mayor's Business Office
Director, Anna Danegger,
speaking before the Budget & Finance
Committee on September 12, 2007. She
was painfully trying to explain away
the slow pace of "reform".
I believe it had more to do with the
pending 2008 mayoral election than
internal work load. Sanders wanted
to give the impression to the city
unions that he was not over-eager
about Managed Competition. Wrong.
Danegger, a former Grant Thornton
employee, is married to
David Jarrell,
San Diego City's
Deputy
Chief Operating Officer for Public
Works.
They are both politically savvy.
This is where it gets interesting.
According to the Staff's Supporting
Information to
Monday's Agenda Item:
"the managed competition program
issued a Request for Proposals (RFP)
on October 19, 2006.
Four proposals were received and
were evaluated separately for
technical merit and price. Grant
Thornton was evaluated the best
value provider and was awarded
a one-year contract."
That
is what Sanders wants the Council to
"ratify".
The mayor sent
out an RFP for Managed Competition
before the voters passed
Proposition C
on November 7,
2006. There were
185,688 "Yes" votes (60.37%) and
121,906 "No" votes (39.63%). Sanders
and the Republican Party spent over
$1 million on the campaign.
The
deadline for returning the Managed
Competition RFP was November 16,
2006.
Anna Danegger
was still working for
Grant Thornton. She did not
leave until
November
30, 2006 and started with the City
the following Monday, December 4,
2006.
We are expected to believe that this
political savvy couple did not
discuss the managed Competition RFP
while Anna was working for Grant
Thornton and David was working for
the City.
David
earns $168,002 while Anna earns
$117,275
i.e. $285,277 between them. They
live in Scripps Ranch and have only
a $450,000 mortgage - not bad for
government workers. One day they
will join the thousands of happy San
Diego City retired millionaires.
With the help of the Casey
Gwinn-trained and
establishment-compliant
Stacey
Fulhorst, Executive Director City of
San Diego Ethics Commission,
Ms. Danegger got around another
little ethics problem. I wonder why
Stacey did not consider the
husband/wife conflict?
Fulhorst's
Ethics Commission's rules provide
that an employee
"may not
influence municipal decisions that
are substantially likely to have a
material financial effect on an
entity that has been a source of
income to you within the previous
twelve months."
However, Fulhorst and the Ethics
Commission conveniently found that
"any
ministerial work
(i.e., not requiring you to exercise
discretion) you perform on such
matters would fall outside the scope
of the prohibition."
San Diego City
is a nice little "Ministerial"
family.
The truth is
that you can do just about anything
in this town if it is found to be
"Ministerial". The Blackwater case
is a good example. Here is the
full letter from the Ethics
Commission to Ms. Danegger.
Why
then did Sanders sign an
"indefinite delivery, indefinite
quantity" privatization contract with
Ramon Contreras, the Defense Principal
at Grant Thornton, who had recently
landed a huge $450 million
privatization contract with the
Department of Justice? Was Sanders
"encouraged" to hire a favorite son
of Washington, as with Blackwater?
If the City Council rejects this
"ministerial" contract tomorrow, I
see a repeat performance of the
Blackwater case in Judge
Marylin Huff's
Federal Courtroom. The
Hamiltonian Federalists
would be proud
of their 21st Century counterparts.
Unfortunately
for democracy a similar movement is
afoot in Europe known as the
Treaty of Lisbon.
On June 12, 2008,
Ireland, alone
among European nations, stopped
the
further erosion of their national
sovereignty by
rejecting the Treaty of Lisbon
53.4% to 46.6%. The erosion of state
and local sovereignty is being done
in the United States not by treaty
but by compliant local politicians
like Jerry Sanders and Federal
Judges like
Marylin Huff.
Let's see what the City Council
decide on Monday - democracy vs. "ministerial"
- is local government the next big
business franchise?
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No need for political parties in San Diego any more.
It's now Ben & Jerry's Flavor "Imagine Whirled Peace".
06/19/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
Today, flanked by Andrew Jones, president of the San
Diego Deputy City Attorney's Association, Councilmember
Ben Hueso, a Democrat representing the largely Hispanic
Council District 8, endorsed Jan Goldsmith, a Republican
from Coronado, for San Diego City Attorney.
Mr.
Hueso was first elected to Council District 8 in
November 2005 following the July 2005
conviction of former District 8
Councilmember Ralph Inzunza of extortion,
corruption and fraud for taking bribes from a strip club
owner.
Hueso took Inzunza's seat on a mere 7,454 votes in the
November 2005 general election and was reelected, virtually
unopposed, in the following June 2006 primary election with only
7,994 votes. District 8 is notorious for voter apathy. Inzunza was
first elected in 2001 with only 4,759 votes and relected
in 2002 with 6,103 votes (Imperial Beach-style numbers).
Pardee Construction paid for most of those 6,103 votes
in South San Diego and Inzunza paid them back in full
measure by killing the expansion of Brown Field. Hueso
serves the same developer/unions master. He doesn't have
to worry about the people - they don't vote. Pardee will
buy him all the votes he needs. That's democracy San
Diego-style and the "Democratic" Party does not seem to
care. Now this today -
here is the full video of today's bi-partisan,
tri-racial love fest
,
a Democrat (without a voter base) endorsing the
establishment's choice for a rubber-stamp City Attorney.
I stood in the midday sun to watch this extraordinary
press conference in City Plaza: the golden boy of the
white power elite flanked by adoring members of the two
largest minority groups in San Diego - blacks and
Hispanics.
In his glowing endorsement of Goldsmith, Councilmember
Hueso said:
"There's no Democratic or
Republican way to run the city .... a lot of the issues
that we deal with, potholes, graffiti, picking up trash
.... we pick up everybody's trash, Democrat's,
Republicans, Green Party, Libertarians .... everybody is
entitled to equal services in the city. I do my job with
that focus. I focus on matters important to all San
Diegans' public health and safety and I think the law
should be applied that way."
"Judge"
Goldsmith picked up the (sukha)
happy theme-for-the-day, saying:
"There's no Democratic or Republican way to run the
City Attorney's office". Casey Gwinn was not
really a Republican - he was a child of the
enlightenment not of the establishment. Yeah, right.
But it is now official. Ben Hueso has said so - there is no difference between
the way La Jolla is governed and that of Barrio Logan or South
East San Diego. Everybody's trash gets picked up,
everybody's potholes get fixed; graffiti on the walls of
La Jolla is cleaned exactly the same as in South East
San Diego.
According to Ben Hueso and Jan Goldsmith we already have
Nirvana and social justice
in San Diego. Just don't drive around South East San Diego, stay North
of 8 and thank God (or Buddha) every day for
"enlightened" men like Ben Hueso
and Jan Goldsmith.
This "Lotos-eating"
thinking has left most of San Diego south of
Interstate 8 a wasteland of neglect. The bulk of the
city's resources are sucked into downtown and the
affluent north. With establishment-serving Council
representatives like Ben Hueso who can be surprised?
Will the Democratic Party protest this latest sellout? I
doubt it. It has become totally dominated by the
all-powerful developer/unions coalition. All they need
for total developer/union Nirvana is to get rid of
Aguirre.
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City Attorney Mike Aguirre will appeal Blackwater.
06/16/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
I sat through two hours of argument between City
Attorney Mike Aguirre and Judge Marylin Huff in Federal
Court today. Blackwater's attorney Mike Neil hardly
spoke. He didn't need to, Judge Huff argued his case for
him.
Judge Huff went at it with Mr. Aguirre as if she were
guest hosting the Roger Hedgecock show. She then read
her decision, which drew heavily on City Auditor Eduardo
Luna's "exhaustive investigation" (as she described it)
into the Blackwater permits.
I counted over 30 references to Mr. Luna's report. I'm
sure nobody was more surprised than Eduardo. I doubt he
could find the Land Use Section in the Municipal Code
let alone write such an erudite exposition of land use
processes that so impressed Judge Huff today.
I
talked with City Attorney Mike Aguirre outside the
Federal Courthouse afterwards when he gave me this
on-camera interview
,
in
which he announced that he will appeal today's
decision:
"The City has an absolute
right, through the City Council, to review whether or
not a war training facility can be put in the middle of
what is otherwise an industrial-business park and that
there is a fundamental constitutional issue that has to
be resolved by the Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit and we
will be taking an appeal at the earliest opportunity."
Here
is what Ray Lutz
(the man who has led the opposition to Blackwater's
presence in San Diego County) had to say about Judge
Huff's decision outside the Courthouse:
"This was pretty much a
predetermined result".Here is a more
extensive interview with Mr. Lutz prior to going into
court where
he
delves into the background of Blackwater and into Judge
Huff's close ties to the Bush Administration. His views
raise serious questions regarding the state of the
"separation of powers" in America today. How much
loyalty does a Federal Judge owe to the
Executive
authority that appoints them? It was very clear where
Judge Huff's loyalty lay today.
I hope to obtain a complete transcript of today's
proceedings in the near future when I will post it here.
I think every San Diego citizen should read her
spirited, unjudgely, prolonged verbal exchange with Mr.
Aguirre today. It was a chilling lesson in reality
civics. Unfortunately no cameras or recording equipment
are allowed in her courtroom.
Judge Huff actually said that yes, occasionally, a city
is allowed to exercise "discretion" in its land use
decisions, all others, 40,000 per year in the case of
San Diego, are "ministerial". The military/business/law
enforcement power structure that now governs San Diego
is taking its "reform" seriously. It wants all
government decisions to be "ministerial", just like in
the military.
The irony is that the Blackwater case is being billed as
protecting the constitutional rights of a military contractor. A couple of interesting items were revealed
today: (a) all the staff at Blackwater are ex-military
(who know how to shoot and can take care of themselves
according to General Neil) except for two, who are
retired San Diego cops and (b) General Neil is also the
attorney for San Diego's biggest film studio,
Stu Segall
Productions,
that happens to operate a "hyper-realistic
training" facility,
Strategic Operations, within
the San Diego city limits.
To get a better idea of what Stu Segall and General Neil have on offer in Kearny Mesa take a look at
their brochure. How did that particular "war
training facility" get put in the middle of "what is
otherwise an industrial-business park"?
Obviously, it occured before Aguirre's term in office
and without any "discretionary" review by the City
Council
It puts today's court proceedings in context: the
military-industrial-law-enforcement power complex
prefers to obtain its
entitlements "ministerially". And their "ministerially"
appointed judges make sure they do not have to face any
"discretionary" review. Well done Judge Huff.
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Sanders' "critical
priorities" are
developers.
06/16/08 |
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by Pat Flannery
top^
Watch Sanders' rationale
for his line-item veto of the City Council's directive
to restore 62 mainly Park & Rec and Library jobs,
representing $4.3 million in the City's FY 09 Budget.
Read
Sanders'
press release today outlining his "critical
priorities". He says:
"I disagree
fundamentally with the IBA’s recommendations and City
Council’s changes to my Fiscal Year 2009 Budget."
This is the "reform" San Diegans voted
for. Sanders' legacy will be privatized city services,
meaning no city services. If you want parks go live in a
gated community; public parks are city assets to be
leased for city revenue. That's the message from the 54%
who voted for Sanders.
Look again at the
Grand Jury Report on CCDC. On page 4 it says:
"CCDC’s budget for the Fiscal
Year 2007/2008 is $217.5 million of the
funds belonging to the Redevelopment Agency."
On page 7 it says:
"Fact:
The Redevelopment Agency owes the City
approximately $250 million in loan repayments."
Now consider Sanders' "critical priorities".
The pension system charges the City 8% on its Unfunded
Actuarial Liability, (approximately $90 million per
annum depending on whose UAL numbers you use. The
pension administrators use all kinds of actuarial tricks
to minimize it).
Why does the City not charge the Redevelopment Agency
(RDA) 8% on the $250 million it owes the City? 8% of
$250 million is $20 million. The answer lies in Sanders'
"critical priorities".
His "critical priorities"
are to the development industry. In order to avoid
collecting even $2.5 million of that $20 million
interest he vetoed the Council's effort to save our
parks. Sanders prefers to leave the money with the RDA -
to subsidize his contributors' projects.
Developers are Sanders' "critical
priorities", not the citizens of
San Diego. He will have an ideological ally on
the City Council, Carl DeMaio. DeMaio modeled his
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