January
3, 2012
San
Diego Union-Tribune becomes "U-T San Diego"
California has a new daily
newspaper - sort of.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which was
recently acquired by local hotelier Doug Manchester,
became "U-T San Diego" Tuesday, a name change that also affected its website.
As the newspaper's
employees adjust to a new name, they also must adjust to new management decrees
that they must dress in "sharp business attire" - a major change for
those who live and work in a city known for its casual lifestyle - and must
work a regular schedule of 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with an hour for lunch. That
translates into a 40-hour work week, rather than the 371/2 hours that had been
standard.
Manchester purchased the
newspaper from Platinum Equity, an investment firm, which had acquired it in
2009 from David Copley, the last
in a long string of Copley family owners.
The Union-Tribune and its
Copley News Service once had as many as five reporters covering the state
Capitol but the new U-T San Diego has just one, Michael
Gardner.
Posted by Dan Walters
San Diego has spent $2.4M to police Occupy demonstration
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The city has so
far spent about $2.4 million to police the open-ended Occupy San Diego
demonstration that began nearly seven weeks ago, officials reported Tuesday.
The price tag for keeping the social-justice movement safe and orderly includes
nearly $144,000 in overtime costs, according to a statement from the San Diego
Police Department.
The remainder of the expenses stemmed from on-duty personnel reassigned from
their regular duties to handle the ongoing demonstration, which has used Civic Center Plaza as its main center of operations.
"This redeployment has been in the form of every division supplying one to
three officers every shift, every day, taking them away from the neighborhoods
they are assigned to serve," SDPD public-affairs Lt. Andra Brown said.
"(It) also includes administrative and investigative personnel who have
been taken away from their caseloads to work at the Occupy sites." The
average per-day cost for the special enforcement has been $56,876, according to
Brown.
"The countless hours spent by chiefs and the Central Division captain are
not included in these figures," she added.
The leaders of the demonstration have vowed to keep their campaign going strong
until their demands - including meaningful action addressing poverty,
joblessness, corporate malfeasance and political corruption - are met.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/16106844/san-diego-has-spent-24m-to-police-occupy-movement
DeMaio Heads to Texas
Joins Business Leaders To Study Job Creation
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Tuesday, October 11,
2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego
mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio will join a delegation of business leaders
tomorrow for a three-day trip to Texas to study efforts to attract and create
jobs.
"When it comes to promoting
job growth, city leaders could learn a lot from Texas," said DeMaio. "City
leaders must commit to study and act on all ideas that will help get San Diegans
back to work."
DeMaio has already outlined
a number of job creation initiatives in his "Pathway
to Prosperity" Plan - and says he's looking forward to
including lessons learned from this trip in additional policy
proposals.
Economic data demonstrates
that Texas has fared much better than San Diego in this rough economy. Recent
unemployment numbers place Austin at 6.5% unemployed, compared to 10.2% in San
Diego County. One reason for this is the amount of jobs leaving California for
business-friendly states like Texas. In fact, a recent article in
the Austin Statesman began
with the sobering statement, "When the experts go looking for new jobs to bring
to Austin, California is a prime hunting ground."
"We cannot afford to keep
losing good paying jobs to other cities that are willing create a more
attractive environment for them," added DeMaio. "The policies we pursue in San
Diego will determine whether we are providing jobs for San Diegans, or sending
our jobs to other states like Texas."
On the first day of the
trip, DeMaio will meet with business owners, conduct site visits of major
economic zones, examine Austin's successful "cohesive permitting process," and
visit sites dedicated to developing Clean-Tech and High-Tech jobs in the
region.
On the second day, DeMaio
will meet with representatives from every level of government, business
organizations, and stakeholders in economic development to learn their
perspective on what public policy initiatives have contributed to Texas' success
with job creation and retention.
The business delegation
trip to Texas is being organized by the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce.
DeMaio is paying for all of his travel expenses out of his personal
funds.
DeMaio Reviews Ideas for Job
Creation in San Diego
Says City Leaders Must Listen to
Concerns of Working Families and Business Leaders
SAN
DIEGO - Councilmember Carl DeMaio wrapped up the first in a series of "Job
Creation Summits" with San Diego business leaders armed with a list of what he
calls "cutting edge ideas that will make San Diego the leader in innovation,
entrepreneurship, and job creation."
"We
need to get San Diegans back to work - and I'm aggressively pursuing ideas to
make city government a help, rather than a hindrance, to economic recovery in
our region," DeMaio said.
The
Summit was attended by over 60 local business leaders from the hotel, tourism,
defense, banking, construction, development, insurance, retail, and restaurant
industries. Among the ideas generated during the three hour summit:
- Switch to fixed-price permits with
turn-around time guarantees
- Use "self-certification" for some city
permits
- Expand online business services and
permit applications
- Expand the Convention Center
- Commit to fair competition policies on
construction and development projects
- Create "Innovation Labs" within the
Development Services Department to encourage competition and efficiencies
- Update community plans as soon as
possible
- Encourage businesses to be more
proactive in their interaction with policy-makers at City Hall
- Make it easier to hold special events
in San Diego, which brings tourism and boosts the economy
- Direct the Tourism Management District
to pursue "niche" tourism sectors, such as major cultural events
At
several points during the summit, DeMaio committed on-the-spot to champion many
of the ideas offered, and to thoroughly review all of the ideas with his "Job
Creation Task Force" in the coming weeks. DeMaio is adding ideas weekly to his
"Pathway to Prosperity" Jobs Plan which he is using to drive changes in city
government policy, regulation, and processes.
DeMaio will hold another Job Creation Summit on October 21 - focused
on Workforce Development, the retail and restaurant industries, and other small
business sectors.
"If
you want to know how to position government to help the economy, you need to
listen to the people who actually create the jobs: our small business owners and
entrepreneurs," DeMaio concluded.
To view DeMaio's "Pathway to
Prosperity" Plan visit: www.sandiego.gov/cd5
January 3, 2012
San Diego Union-Tribune becomes "U-T San Diego"
California has a new daily newspaper - sort of.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which was recently acquired by local hotelier Doug Manchester, became "U-T San Diego" Tuesday, a name change that also affected its website.
As the newspaper's employees adjust to a new name, they also must adjust to new management decrees that they must dress in "sharp business attire" - a major change for those who live and work in a city known for its casual lifestyle - and must work a regular schedule of 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with an hour for lunch. That translates into a 40-hour work week, rather than the 371/2 hours that had been standard.
Manchester purchased the newspaper from Platinum Equity, an investment firm, which had acquired it in 2009 from David Copley, the last in a long string of Copley family owners.
The Union-Tribune and its Copley News Service once had as many as five reporters covering the state Capitol but the new U-T San Diego has just one, Michael Gardner.
Posted by Dan Walters
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The city has so
far spent about $2.4 million to police the open-ended Occupy San Diego
demonstration that began nearly seven weeks ago, officials reported Tuesday.
The price tag for keeping the social-justice movement safe and orderly includes
nearly $144,000 in overtime costs, according to a statement from the San Diego
Police Department.
The remainder of the expenses stemmed from on-duty personnel reassigned from
their regular duties to handle the ongoing demonstration, which has used Civic Center Plaza as its main center of operations.
"This redeployment has been in the form of every division supplying one to
three officers every shift, every day, taking them away from the neighborhoods
they are assigned to serve," SDPD public-affairs Lt. Andra Brown said.
"(It) also includes administrative and investigative personnel who have
been taken away from their caseloads to work at the Occupy sites." The
average per-day cost for the special enforcement has been $56,876, according to
Brown.
"The countless hours spent by chiefs and the Central Division captain are
not included in these figures," she added.
The leaders of the demonstration have vowed to keep their campaign going strong
until their demands - including meaningful action addressing poverty,
joblessness, corporate malfeasance and political corruption - are met.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/16106844/san-diego-has-spent-24m-to-police-occupy-movement
DeMaio Heads to Texas
Joins Business Leaders To Study Job Creation
SAN DIEGO - Councilmember Carl DeMaio wrapped up the first in a series of "Job Creation Summits" with San Diego business leaders armed with a list of what he calls "cutting edge ideas that will make San Diego the leader in innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation."
"We need to get San Diegans back to work - and I'm aggressively pursuing ideas to make city government a help, rather than a hindrance, to economic recovery in our region," DeMaio said.
The Summit was attended by over 60 local business leaders from the hotel, tourism, defense, banking, construction, development, insurance, retail, and restaurant industries. Among the ideas generated during the three hour summit:
- Switch to fixed-price permits with turn-around time guarantees
- Use "self-certification" for some city permits
- Expand online business services and permit applications
- Expand the Convention Center
- Commit to fair competition policies on construction and development projects
- Create "Innovation Labs" within the Development Services Department to encourage competition and efficiencies
- Update community plans as soon as possible
- Encourage businesses to be more proactive in their interaction with policy-makers at City Hall
- Make it easier to hold special events in San Diego, which brings tourism and boosts the economy
- Direct the Tourism Management District to pursue "niche" tourism sectors, such as major cultural events
At several points during the summit, DeMaio committed on-the-spot to champion many of the ideas offered, and to thoroughly review all of the ideas with his "Job Creation Task Force" in the coming weeks. DeMaio is adding ideas weekly to his "Pathway to Prosperity" Jobs Plan which he is using to drive changes in city government policy, regulation, and processes.
DeMaio will hold another Job Creation Summit on October 21 - focused on Workforce Development, the retail and restaurant industries, and other small business sectors.
"If you want to know how to position government to help the economy, you need to listen to the people who actually create the jobs: our small business owners and entrepreneurs," DeMaio concluded.
To view DeMaio's "Pathway to Prosperity" Plan visit: www.sandiego.gov/cd5
General plan shows supervisors care little for people
On Aug. 3, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted a new general plan restricting new development in the county.
What the county supervisors do not know about land-use planning is a trillion times greater than what they do know. There are thousands of pages incorporated into the general plan update, and certainly no single person could read them all in a timely manner; however, the supervisors seem unaware of the number of documents.
During the hearing, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price mentioned that she is pleased that there are only 273 pages in the new general plan that she is voting for; however the county's own website lists over 370 attachments, with most attachments having multiple pages.
It would be physically impossible for the supervisors to read all the hundreds of documents and still be able to respond to all their other responsibilities. So unfortunately, they become captives of the bureaucracy, much like regulatory agencies become captives of the industries they regulate.
Supervisors are not bad people, not uneducated, unintelligent or irrational, but they have no choice but to rely upon a handful of planners substituting their knowledge for the "collective wisdom" of hundreds of thousands of county residents. This collective wisdom is commonly known as the "free market," but unfortunately in this case, we ended up with $18 million worth of "planned chaos."
Contrary to staff claims, the new general plan guarantees even more housing shortages, thereby requiring even more subsidies for so-called "affordable" housing. It also guarantees more traffic congestion by concentrating development rather than dispersing it to where homebuyers want to live, and promotes even more incredibly wasteful mass transit, which residents absolutely refuse to use.
More people ride bikes and walk to work than ride mass transit. The past morass of regulations has resulted in a mind-boggling doubling up of households, which according to SANDAG has been the equivalent of adding four cities the size of Poway to the region. This translates to lower living standards with greater traffic generated and 41,000 households on the county's rental-assistance waiting list.
Supervisor Ron Roberts is clueless that in shifting riders to mass transit, if it could be done as he hopes, the buses and trolleys he loves generate greater carbon emissions than autos, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
If we simply look at the county's own consultant's report that stipulates "only" 7,500 dwelling units will be eliminated and multiply that by the average home price in San Diego of $330,000, it comes to almost $2.5 billion worth of lost jobs. Since new homes cost more than $330,000, it's really a lot more in lost jobs and economic growth.
Does anyone think Dianne Jacob, Ron Roberts, Greg Cox or Pam Slater-Price cares? Think again!
Fred Schnaubelt is president of Citizens for Private Property Rights and lives in Rancho Bernardo.
http://sandiegoissues.com/fredschnaubelt.htm
Is Raising Taxes Cutting Off
Our Nose to Spite Our Face?
Dianne Jacob--"What have I
done?
Fanning the Flames of Class Welfare
Why Is America
Rich?
To Steal or Not to Steal--that
is the question
Will Affordable Housing Be Abolished by Gov.
Brown?
Ugly Beauty--Gov. Brown's Right
on Redevelopment
Economic Freedom Is Up to
You, Diane Jacobs
Bread and Circuses--Is Tea Party
Rooted in Rome?
First Kill All theHome Builders A Classic
San Diego City Council 2010 Legislative Calendar HERE
San Diego City Council 2011 Legislated Calendar HERE
Submit comments and suggestions to the San Diego City Council Agenda HERE
San Diego City 2011 Fiscal Budget HERE
Councilman Carl DeMaio's "Roadmap to Recovery" plan for San Diego HERE
FOR LOCAL BLOG UPDATES of San Diego City policies, please regularly visit
The Liberator Today
Richard Rider
San Diego Rostra
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By Nathan Max
12:54 p.m., May 25, 2011
NORTH PARK — Residents in North Park could soon see improved services if propertyowners vote to create a maintenance assessment district funded by higher property taxes.
The City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to approve the vote-by-mail election, which will take 45 days to complete. Councilman Kevin Faulconer was absent.
The affected area includes University Avenue from Georgia Street to Interstate 805; 30th Street from Thorn Street to Howard Avenue; North Park Way, Ray Street and other secondary corridors.
A maintenance assessment district is a legal mechanism by which property owners can vote to assess themselves to pay for and receive services above and beyond what the city normally provides. In this case, the money would be used for additional litter and graffiti removal, street sweeping, power washing, landscape and tree maintenance, more security patrols and new street lighting.
More specifically, there would be daily sidewalk sweeping outside businesses, annual palm-tree trimming and alley sweeping.
“It’s about economic revitalization,” Councilman Todd Gloria said. “It will allow us to polish the jewel that has become North Park. This will help small business owners, and it will help to create jobs. But more importantly, we want to make sure the residents are respected.”
Gloria said assessments would cost property owners between $3 and $9 a month. That would amount to an increase of between $36 and $108 on annual property-tax bills. Properties that derive a greater benefit would be assessed a higher rate.
There are 2,480 parcels in the affected area, and the total assessment would provide for more than $470,000 for increased services.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/25/improvements-coming-north-park-if-property-owners-/
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