Occasionally, landlubbers from San Diego make news that’s of interest to us. Here’s a few newsbits that are shaking the tree of life in the rest of the city. (I guess you could see this as an OB Flashes for Sandy Ego. )
Will the City Ban Floatopias?
Floatopia in Mission Bay, Memorial Day, 2010. Photo by Nate Hipple.
By Craig Gustafson / Union-Tribune / June 30, 2010
Floatopia is about to be deflated. The offshore drinking parties that sprang up in response to an alcohol ban on San Diego beaches could be nixed this month under a proposal headed to the City Council.
A council committee voted unanimously Wednesday (6/30/10) to forward a plan to extend the alcohol ban to bathers — practically anyone in the water who isn’t in a boat or kayak — so law enforcement officials can put a stop to the floating parties, primarily on Mission Bay.
For the remainder of this article, go here.
Petition puzzle: Pulling back the curtain on Carl DeMaio’s costly signature-gathering campaign
By Kelly Davis / CityBeat/ June 30, 2010
At a June 14 press conference, San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio stood behind eight cardboard filing boxes, filled with what he said were petitions containing enough voter signatures to put his long-touted city-contracting measure on the November ballot.
Channeling his best JFK, DeMaio declared, “Today, San Diego voters take back control of city government.”
That statement could prove premature. Results released late Monday of a statistical-sample count by the county Registrar of Voters showed that the petitions DeMaio handed in didn’t contain the 96,834 valid signatures— 15 percent of the city’s registered voting population—the ballot measure needs to qualify. In a statement later that evening, DeMaio said he’d appeal, which means he’ll have to pay for a hand count. The cost for that hand count, San Diego City Clerk Liz Maland told CityBeat on Tuesday, is estimated to be $150,000.
For the remainder of this article, go here.
San Diego City Council Gives Go-ahead to Central Library Construction
By Emily Alpert/ Voice of San Diego / June 28, 2010
Less than two years ago, downtown boosters’ dream of a new main library looked dead. Donations lagged. The costs had risen over the years and the project kept being pushed back after it was first discussed more than a decade ago.
Now their dream, long deferred, is headed toward reality. The San Diego City Council voted Monday to start building a downtown library with a school on two upper floors. The plan passed despite a downturn that has cut back on library hours across the city and the fact that fundraisers still have to scrounge up more than $30 million in donations.
“You have to take a leap of faith to do this project as a City Council,” said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, adding, “I’m prepared to do that.”
For the remainder of this article, go here.
Mayor Sanders Now Wants Half Cent Raise In Sales Tax
Editor: During the mayoral campaign between now-mayor Jerry Sanders and Donna Frye a few years back, Donna mused that the city may have to raise the sales tax. Sanders tore into her for this, and squeaked by election day. Now Sanders is proposing the same thing.
By Craig Gustafson / Union-Tribune / June 30, 2010
A potential war at the ballot box between labor and business has fizzled as a proposal to raise the sales tax has surfaced at City Hall amid broad discussions to address San Diego’s financial woes.
The plan calls for asking city voters in November to increase the sales tax a half cent on the dollar. It’s one of several options under consideration by Mayor Jerry Sanders to help eliminate a future budget deficit of $72 million and restore recent cuts to fire service, parks and libraries.
Other options include turning landfills over to private contractors, changing pensions for city workers and reducing retiree health care costs.
The sales-tax discussion is a sharp change of direction for Sanders, who has opposed tax increases since his 2005 mayoral campaign. He has repeatedly said he wouldn’t support asking taxpayers for more money until the city learned to live within its means.
For the remainder of this article, go here.
Mayor sued to enforce rope barrier for seals in La Jolla
By Mike Lee / Union-Tribune / June 28, 2010
Animal-rights lawyer Bryan Pease sued San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders on Monday in hopes of forcing the immediate placement of a rope barrier designed to keep seals and people apart at Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla.
In early June, Sanders said there are no emergency conditions at the cove requiring the rope to be put up right away. He said the city should go through the normal permit process, which could take six months.
The City Council had voted in favor of the emergency permit to limit problems at the beach, which is frequently the site of confrontations between seal advocates and people who want more access for human swimmers.
For the remainder of this article, go here.
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This just in- “DeMaio won’t challenge decision ..” This is good news for the people who live and work here in the City. I also assure you that Mr. DeMaio will back, whether in a bid for mayor or in another attempt at an initiative to require out-sourcing of City services and a little bit more- i.e., voiding the Living Wage Ordinance. Mr. DeMaio has been uncharacteristically coy about the initiative’s intent on that latter issue.
Either DeMaio will perfect his spin or be more forthcoming about the intent and backers of a new initiative. I’m going for “perfect his spin.”
Eternal vigilance, friends, eternal vigilance.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jul/01/demaio-wont-challenge-decision-outsourcing-measure/
like i said, he’s darth vader with nice clothes.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday officially ordered most state workers’ paychecks slashed to the federal minimum wage — $7.25 per hour — now that California has entered a new budget year without a spending plan. h/t dave@city beat