By Kate Callen
You can’t blame Todd Gloria for delaying the painful announcement that Measure E is DOA.
The mayor is having a rough month. He should have been re-elected easily. That didn’t happen. He had an inside track to a White House post. That won’t happen either.
It’s understandable that a politician with fresh bruises would put off more skirmishes. But while Gloria takes a breather, the rest of the city is preparing for a fierce budget battle in the not-too-distant future.
The early message to the mayor is direct: Don’t try the public’s patience any more than you already have.
Gloria and his cronies spent lavishly to push Measure E, which would have raised the city’s sales tax by 1% to generate an additional $400 million per year.
When politicians seek to raise taxes, they talk excitedly about how the new money will pay for budget items people care about: roads, sidewalks, and neighborhood services.
If the tax measures don’t pass, their talk turns ominous. In his first post-election interview, Gloria told NBC7 that “we’ll have to make difficult choices” and “everyone is going to have to participate.”
That argument might fly if the people of San Diego had faith in City Hall’s fiscal judgement. Clearly, they don’t. They have seen too many bad deals and too much money squandered. That’s why they rejected Measure E.
If Gloria thinks he can blithely impose across-the-board cuts, he needs to think again. In the current political climate, he will face excruciating pressure to be transparent and accountable in all his budget decisions.
And for his own political survival, his first and deepest cuts should hit City Hall’s bloated managerial ranks, starting with political appointees.
During Gloria’s first term, the City’s workforce expanded by 20 percent from 11,000 to 13,500. A current roster shows 321 executives earning more than $200,000 a year. Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan makes $409,000 a year, 50% more than his predecessor.
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association, the region’s premier watchdog on government spending, has expressed concerns about managerial staffing levels and salaries.
“Pay raises for city employees should be closely scrutinized,” said president and CEO Haney Hong, “because our research confirms that increased pay does not always result in improved services.”
And Shane Harris, President of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates, is publicly calling for a cost and compensation survey of City Hall positions.
Such third-party reviews of salaries and duties are considered a best practice in municipal government. The County of San Diego and the Port of San Diego are currently conducting their own. The City hasn’t performed a citywide survey in recent memory.
Harris thinks it’s time for Gloria to concede that Measure E has been defeated.
“This was the wrong time to ask for more taxes on residents in San Diego already living in America’s most expensive city,” he said.
Slick Willy Toad’s red herring deals will always need foster care. Half the records requests for Kettner and Vine remain unfulfilled.
Awhile back the city in my area, not a heavily used area, hammered up the sidewalk corners and re poured with truncated domes. Then they added posts, chains, and signage to direct pedestrians which way to cross. After the city declared it was ok to cross anywhere as long as it was safe, they came back and cut those posts, chains, and signs down. And now we have a day lighting parking rule coming in January that’s basically a moot point against the cross anywhere rule. Ah, the consistency?
Just got my Xmas card from the city reminding me my water goes up 8.7% and wastewater goes up 3% starting next year. Does wastewater go down if we’re drinking it? Thank you Mayor Toad and City Clowncil.