by Michael Zucchet / Voice of San Diego / January 21, 2026
In his Jan. 13 op-ed published in Voice of San Diego, former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey argues that increased spending and poor management are the real culprits of the city of San Diego’s budget woes.
But in many of the issue areas that Bailey cites (personnel and pension costs, lack of public safety spending and trash collection fees) San Diego is in line with or even outperforming other cities – including the city of Coronado under Bailey’s leadership as councilmember and mayor for 12 years:
- According to the Census Bureau, the city of San Diego’s population steadily grew more than 7 percent between 2010 and 2024 to 1,404,000. During the same period, the population of Coronado decreased 5 percent to 18,000. Despite this decline in residents, Coronado’s general fund personnel budget rose 89 percent from FY 2014 (Mr. Bailey’s first full fiscal year in office) to FY 2026. During the same period – with a rising population – San Diego’s general fund personnel expenditures rose 76 percent. Coronado has one city employee for every 70 residents; San Diego has one employee for every 107 residents.
- San Diego’s total pension payment rose from $275 million in FY 2014 to $533 million in FY 2026, a 94 percent increase. During the same period, the total pension payment by Coronado rose from $4.3 million to $11.8 million, a whopping 174 percent increase. Both plans have about the same funded ratio of assets compared to future liabilities, with San Diego’s plan having more conservative actuarial assumptions than Coronado’s.
- Between FY 2014 and FY 2026, Coronado’s general fund budget nearly doubled (up 97 percent) from $42 to $82.9 million. During the same time, San Diego’s general fund budget increased by 76 percent ($1.23 to $2.17 billion).
- San Diego spends 57 percent of its general fund budget on police, fire/emergency medical services and lifeguards ($1.23 billion out of $2.17 billion). Coronado spends only 42 percent of its general fund budget on the same public safety services ($34.6 million out of $82.0 million).
- Finally, Mr. Bailey’s claim that San Diego is “nickel-and-diming residents” with fees like paying for trash really takes the audacity cake. First, San Diego was the last city in San Diego County to begin recovering the cost for trash collection. Coronado has been charging its residents for trash collection for decades. Secondly, when Mr. Bailey took office, Coronado subsidized 50 percent of residents’ cost of trash collection. A 2025 inewsource article documented how over the last decade, the city eliminated that subsidy such that Coronado residents now pay all or nearly all of the cost. There’s nothing wrong with that – it is what literally every other recognizable city in California and the United States of America does – but it is wrong for Mr. Bailey to talk about “nickel-and-diming residents” when what he did in Coronado with trash fees is perhaps the definition of nickel-and-diming residents. And the elimination of the subsidy also amounted to a textbook bait-and-switch for the residents of Coronado. Oh, the irony.
Nothing written here is intended to throw shade on the city of Coronado. By most accounts, it is a well-run city with very strong financial reserves and generally satisfied residents.
But Mr. Bailey’s sermonizing about San Diego’s woes falls flat given his own record. The notion that Mr. Bailey can swoop in and run for office in San Diego (as he is suspected of considering) based on his record in Coronado is dubious at best, both because his record, on the metrics he cites, is not flattering to him and because Coronado and San Diego are obviously very different cities.
San Diego is the second largest city in California (eighth largest in the United States). Coronado’s size ranks 372nd among cities in California. Coronado is 7.4 square miles with about 2,500 residents per square mile; San Diego is 325 square miles with 4,300 residents per square mile. Demographics, household income, poverty rates, homeownership percentages and pretty much every other metric is wildly different between the two cities – as are the challenges faced when governing.
Of course, Mr. Bailey is right about one point in his piece: the explosive growth in management at the city of San Diego since 2015 is costly, outrageous and indefensible. The statistics he quotes (460 percent growth in middle management positions since 2015, which is 23 times more than the growth in frontline workers) come directly from a presentation the Municipal Employees Association made to a San Diego City Council committee one year ago.
We welcome his voice to this issue. MEA will continue to work with Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council to right-size that part of the city’s workforce so we can better focus on employees who actually deliver essential services to San Diego residents.
Michael Zucchet is General Manager of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, is a former City Councilmember and resides in Point Loma.
Bailey reminds me of a popular high school classmate who kept devising new ways to get more attention. Her favorite ploy was to have her friends tell three different boys that she hoped each would ask her out. When all three did, she “agonized” over which to accept.
Will Bailey run for D2 in 2026? For mayor in 2028? Is he close to a decision? Enough already. This drama is getting stale.
What drama? He has opinions, he writes editorials? No drama there. If he never runs for anything, his viewpoints are pretty interesting. So are Mike Zucchet’s. I like to see civil discourse out there. I would vote for Bailey over any existing Council person for mayor if he runs one day.
I agree with you completely, Joe. I chuckle at all the concern and angst with all the conspiratorial slant on ‘will he or won’t he run’. As others have said here, Richard Bailey has opinions and he is gaining a large amount of interest and following.
As for Zucchet, he was a terrible council member, and I question his facts in the article.
Richard Bailey is solutions oriented. We are desperate for this type of governance.
My money is on him running in District 2; that’s where he now lives and a traditionalist could say there’s no real strong candidates running. The mayoral election is not for another 3 years and Bailey is too impatient to wait. He will run for D2 and then when the time comes, will bounce into the race for mayor, step-stoning his way to power, as it were.
Glad to see someone call out Mr. Bailey on this. I will re-post a comment I made here previously.
https://obrag.org/2025/09/will-san-diegos-new-parking-rates-make-a-dent-in-the-deficit/
“I am not going to defend the fiscal responsibility of the City of San Diego but this is a lot of tough talk coming from the former mayor of a city that collects over 40% more tax revenue per capita than the City of San Diego. Maybe Richard Bailey should have lowered the tax burden on residents and visitors to Coronado when he was there?
City of San Diego revenue for 2023 was $4.4b with a population of 1.36m so that’s 3.2k revenue per person.
City of Coronado revenue for 2023 was $100m with a population of 22k so that’s 4.5k revenue per person.”
If he runs, he runs. Zucchet seems concerned enough to pen an opinion. Or is he running?
I think Zucchet has had his fill of electoral politics.
Zucchet wrote: “According to the Census Bureau, the San Diego’s population steadily grew more than 7 percent between 2010 and 2024 to 1,404,000.”
“During the same period, the population of Coronado decreased 5 percent to 18,000.”
The California Dept of Finance tracks annual local population changes in their E-5 and E-8 series more precisely than the Census Bureau’s surveys .
San Diego’s population has not steadily grown from 2010 to 2024. It grew nearly 7% from 2010 to 2017 (1.301M to 1.389M), then it declined through 2021 (to 1.375M), before leveling off then slowly heading up and breaking through 2017’s peak to reach 1.408M by the end of 2024. Only about 15,000 more people than we had 8 years ago.
As for Coronado’s population, the only decline I see in state data over the 2010-2024 period is a 9% drop from 24,700 to 22,600 in total population. But, for a small city, it’s a bit disingenuous to use total population which includes group quarters, heavily skewing the results due to military presence I presume. The household population in state data for Coronado was 17,100 in 2010 and 17,200 at end of 2024.
As for the rest, the percentage comparisons deflect from the $$$ scale of what’s going on in City of San Diego. San Diego residents are in near open revolt on several fronts, from budget failures to taxation to citations to fees to predatory deregulation in housing and more. Is that happening in Coronado? Did it happen under Bailey’s watch?
To continue the discussion on your very salient points, Jeff, is the fact that Richard Bailey was a very popular mayor. Don’t take it from me, talk to the citizens of Coronado.
In fact, before publishing an article from a very bias source (Zucchet is head of the municipal unions), why not talk to the city manager of Coronado. That’s a position that the city of San Diego needs more now than ever in order to get accurate statistics inside City Hall.
In the meantime, I think we need to ignore the man behind the curtain. You can replace the word ‘man’ with Gloria or Zucchet.
Suggestions for San Diego media: Let’s report the facts, please.
Witnessing the surfacing presence of Richard Bailey in the larger SD political arena, I am reminded of another political chameleon, who captivated the San Diego arena for many years, while ascending the Republican ranks, in search of personal glory and little else. Pete Wilson.
There once was a moderate Republican Mayor who advanced smart city planning as the future model for US cities. He brought in the best of planners and academics, who designed the SD growth plan, with its concentric growth barriers, to prevent leap-frog development. It all worked well until Wilson was co-opted by the SD financial kingpins, whose wealth was derived from real estate development, and the rest is history.
Bailey positions himself as an effective manager of government, as if his checklist of solutions for every problem demonstrates that governing can be handled like an AI equation.
He certainly “managed” the Coronado Council during his tenure and refused to lead on such crucial issues as the sewage tsunami.
When the collective outrage of the IB and Coronado residents resulted in a groundswell of demands for solutions, Bailey surfaced at a pivitol North Beach rally for the photo op, during which he sought credit for recent Washington action.
One need only take the pulse of Coronado residents who witnessed Bailey’s MIA management style. Indeed, he loves to climb mountains abroad, while ducking the mountains of problems on our doorstep that require visionary leadership from arena fighters, not grandstanders with simple solutions for every problem.
Bailey. Supposedly a former republican. Interesting comments on reddit r/sandiego about his appearance on 91X (right leaning?) and Voice of SD podcast. A founder of https://takebacksandiego.com/tag/richard-bailey/ Has become a political ‘influencer’ which may carry weight with Gen X. Seems to push the right buttons. And yet my first thought is of the fable ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’. Websites- https://www.sandiegocomeback.com/ , https://repealthefees.com/ .
91x is independently owned and operated, & does a fairly damn good job of being politically agnostic. 91x serves the community, well. They must, because they are beholden to San Diegans, not Clear Channel or one of the other 4 Corporate media monopolies.
91x is very far from leaning in any direction on the political spectrum, other than that which the majority of the San Diegans that they serve compel it to. Simply put, independent stations are WHOLLY committed to the communities they serve because they have to be. To imply otherwise is disingenuous.
Political influencers are NOT having any quantifiable discernible effect actual votes cast in actual elections on Gen X or otherwise. That statement is either embarrassingly ambiguous, or the new corporate media narrative to go after independent radio stations, and podcasts of any sort for that matter.
For instance: Anyone, a corporation, a business, candidate, average Joe or schmuck can solicit followers through targeted paid advertising on social media sites; regardless of whether the company or the social media corporate generated “followers” in return for the ad revenue paid to them, are legitimate or not.
Anyone in just about any industry can attest to the fact that followers, likes and shares, and for that matter any social media accolades, do not necessarily convert to sales, nor convert to actual votes cast. That goes for influencers gauged merely by the number of followers they have generated as evidence they’re successfully advancing political ideologies as well. There is simply no metric to quantify this suggestion with any accuracy.
Case in point, Newsom can’t podcast his way into an accomplished governing record that has never existed, in his entire public service career. He is adept at cashing in, by using a super majority One Party Rule to dismantle and erase DECADES AND DECADES of multi-generational State Wide Public Activisim to advance his political ambitions.
I love the fact that a few of you have to spell out that Richard Bailey was formerly a Republican. FYI, these local races are non-partisan so rather than throwing swords because there’s a suspicion because Richard has had an R after his name, why not just listing to his ‘solution-based’ ideas.
Also, I am a baby-boomer, Frank, not Gen Z and am supporting Bailey. A former lifelong Democrat who left the party after the 2024 fiasco election, I am now ‘no-party’ affiliation because I believe the big-money, two-party system is corrupt on both sides and addicted to money and power. Case in point is our current ‘all-Democrat’ city council. The worst we have ever had.
People over party will be the beginning of the take back of our San Diego.
Lisa, thanks for your comments as you continue to be a Bailey supporter. (Not certain what the boomer vs Gen Z was about.) Oh, San Diego has had worse city councils, like when the Republicans dominated the council for decades and none of them, for example, in the mid-1970s, even supported the concept of a local community planning group — except the lone Democrat on the Council back then — Floyd Morrow.
We’ve had plenty of GOP-related scandals in this city; San Diego was, afterall, Richard Nixon’s favorite city — and look what happened to him and the local hotel scandal here; then there was Ronnie Raygun who loved our city and his minions of supporters in San Diego; Reagan was arguably the worst California governor in the modern era and a worse president. And sure, there’s been Democratic-related scandals.
And I know you Lisa are a reader of the Rag and so you must know how we’ve constantly and consistently been criticizing the current Democrat-run City Hall. Trouble is, some of those critical of City Hall today think it’s time to bring back the Republicans – ala Richard Bailey.
Some of the drama surrounding Bailey is his ‘will I run or will I not run’, his troops of giddy supporters, and the way his supporters split up one of the most important coalitions in San Diego all in the name of ‘let’s be united.’ And we won’t even get into his solid support for Trump and for ICE.
The ebb and flo of the status quo. And nothing better in between. Meanwhile the city’s destruction goes on.
Richard Bailey is not a “former Republican”. He is still a registered Republican, was as active member of the Republican Party’s central committee, and brought bare-knuckled Republican partisan politics to a sleepy beach town. Not “non-partisan”. Your bias shows with your “all-democrat” comment. They are not “democrat” but Democratic (big “D”). “Non-partisan races” only require that the party affiliation is not delineated on the ballot. which is state law There is no such thing as “non-partisan” races.
Funny cherry picking stuff, 91x right leaning? LOL, and how many golden shovel Toad photo ops have gone on for years? Meanwhile, he hasn’t announced if he’s running. But I’m for repealing the punitive, Toad blaming, affordability mantra, I didn’t get my sales tax increase fees.
Frank, if you read your post: (Bailey) “Has become a political ‘influencer’ which may carry weight with Gen X. You were referring to Gen X.
If you read my post, you would realize that I am saying that the local races are non-partisan so I am not sure why you go for the labels constantly before you make your statements which are always generalizing that because someone was a former Republican they are automatically conservative and destructive.
Yes, we have had terrible politicians who have run city hall which is all the more reason to stop the party labels and ask direct questions of the candidates to find out how they will take back our city.
Let’s stop the party label talk and find out which candidates are ‘solution based.’ That means going against the MEA which has become the gorilla in the room. Let’s see who would tackle that. So far, the all-Democrat city hall has only let it expand uncontrollably. AND put a freeze on all salary increases, especially those at city hall.
For the record, when Richard Bailey became Mayor in 2016, he vowed to not take any salary raises. Boy, why won’t our electeds at city hall step forward to do the same?
Yeah, IDK why everything has to devolve into this all or nothing ideology of we hate Toad, but Dem good, GOPher bad stance. Kind of a sad state of affairs given his no intention to run has happened. Freedom of the discussion even becomes circumspect. No real ideas being exchanged. Just entrenchment.
Again, is Bailey a candidate, and for what? It’s one thing to have “solution-based ideas.” It’s another to run for office so you can put those ideas into practice through actual governance. This was the powerful message of Theodore Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” speech, the subject of an October 31 Rag post I wrote about Bailey.
I’m talking from experience. I entered the arena by running in the 2024 D3 Council primary. I knew the odds were against me, but I felt compelled to put everything on the line in an attempt to be a agent of real change and not just an influencer.
The test of real leadership is walking the talk. Roosevelt said it best:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
Time will tell if Bailey does, alright, you tried but didn’t succeed. But yet, you have a beef with Bailey. So what’s perfect in this next race trying to change the direction of this city?
Now I get why Kate is so upset, you pinpointed it, Chris. Kate, let you past experience in politics go and move on to a more purposeful existence rather than spending time shaming others. It degrades the definition of unfiltered and unbiased journalism.
Kate, thank you for trying to make a difference and running for office. D3, so you ran against Real-Life Smithers, the candidate backed by the Democratic Party because he is such a better quality candidate for leadership in California’s second largest city or was it really the fact that he is a dishonest contemptibly corruptible schmuck? Stop and think about that for a second.
Stop and think about what “the Party” did to eliminate your candidacy almost immediately upon entering the race.
Stop and think about what “the Party” machination that was Larry Turner, a wholly fabricated candidate with no intention of becoming Mayor, so that “the Party” could “primary” the populist challenger. “The Party” literally and openly discriminated against an overly qualified, self made, strong woman of color that should have been our first African-American Mayor, Genevi´eve Jones-Wright.
Stop and think about what “the Party” did to an accomplished leader that termed out in the State Assembly, Lori Saldaña when she ran for Mayor and County Board of Supervisors.
Stop and think about “the Party” financed misinformation mailers claiming that Barbara Bry was a Trump loyalist hellbent on approving offshore drilling off of San Diego’s coast. (As if a Mayor can even unilaterally make that happen.)
Stop and think about why Joe LaCava ran unopposed.
Stop and think about why “the Party” threw their corporate donor weight behind Dr. Gentrification Campbell that had barely escaped a recall, during a pandemic. $$$$
I support the Rag. And yes the Rag does hold truth to power. But the Rag cowers immediately when it means opposing anyone other than “the Party’s” hand selected sycophant which for over a decade now. The quality of candidates has spiraled downward, and each subsequent party backed candidate has been void of any morality, decency or any discernible commitment to the San Diegans they are supposed to serve.
If only we had a third party or a fourth of a fifth… Then we wouldn’t feel compelled to trash the only (unfortunately) other potential candidate running for office so we can so “the Party” can maintain the new status quo of “I’m Gettin Mine screw San Diegans!” This is the way “the Party” has continued to enjoy the exponentially growing profits by sending more San Diegans into the streets to die every month. This is “the Party” agenda spearheaded in large part by Real Life Smithers Stephen “Corporate Whipburned.” That an accomplished woman like yourself should have been able to handily defeat in the primaries, with the blessing of the Democratic Party, instead you got shafted because that’s the way the money machine operates.
Does the OB Rag get paid by the Democratic Party? Because it seems that you sure run a lot of “election” interference and rail against any meaningful action to reign in the “the Party” run amuck, and it worsens everyday!
Kate and Frank, please stop carrying water for the corrupted going into yet another election cycle, it is our only hope.
Kate can you explain why you felt compelled to compose the apologist article pitying and offering forgiveness for poor overwhelmed Todd Gloria and excusing away the voracity of his callous party serving housing policies killing San Diegans. Is he walking the talk? He is not! And now is the worst part about that is he has three years left to inflict as much damage as “the Party” will like him to? Because recall’s are hard.
Please promote accountability, not the corporate ideologies that don’t even line up with core principles of what was formerly the Democratic Party at one time.
Simply put. it is incumbent upon us all to coalesce to end this in the most American way, dissent, organization, and exerting the will of the People to take back power legislated away from us by the very party you champion.
Please for God’s sake stop running interference while “the Party” continues to screw us ever so harder each day, by way of One Party Rule and it is obvious that everything is aggressively worsening each day.
You’re right about criticisms of the local Democrats but you’re absolutely wrong about our carrying water for them. Do you homework before you throw out rants about how the Rag has failed your vision. We opposed Gloria when he first ran, supported Bry at the time, and waged holy war against Gloria for what his PAC did to Saldana. Give us some evidence of how we ‘carried water.’
And to be honest, I’m not responding to your unfounded rants any more. I have more important things to worry and write about.
Still waiting if a couple comments will be posted, but what’s the opposition to returning to a city manager? While we wait for 3 years?
I agree with you completely Chris.
Relax, Kate. We have so many issues currently before us, that we must push back on like paid parking in Balboa Park and repeal of the trash fees, to constantly bring up the subject of ‘will he or won’t he’ is not very productive.
I suggest you coalesce with the community groups like SDUC and let’s win some of these very important issues that deal with affordability, and access for all. Let’s emphasize community advocacy for now over politics.
What do you think Roosevelt would say about that?
Roosevelt would say that it is disingenuous to issue public invitations you know will never be accepted. And also that trust doesn’t come with refills.
Just as a reminder, Lisa, we’re already “coalescing with community groups” — it’s called the San Diego Community Coalition. You remember, don’t you? You were at its founding meeting back in April.
Yes, I remember. Then the group was reimagined in November 2025 into the San Diego United Communities that has coalesced with multiple communities and proactively supported each community’s battles as well as city-wide issues of Repeal the Fees on trash and paid parking at Balboa Park, etc.
I believe the SDCC is run by the three of you to put on forums and more educational rather than teambuilding since I have not seen you at any of the SDUC rallies.
LM, just for the record, the so-called “United Communities” trashed the first coalition — the San Diego Community Coalition — because a handful of individuals believed they ‘could do it better’ and tried to convince others they had the correct line but now they say let’s ‘all be united.’ I’m not scoring points here but when you misrepresent what happened, it has to be pointed out. The original group was not “reimagined”. You and a couple of others trashed the original group so you could have it your way even though no one was stopping you within the original group to do your thing.
And it appears this was all done because some of us in the original group were not fawning over Bailey — like you and Margaret. So it all may come down to a split within community groups between Democrats, independents versus Republicans (Bailey and now Faulconer) and their supporters.
Frank, J or Frank Gormlie, for the record, SDUC has never publicly ‘trashed’ SDCC. I was not and am not part of the group that reimagined an off-shoot of SDCC last November.
I contacted you and Kate and told you that this new formation will enhance SDCC and expand its reach. I told you and Kate that you should attend the first meeting to coalesce and be a part of the new team that formed and you and Kate were furious and were the ones who trashed the new group. Ever since then, Kate has continued to personally target me publicly and I find it confusing since I did not spearhead the SDUC new group. Most importantly unprofessional and not respectful journalism.
I am not a part of the steering committee of SDUC but have attended their meetings and some events. Actually, what I have observed is many of the individuals who attended the SDCC group’s events are now actively involved with the SDUC.
My focus, Frank, is not to be a part of any organization but to promote those organizations that for me are non-partisan and like-minded which this new group is and they seem to be becoming very popular with energized San Diegans.
So, I hope you will read this post fully and if you want to continue to attack me, that is your choice but again, having the last word, Frank J or Frank Gormlie does not mean you are right. But you still have the freedom to speak.
The past several weeks of volleying nasty posts back and forth has been unproductive and definitely not good journalism. Hopefully we can put this unpleasant chapter behind us and treat each other respectfully and positively no matter our ideology.
All I did was throw a couple of websites out there for additional information. The 91X comment was more off the top of my head but specifically Dave Rickards and his views. Voice of SD was a softball cast. Never had to mention his support of the most vile evil serial liar in our history. He is a so-called ‘influencer’, maybe for the money? Not sure I see his solutions, if you find them, having any more weight than the republicans latest health care plan after 60+ repeals of RomneyCare (smirk). Any member of the party of hypocrisy, present and former, in 2026, will not get my respect. A friend liked to say he was ‘fiscally conservative and socially democratic’. Show me a fiscally responsible conservative legislator since Reagan nearly tripled the national debt. Wolf. Wolf.
Dave Rickerts has spent his entire carreer on 101 KGB a Clear Channel Corporate owned entity. 91X is independently owned and operated. YOU’RE FALSELY BASHING THE REPUTATION OF A RESPONSIBLE INDEPENDENTLY & LOCALLY OWNED MEDIA COMPANY!
Mark Twain once said it is better to keep your mouth shut and seem a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.
Let’s keep it local, Frank. The 100% democrat city hall is the worst ever. And none of the current crop of council members will be capable of getting us out of the financial ditch. If you are depending on examples of what happened 40 + years ago, why haven’t the democrats taken over and reversed this decay?
To be so one-sided and put party labels on your statements in a non-partisan race is bias journalism and also leads to hypocrisy as I just described. Most professional journalists do not disclose their party.
We can go back and forth on this Frank but in the end accomplish nothing. However, I will let you have the last word, Frank, by responding to this post so you can think that you won the conversation. But sadly, this whole diatribe between us has been completely unproductive.
I’m confused. Aren’t Frank J and Frank Gormlie different people? Does Frank J write for the Rag?
Hi Steph; you know me and I’m the only Frank who writes and edits for the Rag. There are 2 “Franks” who post comments, one is Frank J. And there is another “Frank” — not me — who also posts comments.
I am a regular reader of The Rag, and especially enjoy the reader comments. They are particularly informed and literate. The other independent publications such as VOSD or Times of San Diego don’t even publish reader input. And the UT? Three days a week and 150 words? I consider Kate Callen and Lisa Mortensen two prolific contributors. Kind of sad to see them at odds.
Can we focus instead on Zucchet’s propaganda and that he needed to step from behind the curtain long enough to slam Bailey? It stuns me that the guy, once convicted and then cleared of ‘honest services fraud’ is NOT a registered lobbyist who has unlimited and unreported (not required) access to every elected official in the city.
That means he can coordinate votes, lobby for employee interests and make clear what our CCMs and mayor better not say without stepping out into the open.
While he is arms-length on paper from the extremely powerful Municipal Employees Union PAC, they’ve got to be able to hear him across the hall. He’s a championship poker player and that means knowing when to bluff, when to fold and when to press on.
So now that he has gone public to try to let some air out of Bailey, we have a pretty good idea that he’s worried about the guy and can’t find another way to control him. That means something.
I agree with your every word, and you said it so well!
Lisa and Marty, don’t be so gosh-darn anti-labor and anti-union all the time. It was the union movement that got us 40 hours a week, 8 hours a day, paid vacations, workers comp, the right for people who work to try to make their working conditions better thru joint actions – the list goes on. I know it’s tempting in such an anti-union town historically as San Diego to diss unions, and see them as just one more power player, usually corrupt and self-serving, but c’mon. Have a heart. It’s from Zucchet that we obtained much of the info on all those mid-managers making 6-figures.
Yeah, especially since we haven’t found Jimmy Hoffa yet. Not like Zucchet and Toad commiserate or anything
Lighten up, Frank. I thought you agreed with me this morning to ‘tone it down’. Your attack is out of bounds.
I was of the understanding the Rag blog was an open public platform that supported freedom of ideas. Or is it just ideas that are in line with yours?
No racist ideas, white supremacist themes, no misogynistic expressions and we’re not a platform for Trump and the fascism he’s bringing to America — actually some would argue it’s here — so beyond that, what’s up?
The shut down of any person outside of a D by using past R history is like saying don’t go to Jack in the Box cause they had ecoli 30 years ago. It’s a wall that doesn’t solve current problems and replace the people responsible by continuing philosophical division.
BS, CS, very bad analogy; it’s like saying, ‘well, Trump exhibited so many fascist tendencies during his first term, maybe we shouldn’t vote for him again.’ Ah, duh. If Bailey is still a Republican and if he still likes Trump and what ICE is doing, that’s NOT 30 years ago.
Really? “philosophical division”? Okay, the Rs want a fascist dictatorship and destroy the Constitution; the Ds don’t. Is that what you mean? Just a philosophical division?
Right now is a very bad time to defend the Rs, Chris.
I don’t defend any R’s dude. I point out the inconsistencies in your statements. Your posturing is no different than Trump’s in trying to rule the agenda, for you here, based on your power. It’s your abject denial that anyone outside your entrenched D space is capable, in referencing city politics. That’s where the whole convo started, and now you’ve morphed it into a national one. My statement was totally about local politics and your previous references to how bad the R’s were in previous SD governments.
TY.
Well that’s a broad swipe at a narrow comment, Frank. “gosh darn anti-labor and anti-union all the time.” Where’d you get that from? Is your knee still jerking?
Here’s your opening comment from the other day: “Can we focus instead on Zucchet’s propaganda and that he needed to step from behind the curtain long enough to slam Bailey? It stuns me that the guy, once convicted and then cleared of ‘honest services fraud’ is NOT a registered lobbyist who has unlimited and unreported (not required) access to every elected official in the city.
That means he can coordinate votes, lobby for employee interests and make clear what our CCMs and mayor better not say without stepping out into the open.”
“gosh darn anti-labor and anti union all the time” your words.
And I was being polite. Okay, maybe ‘not all the time’.
Who said, “Can’t we all just get along?” I will vote for anybody that is NOT a current City Council member or their staff. Meanwhile, there is tomorrow, and the potential for destroying OB with Complete Communities housing development. Think about that the next time you drive by the vacant Rite-Aide site in Ocean Beach. Only the OBRag lets the rest of us know what is really going on. Thank you, Frank Gormlie. For letting all voices be heard.
Frank, I’m not criticizing all unions and am not criticizing the city employees union. Unions advocate for the worker and someone damned well ought to. I’ve even participated in trying to bring a union in.
Zucchet does a great job of advocating for city employees.
But the city management is supposed to try to balance BALANCE the interests of those workers and the taxpayers. The MEA is a lead funder of elections, and with its allies, a lead funder of the ‘independent’ attack mailers used to destroy candidates who might not serve city unions – remember the attacks on Barbara Bry? Union funded.
Everyone who runs for office, city and county, knows well that any candidate who might actually try to balance worker and taxpayer interests is on full notice that actually trying means you have a target on your back. Look at the county races, because it’s happening there too. Taxpayers are now captive to an employee-owned government.
Cost cutting will not happen if it means a true hiring freeze. Pension reform, even the gentle one I favor, is DOA. The city has great workers and I value them. But someone ought to be in charge of the budget.
Of course Todd and Zucchet commiserate on employees, that’s an obvious. Unions like jobs and the money from them. You’ll never see a union saying, we shouldn’t do that job because it’s not in the public’s best interest. It’s not fiscally responsible.