Author: Anna Daniels

Why hassle with trying to find a parking space when you can be eating chili and groovin’ to the tunes this Saturday? If you are one of the 70,000 people anticipated to attend the fair, and if you are driving, you can park at two locations, take a trolley and leave the hassles to Larry, Curley and Bob. And it’s FREE!

by Anna Daniels

What’s with our county government? A gay couple, married since 2008, was not permitted by a county caseworker to sit together while one of them applied for public assistance,while heterosexual married couples are routinely allowed to stay together while county social workers interview them.

by Anna Daniels

“Actress Heather Graham wants women to empower themselves by pole dancing.” I read these words in a filler article in the U-T last Saturday morning (5/31/09). Whatever life lacks in plot, it more than makes up for in irony. Consider the past week’s news.

“LORD KNOWS WHAT WE WOULD GET THEN” The news has delivered up some fascinating responses to President Obama’s proposed appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. …

I am not 100% sure that Adam Lambert, presumed gay but not talking, lost the American Idol crown because of homophobia. I am however 100% sure that Lt. Dan Choi is getting the boot from the US military because he is gay and he is definitely talking.

by Anna Daniels

News about beauty pageants engenders pretty much the same response in me as the announcement of a new brand of breakfast cereal-“here comes more refined sugar in a new box.”

The 2007 Miss Universe Competition did, however, get my attention. The gowns, as reported in This Side of the Mirror, were not your run of the mill frocks.

by Anna Daniels

Just an FYI. I voted this morning to approve our MEA union two year contract. The results aren’t in but I suspect it will pass. It includes over one week of mandatory unpaid furlough, a 3% pay reduction or an equal reduction in our supplemental pension.

There will be Town Hall Meeting in Ocean Beach tomorrow – April 20th – on the FY10 budget. This is your opportunity to get an overview by the Mayor’s staff on his proposed budget and ask questions!

by Anna Daniels

This past Friday morning (April 10) the SANDAG Board of Director’s meeting had an agenda item for a special Transit Operations Funding workshop. Thirty public speakers presented testimony for and against additional fiscal support for MTS. (SANDAG is the San Diego Association of Governments – a coordinating policy body for the area.)

by Anna Daniels

Our transit service- the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) – is on the brink of bankruptcy! Bus service will be reduced and/or eliminated on some existing routes. This is a done deal.

Transit advocates were successful, however, in temporarily halting the approval of fare increases which MTS has presented as the only remedy to this fiscal emergency.

by Anna Daniels

One day last week I read that the City was disbanding its winter shelters, which not only provided protection from the elements but also linked people up with services they needed- health care, jobs, and housing. These shelters “housed” a very small percentage of the total homeless population but their importance shouldn’t be dismissed.

by Anna Daniels

DON’T BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE YET!

The Mayor said he would not propose closing libraries nor reducing hours. What he did NOT say is that he would not cut staff. This is a significant issue, because the City is currently balancing the general fund budget almost entirely on $9.8 million dollars worth of salary savings.

by Anna Daniels

This morning, I attended and testified at the SANDAG (San Diego Area Governments) Transportation Committee. Our transit company, Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS) has suffered a 14 million dollar deficit this year because of the State cuts to transit funding. They anticipate a 17 million dollar shortfall next year.