Free Republic

SAN DIEGO The city recklessly and deliberately mismanaged its finances for years, according to a report released Tuesday that marks a key milestone in San Diego's fiscal recovery. Kroll Inc. said San Diego "fell prey to the same type of corruption" that ruined companies including Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. and prompted Orange County to file for bankruptcy protection in 1994. "The evidence demonstrates not mere negligence but deliberate disregard for the law, disregard for fiduciary responsibility and disregard for the financial welfare of the city's residents," the report concludes. The 266-page tome, which took 18 months to complete and...

SAN DIEGO -- A woman who was five months pregnant was found hidden under a car's dashboard at a Calexico border crossing. Customs and Border Protection said today that the 18-year-old woman required no medical attention after she was extricated from the green Chevrolet Lumina Wednesday night. Authorities found her when they opened the glove compartment and saw an arm. The 28-year-old Mexican driver and his 27-year-old Mexican wife were arrested on smuggling charges. Two children who were passengers in the car -- ages three and five -- were released to relatives in Mexicali, Mexico. The car was seized.

I am writing to commend the work of the San Diego Police Department at the recent Immigrants Rights March. As a member of the organizing team's effort to keep the march orderly and peaceful, I was struck by the contrasts in style between the San Diego Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. As the march began, I looked over toward an off-ramp from the freeway near Balboa Park, and there stood the California Highway Patrol, seven to 10 strong. They were in riot gear. Their long, black sticks and helmets gleamed in the Palm Sunday sun. Ominously dangling from...

Phoenix's appropriations ordinance is nine pages long. Santa Barbara County's has two pages, as does Pasadena's. In the city of San Diego, the document that gives city staff the authority to spend public money is 81 pages long. The city's top financial officials say the broad discretionary powers that are doled out within this voluminous document have contributed to the city's famed budget ills by allowing staff the ability to significantly shift and spend funds within the city budget without the council's approval. "I told the council that this thing is almost 100 pages worth of loopholes that defeat the...

Authors start off about how the city has given much to the Navy (MY COMMENT: the city and the Navy do get along well, but...) and it's time for the Navy to give back...note where they complain the Navy didn't pay fair market value for the property in the beginning, how the land at Miramar and North Island is valuable commercially and residentially, and that it could help solve the cities pension crisis. BEGIN ARTICLE As the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority works to place a proposition on the November ballot regarding a new airport site in San Diego,...

Project Could Land City In Another Investigation Developer Gets Barrio Logan Land For $100 http://www.10news.com/news/7064349/detail.html SAN DIEGO -- A planned retail center in San Diego's Barrio Logan was suppose to revitalize the entire area, but the city's redevelopment agency, developer and politicians never got anything done. Now, the lack of progress could land the city in another federal investigation.A memo from the city's redevelopment agency estimated if it had been built, the Mercado Project could have generated $307 million in revenues for the city over 40 years. Instead, the empty 6.5-acre lot is a haven for the homeless.

A 20 count indictment against was leveled by a federal grand jury against former SDCERS trustees Ron Saathoff, Cathy Lexin, Theresa Webster, Lawrence Grissom and current General Counsel Lorranie Chapin. They were charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and aiding and abetting.

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury returned an indictment in the pension fund case Friday afternoon. Its details are to be announced at 2 p.m. The jury's foreman and federal prosecutor John Owens stood before U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez shortly before 1 p.m. to notify the judge and get her signature on the document. Nothing was revealed about its contents, and Owens declined to discuss it outside of court, but the U.S. Attorney's office has scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. at its downtown offices.

SAN DIEGO – Mayor Jerry Sanders said Tuesday he was launching a six-month effort to streamline and reorganize a city government he said was "broken and badly in need of repair." Sanders, the city's first "strong" mayor under a new form of government that took effect Sunday, outlined a plan to review the city's contracts, personnel, information technology and administration to look for ways to cut costs and fix problems. "I've been on the job now for 28 days and one thing has become clear to me: San Diego's government systems are broken and they are badly in need of...

Working for the city of San Diego must be very dangerous. Fourteen of every 1,000 people employed by the city end up applying for a disability retirement. Compare that to the rest of the nation, where 0.5 of every 1,000 workers applies for the benefit. Either working for the city is 28 times more dangerous than other gigs or something's askew. How about this: More than 22 percent of the city's retirees are collecting a disability retirement. That means they've abruptly stopped working and started collecting at least half of their salary for the rest of their lives -- an...

If you are among those who cling to the politically fashionable view that San Diego's financial troubles are due to the simple fact that our taxes are too low, think again. A special watchdog report by Union-Tribune staff writer Steve Schmidt and research analyst Danielle Cervantes documents a very different explanation – one that the city's powerful public employee unions don't want told. The real truth is, for years San Diego has been run more for the benefit of its unionized work force than for the benefit of taxpayers. Consider these fundamental facts: In Los Angeles, a city with a...

If you are among those who cling to the politically fashionable view that San Diego's financial troubles are due to the simple fact that our taxes are too low, think again. ... When pensions, health coverage and other perks are taken into account, the average city worker receives a stunning $101,800 a year – far more than is the norm in San Diego's private sector. ... Where else can veteran workers retire with pension checks that are 120 percent or more of their highest-year paychecks? In a bid to sustain this lavish retirement plan, the city has tripled its annual...

Lawrence Grissom, the administrator of San Diego's retirement system, refused to testify yesterday, invoking his right against self-incrimination and becoming the latest high-ranking official connected with the city pension scandal to not answer questions in court. Prosecutor Steve Robinson asked one question – "Were you the retirement administrator for SDCERS in 2002?" – when Grissom's lawyer, Brian Hennigan, announced his client would assert his Fifth Amendment rights. He left a few minutes later, but not before defense attorneys for six former pension board members facing criminal conflict-of-interest charges tried to persuade Superior Court Judge Frederic L. Link to grant Grissom...

The county pension fund's debt has ballooned from $1.2 billion to nearly $1.4 billion in the past year, according to a new report that goes to the county retirement board today. County officials are downplaying the increase, noting that the retirement system's assets could still cover 80 percent of what is owed if all its bills came due. By contrast, the city of San Diego has a deficit of at least $1.4 billion, but a funded ratio of just 65 percent. At least one man says the county system's worsening condition is directly attributable to a 2002 decision that raised...

SAN DIEGO – City Attorney Michael Aguirre said Monday he planned to post on his office's Web site the names of people and companies who owe the city money, in an attempt to prompt them to pay up. The city will mail notices to about 30,000 individuals, companies and government agencies that owe the city $250 or more in delinquent debt, giving them 30 days' notice of the potential posting. More than 560,000 debtors owe the city money, city officials said.

SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego Police Chief Jerry Sanders jumped to an early lead Tuesday night in his bid to be the city's next mayor as he received 57 percent of the vote to Donna Frye's 43 percent with about 30 percent of precincts counted. Absentee-ballot results were released by the Registrar of Voters shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m., with Sanders winning 59 percent of those ballots. Sanders arrived at Golden Hall shortly after 9 p.m., where he told reporters he was confident. "I think San Diegans had a clear choice in this election," he said....

Trustees of San Diego's embattled retirement system yesterday urged consultants they hired two months ago to get their report out first on how the pension fund came to be saddled with a deficit of at least $1.4 billion. Navigant Consulting, a Chicago-based company that advises public agencies, is at least the fifth firm examining decisions made in 2002 to underfund the system while also increasing employee benefits. The teams of consultants appear to be competing in a race to see "who will be last" to finish their work, said pension board President Peter Preovolos. He added that one of the...

Sanders is ahead 51 to 40 among likely voters. His largest lead yet. (bolding mine) --- Sanders’ lead among Republicans is 82% to 11% for Frye. Sanders picked up 2 points with Republicans since our last survey. Frye stayed the same. Sanders leads with males 52% and with females 49%, while Frye garners support from 40% of males and 41% of females. This is a large jump among females, 5 points, for Sanders from the last survey. “Sanders has the momentum right now. Frye’s base of voters is solid, but the undecided appear to be breaking Sanders' way... Among labor...

Talk host Roger Hedgecock has broken the news that City Councilwoman Donna Frye, Democrat, a candidate for mayor of San Diego proposed a 10 year, half-cent, $1 billion tax increase to address the underfunding of the pension system. She made this proposal during a meeting with the San Diego Union Tribune editorial board along with her RINO competitor Jerry Sanders. The segment will be in the last half hour of today's audio archives. The "temporary tax" proposed by Frye is mentioned in the Union-Tribune endorsement of Sanders.

YOU ARE INVITED...LIVE AND IN PERSON TO SEE AND HEAR THE MOST INFORMATIVE AND IMPORTANT DEBATE BETWEEN SD MAYORAL CANDIDATES PRIOR TO THE JULY 26TH ELECTION!! MUST HEAR & SEE DEBATE JULY 12TH SAN DIEGO CITY SPECIAL ELECTION JULY 26TH, 2005 --------------- WHAT: Mayoral Debate Forum on Roger Hedgecock Show WHEN: Tuesday July 12th 4PM-6PM Live on KOGO in front a live audience WHERE: Wyndham San Diego at Emerald Plaza 400 West Broadway San Diego, California 92101 Phone: 619-239-4500 Crystal One ballroom On Tuesday 7/12/05 from 4p - 6p you'll have your first opportunity to see and hear six of...