Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Chacon and Peace Supoort SD-LA "Bullet Train"
Their decision last week to endorse the controversial San Diego-to-Los Angeles “bullet train” should have been a difficult one for state Assemblymen Pete Chacon and Steve Peace. All their local legislative colleagues — Republicans and Democrats — have come out against the multibillion-dollar project. Opposition to the train from Republicans Sunny Mojonnier and Bob Frazee and Democrat Lucy Killea was expected, since they represent districts where influential antitrain organizers have sworn to turn out of office any renegade politicians. (Fear of reprisal also convinced Third District supervisorial candidates Lynn Schenk and Susan Golding to oppose the train.) Even Democratic state senator Wadie Deddeh, whose South Bay constituency would not be directly affected by possible environmental problems created by the project, authored an antitrain bill. In doing so, Deddeh slapped the face of organized labor, the American High Speed Rail Corporation (developers of the proposed bullet train), and powerful Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, who strongly favors construction of the train route.
After hearing arguments from lobbyists for American High Speed Rail, however, Chacon and Peace came down on the side of the train. They didn’t contact San Diego City Councilman Mike Gotch, a fellow Democrat who has studied the issue in detail; nor did they call county Supervisor Pat Boarman, who represents the North County coastal area and whose staff has spent the past year gathering information on the rail project. Bob Bonde, a North County resident who has whipped up community opposition there says neither his group nor representatives of the five cities that have formed an informal antibullet train coalition were contacted by either Peace or Chacon.
Peace, who was unavailable for comment, has argued that the train would provide an alternative to crowded freeways and poor San Diego/Los Angeles air service. Chacon says he made the endorsement because of the job possibilities the project offers. He says Assembly Speaker Brown never lobbied him, and he defends his decision not to talk with opponents. “I read the papers,” says Chacon. “If they [bullet train opponents] want to tell me more, it’s their business to get to me. I don’t have a responsibility to go around the state seeking out the pro and con.”
Opponent Bonde doesn’t think much of that reasoning. He also believes Chacon and Peace may benefit from future campaign donations courtesy of American High Speed Rail and Speaker Brown’s fat legislative campaign fund. Says Bonde, “Local legislators who spout that [pro-bullet train] attitude will be looked on with favor.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Chacon and Peace Supoort SD-LA "Bullet Train"
Chacon and Peace Supoort SD-LA "Bullet Train"
Their decision last week to endorse the controversial San Diego-to-Los Angeles “bullet train” should have been a difficult one for state Assemblymen Pete Chacon and Steve Peace. All their local legislative colleagues — Republicans and Democrats — have come out against the multibillion-dollar project. Opposition to the train from Republicans Sunny Mojonnier and Bob Frazee and Democrat Lucy Killea was expected, since they represent districts where influential antitrain organizers have sworn to turn out of office any renegade politicians. (Fear of reprisal also convinced Third District supervisorial candidates Lynn Schenk and Susan Golding to oppose the train.) Even Democratic state senator Wadie Deddeh, whose South Bay constituency would not be directly affected by possible environmental problems created by the project, authored an antitrain bill. In doing so, Deddeh slapped the face of organized labor, the American High Speed Rail Corporation (developers of the proposed bullet train), and powerful Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, who strongly favors construction of the train route.
After hearing arguments from lobbyists for American High Speed Rail, however, Chacon and Peace came down on the side of the train. They didn’t contact San Diego City Councilman Mike Gotch, a fellow Democrat who has studied the issue in detail; nor did they call county Supervisor Pat Boarman, who represents the North County coastal area and whose staff has spent the past year gathering information on the rail project. Bob Bonde, a North County resident who has whipped up community opposition there says neither his group nor representatives of the five cities that have formed an informal antibullet train coalition were contacted by either Peace or Chacon.
Peace, who was unavailable for comment, has argued that the train would provide an alternative to crowded freeways and poor San Diego/Los Angeles air service. Chacon says he made the endorsement because of the job possibilities the project offers. He says Assembly Speaker Brown never lobbied him, and he defends his decision not to talk with opponents. “I read the papers,” says Chacon. “If they [bullet train opponents] want to tell me more, it’s their business to get to me. I don’t have a responsibility to go around the state seeking out the pro and con.”
Opponent Bonde doesn’t think much of that reasoning. He also believes Chacon and Peace may benefit from future campaign donations courtesy of American High Speed Rail and Speaker Brown’s fat legislative campaign fund. Says Bonde, “Local legislators who spout that [pro-bullet train] attitude will be looked on with favor.”
Comments