Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Delayed Competition

Mayor Jerry Sanders wants to make some progress on managed competition. There hasn’t been much since 2006, when voters passed the initiative to move towards privatizing city services.

Yet, in the recently submitted 2010 budget, Sanders set aside $500,000 to establish a new contract with an outside firm that will facilitate the city’s move towards privatization.

According to a report on the mayor’s 2010 budget by the independent budget analyst, part of the reason for the delay are ongoing negotiations with two labor unions: the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Municipal Employees Association MEA. Both unions filed an unfair labor practice suit against the City in 2008.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During an April 29 Budget Review Committee meeting, some councilmembers and a representative from MEA shared some thoughts on managed competition.

First up was councilmember Carl DeMaio. “People always say, ‘Well, it’s a great idea for saving taxpayer money, but we have a budget to pass now and we just don’t have time exploring that cost-saving idea.’ [Fiscal year 2011] is going to be worse than [fiscal year 2010] so issues like managed competition…I think need to be put on the table now.”

Next up was councilmember Donna Frye, who in the past has been an opponent of privatizing city services. Frye commented on the statement from the independent budget analyst report that stated the initiative was on hold.

“I don’t recall — perhaps maybe I missed that meeting — where managed competition was brought forward by the mayor’s office,” said Frye facetiously. “Well there seems to be some misunderstanding. It remains on hold, not as a result from any action or lack of action from this legislative body, but due to the fact that nothing has ever come forward. It’s hard to take action when nothing has come forward.”

After Frye spoke, District 2 councilmember Kevin Faulconer put in his bid for managed competition.

“I’m a strong supporter of managed competition. I supported and campaigned for it, and I believe most residents of San Diego are supportive of it, which is why it passed overwhelmingly several years ago. They want us to go out and compete for these services,” said Faulconer.

Some minutes later, during public comment, a representative for the Municipal Employees Association, Cathleen Higgins, spoke to the managed competition debate and the notion suggested by the budget analyst that the delay was caused by labor negotiations.

“I don’t really know what they’re talking about, that it’s [managed competition] on hold. MEA has been meeting diligently since December,” said Higgins. “It’s frustrating for us to hear that. I sit there in the audience and hear that managed competition is on hold and public perception…well that’s not true.”

For more on the budget report, go to their website at sandiego.gov/iba/

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Two poems by Marvin Bell

“To Dorothy” and “The Self and the Mulberry”

Mayor Jerry Sanders wants to make some progress on managed competition. There hasn’t been much since 2006, when voters passed the initiative to move towards privatizing city services.

Yet, in the recently submitted 2010 budget, Sanders set aside $500,000 to establish a new contract with an outside firm that will facilitate the city’s move towards privatization.

According to a report on the mayor’s 2010 budget by the independent budget analyst, part of the reason for the delay are ongoing negotiations with two labor unions: the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Municipal Employees Association MEA. Both unions filed an unfair labor practice suit against the City in 2008.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During an April 29 Budget Review Committee meeting, some councilmembers and a representative from MEA shared some thoughts on managed competition.

First up was councilmember Carl DeMaio. “People always say, ‘Well, it’s a great idea for saving taxpayer money, but we have a budget to pass now and we just don’t have time exploring that cost-saving idea.’ [Fiscal year 2011] is going to be worse than [fiscal year 2010] so issues like managed competition…I think need to be put on the table now.”

Next up was councilmember Donna Frye, who in the past has been an opponent of privatizing city services. Frye commented on the statement from the independent budget analyst report that stated the initiative was on hold.

“I don’t recall — perhaps maybe I missed that meeting — where managed competition was brought forward by the mayor’s office,” said Frye facetiously. “Well there seems to be some misunderstanding. It remains on hold, not as a result from any action or lack of action from this legislative body, but due to the fact that nothing has ever come forward. It’s hard to take action when nothing has come forward.”

After Frye spoke, District 2 councilmember Kevin Faulconer put in his bid for managed competition.

“I’m a strong supporter of managed competition. I supported and campaigned for it, and I believe most residents of San Diego are supportive of it, which is why it passed overwhelmingly several years ago. They want us to go out and compete for these services,” said Faulconer.

Some minutes later, during public comment, a representative for the Municipal Employees Association, Cathleen Higgins, spoke to the managed competition debate and the notion suggested by the budget analyst that the delay was caused by labor negotiations.

“I don’t really know what they’re talking about, that it’s [managed competition] on hold. MEA has been meeting diligently since December,” said Higgins. “It’s frustrating for us to hear that. I sit there in the audience and hear that managed competition is on hold and public perception…well that’s not true.”

For more on the budget report, go to their website at sandiego.gov/iba/

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Fellini of Clairemont High

When gang showers were standard for gym class
Next Article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief
Comments
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
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader