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
No Double Dipping
I still think that those guys deserve good pay. ===================== I think we disagree on what "good pay" is. $50K per year is good pay, especially for a job that requries no formal education like FF. That is ABOVE the median wage for San Diego, and CA. $200K per year is more than good pay in my book. So is $100K per year. And that is what CA muni FF's make. I know unemployed lawyers who would love a $50K per year/40 hour week job. Most lawyers work 50-80 hours a week for between $40K-$90K. 80 hours a week in the FD would bring you $300K per year.— February 15, 2009 10:19 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
JF-I agree with you about the corporate welfare 100%. The City is not the piggy bank of Moorse or Spanos. BUT, that is only a small fraction of the problem, the main problem was ther 50% pension boosts. Take out those pension boosts and the corporate qelfare does not BK the pension system. Last-your union ALLOWED the underfunding, in exchange for the higher pension payments. It was a quid pro quo scam and under those circumstances your union, and all the others, are just as much to blame. Scott Lewis at VoSD wrote a great article about the same type of pension problems - but with the county. They didn't give away any corporate welfare but they are in the same boat. Go read that and get back to me.— February 15, 2009 4:59 p.m.
No Double Dipping
Wow Ponzi, I hope you never have to call 911. I think that firemen deserve the pay that they get. They work their asses off to get the job, they are constantly at the ready to serve. It can be anything from your granny choking on a chicken bone to a burning furniture warehouse spewing toxic chemicals. I know that there is a resession and the the city is broke, but we need to look somewhere else to make cuts. - Joe ====================== You're obviously a FF or connected to one. Anyone that says a $200K per year job that requires no college degree, where the actual number of FIRE calls they go on represent 3-5% of their work, is either a FF or a family member of one. No one says that except FF's (and their families) If they were subject to competition I am sure the compensation could be reduced 75%, or more, with no drop off in service levels.— February 15, 2009 4:52 p.m.
No Double Dipping
Ponzi, $15/hour would be a raise for bottom step firefighters. And $40/hour is more than a Battalion Chief makes now. By JF ========================== Entry level pay, with benefits, is over $100K per year-which is $50 an hour JF. After 2-3 years that is double, before OT.— February 15, 2009 4:49 p.m.
Pension Deficit $2 Billion, Funded Ratio 66.3 Percent
I had no idea McGrory was a licensed lawyer! PD and FD require skills, but it is no different than a framer, cabinet maker, plumber or dry waller needing skills. Kolander is already receiving all his pensions except for Sheriff. He meets the age requirement of age 50-60 (with 15 years to spare!).— February 15, 2009 2:05 p.m.
No Double Dipping
Wrestled a 300 lb naked, sweaty, combative diabetic with low blood sugar? By JF ================================= Ewwww....... I never knew you and Fumbler "wrestled"......— February 15, 2009 1:20 p.m.
No Double Dipping
Fumbler is my "hero".— February 15, 2009 9:50 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Here is a RELEVANT, EXTREMELY GOOD article on the San Diego County pension nightmare-which has been well documented (with their pension "obligation" bond fiasco); http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/02/1… Well, JF, JW, this is not a City problem, but the basic root cause is still the same-what say you two about this????? Mark my words-I said 2-3 years ago that Chula Vista, which all the SDPD were trying to get pay boosts from by comparing their pay to CV, would go BK just like SD has, and those words will become reality. CV is going to file BK sooner or later and Ill go to the mat with that statement.— February 15, 2009 8:53 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Problem is, all the good lawyers according to you and Don, are losing these cases at the trial level and appellate level... By JustWondering =========================== JW-just in case you did not know this (more likely refused to acknowledge), the final ruling in the OC pension case was NOT issued Friday-it was postponed so the judge could study it more. BTW-the OC case is not at the appeals level yet, so your claim that the case is "losing" at the appeals level is not correct ( OK-Im not going to call you a troll for that gross mistatement of fact!). Take care. Johnny "T"!— February 15, 2009 8:44 a.m.
Names of $100,000 City Retiree Club
As I've said, Johnny is welcome to stop spending his entire day blogging -- ================================== I never blog during work time-only breaks and usually in the afternoon evening. Ill hunt down one of those SDFD lawsuits which was last litigated in the late 70's as I recall. Thanks JF.— February 15, 2009 8:40 a.m.