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Walmart Woos; San Diego Plays Hard to Get
Given the defeat of Proposition D, I am amused by the timing of this new ordinance. I am fairly certain that just days ago, city council members and our strong mayor were telling us how desperately San Diego needs more sales tax revenue. Are these civic leaders now saying that Walmart generates no sales tax revenues in the cities where those stores and superstores are now? As for extremely large venues selling food items, I am wondering what an impact statement from a proposed hotdog&beer-vending NFL stadium downtown might look like... I guess the 130,000 square feet of Horton Plaza retail space proposed to be knocked down for a one-block $35+ million park is being done to comply with the new ordinance as well?— November 4, 2010 8:13 p.m.
Encinitas City Council Candidate Tony Kranz Accused of “Attack”
Fred, this thread is why I posted: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/encanto-gas…— November 4, 2010 7:55 p.m.
Moores's Personal Attorney Named to High Justice Department Post
Experiences with L&W have not been pleasant, including an attempt to convince a plaintiff to attend another defendant deposition of fellow plaintiff across town -- instead of hearing testimony from whistle-blower witness RE botched Encanto Gas Holder demolition. Google "SDG&E guilty" for context... If I end up going to hell, then at least I'll know a few people there.— November 4, 2010 7:50 p.m.
Old Horton Plaza Department Store Due For Wrecking Ball?
A telling photograph from the Westfield Group web site. Notice how the Robinson-May building and most of the mall's movie theaters are just not in the picture... and at nearly close of business today, San Diego time, the emphasized statement in the above blog post remains on the corporate web site. http://westfield.com/corporate/images/property_po…— November 4, 2010 5:40 p.m.
South Park's Granny Flats — City Says Yea, Some Citizens Say Nay
RE "Hopefully the online Reader will get many additional readers so that they can add to the important discussions that affect us all. This will be the model for the future of 'Local News'...": I hope! I have no interest in seeing the U-T fail. Instead, it provides me with at least some sense of what's going on, and it is a good day when I find an article in the U-T then do my own Reader blog on the same subject matter a few hours later... except I've added information and links to sources that weren't part of what the U-T section editor saw fit to print. I've never been an intelligence analyst for the government, but the Journalism classes I had under Andrew Makarushka at City College were illuminating... I try to tie facts together, and sometimes I feel some heat for how I've put them together, but I only recall making one correction in the entire time I've blogged here, about exactly how much electricity was being generated by new solar systems being installed at USD. I never heard back after making the correction, so I assume the party was satisfied! San Diego outside downtown is a patchwork of annexes, Encanto Heights being perhaps the oldest, dating back to the first decade of the twentieth century. Looking east from downtown, things early on pretty much died out past 12th, where one can still find such things as a Chinese laundry in what appears to be a wooden commercial building (haven't gone looking for it lately, so wouldn't be surprised it's not there anymore across the street from City College). By the time one reached 30th and Commercial, all there was beyond that was cemeteries. For a long time, Encanto even further east was referred to as Encanto Station (some cattle grazing here) along the rail line that heads east to Arizona. If lots in South Park are large enough for granny flats, then that's probably due to the age of initial development there. Here in what I so adoringly refer to Encantostan, we have lots large enough for three additional homes in some cases. Developers looking for a big chunk of undeveloped land are what caused the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. SDG&E criminal guilty verdicts in 2007 for sloppy asbestos removal, where the 16-acre Encanto Gas Holder site just inside Lemon Grove became a proposed site for 77 upscale homes that would have immediately caused all existing homes surrounding the development to be considered "blight". The lot is still empty today. SEDC has already pushed through a plan to oust just about every business along Imperial Avenue in favor of developer-sponsored high-density apartment buildings. Having no jobs except those in the underground economy here in Encantostan between Marketcreek Plaza and Lemon Grove seems to be the goal. Here in Encantostan, we'd be very, very happy if all we had to worry about was granny flats.— November 4, 2010 5:26 p.m.
Proposition D Thumbed Down Overwhelmingly
RE #71 "In today's Light News, there was a letter to the editor from a reader who wondered why the matter of the current state tax increase of 1% ending on July 1 of next year was not publicized. He opines that the outcome of the Prop D question might have been different. Hmm... He's saying that since that tax will drop from 8.75% to 7.75%, San Diegans would be willing to see a half percent boost and realize only a half-point drop next year. Say what? ": Westfield Group/Horton plaza is yanking 130,000 square feet of retail space out of downtown San Diego... and that was with Proposition D FAILING. What if it had passed? http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/encanto-gas…— November 4, 2010 2:20 p.m.
Proposition D Thumbed Down Overwhelmingly
RE #5 @ "Safety employees shouldn't be retiring at ages 50 and 55 with huge pensions": I would have much less of a problem with this if these city employees, so often comparing themselves to military veterans who retire after 20 years, were capable of stepping up (like soldiers, NCOs and commissioned officers are expected to do) to assume greater responsibilities and authority to do what is necessary to get things done around here. Otherwise, their level of discipline is just about zero for our purposes. As a former infantry soldier who earlier received battalion-level command and staff instruction, it was assumed that if I held such a position, I might be faced with a call to handle brigade or division-level staff assignments, whether I was looking forward to that or not. City workers at the lowest level who do whatever it is they do should expect to manage volunteers doing the same work in a local fiscal crisis, or they can leave city employment and try to get private sector jobs with private sector compensation like the rest of us.— November 4, 2010 12:16 p.m.
Proposition D Thumbed Down Overwhelmingly
Apologies. Facebook requires a login. Direct from FEMA EMI - the complete course list: http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp Note that IS-100 comes in many flavors, for hospital workers, police/firefighters, K-12 schools, colleges & universities, municipal workers... A direct link to PDS: http://training.fema.gov/IS/searchIS.asp?keywords… ... and to NIMS/ICS/National Response Framework courses: http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp— November 4, 2010 11:28 a.m.
Proposition D Thumbed Down Overwhelmingly
The winds are getting hotter and drier. FEMA EMI Independent Study Program (ISP) course IS-100 is an introduction to the Incident Command System (ICS). Anyone with prior military leadership experience will recognize the command and general staff structure of managing an incident response. ICS is a keep-it-simple expandable staffing structure for adding resources until there are enough of them to accomplish the objectives set during a given operational period. The only mandatory position to fill in an ICS response is the Incident Commander, who may in turn activate other standard supporting positions as the response grows in complexity, but only if actually needed. All responding resources report to the Incident Commander for operational period objectives and specific tasking assignments, providing contact information to allow for effective plain English communications. ICS command structures may integrate with DOD resources, but DOD retains operational control of military/naval/air units assigned in support. All this and more: http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is100b.asp From FEMA EMI on IS-100: "ICS 100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS)." My personal list of NIMS/ICS courses together with the Professional Development Series, a kind of 90-day-wonder Officer Candidate School for emergency managers and volunteer coordinators: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=12686666… (NIMS/ICS/NRF) http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=12685597… (PDS) Everything is open-book at EMI - no need to cheat if you can read the course summaries! The purpose is not to see what you've memorized, but if you can use the job aids and other resources to accomplish the assigned objectives (pass the exam, save the world, etc.).— November 4, 2010 11:13 a.m.
Encinitas City Council Candidate Tony Kranz Accused of “Attack”
I want to thank those with the wagnerian profile names for giving rise to ParahSalin. It's not that they're actually related, but... well... you know. [wink, wink] I LOVE political satire, ever since I started reading Jonathon Swift in high school.— November 4, 2010 9:09 a.m.