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A new Civic Center?

Padres lose but are on pace for the race to finish without losing 100 games this season. Lofty goals!!

So, the officials (City Council, mayor and several agencies) are now talking about a complete new Civic Center complex. Talk about lofty goals. It is being touted as beneficial to the citizenry, in the long term. The current estimated cost of $1.1 billion will definitely go up. The savings to the City will be Long Term. The entire civic center complex is in the plans for redevelopment.

There is no doubt the Civic Center is in need of overhauling. There are many problems at the current site and many City employees are being housed in other downtown buildings. The "savings" factor includes the leased space for about 1500 city employees. Leases expire in 2013. The online information does not contain any mention of the losses to the other buildings involved. The positive spin also fails to mention where the current "residents" of City Hall will spend their time during the building process. The real issue here is timing and priorities. Mayor Sanders is "threatening" water use restrictions:

A 5.7 percent reduction is simply not enough to avoid water restrictions in the future,” he said. “All of us need to do more.” Sanders said .

Is the City doing their share? Shouldn't sidewalk washing, street cleaning, water fountains, etc. be cut back? My laundry is much more important to me than having a clean sidewalk. How about using brooms instead of water?

The bottom line is, now is not the time to talk about more building. The economy is taking a dump and the City should be taking the lead in cutting back, not more spending. In fact, the City may consider trying to renogotiate some of those leases. Maybe they could get better deals. How about using some of the hundreds of unsold, unoccupied condos in all those new buildings downtown?

So long

[email protected] for comments or request prior blogs

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Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?

Padres lose but are on pace for the race to finish without losing 100 games this season. Lofty goals!!

So, the officials (City Council, mayor and several agencies) are now talking about a complete new Civic Center complex. Talk about lofty goals. It is being touted as beneficial to the citizenry, in the long term. The current estimated cost of $1.1 billion will definitely go up. The savings to the City will be Long Term. The entire civic center complex is in the plans for redevelopment.

There is no doubt the Civic Center is in need of overhauling. There are many problems at the current site and many City employees are being housed in other downtown buildings. The "savings" factor includes the leased space for about 1500 city employees. Leases expire in 2013. The online information does not contain any mention of the losses to the other buildings involved. The positive spin also fails to mention where the current "residents" of City Hall will spend their time during the building process. The real issue here is timing and priorities. Mayor Sanders is "threatening" water use restrictions:

A 5.7 percent reduction is simply not enough to avoid water restrictions in the future,” he said. “All of us need to do more.” Sanders said .

Is the City doing their share? Shouldn't sidewalk washing, street cleaning, water fountains, etc. be cut back? My laundry is much more important to me than having a clean sidewalk. How about using brooms instead of water?

The bottom line is, now is not the time to talk about more building. The economy is taking a dump and the City should be taking the lead in cutting back, not more spending. In fact, the City may consider trying to renogotiate some of those leases. Maybe they could get better deals. How about using some of the hundreds of unsold, unoccupied condos in all those new buildings downtown?

So long

[email protected] for comments or request prior blogs

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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
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