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

It's All About The Money!

Let's get a few things straight right here and now. I am a dyed in the wool conservative. I believe that City Government needs to cut expenses wherever it can. I also believe in sound management practices to avoid the surprises that happen unplanned. That means planning for the water system to fail in thirty years (arbitrary number of years because I don't know how long they really last) and a replacement plan to get them before they fail. It means replacing City vehicles after a reasonable number of miles, and working to ge the best deals when we buy anything. It means using the least expensive way to get the jobs done properly, and planning for the future to avoid over extending the budget. So that's it - my completely unrealistic view of how to run a city.

Here's how it really works. The people of the city have to elect a City council and a Mayor. All the people running for these positions start out with great intentions and a desire to make it wonderful. The problem begins when a constituant of a City Council member asks for a favor in the neighborhood. The Council Member thinks he or she is helping, and asks for just a few dollars to help out the neighborhood, and the downward spiral begins. Pretty soon the Mayor has someone ask for a favor that's more than just a few bucks, but may be a "good deal" for the city if you explain it just right (Spin). Pretty soon there are so many little and large expenses for those special interest people, that some of the regular expenses get put aside, because they can't possibly have all these expenses next year. Meanwhile, the folks looking for the special favors become more bold and more greedy, and they tell their friends how easy it is to get something from the city. Now the big special interest groups start showing up, and they spice things up by donating, no strings attached, to the campaign funds of the Mayor and Council Members. All of a sudden there's no money left for general maintenance at all, and the city starts to have problems. The City Council trys to figure out how to pay for everything, and they see a savings account - maybe the employee pension fund? - they can borrow from to make their expenses. They'll make up for it next year, because there can't possibly be that many requests next year. Then the special interests get really aggressive, because they, of course, are making millions on the little favors they ask, so they up the ante, and start taking the City Council members or the Mayor on trips to show them how great their ideas are, and the city begins to run out of money. The Council struggles to make their commitments. As the city goes broke, the special interests don't want to lose their gravy train, so they step up their contributions, junkets, and, to call it like it is, their payoffs, and they realize that the Mayor and Council won't get re-elected unless they find a way to get the people of the city to focus their anger on another villain, so they blame the city workers and the pension deficit caused by the council stealing their money.

If this all sounds familiar, it's all happened here in San Diego, and in many other cities. Oh sure - we've had the added problem of having some really terrible Mayors - seriously - a Mayor forced to resign happens in most cities once in a millenium, and it happened here twice in 25 years. San Diego also had a few amazingly terrible decisions, like the Ticket Guarantee from Susan Golding.

Just remember one thing about all of this - Bad Mayors on the take, City Council Members paid off by business people, and billions stolen from their own city workers to pay for the projects for special interests - It's All About The Money!

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

Previous article

Thanksgiving Lunch Cruise, The Avengers and Zeros ‘77, Small Business Saturday In Escondido

Events November 28-November 30, 2024

Let's get a few things straight right here and now. I am a dyed in the wool conservative. I believe that City Government needs to cut expenses wherever it can. I also believe in sound management practices to avoid the surprises that happen unplanned. That means planning for the water system to fail in thirty years (arbitrary number of years because I don't know how long they really last) and a replacement plan to get them before they fail. It means replacing City vehicles after a reasonable number of miles, and working to ge the best deals when we buy anything. It means using the least expensive way to get the jobs done properly, and planning for the future to avoid over extending the budget. So that's it - my completely unrealistic view of how to run a city.

Here's how it really works. The people of the city have to elect a City council and a Mayor. All the people running for these positions start out with great intentions and a desire to make it wonderful. The problem begins when a constituant of a City Council member asks for a favor in the neighborhood. The Council Member thinks he or she is helping, and asks for just a few dollars to help out the neighborhood, and the downward spiral begins. Pretty soon the Mayor has someone ask for a favor that's more than just a few bucks, but may be a "good deal" for the city if you explain it just right (Spin). Pretty soon there are so many little and large expenses for those special interest people, that some of the regular expenses get put aside, because they can't possibly have all these expenses next year. Meanwhile, the folks looking for the special favors become more bold and more greedy, and they tell their friends how easy it is to get something from the city. Now the big special interest groups start showing up, and they spice things up by donating, no strings attached, to the campaign funds of the Mayor and Council Members. All of a sudden there's no money left for general maintenance at all, and the city starts to have problems. The City Council trys to figure out how to pay for everything, and they see a savings account - maybe the employee pension fund? - they can borrow from to make their expenses. They'll make up for it next year, because there can't possibly be that many requests next year. Then the special interests get really aggressive, because they, of course, are making millions on the little favors they ask, so they up the ante, and start taking the City Council members or the Mayor on trips to show them how great their ideas are, and the city begins to run out of money. The Council struggles to make their commitments. As the city goes broke, the special interests don't want to lose their gravy train, so they step up their contributions, junkets, and, to call it like it is, their payoffs, and they realize that the Mayor and Council won't get re-elected unless they find a way to get the people of the city to focus their anger on another villain, so they blame the city workers and the pension deficit caused by the council stealing their money.

If this all sounds familiar, it's all happened here in San Diego, and in many other cities. Oh sure - we've had the added problem of having some really terrible Mayors - seriously - a Mayor forced to resign happens in most cities once in a millenium, and it happened here twice in 25 years. San Diego also had a few amazingly terrible decisions, like the Ticket Guarantee from Susan Golding.

Just remember one thing about all of this - Bad Mayors on the take, City Council Members paid off by business people, and billions stolen from their own city workers to pay for the projects for special interests - It's All About The Money!

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

San Diego County Taxpayers Association attacks high-rise hotel on the old Campbell Shipyard

"Leadership in this city is very risk-averse"
Next Article

Mayor Jerry Sanders

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