ALLAN OPTS NOT TO RUN
Printer-friendly version November 2, 2009 (La Mesa) Councilman David Allan called today to inform East County Magazine that after further reflection and conversations with friends and colleagues over the weekend, he has decided not to pursue plans to run for Supervisor. Allan had filed a notice of intent for candidacy last week, as ECM reported. “My decision to file was due to my passion and commitment to fire protection,” he said, but added that the decision was “made in haste” and that he now believes his commitment to La Mesa should remain his number one responsibility.While notices of intent cannot be withdrawn once filed, Allan confirmed he does not intend to run for the seat currently held by Supervisor Dianne Jacob. Allan said he will continue to be a vocal proponent of improved fire protection funding and hopes to have cities join together to meet with County leaders towards that goal, rather than run as a "one-issue candidate" for Supervisor. “Until the cities get involved, nothing is going to change,” he said. “I am committed to taking on the County on this issue." Allen added that he also wants to fulfill his obligations as a newly-appointed member of the SafeCom Committee, a U.S. Homeland Security group formed of representatives from local, state, federal and tribal safety agencies to improve public safety response. Printer-friendly version
CENTER ON POLICY INITIATVES TURNS ITS ATTENTION TO “BUILDING OUR FUTURE WITH A GREEN AND FAIR ECONOMY”
Printer-friendly version Story and photos by Leon Thompson October 31st, 2009 (Mission Valley) — The 2009 Center on Policy Initiatives Gala, held at the Holiday Inn San Diego on the Bay on October 21st, honored the MAAC Project, which provides self-sufficiency for low and moderate-income people. Long-time activist Deborah Szekely , and San Diego’s Construction Workers were also honored. View highlights and videos of the event, including a film on construction premiered by MAAC. The Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) is a San Diego think tank that has, for 13 years, advocated for working people and their families, taxpayers and the environment in San Diego City and County. The organization has conducted research, resulting in publications that have informed citizens and given structure to policy solutions aimed at improving lives in our region. Many of its reports are shaping policy decisions by San Diego elected officials.( www.onlineCPI.org ) For instance, in March 2009 CPI published Construction – Working without a Healthcare Net. Its research revealed that jobs in San Diego with the highest risk of injury also had the highest rate of uninsured workers. CPI suggested a policy of multi-employer health plans. In September, Construction Apprenticeships Programs: Career Training for California’s Recovery documents the benefits of joint labor/management career training programs. CPI is probably best known in San Diego for helping to bring about the Living Wage Ordinance in 2005 at a time when downtown redevelopment was in full swing. In 2007 the San Diego City Council unanimously approved CPI’s package of proposals to strengthen and extend the Living Wage Ordinance. Another CPI publication, Target San Diego: The Right Wing Assault on Urban Democracy and Smart Government, exposed a right-wing plan for pouring resources into several regions of the U.S. including East County. Neo-conservatives targeted area school boards and other public entitites in an effort to cement long term control and become a nationwide model for testing conservative strategies such as outsourcing public jobs and privatizating public education, CPI revealed. Recently East County Magazine reported on CPI findings that El Cajon has the highest poverty rate in the County, with 46% of El Cajon residents economically challenged and 21% living below the federal poverty line. “After a long drought we are finally taking real action on labor laws,” Donald Cohen, Executive Director of CPI, told the sold-out crowd of approximately 700 people at the Gala (photo, right). “With new hope from Washington D.C. the opportunities for real progress on the big issues is very exciting.” The pro-labor audience responded with a standing ovation when he proclaimed, “The Employee Free Choice Act will pass.” Looking ahead, Cohen announced that CPI’s focus has shifted to emphasize emerging jobs as America shifts toward a green economy. “With the new opportunities opened to us we have joined the national stage,” he said. “Our Construction Careers Program is included in the federal Climate Change Act.” In a letter published in the event program, Cohen noted that this spring CPI succeeded, against staunch opposition from contractors, “in ensuring that the thousands of workers who build and renovate our schools will have access to health care, and that the construction projects will create career opportunities to help lift people out of poverty.” He concluded, “We’ve got many more ideas for making San Diego a leader in creating green jobs, good jobs and a healthy and sustainable environment.” Printer-friendly version
HUNTER TO HOLD VETERANS RESOURCE FAIR NOV. 12
Printer-friendly version November 1, 2009 (El Cajon) — Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) will sponsor a Veterans Resource Fair for San Diego-area veterans on November 12, 2009, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2275. The event is set for 2 PM to 4 PM at VFW Post 2275, located at 136 Chambers Street in El Cajon. Counselors from Veterans Affairs will be on hand to offer assistance to veterans. "It is often said – and for good reason — that the way we treat our veterans today determines who will step forward tomorrow to serve in America’s armed forces," said Congressman Hunter. "Those who serve in the ranks of our military are bonded by a common desire to protect freedom for not just our own citizens, but for millions of others around the world. In return for this selfless service and sacrifice, our veterans deserve the highest level of attention and care." Printer-friendly version
BILLIONAIRES FOR WEALTHCARE INVADE TEA PARTY EXPRESS
Printer-friendly version November 1, 2009 (San Diego) – Conservatives rallying for the Tea Party Express, which kicked off its national tour in San Diego, received an unexpected visit from Billionaires for Wealthcare, a group formed to draw attention to high insurance company profits in the healthcare reform debate. A video of the bizarre confrontation has been posted at YouTube. Barbara Cummings, a Spring Valley grandmother, donned formal attire to join the satirical Billionaires group. “We arrived in a stretch limousine, complete with red carpet,” said Cummings, a retiree who has struggled with healthcare costs and supports healthcare for all. A group of Billionaires actually made it to the stage, mistaken by Tea Party organizers, apparently, as wealthy conservative supporters. TV crews filmed footage of the group. which bore mocking signs thanking Tea Party participants for protecting insurance company profits. Some of the participants formed a kick line on stage before they were escorted off. “We mingled; there were surprisingly many nice folks who enjoyed our performance and were laughing along with us and taking pictures,” Cummings said of the crowd. But many others proved vitriolic, with some making violent and racist remarks, she added. Some in the crowd appeared confused, uncertain whether the Billionaires were part of the Tea Party rally. Others expressed rage directed at the uninsured. Chillingly, one woman shown on video screamed that if people don’t work hard enough to pay for healthcare, society should “Let them die–Let them die!” Printer-friendly version
OBAMA SIGNS MEASURE TO EXPAND PROSECUTIONS OF HATE CRIMES
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery November 1, 2009 (Washington D.C.) – Last week, President Barack Obama signed a defense budget bill which contains language to broaden the definition of hate crimes to include attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, or disability—adding to protections already in place for attacks based on race, religion or national origin. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act also creates a new federal crime for attacking U.S. military personnel because of their service. News of the signing was hailed locally by Estela de los Rios, who led efforts to organize a Hate Crimes Conference recently in El Cajon. “I rejoice and embrace this grand victory,” de los Rios told East County Magazine. “Passing this bill will only strengthen and support the civil rights of all.” The bill provides federal prosecutors with the ability to prosecute hate crimes when state prosecutors are unable or unwilling to do so. Two violent murders in 1998 prompted the bill, which took more than a decade to secure passage. Gay teenager Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in Wyoming. He was found in a coma but later died. In Texas, three white Supremacists chained an African-American man, James Byrd Jr., to a pickup truck and dragged him three miles; he died of decapitation when the truck hit a culvert. The Anti-Defamation League heralded the bill’s passage in Congress as a “monumental victory.” Some religious leaders opposed the bill. “The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues,” Pat Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network. In fact, however, a statement appended to the hate crimes bill assures that a religious leader or anyone else cannot be prosecuted on the basis of speech, beliefs or association. Only violent actions motivated by hate against a protected group can be prosecuted as a hate crime. Congressional Republicans tried to block the measure, arguing that such protections are not necessary, since those responsible for the Shepard and Byrd murders were convicted. Some also objected to Democrats adding hate crimes language into a defense bill. In signing the bill, President Obama paid tribute to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, who supported the bill. He also acknowledged Judy Shepard, mother of the slain student whose death inspired the bill. “After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we’ve passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are,” Obama said in signing the measure. Printer-friendly version
SDG&E, COX TO PAY $17 MILLION TO STATE OVER FIRE CLAIMS; DEAL DOES NOT AFFECT LAWSUITS BY FIRE VICTIMS
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery November 1, 2009 (San Diego) – San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has agreed to pay $14.3 million to the state to settle claims that its poor maintenance caused the 2007 Witch Creek, Rice, and Guejito fires, plus an extra $400,000 in reimbursement to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). SDG&E did not admit causing the fires, but did issue an apology for obstructing investigators seeking causes of the fires. Cox Cable agreed to pay the state $2 million. “We believe that our line was properly maintained and intact prior to the Santa Ana winds in 2007, and did not cause the Guejito fire,” a Cox statement read. The PUC will decide after a public hearing in San Diego whether to approve the proposed settlement, which would be paid from company profits, not ratepayers. Some community leaders expressed dissatisfaction at the news. “It seems to be business as usual for SDG&E,” observed Donna Tisdale, Boulevard Planning Group chair. “Get caught lying, cheating, or failing to comply, refuse to admit guilt, give a half-assed apology, and write a big fat check that never reaches the impacted/damaged communities.” Earlier this year, SDG&E agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that it lied to PUC staffers while seeking approval of the Sunrise Powerlink line. The company also agreed to provide ethics training for its top executives. SDG&E has also paid out over $740 million to insurance companies that paid claims for the fires, but many fire victims still have not been paid for their uninsured losses. The settlement does not affect lawsuits in San Diego Superior Court, in which hundreds of fire victims as well as government agencies are seeking damages from SDG&E for losses sustained in the 2007 wildfires. In a prepared statement, SDG&E president Debra Reid said that company settled with the state “to put the issue behind us and avoid the costs and risks of further litigation.” The statement maintains that the company’s system “met all compliance and safety requirements” but admits that SDG&E “fell short of meeting our obligations with respect to three follow-up reports.” Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a vocal opponent of SDG&E on fire-related issues, could not be reached for comment over the weekend. But a staffer provided East County Magazine with a fall 2009 newsletter which states that SDG&E of knowingly posing a serious fire risk by having reclosers (switches along power lines that work like circuit breakers) programmed to power up automatically after high winds or a falling tree limb disturbs wires. According to Jacob’s newsletter, since the wildfires, SDG&E has reprogrammed reclosers in high-fire areas to work manually—so power won’t be turned back on until an inspector checks the line, reducing the risk of sparks that can ignite a fire. “By SDG&E’s own admission, the new policy would have prevented the devastating Witch Fire in October 2007 had it been in place,” Jacob’s newsletter states. “Well before the 2007 firestorm, SDG&E knew its automatic reclosers posed a dangerous fire risk. “ SDG&E did not change its recloser policy in response to this known threat, unlike Southern California Edison, which disengaged automatic recloser switches during Santa Ana Winds starting in 1996,according to Jacob. She cites a document prepared by SDG&E and other utilities titled “Power Line Fire Prevention Field Prevention Guide” as evidence that automatic reclosers can cause fires by re-energizing faulted lines. As part of its settlement with the state, which was announced Friday, SDG&E agreed to take steps to better maintain its lines and equipment. While the company has not admitted fault, state investigators have concluded that power lines caused the Witch Creek, Guejito, and Rice Canyon fires. The Witch Creek fire was found to be due to spacing lines too closely, while the Rice fire was blamed on inadequate tree trimming by the utility. PUC inspectors found the Guejito fire was caused by a Cox wire touching an SDG&E power line. The fires burned over 1,300 homes, killed two people, and caused thousands to evacuate or suffer other damages. Jacob concluded, “In the months ahead, I look forward to sitting at the table with SDG&E to get serious about undergrounding, swapping steel poles for wood poles, increased inspections, better vegetation management and other measures SDG&E should have tackled long ago.” Printer-friendly version
ROBERTS SAYS HE’S THE CANDIDATE WITH DISTRICT’S PULSE
Printer-friendly version By E.A. Barrera October 24, 2009 (San Diego) — Solana Beach City Councilman Dave Roberts says he once supported Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray, but has decided to challenge him in 2010 because Bilbray is too conservative. "Bilbray voted against medical insurance for the working poor. He voted against health insurance coverage for children. He voted against the Lily Ledbetter bill,” said Roberts. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, legislation signed this year by President Obama, would allow any individual subjected to compensation discrimination (under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) to sue their employer within 300 days, if the employee was found to have been discriminated against in pay and compensation. “When I supported him in 2006 it was because I thought he was a moderate Republican with a good record of working with all sides. Now I feel he has become part of the extreme right of the GOP. He is out of touch with the voters of this district," said Roberts. Bilbray, who formerly represented what is now the 53rd Congressional district until being defeated by Susan Davis in 2000, was elected to the 50th seat in 2006 and again in 2008. In both elections his margin of victory was 5 percentage points, rating the seat a battleground by the Democratic National Committee. Last year, voters in the district supported President Obama over Republican John McCain by a four point margin. In a recent Congressional Quarterly article, CQ reported that the Republican voter registration advantage in the district was now less that 10 percent and an “up-tick in the district’s Democratic-leaning Hispanic population” has increased “nearly 23 percent between 2002 and 2007 according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.” Roberts is 48-years old and his background includes a career working within the healthcare business unit of Science Applications International Corporation, as well as starting his own firm managing condominium and rental properties. But his endorsement of Bilbray over Democrat Francine Busby in 2006, combined now with his decision to seek the Democratic nomination for Congress against both Busby and Tracy Emblem, has sparked opponents’ charges that he is not a true Democrat. “I’m surprised that he’s running as a Democrat,” said Busby during the September meeting of the San Diego Democratic Club. “It didn’t occur to me to ask for his endorsement because he’s been contributing to and endorsing Bilbray.” He was also listed as cosponsor of a recent Bilbray fundraiser. Roberts says he was never a Republican. A check with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters confirms that he has consistently registered as a Democrat since coming to San Diego in 1999, with the exception of 2004, when he briefly registered as an American Independent. “I grew up in Connecticut and my first job in politics was for Ted Kennedy’s 1980 campaign for President," said Roberts. "I worked my way through college as a member of Lowell Weicker’s staff.” On his website – www.daverobertsforcongress.com – Roberts says he worked for the Senate Subcommittee on the Handicapped, and was “instrumental in the passage of federal legislation to extend the length of time that mentally challenged youth are allowed to stay in public schools from age 18 until 21.” Roberts is also pro-choice, according to his campaign manager, Barry Klein. Roberts says his experiences with Weicker and the Republican Party of New England formed his philosophy of fiscal responsibility with social liberalism. He noted the tradition of this wing of the GOP embodied in figures such as Weicker, New York Republicans Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits, and progressive California Republicans such as former Governor Hiram Johnson. “Weicker was from that rare breed of Liberal Republicans who were pushed out of the party by conservatives during the 1980s and up to the present. But I stayed a Democrat while working for him. I worked on voter outreach among veterans for the Clinton-Gore reelection campaign in 1996. In 2000 I was a (campaign) coordinator for Al Gore." Roberts was elected to the Solana Beach City Council in 2004 and said he switched his party registration to DeclineTo State because the local office was not a partisan position. Though he publicly endorsed both Busby and Bilbray during their respective primaries in 2006, he said he felt Bilbray would be able to work across party lines more effectively, and endorsed Bilbray during the general election that November against Busby. Roberts notes on his web site that after nine years as a civilian employee with the Pentagon, he came back to Washington D.C and took a position on the House Appropriations Committee staff. He boasts of helping to create the Department of Defense’s TRICARE healthcare program that is now used by the U.S. military. “Prior to this legislation, veterans were forced to leave the military healthcare system and enroll in Medicare, which denied many rehabilitative benefits available to military veterans,” says Roberts on his web site. “(We helped) expand military healthcare to include dental coverage for all military beneficiaries … which allowed 100 percent disabled military veterans to continue to keep their military healthcare benefits after their disability. (We also) helped draft legislation that increased funding for both breast cancer and prostate cancer research and treatment within the Department of Defense,” added Roberts. It was while working in the House that Roberts said he first met Bilbray. "First of all, let me say I don’t believe that Democrats and Republicans cannot work together on the large issues. I’d known Bilbray and worked with him previously and he seemed like a moderate who would try to unite people. But he ended up voting with George W. Bush 95 percent of the time and was eventually rated in a 435-member House as the 79th most conservative member of Congress. That’s not a moderate by my definition," said Roberts. "I intend to be a less ideologically driven congressman for the people of