The proposed downtown library/school project is certainly a titanic endeavor, which raises an obvious question: Who goes down with the ship if it founders?
Not the school district, a committee of overseers is hoping. As our story puts it, “their fear, largely left unspoken, was that the library could sink and take school funds with it.”
But the panel isn’t quite sure what to do next.
Maybe the City Council has a better grasp on things. We’ve got an early preview of what another two council members are thinking about the schoobrary. One says yes, another isn’t in a rush.
The city claims the library will be “an architectural landmark recognized the world over.” We want your opinion.
How does the proposed library design look to you? Will it fit in with San Diego’s dominant architecture? And does that lattice dome make the library look fat?
You can see more photos of the design here.
“L’Etat, c’est Moi,” declared one French king, serving notice that he makes the rules. Rough translation: If you don’t like it, you can lump it.
Fast-forward a few centuries to San Diego’s mayoral office.
“The public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record,” it declared in response to a request for internal emails.
In other words, the city makes the rules. If it wants to keep hundreds of emails secret from public scrutiny, it will.
And if you don’t like it, you can … check the law. That’s what our reporter is doing as he continues his ongoing mission to understand how the city developed its now-shelved plan to cut water consumption.
Also at City Hall, we’ve got a list of who’s expressing interest in running for City Council next year. Among them: a former state assemblyman.
And now for a change of pace: A look at surfer-camp bureaucracy and its discontents.
The city, it turns out, licenses surf schools at La Jolla Shores. Permits are highly prized, and one company fears city policies will lead to a wipeout..
Elsewhere, the U-T explores how “quasi-independent” city agencies are ignoring a citywide six percent pay cut for staffers.
In Chula Vista, the U-T says John McCann, a city councilman and member of the Navy Reserve, has been called to service in Iraq. He’ll serve with an Army unit for a year; the council seems likely to appoint a replacement until he returns.
The U-T also reports that a state Assembly panel is trying to give San Diego city leaders more leeway to deal with those pesky seals — or those pesky kids, depending on your point of view — at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla.
Wait, don’t state legislators have a humongous financial crisis to worry about? Well, yes. We’ll see if pinnipeds are a priority too.
— RANDY DOTINGA