The first lawsuit against Prop. D, the financial reform package on the November ballot, has appeared. The plaintiff, a familiar local activist, claims the measure is “a Frankenstein proposition.”
He thinks it’s “monstrously unconstitutional” with “illegal provisions will likely precipitate numerous lawsuits that will haunt our local courts for many years.”
Interesting approach: Stop this measure, judge, or the city will get sued again! And again!
• Do you hear the proponents of Prop. D talking up a storm about why it deserves support? No, the Prop. D troops are quiet. Maybe too quiet, considering that Prop. D foes are already getting out there, saying this and that.
But a longtime local political consultant who works for the Prop. D campaign — or at least what passes for it at the moment — says things will heat up in due time.
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• Supporters of Prop. D say its passage is crucial to protecting public safety — cops, firefighters, lifeguards — by raising money to pay for them. We’ve posted the ballot arguments on both sides.
But opponents say this: “Not a cent of this tax is required to go to police, fire and other vital city services. Politicians can spend this money any way they want.”
You can bet that voters will hear this message as the campaign starts up. But is it true? We’ve run the claim through the Fact Check-er-izer and have reached a clear verdict.
• We’ve also fact-checked a statement that says San Diego has “has the lowest firefighter to population ratio of any major metropolitan city in California.”
That sounds pretty grim. And it’s certainly a statement that could have a significant impact on decisions at City Hall.
Guess which major local city (not San Diego) does have the lowest ratio of the top 15 biggest cities in the state?
• Remember the smog that permeated Beijing before the Olympics in 2008?
It was more than a nuisance: a Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientist used the games — and China’s attempts to clamp down on pollution beforehand — as “fantastic opportunity” to study what happens when smog undergoes a makeover.
Elsewhere:
• In the U-T: “City street crews are looking to curb the number of people in Ocean Beach who siphon electricity from outlets on street lamps to power everything from cell phones to recreational vehicles.”
The outlets are in the street and meant to provide power to farmers market vendors and others, but not random members of the public.
“It’s the bane of our existence,” says the head of a merchant association. Local merchants get to pay for the power.
• Yesterday’s Morning Report referred imprecisely to a report in the NCT about how nearly 250 Oceanside city employees make more than $100,000 a year. The pay includes overtime and fringe benefits.
• Finally, Forbes has come out with yet another of its top 10 lists about American cities and San Diego isn’t on it. It’s a list of the 10 most stressful cities in the country.
Calm down, easily exasperated Morning Report guy. Or else you’ll help us make the list next year.