Join our readers in debating the future of San Diego in the comments section; you can register to comment here. Below, we’ve highlighted five comments from the week to whet your appetite:
• Erik Hanson on “Council Swats Down DeMaio’s Roads Plan“:
Despite being “King of the Potholes” I don’t think DeMaio really knows that much about roads. That street he is standing on (in Emerald’s district, I believe) seems to me to be structurally sound and only aesthetically challenged. … This is not the type of road that has either massive structural failure or large potholes. This type of more expensive construction is now reserved for steep hills, bus stop pads and alleys, which have to function as waterways since they don’t have gutters and many buildings are on zero-lot line. Notice when you get a chance that alleys slope toward the middle and regular streets usually slope towards the edges.
• Shawn Fox on “The Private Takeover That Hasn’t Happened: Fact Check“:
The fact that city employees won the bids so far does not mean that the measure wasn’t useful at all. It required the city agencies to compete, thereby reducing the overall cost of whatever the service is. The only problem is that since they get a very sweet pension deal that private sector workers don’t typically get the overall cost of city employees is very difficult to measure. I tend to agree with the 10% rule though. The idea there is not to take time or money to switch to another company unless they can beat the cost significantly. As an individual, I wouldn’t switch landscapers just because another beats the current one by 1% in cost. 1% savings isn’t worth the risk associated with changing from one supplier to another. There are never guarantees that the new supplier will perform equally or better.
• Andy Zafuto on “At This School, a Good Deed Outlives a Job“:
I worked with Russ (Shedd) for one year a couple of years ago. He probably doesn’t remember me, a special education teacher. Nevertheless, I agree with him on all counts except for one: We deserve our contractual pay increases. Heck, we’re the lowest paid teachers in the county, talking about SDUSD. The cost of living keeps rising and our pay remains the same. Due in part to this, my wife and I filed for bankruptcy. In addition, I’m a pink-slipped teacher. Do I want my job back? You bet I do. Do I want teachers in the SDUSD to be devalued by making concessions? Absolutely not. I say protect the profession, at least for the teachers of the future.
• Bill Bradshaw on “Dumanis: ‘I’m Worried About San Diego’“:
I guess Ms. Dumanis doesn’t get it, the public simply wasn’t nearly as excited about her resume as she was.
Looking back on the 25 years I’ve lived here, which might pale in comparison with the length of time Bonnie’s been on the public payroll, we’ve had, by and large, some pretty poor mayors, regardless of whether they were liberal (O’Connor), moderate (Murphy) or on the right (Golding) but we were, until Sanders, operating with a city manager. Hizzoner was our first “strong” mayor, and I can’t really see where his vast managerial experience or increased power paid off for the citizenry.
• Edward Teyssier on “Council: No New Public Records Fees“:
The City Council needs to look at the big picture: Why are the City’s documents in such a mess? … It’s time the City Council order that all city documents get ORGANIZED and SCANNED in and made available ONLINE! It can start by ordering that no new documents from other city departments or city study groups or commissions be accepted by the City Clerk unless those documents are already in digital form. That’ll keep the problem from growing.
Statements have been lightly edited to fix spelling errors and typos.
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Dagny Salas is the web editor at Voice of San Diego. You can contact her directly at dagny.salas@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5669.
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