A ray of hope from Kristin Gaspar

After her first two bone-headed public moves (allying with Stocks against Barth after promising to be a uniter, and her tone-deaf op-ed blaming Barth's supporters for a negative campaign while ignoring the garbage spewed by her own supporters), Kristin Gaspar has made her third move a positive one.

U-T:

Newly elected Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar, who campaigned that the rule [to get an issue on the agenda] should be changed, made the motion. Under Gaspar's proposal, each future meeting would devote a time for members of the public to present their issues to the council. If they receive two votes, it would have to be heard within 60 days.

Thank you, Kristin!

Now will Barth/Houlihan or Barth/Bond please put pension reform on the agenda?

Leucadia bluff collapse

Nobody injured, though it happened on a nice day for the beach.

3:30 PM around the 1500 block of Neptune. Click on over to NBC San Diego for the picture.

This is the same bluff that collapsed in late December, just getting worse.

San Diego faces up to its pension crisis

City attorney says DeMaio plan to freeze salaries is legal, would save hundreds of millions:

The freeze would lock salaries at their current level, and in essence, cap the size of a worker’s future pension. Employees could still receive additional compensation through incentive pay that would not apply toward pension calculations.

The opinion by Goldsmith comes as city leaders, from Mayor Jerry Sanders to City Councilman Carl DeMaio, have pushed forward separate plans to limit or lower the city’s liability for future pension costs.

Sanders said he hoped the opinion would push the city’s labor unions to work with him on a solution that reduces costs for the city and ends years of expensive litigation for both sides.

When will Encinitas face up to its pension crisis?

HT: T-Dub

It's on like Donkey Kong

Encinitas Unified School District threatens to sue to turn Pacific View into high-density condos.

Despite state code allowing the school rezone, Barth said, other laws, such as the Coastal Act, may take precedence. City Council member reasoning for the denial varied: Jerome Stocks said he could not support the rezone until further studies were done. Maggie Houlihan said Pacific View is a “jewel” integral to community character. James Bond said it is wrong for the district to sell its assets to help cover current expenses.

Hey, we found a way to unite Stocks and Barth! All it took was an out-of-control school district trying to sell a prime coastal asset for cash to blow on operating expenses.


Bond is right. Tim Baird is pulling a Schwarzenegger, selling off irreplaceable assets to plug a budget hole for a few years because he can't control his expenses. He's already soaked us in 30 years of Prop. P debt, much of which is being blown on operating expenses. What happens when he runs out of assets to sell and he needs more money while the citizens are still paying off Prop. P?

Encinitas attorney Michael T. Pines faces bar discipline

The attorney who made national news a few months ago by helping clients break back into their foreclosed houses is none other than Encinitas' own Michael T. Pines.

Well, the little take-back-the-house stunt didn't go too well for the families involved, as the houses' new owners and the courts didn't put up with it. And now Pines faces a state bar hearing and possible loss of his license.

Pines has reportedly had several of his own properties foreclosed, including his law office at 732 N. Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia.

NOTE: This is NOT La Jolla personal injury attorney Michael Pines, who is concerned about being confused with the Encinitas break-in artist.

Rainbow over Leucadia

These are the days.

Panic at Trader Joe's

You'd think people were stocking up for a hurricane. It's so thick with shopping carts it's hard to move.

I'm not sure the new Whole Foods will relieve this much. Kind of a different crowd.