State Budget Update

Thanks to the overwhelming outpouring of your calls, faxes and emails, ACA9, the bill that threatened local government finance last week was not voted on as we feared, forcing the Governor and the Legislature to continue working toward a State budget that protects local government from future raids. It was amazing and rewarding to hear from many inside the capitol that they heard you and listened.

Over the next week or so the final details which are now being worked out should be voted on - and hopefully local government funding will be on it's way to being protected from future state raids. The constitutional amendment protecting local government will be on this November's ballot and the Governor will likely play a role in encouraging its passage. I'll have more details in future eNewsletters.

Here are the key points to keep you up to date:

• The League of California Cities and its LOCAL coalition partners are involved in discussions with Governor Schwarzenegger and legislators from both houses on modifications to the Local Government Agreement reached by the coalition with the governor in May.
   
• While we are encouraged about the progress we are making, no agreement has yet been reached.
   
• The core issue is whether local government revenues can be constitutionally protected from future state raids.  
   
• Local governments want constitutional protection to end the practice of state raids on local sales tax, property tax and VLF, needed to pay for local services.  They need this protection to restore predictability and stability to local funding.
   
• State legislators want to be able to continue the practice of taking local funds when they feel they need them.  
   
• While we are working to find common ground, we remain firmly committed to our goal of constitutional protection of local revenues.

If you are interested in reading a few excellent articles and an editorial on the topic that appeared in the Union Tribune, click on these links: article from July 3, 2004; editorial from July 7, 2004; article from July 8, 2004 and an article from today, July 9, 2004.

The Chargers and the City: Finally On The Same Page?

The Fourth of July holiday wasn't the only celebration last week. Negotiators for the San Diego Chargers and the City of San Diego have finally agreed to agree. Mayor Dick Murphy and Councilmember Mike Zucchet along with Chargers president Dean Spanos and Dan Shea of the Fans, Taxpayers and Business Alliance made the announcement at a news conference at Qualcomm Stadium.

Their news conference was some of the best news we've had recently. Don't get me wrong . . . reaching an agreement with the Chargers or, for that matter, any issue involving professional sports is not the most important issue before us. I would not rank it anywhere near the pension issue, fixing potholes, collecting trash, maintaining parks and beaches, building libraries and improving traffic. Certainly I consider the City providing public safety and basic services a higher priority. But this agreement is important because it means avoiding more law suits which would have cost taxpayers a bundle.  And it eliminates what was a real sticking point in previous negotiations, namely, the crippling and infamous ticket guarantee.

The ticket guarantee had to be resolved before the City could reach any agreement with the Chargers.  The City Council will discuss this issue at the July 12 meeting.  What is not up for discussion is a new stadium---- at least not immediately despite the Charger's full throttle campaign to put it to the voters in 2006. I want voters to decide.  But first, we need to finalize this agreement before we start talking about a new stadium. And we need to see the Chargers start winning again. And practicing here, along with a few other things. What do you think? I want to hear from you so please email me your thoughts by clicking on this link. I'll be commenting on this more in future issues.

City's Pension Fund has a Plan

Much has been in the news of late about the City's Pension fund. The Mayor's Pension Reform Commission continues to make progress with a number of reform ideas. While they have shared with us a number of their ideas and recommendations, their report is not expected until later this summer. In the meantime, Mayor Murphy, basing his ideas on some of the Pension Reform Commissions recommendations has issued his own 4 point plan designed to get our pension system back on track from years of underfunding. These include: a) the issuance of pension obligation bonds; b) settling litigation with the City by requiring the City to pay the full actuarial value of its required pension contributions; c) changing the pension system to a 15 year amortization schedule and d) restructuring the retirement board. You can see the Mayor's memo by clicking on this link.

The Mayor's recommendations will be considered over the next couple of weeks, both at the full City Council and at the Rules Committee (of which I am a member) this Wednesday. Some of these recommendations will require City voter approval as amendments to our City Charter so you'll be hearing more about these in the future.

The Mayor's and the Pension reform recommendations make sense for a number of reasons - most importantly to make sure the system will never be underfunded again. The issues pertaining to the Pension Board makeup is perhaps the most controversial of all the ideas. The Pension Reform Commission recommended that the Pension Board be made up of all "outsiders" - their concern over potential conflicts of interest with beneficiaries to the pension system also serving on the Pension Board. This makes complete sense to me and is something I spoke in support of at the last Rules Committee meeting. Nonetheless, the Mayor crafted a compromise that would have a majority of Pension Board members that are not beneficiaries while still having selected representation from employees and retirees.

There will be much more to say on this in the future as I could go on and on but won't for now. As with other issues, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the Pension issue and invite you to email me by clicking on this link.

Missing Money $$$

Do you know someone who is owed money by the City of San Diego? They will want to know how to get their unclaimed money. Each year there are unclaimed checks issued by the City. You may wonder how that could happen but actually there are a variety of reasons. It could be that the recipient loses the check or forgets to cash it, the check could be lost in the mail or returned due to an old address. Unclaimed money remains in a fund for three years and after that a notice is published. Recently, the City began a new process that makes it easier for recipients to claim their money. One of the benefits is that recipients can download a claim form and mail it in. Thanks to our City Auditor's office for creating this new tool. For more information, click on this link.

Up to Code With Code Enforcement

Sometimes neighbor-to-neighbor issues can be messier and a little more complicated than other issues. It may be a neighbor that turns up the volume too loud or a residence with a garage that has illegally been converted or a neighborhood where trash is illicitly being dumped. This is where the Neighborhood Code Compliance Department (NCCD) comes in.

NCCD is a City department that my office works with in order to resolve code issues in District 7. They oversee five broad areas: housing, zoning and land use, noise, public right-of-way and graffiti. They work very closely with our office in resolving many of these issues. When I receive a complaint from a District 7 resident about a code compliance issue, I assign one of my staff members to work with a NCCD staff member to take care of it. For example, we recently finished a case where neighbors complained about a dilapidated fence that was falling down. In more extreme cases, we've brought in non-profit organizations to more quickly resolve the issue. For example, there were complaints about drug paraphernalia, trash and disturbances from a homeless encampment on the fringe of my District. We swiftly cleared out and cleaned up this area with help from NCCD and the Alpha Project. I especially appreciate NCCD for their swift response to my request for assistance after we discovered illegal grading activity near Mission Trails Regional Park. They joined me in surveying the situation by air and issuing an injunction to stop the grading. Based on this one incident, I later brought the overall issue of illegal grading to the Natural Resources and Culture Committee. The result was that we put more bite and less bark in the City's ability to go after violators. For more information about NCCD and the services they provide, please click here on this link.

Saluting Mike George and the CERT Team

Tierrasanta resident Mike George did something wonderful for the community that will benefit all of Tierrasanta and beyond.  Let me start at the beginning.

After the October fires I pushed for a community based volunteer group that would plan for emergencies.  I'm 100% behind our Tierrasanta Community Emergency Response Team or CERT and am grateful to the volunteers who invested a significant amount of time training.  Check out my recent eNewsletter where I shared more about the CERT program by clicking here.

I recently allocated $50,000 from Tierrasanta developer agreement interest earnings for this program and was honored to present it to Eric Germaine, president of the Tierrasanta Community Council. There is more good news. Tierrasanta CERT member Mike George secured a donation of a new truck to be used for the Tierrasanta CERT program. Way to go, Mike!

 CERT is a national program supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Management Institute and the National Fire Academy. It assists communities to prepare for effective response to disasters or significant emergency incidents through training and pre-planning. The damage caused by large scale fires, earthquakes, flooding or acts of terrorism can severely restrict and overwhelm emergency response resources, communications, transportation and utilities leaving neighborhoods cut off from outside support. The CERT program trains individuals to meet those emergency needs. The Fire-Rescue Department has trained Tierrasanta CERT members in the basic skills relevant to emergency preparedness. The goal is to equip local communities with the skills required to cope with the anticipated disruptions and hazards that arise from significant emergency incidents. It is so encouraging to see how effective this program can be that I consider it a pilot for other communities in the district and throughout the region.

War on Weeds - Adopt-A-Spot!

New Boss at Miramar

We were sorry to see Major General Jon A. Gallinetti go and wish him well. He was the Commanding General of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and at a traditional public ceremony he relinquished command to Brigadier General Carl B. Jensen.  It was an outdoor ceremony unique to the Marine Corps followed by a reception.

We join the community in welcoming Brigadier General Jensen who most recently served as Deputy Director for Operations, Joint Staff, National Military Command Center in Washington, D.C.  Our office enjoys a great working relationship with the base, which is within District 7.  They have been especially responsive to noise complaints.  There are times when noise is a problem but I certainly give the Marines credit for taking this issue seriously and being concerned about their impact on the surrounding communities.  If you have a noise complaint, you may contact the base by calling the noise complaint hotline at (858) 577-4277 or 577-4279 or by clicking on this link.

U.S. Open Golf Tournament in our Own Backyard

Over the past decade our fair city has hosted some major events including the Republican National Convention and the Super Bowl more than once.  San Diego can boast about hosting another major event - the U.S. Open Golf Tournament.  In 2008 the tournament will be held on the beautiful Torrey Pines Golf Course. Torrey Pines, which is known as a favorite on the PGA tour, has two separate 18-hole courses.  Both courses have world-class views and many visitors are surprised that it is a public golf course and not a luxury private golf course.  The South course was completely redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001 and was recently selected as the tournament site.  The City operates three municipal golf courses: Torrey Pines, Balboa Park and Mission Bay Golf Course and Driving Range.  Click here for more information about our City's golf courses.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to those great volunteers who ensure that the Spring Youth Volleyball program at the Allied Gardens Recreation Center is a success. They are pictured left to right in the back row Carlos Cordova, Manager of the Allied Gardens Recreation Center, Marv Coppes, Dennis Herrmann, Ken Rutan, Diana Blair, Natalie Hayes and Jennifer Ferback. In the front row are some of the young athletes participating in the program: Devon Coppes, Makena Rutan, Lucy Herrmann, Katie Blair, Lauren Hays and Mel Ferback. The volunteers served as organizers and coaches so that these young athletes have an opportunity to be experienced volleyball players by the time they enter 9th grade at Patrick Henry High School. Because of them more than 50 girls ages 10 to 14 were able to play volleyball this year. As a way of saying thank you for their dedication and commitment to this youth sports program, recently I gave each one of the coaches a proclamation recognizing their contribution.

Helping Others

The folks who gather at Lake Murray are a tight group and in many ways their own informal community. In fact, they have an unofficial mayor, namely Barbara Cleves Anderson. She told me this story and I felt compelled to share it with you.

Basically the story involves three young women: Betsy Clapp, Kathy Barcia and Kristie Walker. Betsy was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery while in college. Her friend Kathy was always there for her. Betsy made a full recovery and went on to become a cancer researcher. Through the years Betsy and Kathy remained friends. Recently Kathy, who is married and the mother of two small children, required a kidney transplant. It was difficult to find a match. Betsy became very involved and brought Kathy's plight to the attention of as many people as possible. One of Betsy's former research graduate students, Kristie, tested as a perfect match and decided to donate her kidney to save Kathy's life. On Friday, April 16th, Betsy and Kristie drove to Los Angeles for the surgery and organ transplant. I'm happy to say that the operation was successful. This is a great story of three outstanding individuals and their courage, love and friendship. It is also the story of everyday heroes we seldom hear about --- good news that encourages us as opposed to the constant stream of negative news that can be overwhelming at times.

Slow Down Signs

Residents are helping the San Diego Police Department by displaying a large number of my SlowDown Signs that can be seen by south bound traffic on College Avenue as you approach Del Cerro Blvd. This stretch of College Avenue has quite a speeding problem and if you receive the e-watch crime updates from our Police Department, you will note quite an increase in citations issued by the Police Department for this area. Additional SlowDown signs are available by visiting the Navajo Community Service Center at 7381 Jackson Drive.

Happenings In the District

From time to time I include a few community events taking place throughout the District. Here are a few you may be interested in:

July 10 - Dedication of the joint-use sports fields at Pershing Middle School at 12 noon.  Mayor Murphy and I are welcoming families to the dedication and following the ribbon cutting ceremony, two lucky youth soccer teams will be the first to use the field in a soccer match.  For more information please call my office at 619-236-6677 or just show up tomorrow at 12 noon at Pershing and check out the latest in high-tech turf!

July 11 - Euclid Avenue tree planting. Community leader Patty Vaccariello is working with People for Trees to organize the third out of three tree planting events near Euclid Avenue Elementary School. To volunteer or find out more information, please call (619) 284-2184.

July 15 - Is the deadline for teachers to apply for a grant from British Petroleum. The company has $2 million in grants funding through their A+ for Energy program for California K-12 teachers. The grants range from $5,000 to $25,000 and are awarded for innovative classroom, after-school, extracurricular or summer activities focused on energy education and/or energy conservation. For more information, visit the BP web site at www.aplusforenergy.com

August 3 - Annual National Night Out event for the City Heights Community. Stay tuned for more details.

I wish I could include every single community event but unfortunately I have to limit it to a few each issue.  We welcome submissions.  For an upcoming event you would like to see in the next eNewsletter, please email information to lwebb@sandiego.gov.

Thanks for reading the eNewsletter.  If you have any suggestions or comments, please email me at JMadaffer@SanDiego.gov