Wednesday, August 20, 2008


San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has been busy handing out CALA (Californians Against Law Suit Abuse) awards; maybe that's why he didn't have time to pay attention to waste of taxpayer money by the City of San Diego. It's okay with Jerry for insiders to milk the taxpayers, but he and his CALA friends don't want the city to reimburse ordinary people who have been harmed by city wrongdoing.

The following story from Voice of San Diego addresses the question of Mayor Sanders' lack of interest:

How City Hall Ignored Warning Signs on SEDC
By ANDREW DONOHUE and WILL CARLESS
Aug. 21, 2008

After a voiceofsandiego.org investigation revealed last month that officials at the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. had paid themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in hidden, non-budgeted bonuses and extra compensation, the Mayor's Office was quick to act.

Jumping ahead of the potential public relations nightmare, the mayor issued stern rebukes of SEDC compensation practices, cut the redevelopment agency's funding and called for its president's resignation.

When Mayor Jerry Sanders was told about expired board terms at SEDC, he said his office had higher priorities to deal with before addressing the issue.

Other city officials have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. Three members of the City Council joined the mayor's call for Smith to resign and City Attorney Mike Aguirre quickly stepped in with his own bombshell: An opinion that SEDC's board chairman had violated California's conflict of interest laws.

The rapid response displayed this summer belies the lack of pace and seriousness with which officials in City Hall, from the mayor and city attorney to the auditor and independent budget analyst, dealt with bubbling questions surrounding SEDC pay and other practices over the past two years...