Pacifican vies for Guinness World Record

 

Click here: Pacifican vies for Guinness World Record - San Jose Mercury News

 

Pacifica Tribune

Posted: 11/25/2010 06:00:00 AM PST

Updated: 11/25/2010 06:12:42 AM PST

Jim Connolly and L.A. Treadwell painted 24 of the homes on one street in a two-block area in Pacifica and believes no other painters can make that claim.

All the 24 homes in the Saltaire community and the sidewalks around them were power washed before painting and after. All of the homes were painted with permalast technology paint, which has a limited lifetime warranty from Sherwin Williams Paints. 

The record attempt was witnessed by the Saltaire homeowner community's past and present presidents Joe Hurley, Bill Haskins, Cindi and Bill Ekberg and Mike and Gina Miglio.

The record attempt has been submitted to Guinness World Records headquarters in London, England. Connolly holds two other records for basketball speed shooting and his name is in the 2000 and 2001 editions of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Submitted by Jim Alex

Your health insurance dollars at work

Large business and government in America seems to be full of "pork".  Some of you wonder why health insurance costs so much?  One reason social programs.  Health insurance companies connect providers, provide accounting, member services, oversight, research, and contribute to civic health related charitable work.  And that charitable work (which frequently involves low cost/free clinics) is a State requirement.  

Oakland, CA , KRON, Channel 4, 11/29/10 article, Kaiser Permanente gifting $10.5 million to support violence prevention.  Of that total, $7.5 million pays for school-based health centers, strategic planning efforts, and an African-American male achievement program; $1 million for violence prevention support, and youth mentoring for at-risk kids; $2 million for "Remember Them", to build a social justice monument and park (a project initiated by the Chamber of Commerce).
 
Not that "pork" is bad if its helping your community, but it exists and we pay for it not only in government but also through our business transactions.  The government (Senate) will vote soon to try living without "pork" for 2 years, we'll see how that goes. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

California State Pension System Makes Madoff Proud. Video Reveals Gimmicks Used to Hide The Decline In Their Assets

by Gwilym McGrew 

 

CalPERS financial sleight of hand is reminiscent of Bernie Madoff’s lying to his investors through phony statements designed to mask losses and outright fraud.

Much has been written about The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) being underfunded by $500 billion due to massive investment losses over the last decade, but now we have video of a CalPERS Senior Pension Actuary, Kung-pei Hwang, describing how they intend to change basic assumptions in their financial model to (please allow me to mix my metaphors) Hide The Decline in their assets held for municipal, county, and state employee’s retirement.

Through this statistical gimmickry, CalPERS can push the loss into later years and appear solvent today.  Of course, at some point in the future it will need to raise funds from state and local governments to compensate for these losses.  But for now, they seem content to hide the disastrous condition of their fund.

As you can hear Mr. Hwang say in his presentation to the Huntington Park City Council last week, “that means we will defer most of the loss to future years.” “This means the city will realize another increase in future years. I hate to bring bad news, but those are the facts.”  Well, the fact is this bad news will hit budgets for all cities, counties and the state of California and not just Huntington Park.  By playing with its financial model in this way, CalPERS is treating all California taxpayers like Madoff investors by cooking its actuarial books to Hide The Decline in its assets.

Read more...

Submitted by Jim Alex

What's a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report?

http://web.archive.org/web/20040708041151/http://www.cafrman.com/


To have a better understanding of what a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is. It is prepared annually.


Gerald R. Klatt
Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret.) Passed away in 2004.
    First Career:
    Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, Retired
    Education:
        USAF Special Investigations School (FBI)
        USAF Special Counterintelligence School (CIA)
        Defense Language Institute – Chinese Mandarin
    Experience:
        Special Agent/Commander, USAF Office of Special Investigations – 20 years
Second Career:
    Education:
        Bachelor of Science in Industrial Business
        Extensive post graduate work in accounting (Approx. 35 semester hours)
        Masters Degree in Business Management
        Professional Military Comptroller School (Equivalent to a Masters degree in Comptrollership)
        Air Force Audit/Management System (B3500)
        Auditing Data Processing Systems (USAF)
        Former member of the Associations of Government Accountants (AGA)
        Former member of the American Society of Military Comptrollers
        Former Certified Cost Analyst (CCA) with the Institute of Cost Analysis (Certificate Nr. 233)
    Experience:
        Auditor/Commander, Air Force Audit Agency – 6 years
        Federal Accountant –working primarily in the area of analyzing administrative costs for Federal cost reimbursement for States,         counties, cities, universities, non-profit organizations, hospitals, Indian tribes, etc.
        Worked with the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for 15 years.

There is More

In 1984 CAFRman used a similar economic impact analysis as explained in this site, with the help of Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Director, Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University. At that time the above governments and some private organizations were reluctant to prepare proper cost allocation plans to receive full reimbursement for their costs in administering Federal programs. CAFRman prepared an economic impact analysis to demonstrate the full impact of their lack of concern for administrative cost reimbursement. From that time on, Governors, mayors, etc. were ordering complete and comprehensive cost plans.
Also in 1984, CAFRman created what is now called Cross-Allocation Methodology for allocating administrative costs. Today, almost all of the organizations mentioned above and many companies use Cross-Allocation Methodology in their costing systems.

Purpose of This Site: 
   
Prove that State and local governments have huge excesses (surpluses) of the taxpayers money they are not using.


Provide the methods/tools for about anyone to determine the amount of surpluses their State and local governments have of their money.


Demonstrate the huge economic impact if these surpluses were returned to the people.


Provide a guide to the type of legislation that should be in place in order to prevent the surpluses from accumulating in the future.


Provide a system for a small group of individuals to make an impact in their community.


Submitted by Paul Emde

Election certified, final numbers now posted

http://www.shapethefuture.org/elections/results/nov2010/final/SOV_Nov021010.pdf

 will take me a day to figure this out....

 mark stechbart

Economic picture for county mixed

November 29, 2010, 03:30 AM By Michelle Durand Daily Journal Staff

San Mateo County’s economy is a mixed bag of a combination of increased housing prices but declining office space vacancies, spiking travel rates but rising unemployment — according to the Controller’s Office evaluation of the last fiscal year.

Controller Tom Huening recently released his annual financial report, providing county residents with a glimpse into just how the jurisdiction is making ends meet, struggling to stay ahead or remaining flat. In short, the hefty report shows that the county is much in line with the rest of the state’s economic trends.

The report looked at statistics through the end of June 30.

On the bright side, housing sales volume is up and commercial vacancies are dropping. Even the county’s increased unemployment rate isn’t necessarily a negative. Huening pointed out that even though the rate has moved to 9.2 percent, the rate appears to have hit its peak and is “positioned to rebound.” Yet, growth is anticipated to be sluggish for the next several years and county resources will remain stagnant.

Again offering a mixed evaluation, Huening notes that the county’s economic hits are still better than most areas rocked by the recession.

The number of single-family homes selling in San Mateo county has increased 18 percent between June 2008 and June 2010 but the median price dropped nearly the same amount — 17 percent. The median price in 2008 was $880,000 but in June of this year was $730,000. As a result, property tax revenues have declined from an average of 7 percent growth in the last five years to -1 percent in the last fiscal year. At this rate, they are projected at between zero and 3 percent through fiscal year 2014 to 2015.

Read more...

Posted by Steve Sinai

LA Times: The saga of Maywood's downward spiral

By Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times

November 27, 2010

This summer, the small city of Maywood made national headlines when it laid off most of its workers, disbanded the Police Department and contracted most city services to the neighboring city of Bell.

Maywood's move was quickly overshadowed by the salary scandal in Bell, which resulted in the indictments of eight current and former city officials on charges of public corruption. Now Maywood is working to extricate itself from Bell and rebuild its own city government.

But an examination into how Maywood found itself in this position offers a window into the struggles of this group of small, largely working-class communities that straddle the 710 Freeway southeast of downtown L.A.

Maywood's problems have their roots in an effort seven years ago to provide police services to another neighboring city, Cudahy.

The cities agreed upon a fee of $261 per officer hour, enough to cover Maywood's costs.

But in the ensuing years, rising costs of policing Cudahy quietly drained Maywood of more money every year.

By 2009, its $5-million reserves were gone and the budget was in deficit. A city consultant discovered that the contract was actually losing Maywood $1.1 million a year.

Maywood's insurer, and its city staff, urged the council to sign a more lucrative contract with Cudahy that would have rebuilt its reserves. But the council delayed. Members wanted to study forming a regional police force with Bell and other cities.

Instead, Maywood lost its insurance, forcing the city to hand over the reins to Bell.

"It's an incredible story if you think of a community with a small budget throwing away" money like that, said Paul Philips, Maywood's interim city manager in 2009 who noticed the contract's problems and left when the City Council ignored his warnings.

Today, Maywood struggles to remain a city at all.

Interim city officials don't have a clear idea how much the city has in reserve, though they say it's sure to be minuscule.

"It's a scary place we're in right now," said Gerardo Mayagoitia, a 34-year resident of Maywood, at a recent City Council meeting.

The saga — which started with that one ill-conceived police contract in 2003 — has led to questions about the economic viability of some southeastern Los Angeles County cities, where the tax base has withered along with the manufacturing that once supported the towns' incorporation. Formerly home to Bethlehem Steel, Maywood now counts an Arco AM PM, King Taco and a McDonald's among its largest sales-tax generators.

But the Maywood police contract story suggests these cities' viability is threatened more by a dysfunctional political culture that undermines their economic progress.

Read more...

Posted by Steve Sinai

LA Times: State's GOP is sinking fast

George Skelton
From Sacramento

Go ahead: Accuse me of shooting the wounded. But it may be that the body already is dead.

I'm referring to the California Republican Party.

How alive could the state GOP be after suffering the pounding it took on Nov. 2, a day of historic party triumph elsewhere across America?

"It's not just wounded, it's in a coma," says Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.

Maldonado was one of several Republican victims on election day. He lost the lieutenant governor's race to Democratic San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

I wouldn't be belaboring the obvious about the party's sorry shape except for a news release that caught my eye from veteran Republican consultant Kevin Spillane. He was senior strategist for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's campaign for attorney general.

Cooley was the biggest Republican vote-getter in California, which isn't saying much. At last count he was narrowly trailing Democratic San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris by half a percentage point in their seesaw battle.

Most surprisingly, Cooley was beaten badly — by 14 points — in his home county, where he had won three district attorney races by landslides.

Why couldn't Cooley carry L.A.? Spillane points out that local races, unlike state contests, are nonpartisan. Local candidates don't list party affiliations.

"Cooley has been elected and reelected D.A. as an individual," Spillane wrote. "The moment the word 'Republican' appeared on the ballot next to [his] name in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, it was a huge anchor that dragged him down, exacerbated by the collapse of the GOP ticket in the final week of the campaign."

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman wound up getting trounced by Democratic Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.

It was the GOP as Republican "anchor" that raised my eyebrows.

Read more...

Posted by Steve Sinai

Jerry Hill's Bill Idea Contest

Press Release: Jerry Hill Announces 3rd Annual Constituent Bill Idea Contest

Contact: Nate Solov 916-768-1378

 

Jerry Hill Announces 3^rd Annual Bill Idea Contest

Invites Constituents to Author Legislative Measures – January 1 Deadline

Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Jerry Hill, D - San Mateo, announced his third annual “Oughta Be A Law…Or Not” contest for San Mateo County.  The contest is open to all constituents of the 19th Assembly District and allows residents to submit their ideas for improving the quality of life in San Mateo County or the state of California. Ideas can vary from local community improvements to statewide reforms. Applicants can submit their ideas for the creation of a new law or the repeal or revision of laws already on the books. 

“This is a great opportunity for constituents to participate in the legislative process,” Hill said.  “Winners from the last two years traveled to Sacramento to testify in committee and their proposals passed the legislature with bipartisan support.”
Assemblymember Hill will select a winner and then introduce the idea as legislation.  The individual who submits the winning idea will have the opportunity to testify in Sacramento at a hearing on the legislation.
Applications can be obtained by calling Assemblymember Hill’s San Mateo office at 650-349-1900 or from his website: www.assembly.ca.gov/hill
Completed applications may be e-mailed to Assemblymember.hill@assembly.ca.gov, faxed to the San Mateo district office at 650-341-4676 or mailed to the district office located at 1528 South El Camino Real, Suite 302, San Mateo, CA 94402.  Submissions must be received by January 1, 2011.  The deadline to introduce bills for the 2011 legislative session is February 18. 

The 19th Assembly District includes the cities of Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Daly City, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Pacifica, San Bruno, San Mateo, and South San Francisco and parts of unincorporated San Mateo County.

Past winners include:

2009 – Assembly Bill 1379

Eda Cook of Half Moon Bay and Scott Buschman of San Bruno were awarded co-winners of the 2009 contest for their proposals addressing the problem of spilled debris from trucks on highways and roads.  The bill increased the base fine for spilling debris from commercial trucks.  In recent years there were over 7,000 collisions caused by spilled loads in California resulting in 10 fatalities.  The measure passed the legislature but was vetoed by the Governor.

2010 – Assembly Bill 2654

The brainchild of Stan Fetterman of Millbrae, Assembly Bill 2654 would require firms that send out solicitation letters that appear to be on behalf of government agencies to include a disclaimer atop the first page stating: “This product or service has not been approved or endorsed by any government agency.”  Fetterman proposed the law after noticing that his business had received a pile of official-sounding letters that, in one instance, demanded companies make a $225 payment to fulfill a bogus state requirement.  Under the bill, these letters would be required to include the disclaimer and violations would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.  The measure passed the legislature but was vetoed by the Governor.

Nate Solov

Office of Assemblymember Jerry Hill

916-319-2019 (P)

916-319-2119 (F)

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/hill

Posted by Steve Sinai

Bigger Bag Theory

 

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is moving to greatly expand the city's drive to get rid of disposable bags.

The champion of the ban on plastic grocery bags has submitted legislation calling on all retail outlets - including places like Safeway and Macy's - to charge 10 cents per paper bag. He wants more people to bring their own bags, cutting down on the use of both paper and plastic.

Just one thing: Grocery stores don't bag up until after you pay. So how are they going to know how many bags to charge you for?

"They just will," said Mirkarimi, after pondering the matter.

"They just will."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/23/BAH11GGJA5.DTL#ixzz16EEI6va6

Posted by Steve Sinai

SF Chronicle: California vs. Texas

California's civic health better ranked than Texas'

By Pete Peterson

'Frisco, California

It was Ben Franklin who, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention in 1787, famously replied to Mrs. Powel's inquiry regarding the product of those deliberations: "A Republic, if you can keep it." The response clearly illustrated the caution many of the founders possessed regarding the future of a nation, which extended unknown freedoms to many of its citizens. Implicit in Franklin's statement, is the responsibility placed on its citizens to participate in the civic life of the country -- from voting to volunteering.

Frisco, Texas

Few stories have cast such a bright light on the consequences of disengaging from these duties as the fiasco in Bell, Calif. Most know by now, that while wrongdoings committed by the city's staff and elected officials deserve condemnation and prosecution, the course toward the debacle was charted in a voting booth, where less than 1 percent of Bell's population voted for charter status.

Until recently, evaluating California's civic participation has been difficult, but in 2007, the congressionally chartered National Conference on Citizenship, following the release of its National Civic Health Index, produced the first edition of the report for California with the consultation of political scientists Robert Putnam, Bill Galston and Peter Levine. Now in its third year, the 2010 California Civic Health Index has just been published, and the results show that while Californians have some room for improvement in an array of civic activities, compared with other large states like New York and Texas we perform very well, and our trend lines since that 2007 report are very positive. 

This is gooder'n grits

Divided into two main sections -- social civic engagement -- (volunteering, exchanging favors with neighbors, dining with family) and political civic engagement (voting, talking with neighbors about politics, attending meeting about local issue) -- the results are derived from the annual Census Current Population Survey. This year's study, like the 2008 edition, is sponsored by California Forward, and is written through a collaboration between the Center for Civics Education and Pepperdine's Davenport Institute of Public Engagement and Civic Leadership.

On most activities surveyed, Californians rank between the low 30s and low 40s, but when compared to states like New York and Texas the results appear more golden. In political engagement, Californians continue to improve their participation at the ballot box. Both in voter turnout (63.4 percent) and voter registration (68.2 percent), Californians outpace New Yorkers and Texans, and comparing voting rates in the last two presidential elections, Californians surpass the national trend line.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?entry_id=77692#ixzz16BjdQ7VW

Posted by Steve Sinai

 

Emde v. City of Pacifica

PRESS RELEASE

KRAUSE, KALFAYAN, BENINK & SLAVENS, LLP, Announces Court Ruling Allowing Lawsuit Against the City of Pacifica Alleging Proposition 218 Violations to Move Forward

.

SAN DIEGO, November 22, 2010

  At a hearing on November 19, 2010, the Honorable Gerald J. Buchwald of the Superior Court for the County of San Mateo refused to dismiss a lawsuit against the City of Pacifica and Recology of the Coast, a contractor hired by Pacifica to collect refuse for Pacifica’s residents. In the suit, Pacifica resident Lionel Emde claims that Pacifica and Recology are violating Proposition 218, the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act. " Proposition 218 requires affected property owners to receive a notice of a hearing and a right to protest rate increases. It also prohibits local governments from collecting fees beyond that which is necessary to operate the service. Emde alleges that the defendants are violating both aspects. For example, Pacifica generates four different types of fees from the contract with Recology which Emde alleges is deposited into Pacifica’s general fund rather than for the operation of the refuse services. And residents have no right to protest rate increases.

  Pacifica and Recology argued that because it contracts with a private entity to perform the refuse collection services, Proposition 218’s mandates do not apply. There is scant legal authority regarding Proposition 218’s application in the context of public-private contracts for property-related services and thus, Judge Buchwald’s ruling represents a significant victory for rate-payers in Pacifica.  No trial date has been set.

About Krause Kalfayan Benink & Slavens, LLP.: KKBS is a boutique law firm located in San Diego, CA representing consumers, rate-payers, shareholders, and businesses in individual and class action litigation.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning the lawsuit or rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact attorneys for plaintiff, Eric J. Benink at Krause, Kalfayan, Benink & Slavens, LLP, 625 Broadway, Suite 635, San Diego, CA 92101, Tel: (619) 232-0331, email: . Website: kkbs-law.com.

Submitted by Lionel Emde

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Click here: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 6 New Governors Seek to Kill Defined Benefit Plans; 8 of 9 CA Cities Vote t

Defined benefit pension plans are in trouble across the country, but politicians in states like Arizona and Illinois are reluctant to tackle the problem. Voters across the country however, have taken matters into their own hands by refusing to agree to tax hikes and by voting to reduce benefits.

In California, voters in eight of nine cities or counties approved measures to reduce public-pension benefits. Moreover, six new governor-elects want to kill defined benefit plans.

Finally, the speaker of the House in Arizona wants a constitutional amendment to lower pension benefits.

Arizona Central covers these issues and more in a pair of articles. Let's start with a look at Pension reform a difficult task.

The Arizona Legislature's incoming House speaker and Senate president said lawmakers can go only so far to slow the rate of growth for the state's pension systems, which an Arizona Republic analysis found cost taxpayers $1.39 billion last year, a 448 percent increase from a decade ago.

These rising taxpayer costs, coming at a time when state and local governments have cut services to balance their budgets, have been driven in part by the pension trusts' investment losses during the market downturn but also by ongoing pension-benefit improvements and efforts to hold down costs for employees themselves.

"It's time we get serious about reforming the public-pension systems," said House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa. "But if we are going to have any fundamental change, the voters will have to get involved."

Adams said he would work to get the Legislature to have voters in 2012 change the state Constitution, which prohibits benefits from being diminished for those in the public-pension systems. Adams said he has yet to get support from the Republican-controlled Senate or Gov. Jan Brewer, a fellow Republican.

In 1998, the intent of the measure was to protect public-pension trust funds, which had surpluses at the time, from being raided by lawmakers in the event of lean budget times. Since then, the pensions have not been touched by lawmakers.

In a significant indication of change, six newly elected governors in Alabama, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Rhode Island have suggested that they want to amend their states' pension systems to 401(k) plans similar to the private sector's, said Stephen Fehr, a pension expert for the Pew Center on the States. The center is a non-profit policy-advocating group.

"They want to shift away from guaranteed pensions," Fehr said.

Even in states with strong labor unions, such as California and Illinois, action has been taken, Fehr noted.

Voters in eight of nine California cities and counties approved measures during the recent election to cut public-pension benefits. In addition, Fehr said, more than 40 suburban communities in Chicago approved a ballot question that called on the Illinois Legislature to reduce benefits for future state workers.

Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams Proposes Constitutional Amendment

There is much more in the article, please give it a look. Also consider House speaker unveils sweeping plans

Adams plans next session to ask lawmakers to:

- Eliminate the Deferred Retirement Option Plan for public-safety officers. This program costs tens of millions of dollars, providing lump-sum payments to police and firefighters who agree to defer retirement for up to five years and stay on the job.

- Prohibit public employees from retiring and returning to work. The practice of "double-dipping" reduces contributions to the pension systems by millions of dollars.

- Prohibit public officials convicted of crimes related to official duties from receiving pensions.

- Eliminate the pension system for elected officials and move judges who are in that plan into the larger Arizona State Retirement System. Pensions for elected officials are the best in the state.

- Change the state's pension plans, which have guaranteed payouts, to 401(k)-type systems.

- Refer a constitutional amendment to voters in 2012 to allow pension benefits to be reduced. A provision in the Arizona Constitution prohibits benefits from being diminished.

Fraudulent Promises Need Not Be Kept

Many will say we cannot renege on promises. The reality is those promises are invalid because they came about as a result of fraud. Politicians got into bed with public unions by making promises they knew they could not keep, in return for endorsements from unions to get elected.

The entire vote-buying process by unions is fraudulent. No one represented taxpayers, even though public workers are supposed to be public servants.

It is not at all wrong to take away promises made via fraudulent vote buying, influence peddling, and bribes. The same applies to public union wages as well.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Submitted by Jim Alex

San Diego Mayor Proposes Eliminating City Pensions

As time runs down in San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders' tenure, his proposals to solve the city's financial crisis are becoming more drastic. This summer, he embraced a tax hike. Friday, he proposed 401(k)-style retirement accounts for most new city employees, and in turn, eliminating their pensions.

Staring him and everyone else in the face is a $70 million-plus ongoing deficit, one that neither a tax increase or a pension elimination will fix. The tax hike won't work because voters said no. The pension elimination, which also needs voter approval, won't save any money for years and wouldn't go on a ballot until next year at the earliest.

Sanders has two more years to solve the financial problem he was elected to fix. Friday, he recommitted to the task.

"I won't pass the structural deficit on to the next mayor," Sanders said.

As he tries to fulfill that pledge, Sanders' proposals include the familiar: All the reforms tied to the Proposition D tax hike. They include the major: Consolidating departments and potentially privatizing the city's airports and golf courses. And they include the minor: Ending free trash pickup for 18,000 homes on privately owned streets and using more energy-efficient bulbs in street lights.

Read more...

Submitted by Jim Alex

Happy Thanksgiving - enjoy!

"Good grief its 4 o'clock, we're suppose to be at grandmothers house by 4:30." 
A Charlie Brown thanksgiving, on television from the "good old days" (1973?),  video 20:20 minutes.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42u0TiZZPCY

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Is the economy improving?

Its a long ways back, but in California exports point to "yes it is."

From the Los Angeles Times 11/10/10, statistical source Beacon Economics.  If tech is going to lead the state out of the recession, statistics from SFO indicate that a resurgence might be well underway. Exports from SFO in the first six months of the year totaled $10.3 billion, a 34.6% increase over the first half of 2009, according to Beacon Economics. Meanwhile, exports from the Port of Oakland, which travel by sea, totaled $4.5 billion, up 21.6% over the first half of last year.  That means manufacturers might need to start hiring new employees soon. The main exports from SFO are medical instruments, pharmaceuticals and a lot of the high-value software and computer-processor chips made in Silicon Valley said Jock O’Connell, international trade expert at Beacon Economics. It’s good news that other countries are starting to demand these goods again.The Bay Area seems to be gathering itself up after the latest storm,” he said.About half of trade overall in California, by value, goes by air, O’Connell said. That’s down from what it was in the dot-com boom. But the share is staring to grow again.“ The unemployment rates for the major Bay Area counties are all below the statewide rate, whereas L.A. County is slightly above that rate,” O'Connell said.

Posted by Kathy Meeh
 

Ice pick stabbing leads to attempted murder charges

November 19, 2010, 02:19 AM By Michelle Durand Daily Journal Staff

 

A Pacifica man stabbed his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend with an ice pick through the ear to his brain after encountering the couple while drinking at the beach with his new paramour, according to prosecutors.

Arthur John Armstrong, 37, denied doing anything other than physically assaulting the 39-year-old victim Monday night near the pier in Pacifica, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

However, Wagstaffe said, authorities found an ice pick in the bushes near the scene of the assault and the victim is currently in a drug-induced coma with brain swelling.

On Thursday, Armstrong appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court on charges of attempted murder and assault plus the special allegations of using a knife and causing great bodily injury. Armstrong asked for a court-appointed attorney and put off a plea until Nov. 24 after his attorney is assigned. He was ordered held without bail.

Armstrong and the victim met up the evening of Nov. 15 after they separately headed to the same beach area near the pier to drink with their girlfriends, Wagstaffe said.

Armstrong’s current girlfriend reportedly was previously involved with the victim.

The victim told police the couples exchanged insults before Armstrong threw a lit firecracker in their direction. When the victim asked what he was doing, he said Armstrong approached and began punching him while the ex-girlfriend assaulted the current girlfriend.

Read more...

Submitted by Jim Alex

Take notes from now on when you go thru TSA

DA promises to prosecute overly touchy pat downs

Lyanne Melendez   KCO ABC 7 TVMore: Bio, E-mail, News Team 

SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- The San Mateo district attorney's office has a warning for all TSA personnel at SFO -- anyone inappropriately touching a passenger during a security pat down will be prosecuted.

Incoming San Mateo DA Steve Wagstaffe says any complaints of inappropriate touching during an airport security pat down will land on his desk.
"The case would be reviewed and if we could prove the elements of it, that it was inappropriately done with a sexual or lewd intent, that person would be prosecuted," he said.

The charge -- sexual battery.

"If it is skin to skin, if someone were to take their hand and put it underneath somebody's blouse and touch someone inappropriately and go skin to skin, that's a felony, and if it's done simply over the clothing, according to California law, that's a misdemeanor," Wagstaffe said.
More pat down searches are expected because some passengers are refusing to go through the image scanning device. Homeland Security announced more scanners are on the way as part of the enhanced security measures at all airports.
Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano has said a passenger's privacy is protected.
"We built privacy concerns into the procedures when they were deployed," she said.
Not all travelers are buying Napolitano's claim.
"It's ridiculous and it's not safer, they are just doing it to have us more fearful and there is no reason for it," passenger Cathlyn Daley
But many passengers at SFO do not mind the enhanced security.
"I would much rather go through a little uncomfortableness and know that I will be safe or a least know that everything was done to protect me," passenger Suzanne Beaty said.
A few however, do.
"A stranger groping you basically," passenger David Barth said.
Passengers should know once they go through security, a TSA officer can ask them to submit to a pat down.
"At that point somewhere in that process you get to a point where you can't withdraw and you will be searched whether you like it or not," ABC7 legal analyst Dean Johnson said.
Wagstaffe has yet to receive a complaint.
SFO security screeners work for a company contracted by the TSA but undergo the same training and comply with the same regulations as TSA employees.
As for the assurance that the images from body scanners are never saved, tech blog Gizmodo obtained 100 saved photos after filing a request through the Freedom of Information Act, just a few of the 35,000 photos that were stored on a machine at the federal courthouse in Miami.
Gizmodo eliminated identifying features before posting them, but the pictures demonstrate the security issues still being worked out with the machines.


http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7793386

Submitted by Mark Stechbart

Some things are just ironic

Neil Young warehouse blaze started in hybrid 'LincVolt' car

jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com

Posted: 11/16/2010 07:47:46 AM PST

Updated: 11/16/2010 10:02:40 AM PST

The three-alarm blaze that caused $1.1 million in damage to a warehouse filled with rock legend Neil Young's music equipment and memorabilia appears to have started in a one-of-a-kind hybrid car stored at the site, a fire official said Monday.

Flames began in a 1959 Lincoln Continental dubbed LincVolt, which runs on electric batteries and a biodiesel-powered generator, and then spread to the warehouse at 593 Quarry Road in the early morning of Nov. 9, according to Belmont-San Carlos Fire Marshal Jim Palisi and a website devoted to the car.

Young assembled a team of workers in 2008 to convert the 19.5-foot behemoth from gasoline to hybrid power, an effort he chronicled in a four-part film series.

Read more...

Submitted by Jim Wagner

Chamber

Well just as I was preparing to comment on the news that BJ Nathanson resigned in disappointment from the Pacifica Planning Commission (noting that "As years went on, however, new people came on, the tenor of the commission just kept changing and changing and changing and not for the better, It completely tilted in one political direction and lately, the current commission...I have found a few commissioners who are just refuse to follow the rules.") . . . an early Christmas gift fell into my lap.

The tax returns for the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce for 2006, 2007, and 2008:

PACIFICA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2006 form 990

PACIFICA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2007 form 990

PACIFICA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2008 form 990

Some analysis of these returns unveils some very interesting information.

As Pacifica's business community was quickly dying from 2006 to 2008, Chamber of Commerce CEO Don Eagleston was given a raise in salary and benefits from $83,413 in 2006 to $94,424 in 2007, to $103,799 in 2008.

During the same time period, the Visitors center lost $1,425 during 2006, $46 in 2007, and did manage to eke out a $543 profit in 2008.

Also noted in the 2008 return is the participation of Councilwoman Julie Lancelle, the City of Pacifica's liaison to the chamber, of approximately 2 hours a week. You may recall Ms. Lancelle was very upset that, despite the weak endorsement from Don Eagleston of the proposed sales tax in May of 2009 (Measure D), it failed by over a 60%/40% margin. Perhaps she did not spend enough time with the Chamber of Commerce discussing actual ECONOMIC BUSINESS PROPOSALS that didn't include regressive taxes.

So apparently the one person who profited most by Pacifica's lack of attention to the needs of the business community was its Chamber of Commerce's own CEO. And as the Chamber of Commerce was co-opted by the same non-profit environmentalist community supported by the liaison Julie Lancelle, I have to revisit Nancy Hall's whiny diatribe in the Tribune a few weeks ago and wonder who's fault was it really that the business community was not competently represented the past 8 years??? 

Article from Jeff Simons, http://jeffsbigmouth.blogspot.com/2010/11/pacificas-chamber-of-commerce-good-for.html

Submitted by Jim Alex

Seawall

While most of our civic attention has been focused on the recent elections (or the World Series) an old and mostly dormant debate has taken on a startling new dimension. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the litigious environmental group from Arizona, has upped the ante in its long battle to close Sharp Park Golf Course; they are now willing to gamble with the safety of the surrounding homes and property.
Frustrated by their inability to get San Francisco to close the course on the merits of their argument, the CBD came up with a circumventive attack they hope will disable or destroy the existing protective seawall, allow winter storm surge to invade the coastal area, and thus degrade the course to the point where it is unplayable. This tactic will necessarily include some “collateral damage” to the adjacent residential neighborhoods which also shelter behind the seawall. They may well degrade to the point where they are also unplayable, with flooded homes, washed-out streets, lawns and gardens inundated with salt water. Most vulnerable are the approximately 170 homes in the Fairway Park neighborhood, west of Highway 1, and many more homes in the Sharp Park district, north of the course.

The City of San Francisco, as the owner of Sharp Park, commissioned a preliminary study of the seawall in 2009, which found that the structure is not up to standard height, much of the wall is vulnerable, and in the event of extreme storm conditions, as occurred in 1983, there is a high risk of breach or over-topping. San Francisco, realizing that a broader, more detailed study of the structure was necessary to intelligently evaluate future plans, turned to Congresswoman Jackie Speier. She subsequently applied for federal funds under the Water Resources Development Act, which supports, among other things, flood and storm damage reduction and shoreline protection. The requested funds would allow the Army Corps of Engineers to “determine the best way to reduce erosion and protect real estate”, and “the best way to address wave over-topping and ongoing maintenance”. The application does not include any actual construction; it is strictly an engineering study. Congresswoman Speier’s entire grant application can be viewed at http://www.speier.house.gov/uploads/WRDA%20-%20Sharp%20Park%20Seawall.pdf.

It is this application that CBD is attempting to derail by urging its adherents across the country to denounce the project to their own congressional representatives. The CBD has characterized the Congresswoman’s request as “a pork-barrel project to bail out a money-losing golf course that harms endangered species”, false, pejorative accusations that have long been put to rest. They don’t mention the “collateral damage” at all.

But I have to wonder why the CBD picked this fight. It’s a very different situation from the usual birdwatchers vs. old duffers debate, Restore Sharp Park vs. Save Sharp Park. There’s no longer a question of golfers vs. frogs, that’s been settled. The golfers, frogs and snakes will all get along just fine when San Francisco’s renovation plan is implemented and the wetlands are recovered. So much for their “harms endangered species” accusation. The “money-losing” charge was also disproved and rejected by San Francisco authorities back in 2009. (Perhaps CBD hadn’t heard about that) Maybe they couldn’t find anything else to complain about, maybe they were just running out of targets. But CBD miscalculated when they set their sights on the seawall.

For one thing, the loss of the seawall would mean death to the frogs and snakes, which, as I have understood it, the environmentalists are trying to save. They are freshwater creatures, they cannot live in salt water. This was confirmed in compelling testimony by Karen Swaim, the leading authority on the Red-legged Frog and consulting biologist to the National Parks Service. Her recommendations for modifications at Laguna Salada, Horseshoe Pond and the adjacent golf course, which have all been incorporated into San Francisco’s renovation plan, will insure that the endangered species will thrive at Sharp Park.

But, more importantly, the seawall is not exclusively a concern of the golf course. It is, first and foremost, a question of public safety. How could it be anything else, when it protects residential neighborhoods? 170 homes in Fairway Park, more in the Sharp Park district. Homeowners who have depended on the security of the seawall for generations, raised their families in its shelter, walked their dogs along its top. Homeowners with some reasonable expectations for the future. Are they to be told that structural questions about the seawall should not even be studied? That’s nonsense. What’s more, it’s dangerously irresponsible. We don’t want to do that. Let Congresswoman Speier know you support her grant request. Let’s get the Corps of Engineers in here and see what they have to say. We owe our fellow citizens that much at least.

Paul Slavin
Fairway Park

Planning Commissioner Quits in Anger, Disappointment - Pacifica, CA

http://pacifica.patch.com/articles/planning-commissioner-quits-in-anger-disappointment

Submitted by Jim Alex

Hamtramck seeks state permission to file for bankruptcy

Mike Wilkinson and Paul Egan / The Detroit News

The city of Hamtramck, desperate for cash, has asked the state for permission to take an unprecedented step: filing for bankruptcy.
City Manager Bill Cooper said the city of roughly 20,000 people is staring at a $3 million deficit, fueled by a dispute with Detroit. Unless Hamtramck files for bankruptcy, it won't be able to pay its nearly 100 employees or 153 retirees, he said.

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The city sent a letter to the state Department of Treasury last week asking for approval to seek bankruptcy protection. It has not received a reply, Cooper said.
"I'm going to run out of money Jan. 31," Cooper said. Bankruptcy would allow the city to stave off creditors and force its unions to consider concessions.
Many Michigan municipalities are under severe financial pressure following a crippling recession that has seen tax revenues plummet. The Detroit Public Schools considered bankruptcy last year but opted against it.
"I'd much rather find another way," Cooper said. "It's not Option 1."
A spokesman for the Department of Treasury said, under state law, a municipality can't file for bankruptcy without first having an emergency financial manager appointed.
Caleb Buhs, a Department of Treasury spokesman, said the department received the letter Monday and officials are studying it. Under a 1990 law, only an emergency financial manager appointed by the state can take a city into bankruptcy, he said. No Michigan municipality has declared bankruptcy before or since the law was passed, he said.
Bill Nowling, a spokesman for Gov.-elect Rick Snyder, said Snyder is monitoring what he believes is a growing problem in Michigan.
"The issue right now is to get a handle on exactly how many municipalities out there are at the point where Hamtramck is," Nowling said. "There are probably several that are sitting on the bubble."
Snyder doesn't yet know how he will address the problem but wants to take several steps to help get the economy moving, which will help the financial situation of municipalities, he said. Snyder's new chief legal counsel, Michael Gadola, is also examining the 1990 law to see if it is strong and flexible enough to deal with the situation, he said.
The city of Hamtramck has an annual budget of just under $18 million. A substantial portion of its revenues come from a tax-sharing agreement with Detroit that centers on General Motors' Poletown plant. Detroit has withheld payment for a number of months, arguing that it had overpaid previously. Hamtramck has sued its bigger neighbor, but a court resolution could take months or even longer — not soon enough, Cooper said.
Nonunion employees have taken a 5 percent pay cut and are paying 15 percent of the health care premiums for spouses and families. The union employees have not agreed to those provisions, and Cooper said a bankruptcy filing could help "force the unions to the table."
Pontiac, Benton Harbor and Ecorse have emergency financial managers, Buhs said, and Hamtramck had one several years ago. Another financial manager has completed work in Highland Park, though the governor has not yet declared that city's financial emergency over, he said. No other municipalities are in the process of having a manager appointed, he said.
Cooper said the state could name him the emergency manager, if necessary. He said that would trim the amount of time needed to take action; he already has assessed the situation and is aware of the alternatives. "That's already done," he said.
In his letter to the state, Cooper said the city has approached the police, fire and municipal unions on several occasions and won only minimal concessions. Moving "quickly to bankruptcy," Cooper wrote, would allow the city to "set aside" the current union contracts and solve the budget problem.
"While this step may seem radical in its approach, it is the only approach that will quickly and effectively allow us to address our shortfall," he wrote.
mwilkinson@detnews.com
(313) 222-2563


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101116/METRO/11160411/Hamtramck-seeks-state-permission-to-file-for-bankruptcy#ixzz15Xsn6osq