It would appear that more and more people are hearing some of the specifics of how San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has a problem sexually harassing people around him. As of this morning the specific allegations against Filner have yet to come out into the public spotlight, although at this point one really expects to hear from the likes of Gloria Allred, representing a battalion of victims. After all, whatever the sordid details happen to be, we know that they have caused a growing number of the Mayor’s former key supporters to now call for his resignation. And we know that they are bad enough that Filner himself issued an apology and admitted that he needed professional help.

Will Filner actually resign? I do not think the growing chorus of his former supporters ranging from City Councilmembers present and past, Democrat State Legislators, and other Democrat leaders clamoring for his departure will be the cause of his departure. It’s going to be when the details of what he did start to filter through into the public discussion that will cause him to step down. One can only imagine the egregious nature of the harassment that it seemingly causes… Read More

A startling announcement early Friday morning caught many Californians off guard: Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano is resigning and moving to California to head the University of California system.

This is a real eyebrow-raiser, and just more proof that everything in California is political, including our college system.

UC regents obviously made this decision behind closed doors.

Some say Napolitano’s career with the Obama administration has run its course, particularly given her lack of success with always contentious immigration issues. And where does a career politician go when that career has run its course? Right to California to become the first female president of the already broken University of California system.

There is the possibility… Read More

Chino Hills will be waving bye-bye to the 200 foot electrical transmission towers erected near homes, schools and churches in the lovely bedroom community.

Yesterday the Southern California city won a long and arduous battle against utility giant Southern California Edison. A group of dedicated, committed and faithful citizens proved that the voting public still has a voice, but only as long as it is willing to put forth the effort.

After several years of legal challenges, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a final decision in the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, which grants the City of Chino Hills its proposal to run new electrical transmission lines underground.… Read More

So yesterday the House of Representatives passed a new “farm bill” that provides for $200 billion in spending in direct and indirect financial support for privately owned farming interests, large and small. In addition the legislation put into permanent law a number of entitlements, with the idea that in future years Congress is leveraged to do more of the same. Now the legislation passed Congress on a party-line vote, with 216 Republicans voting for it. A chunk of Republicans and all Democrats either opposed the legislation or did not vote. Which is to say Republicans completely “own” this bill.

So I am (still) waiting for any one of my Republican friends in… Read More

San Diego political observers have known of Mayor Bob Filner’s tawdry behavior for many years. A not-so-well-kept secret in San Diego or Washington, but dismissed by what one San Diego paper reported was characterized as “Bob being Bob.”

Yesterday was extraordinary for any city. The morning started with a press conference convened by three prominent Democrats, including former City Councilwoman Donna Frye, a populist-liberal-surfer-environmentalist and former candidate for mayor; and Marco Gonzalez, environmental activist attorney and brother of former Labor Council Boss Lorena Gonzalez, now Assemblywoman Gonzalez. They called on Filner to resign in light of unspecified accusations of sexual harassment in an emotional, if vague, press conference. They said they spoke for several women who were victims of his unwanted – and handsy – advances and went so far as to acknowledge that they had long been aware of the behavior but never had the “proof” to act on it. Instead, Donna Frye just went to work in the Filner Administration and unsuccessfully attempted to collect her city pension and a full-time salary while serving as Director of Open… Read More

The four day BART strike that ended on July 5th provided ample evidence of how public sector union power can inflate wages – and expectations – far beyond what the rest of us may consider normal or fair. In a July 1st editorial entitled “Striking BART workers out of touch with financial reality,” the Contra Costa Times wrote:

“They’re already the top-paid transit system employees in the region and among the best in the nation. They also have free pensions, health care coverage for their entire family for just $92 a month and the same sweet medical insurance deal when they retire after just five years on the job.They work only 37½ hours a week. They can call in sick during the workweek and then volunteer for overtime shifts on their days off. The rules exacerbate out-of-control overtime that added in 2012 an average 19 percent to base pay for station agents and 33 percent for train operators.”

According to the San Jose Mercury, who has published BART payroll and benefits per employee as part of… Read More

Since 2009, the City of San Diego has been planning a major expansion of its downtown convention center. It is expected to cost $520 million, or more than $1 billion if interest payments to bond investors are included in the total cost.

The city’s downtown business and civic leaders are eager to expand the convention center to maintain trade shows such as Comic-Con and attract new trade shows.

That eagerness presented the devious union leaders of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council with an opportunity to establish themselves as the chief opponents and obstacles to the proposed project. Opposition could be withdrawn – for a price.

After exploiting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and filing a lawsuit to challenge the financing plan, unions were able to obtain several economic and political benefits through the office of former Mayor Jerry Sanders. In exchange for these payoffs, the unions withdraw their obstacles and committed to end their opposition and support the convention center expansion.

… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, I am pleased to present this column from Fred Wszolek – Flash]

Truck drivers who service the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, California are under pressure. After nearly six years of quietly laying the groundwork for a massive campaign, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has a message for port drivers – it’s time to join the labor movement and pay union dues.

Organized labor already looms large at the twin ports. The International Longshore Warehouse Union represents the dockworkers and was the driving force behind the eight-day strike at this labor stronghold last December.

If the Teamsters have their way, they will soon be adding the truck drivers who handle the transportation of goods to and from port terminals, rail yards and storage facilities in the Inland Empire. Because these individuals are independent contractors and not company employees, federal law currently prohibits them… Read More