EMPOWER SAN DIEGO - Latest Blog Entries

Evening Budget Hearing to be Held Next Monday

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:57:00 -0500

City Council will hold an evening hearing so working persons can attend to address the lack of public participation in San Diego budget making decisions

At the recommendation of a group of more than 40 community-based organizations, the Community Budget Alliance (CBA), the San Diego City Council has agreed to hold its final budget hearing on May 14th at 6PM to encourage people with day jobs to attend. CBA hopes this will encourage future efforts to offer more opportunities for people to get involved with the budget making process.

Increasing citizen participation in budget decisions is a focus of CBA because they feel San Diego’s process lacks constituent input. “If working people are going to go to a city council hearing, they’re not going to be able to go at 2 o’clock in the afternoon,” says Emily Serafy Cox of CBA member organization Empower San Diego. “Evening meetings are a standard procedure for government agencies to get public input--everyone knows that.” Government entities like the Redistricting Commission have held the majority of their hearings in the evening for the sole purpose of increasing input from citizens unaffiliated with a non-profit organization. Meetings held in the afternoon are usually only available to people like professionals who attend city council meetings as a part of their jobs.

Although evening meetings seem to encourage more public input, the results of evening meetings like the San Diego Speaks series held two years ago have created conflicting opinions. San Diego Speaks was a series of evening meetings initiated by Council President Tony Young to offer community members a chance give input on the budget. Serafy Cox reported hearing negative comments about how useful these sessions actually were: the turnout was lower than expected and the same speakers would always attend. “Interestingly from my perspective--in my experience we had fewer speakers at night for just a regular council meeting,” says District Three Councilmember, Todd Gloria. “If you were to look at the non-agenda public comment held on Tuesday and Thursday there are some individuals who will alway be there so it’s a little difficult to tell.” “But the City is not a community organizer,” says Serafy Cox. She argues that the City simply doesn’t have the outreach setup to turnout large numbers of their constituents.

Although one evening hearing is not sufficient to truly have a community based budget decision making process, it is a step in the right direction. “The City Council holds evening meetings at 6:00 pm, once every two months to allow for greater community access to their regular meetings,” says Trinh Le of CBA member organization Center on Policy Initiatives. “We would like to see efforts like that expanded–-including regular evening hearings while the budget is being developed.”

Gloria argues that although an evening hearing is a good way for people with 9 to 5 jobs to voice their opinions, it is not the only way. “I would say in 2012 there’s multiple ways for people to connect with their elected officials,” says Gloria. “I find that I get a great deal of feedback via email via Facebook and Twitter and I would hope that in whatever format they feel comfortable, people are providing feedback.” Gloria also stated that he held a town hall meeting in his district on Saturday, May 5th regarding the budget.

The May 14th meeting is expected to have a presentation by City staff with a general overview of the Fiscal Year 2013 proposed budget. Serafy Cox expects much of the testimony from the audience to encompass the ideas that CBA has put forward: to increase community participation, increase transparency, and equity in terms of investing in the community. However, turnout is expected to be lower than previous years. “Because of the nature of this year’s budget proposal, specifically it’s a budget proposal with service enhancements as opposed to cuts we’ve seen in recent years, I suspect there will be fewer people than there might have been [if there was] a suggestion to close down a library,” says Gloria.

The budget for next year will go through finalization steps after May 14th. At the end of May, Mayor Jerry Sanders will revise the budget based on updated data on revenues and expenditures. A final 2013 Fiscal Year Plan will be passed in June.

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

What You Had to Say About the Budget Teach-In

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:52:00 -0500

On April 30th, Empower San Diego joined San Diego residents, non-profit organizations and neighborhood groups for an informative Budget Teach-In hosted by the Community Budget Alliance (CBA). The Proposed Budget for the 2013 Fiscal Year is an over 200 page document containing unfamiliar fiscal terms and vague allocation descriptions making it difficult to understand. At the Teach-In, CBA members offered explanations to budget terms like CIP, discussed the inequity in neighborhood investment and described the budget timeline.

Those in attendance were passionate about being apart of the budget making process. We asked three attendees what brought them to the Teach-In and what issues they felt should be allocated more budget money. Here is what they had to say:

“Well I’m a resident of the fourth district and there’s a lot of negative press about the fourth district. But as a resident, I see a lot of positive going on and I was hoping I could find out how much of the budget could be used to enhance the positive--to start accentuating the positive. In my neighborhood, there are people that get up and go to work for forty hours a week then come home to take care of their families. They even have second jobs. I have friends that are entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who have garage businesses and run ebay stores out of their homes and they’re doing great. They take care of their households and mow their lawns and they’re not creating problems at all. I came [to the Budget Teach-In], one to find out how much that’s being talked about, how much funding they allotted to the fourth district and to have my voice be heard”

-Bryon Higginbotham

"I attended the Budget Teach-In to gain a better understanding of
how money is allocated to various capital improvement projects within each district of San Diego. I am concerned that affluent neighborhoods are allocated a greater percentage of funds for capital improvement. I think public libraries are a vital educational resource in San Diego. Branches should not be closed on Sundays and Mondays. We should make it a priority to keep neighborhood libraries open every day for the growth of our community. We should also invest in renovating branches to make them a desirable learning environment while expanding electronic resources to move in the direction of the future."

-Patrick Duffy

"I attended the meeting because the budget and how it is decided and funds distributed are of interest to me. I would like to see more community input and I would especially like to see more equality in fund allocation."

-Cathy Ramsey

To make your voice heard, join Empower, CBA and concerned San Diegans at the Evening Budget Hearing on May 14th, 6PM at the City Chambers! This is the final hearing of the year and last chance for public input before the budget goes through finalization processes. Hope to see you there!

by Ilo Neukam and Lara McCaffrey, EMPOWERStudents!

ACLU Bridges Cultural Gap between Escondido School Board and Parents in Preparation for New Election System

Sat, 05 May 2012 17:44:00 -0500

Empower's Emily Cox leads workshops for Latino parents in Escondido about redistricting

Changes in Escondido's demographocs prompted changes in election system and relationship between school board and citizens to better serve Escondido's rising Latino population

With the guidance of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of San Diego and Imperial Counties, parents in Escondido's new and developing Latino community have successfully collaborated with the Escondido school board to draw 'areas', or districts, for trustees with Latino majorities in both the high school and elementary school districts.

Known as the “Escondido Project”, the ACLU’s engagement efforts with Latino parents began in June 2011. It was prompted by demographic changes found in the 2010 Census, which indicated an increase in the Latino population, especially immigrant Latinos. In 2000, the Escondido was 38.7% Latino. By the 2010 Census, Escondido was nearly half Latino at 48.9%. “The main goal of the [Escondido] project is to empower the Latino community through education and through localizing local efforts and developing local leadership,” says Ale Ricardez, an ACLU field organizer. The ACLU hopes to create a sustainable grassroots effort over the span of three years. Involving Latino parents in the school board decision making was an integral focus of the project. The most efficient way to spark leadership in the community was to focus on an issue that a majority of people would find important: Education. “Who doesn’t care about education, right?” says Ricardez.

Thankfully, the ACLU was not the only group that realized the Census results were calling for changes in Escondido. Escondido’s school boards commissioned a report to draw ‘trustee areas’ and to transition from an at-large election system to a trustee-area system. The current at-large election system potentially dilutes a Latino voter’s candidate of choice and violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. Both of Escondido’s school boards realized they must divide the city into five districts with one dominated by a minority population to abide by this Act. Redistricting was monitored by ACLU attorney Lori Schellenberger to insure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

The Escondido school board also came to the realization that their Latino parent outreach strategies needed to change. The ACLU stepped in to mobilize Latino parents around the redistricting issue. “[Our] first recommendation to the board was to increase their efforts to at least publicize their meetings in a more genuine manner,” says Ricardez. “In other words, we were concerned that the board was doing the best it could, but that was not sufficient to let parents know [redistricting] was going on.” The outreach available to Escondido parents by the school boards was too technical to successfully interest the average citizen.

After outreach efforts to Latino parents involved in microcredit programs and English as a second language courses, the ACLU convened a meeting on January 7th to educate parents about the process and discuss how the process would affect representation on the school boards at Mission Middle School.To the ACLU’s surprise, 45 Latino parents were in attendance in addition to school board members and the superintendent. “I’ve been [community organizing] for a long time and this is the first time I’ve seen direct, almost tangible results,” says Ricardez. Subsequent effort was made to bring these 45 parents to future school board meetings and events. The ACLU’s engagement worked: 7 Latino parents showed up at the January 12th school board meeting to express their thoughts. Normally, few, if any, parents would attend meetings. Education workshops were organized to further engage these parents and teach them about the roles government officials play and how redistricting works. Escondido Superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Walters, even came to one educational workshop to explain her job. Empower's own Emily Serafy Cox helped the ACLU educate the parents about redistricting by leading redistricting workshops.

After six Escondido school board meetings, final trustee maps were released on March 8, 2012 with a majority Latino area in both adopted maps. The new trustee-area election system and these new districts will be implemented in the 2012 election cycle. The current trustees will remain in the positions until their terms expire.

Although the ACLU has helped these parents understand a lot about Escondido politics and leadership, the parents have taught the organizers just as much. “A lot [of] times we overestimate the role professionals can play and underestimate the knowledge people have of their own issues and own community,” Ricardez says. “We think that just because we have Masters in urban planning or policy we know what’s best. But I think--I honestly believe in doing it the other way around and having the community be a part of the process.”

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

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Want to learn more about the redistricting in Escondido? View the trustee maps here.

Leave comments on the election system transistion here.

How To: Register to Vote

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:11:00 -0500

Voting participation is very important for political democracy, but the voting process can be so complex, this may deter citizens from going to the voting booths. So in honor of this year’s presidential election and for future San Diego elections, Empower San Diego provides an easy How to: Register to Vote.

Disclosure: This article will address the most common questions concerning voting registration. If you are unable to find what you are looking for, we have provided a list of credible resources that can provide more in-depth information.

1. Registration Deadline: In California, the deadline to register to vote for an election is 15 days before each local and statewide Election Day. For the 2012 presidential primary election on June 5th, your registration must be postmarked no later than May 21, 2012.

2. Can I vote by submitting a vote-by-mail ballot? Any registered voter may vote by a "vote-by-mail" ballot by:

Applying in writing to San Diego Registrar's office at least 7 days before an election (May 29th for the June 5th Presidential primaries); or
Completing the vote-by-mail ballot application that is included in your sample ballot, which San Diego county elections official will mail to you prior to each election; or
Downloading and completing a vote-by-mail official application.

Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by the elections official no later than the close of polls at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

3. Don't remember if you're registered to vote?
To check your voter registration in San Diego County, click here

4. Who is eligible to vote in California? (You must meet all criteria) A United States citizen, a resident of California, 18 years of age or older on Election Day, Not in prison or in county jail, and not found by a court to be mentally incompetent.

For more information on the rights of people who have been incarcerated, please see the Secretary of State's Voting Guide for Currently or Formerly Incarcerated Californians

5. Ways to register to vote: To register to vote in San Diego County you must obtain and complete a voter registration form. Voter registration forms can be obtained by:

-Using the auto Voter Registration Form to quickly create your Voter Registration Form (Mail at least 15 days before the election)

-Postcard Registration. Postcards are available for pickup at the following locations:ROV Main Office, City Clerks' Offices, Department of Motor Vehicles, U.S. Postal Services, Public Libraries

-Have a postcard mailed directly to you. Call the ROV Main Office at (858) 565-5800 to request a registration postcard. Once received, fill out and return back to the ROV.

6. Where is my polling place? Your polling place location will be printed on the sample ballot you receive from San Diego Registrar Office prior to an election.

7. What hours are polling place locations open? All polling place locations are open on Election Day from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

8. Do I have to re-register every year? You will need to re-register to vote when:

You move to a new permanent residence
You change your name
You change your political party choice

However, if you have not voted in the last several elections, you may be sent a request to confirm that you have not moved.

Resources:

1. For new voters or any voters in need of assistance: Official Voter Information Guide and refer to the language hotlines for additional assistance.

2. For more frequently asked questions about the voting process, visit the Secretary of State webpage.

3. County of San Diego Voting Guide

4. Election Results

5. How to: Get Young People to Vote

by Megan Huynh, Community Action Journalism Intern, EMPOWERStudents!

Power in Numbers

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:19:00 -0500

The San Diego Organizing Project joins the Community Budget Alliance to change the budget conversation in San Diego

In the upcoming months before the fiscal year’s end, an alliance of like-minded individuals have come together to change the budget conversation in San Diego. The Community Budget Alliance (CBA) has been convening since the beginning of the year to discuss strategies to educate government officials and citizens on what to allocate more money to in order to improve the quality of life in the city. A powerful and influential part of the alliance are members from the San Diego Organizing Project (SDOP). No strangers to the budget issue, SDOP finds that joining forces with CBA aids their mission of helping San Diegans in low income communities stand up and demand more investment from taxpayer money and will help elect politicians who are mindful of where budget money should be spent.

SDOP has been participating in projects to allocate more budget money to communities in need even before formation of the CBA.. “Everything we’ve done has always been about asking the city to make choices about where they spend the public’s money,” says Hannah Gravette, Lead Organizer with SDOP. This time SDOP, along with CBA, will discuss how they can permanently protect cores services vital to livelihood of taxpayers in poor neighborhoods.

SDOP has witnessed the same pattern unfold year after year: more budget money is allocated to wealthier neighborhoods instead of those in need. Why is this? “Historically, or in the past, we’ve seen that these communities have played too little of a role and really there has been an extensive public process,” says Laura Schreiner, a community organizer with SDOP. “Community meetings and council meetings that are during the day when a lot of working folks can’t participate to review budget priorities for the city... And we’ve seen that the average working person with an interest in the budget and the outcomes actually doesn’t have too many opportunities to engage in that conversation to make sure those outcomes reflect what the community needs”. The lack of participation by the poorer neighborhoods is consistent with the lack of resources the city is willing to provide them. The greatest participation in city council meetings are from those wealthy neighborhoods. As a result, those are the communities that are receiving the most attention. As a result, their communities have received the most attention.

How do we get more San Diegans to participate in the budget decision making process? In past attempts to encourage civic engagement, SDOP’s strategy has been to motivate people to fight for values upheld in religion. For example, many Christian faiths consider family and children important. These values translate to the political sphere easily. The quality of family and youth’s lives can be improved if members from one or more of their 29 member congregations encourage the City to build better parks and support after school programs.

More strategies for getting San Diegans involved in budget decisions will be discussed as CBA meetings progress. Schreiner, who sits on the Steering Committee, says that most recent meetings have consisted of articulating shared values, identifying city council meetings to be present at and looking at the budget timeline.

SDOP finds that being apart of CBA has opened their mind to new ideas and increased the likelihood of their mission’s progress. “I think it’s useful to have more folks brought into the conversation and that’s been eye opening for me,” Shreiner says. “For us, it’s more allies. We might have different priorities or what different issues we think we should tackle, but all in all, we’re working for the same city. So it’s power in numbers.”

Tackling the entire budget conversation is a hefty task--even for an alliance of San Diego’s best activists. However, Schreiner and Gravette are positive that CBA will make strides before the end of the fiscal year in June. Gravette points out that the current political climate in San Diego will have a part in helping their cause: the mayoral election will be taking place in June and some City Council seats will be up for election as well. Voters affected by CBA will be more inclined to elect politicians that will make wise decisions regarding budget issues.

“There are people in office right now that are making decisions that will affect the budget in June and will be asking voters to vote for them,” says Gravette. “So I think that if voters can be clear about what their priorities are, and if [representatives] want to be reelected or elected to a new office, they’ll have to demonstrate those decisions in the budget. So I think there is an opportunity, and people we’ve been talking to are really ready to take advantage of that opportunity.”

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!
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Want to get involved? Contact Trinh Le of Center for Policy Initiative to learn more about CBA’s upcoming April meeting: tle@onlinecpi.org

The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Hosts Forum between Africans and African-American Communities

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:36:00 -0600

The forum between community leaders was meant as a first step toward working collectively on issues.

January 26, 2012, San Diego, CA—The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint took their mission of providing both Africans and African-Americans with news about their communities in San Diego a step further by hosting a forum to engage these communities in dialogue at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. The theme of the evening was heard from speaker after speaker: although the two communities are different, they share many common challenges. And together, they can work towards solving them.

Dr. John Warren, moderator and publisher of Voice & Viewpoint, started the forum with a video of images from modern African countries. According to Warren, showing photos of urban cities instead of only the African wildlife commonly portrayed in TV and movies reminded the audience that “...we are dealing with modern concepts and people.” Warren segwayed into introductions of people sitting on the panel.

The panel featured both African and African-American leaders in the San Diego community including Walter Lam, president and CEO of Alliance for African Assistance and Gerald Brown of the United African-American Ministerial Action Council. Warren was quick to point out that only one woman was present (Lei-Chala Wilson, president of NAACP’s San Diego branch). Efforts were made to get women to speak at the event, but cultural issues in the African community prevented female participation. Warren refused to discuss the issue, but many expressed their interest in a forum with women speakers. A audience member suggested a “forum for women by women,” should be arranged. After hearing multiple requests for a similar forum with women participants, Warren promised Voice & Viewpoint would continue efforts to find female speakers for future dialogues.

The forum itself was organized to be “a discussion, not a monologue” (as described by Warren). Although there was a panel speaking about issues they deemed important in the community, some time was left afterwards for audience participation. People were invited to speak at the mic or write comments and questions on cards for someone to read later. There were many people lined up to speak and the note cards were not read. However, Warren concluded the major concern written about was education.

Other issues discussed were crime, racial profiling, health, teaching ethnic studies, voting, policy change, domestic violence, integration, unemployment, language barriers and finding housing. Some of these issues did not affect both groups—language barriers and integration strictly affected African communities—but the panel stressed the importance of working together to solve all of these issues. As one audience member put it: “The first person that stood on his hind legs was on the highlands of Kenya. So really, we are all African.”

No solutions were offered or planned out. However, Warren announced at the beginning of the event that this forum was not meant to be a planning meeting. Instead, this meeting would be a starting off point for work between the two communities. Some audience members expressed frustration concerning a lack of solutions. Warren reminded the audience that “We can’t eat the entire elephant tonight—we just brought it in the kitchen. We can only take a tiny slice.” The tension in the room diffused as the audience exploded into peels of laughter.

Future forums like this one are in the works, including a mayoral debate in March which will also be moderated by Warren. All candidates for San Diego mayor will be invited. For more information on future events, and to also read news written from the perspective of San Diego African-Americans and Africans, visit the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint’s website.

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

San Diego “Portland Loo” Project to be Delayed Longer than Expected

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:50:00 -0600

A project suggested to City Council by Girls Think Tank over a year ago still has not seen the light of day

December 21, 2011—San Diego, CA. With the end of the fiscal year approaching fast in June, there is only so much time to change the budget conversation in San Diego. Like Empower San Diego, fellow non-profit Girls Think Tank (GTT) has taken steps to convince the City Council to use valuable tax-payer funds for projects that benefit the less fortunate. GTT has been working for nearly 2 years to get the City to install 24 hour access public restrooms as a part of their Basic Dignity Campaign for San Diego’s homeless.

The group thought they had succeeded when $700,000 was earmarked to install two so-called “Portland Loos” in downtown San Diego. Unfortunately, the project has been delayed for a year with little apparent reason. The homeless of San Diego that so desperately need access to clean water and restrooms have not seen the results due to complications in San Diego redevelopment. However, the issue was already being 'slow walked' before redevelopment was in jeopardy. Proponents question what the City was doing with the approved money in the 16 months after the project was approved since redevelopment has only been in question since August of 2011.

GTT first proposed the loos in early 2010 to City Councilmember Marti Emerald of District 7. Compared to the $200,000 spent to maintain two 24 hour public restrooms in Civic Center and the Gaslamp Quarter, the Portland Loo only costs $24,000 a year to maintain. In addition, these stand-alone restrooms are also very eco-friendly with their solar panels and low flow toilet, are graffiti proof and louvers that make it easy for police to monitor them without invading privacy. With encouragement from Councilmember Emerald, the City Council approved the plan to install one loo on 14th and L Street next to Tailgate Park and one on 11th and Market Street near a dog park.The cost of maintaining the Market Street loo would have been covered by the owners of the dog park and the other by the Downtown San Diego Partnership under a one year pilot program.

However, the loos may not get their first flush till the state Supreme Court makes a decision about the future of redevelopment. In August of 2011, a lawsuit challenging the state’s overhaul of local redevelopment put the Portland Loo project into further jeopardy. Legislation that required cities to dissolve their redevelopment agencies or make annual payments to the state in order to go through with redevelopment has been challenged. Thus, redevelopment activity will have to wait until the outcome of the suit is decided on January 15th of 2012.

On Saturday, November 19th of this year, GTT held a press and community conference in the very park that a Portland Loo was promised and demanded that the City Council address the ongoing lack of clean water and restrooms for the homeless of downtown San Diego as “a public health issue and human rights issue” and find other sources for funding the project. Noor Kazmi, president of Girls Think Tank believed holding the event on World Toilet Day brought attention to the need for clean water and restroom facilities for all. The conference concluded with a march around the transit center. Kazmi promised that the next GTT event like this one would be “more coordinated and more over the top.”

The future of Portland Loos remains uncertain as setbacks in redevelopment are a barrier to their installation. However, it is certain that the city had been delaying the project even before redevelopment became an issue. For now, we can take comfort in organizations like the Girls Think Tank looking out for homeless persons’ livelihood when the city will not.

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

Gus Chavez Resigns from Union Tribune's Latino Advisory Council

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:43:00 -0600

Open letter to the Latino community from Gus Chavez

Members of the San Diego Union Tribune Editor's Latino Advisory Council,

"It is with deep regret that I take this time to inform you that I, effective immediately, chose not to be a member of the Council due to the recent changes in ownership of the newspaper. While welcomed public announcements regarding journalistic and editorial integrity have been made by the new owner, Chairman & Publisher Douglas F. Manchester, I remain concerned and skeptical that forward progress in reporting news as well as editorial fairness influenced to date by the Latino Advisory Council may be short lived.

My withdrawal from the Council is also driven by the fact that a son of mine is gay and whose life style is in direct conflict with the personal philosophy of the new owner Douglas F. Manchester as demonstrated by his open financial support for the passage of Proposition 8. Needless to say my personal philosophy and my love for my son is in direct contrast to Manchester's position regarding personal freedoms desired and enjoyed by Americans.

I commend the work of the Latino Advisory Council on many fronts, however, much more needs to be accomplished if the Union Tribune wants to be nationally known as a first class superior newspaper that is inclusive of the journalistic needs of all communities in the region.

I give special thanks to Mr. Jeff Light, Editor, for being open to our suggestions and taking action on our recommendations for change that bring the Union Tribune closer to the Latino community.

My son will soon be home for a joyous family Christmas gathering and I just felt compelled to disassociate myself from the Union Tribune for the reasons stated in this communication.

I plan to share my withdrawal from the Council with members of the Latino community".

Sincerely,

Gus Chavez

Annual Report for 2010

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:15:00 -0600

Annual Report for 2010

Civic Engagement

Community Power

County Board of Supervisors Considers Handing over Redistricting to an Independent Commission

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:45:00 -0600

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Although a step in the right direction, redistricting may not be as democratic if handed over to a commission of retired judges.

November 15, 2011—San Diego, CA. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Communities in Unity Redistricting Coalition (CIU), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is considering a move that would forfeit their redistricting powers to an independent commission. However, the proposal brought forth by Supervisor Greg Cox would have the commission made up of panel of retired judges. Although enacting an independent commission to draw up district maps is a step in the right direction, a panel of citizens representing the various communities in San Diego would ensure a fairer redistricting process, said speakers from the public, during the County Board of Supervisor’s meeting on October 11th.

Supervisor Cox claimed retired judges were the best choice for a redistricting commission because judges would be more objective than a panel of citizens and retired judges were more likely to be impartial. Cox used the redistricting process of 1991 as a model for his proposal—this redistricting was conducted by judges after the state legislature and Governor were unable to agree on a map. By many accounts, the judges produced a non-partisan map.

The Board, save for Supervisor Bill Horn, were ready to accept Cox’s proposal. “The people have spoken twice and they don’t want elected officials doing their redistricting,” said Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, referring to the newly formed State Redistricting Commission.

Horn believed that those who objected to redistricting by politicians did not speak for the majority of San Diegans and were trying to change a system that was not broken. “It seems like we are reacting to a very vocal minority that came in here at the last moment during what I thought was a very fair process,” said Horn. “I don’t want to let a small vocal minority change a system which I think is very fair—we’ve proven to be fair.”

The CIU thought otherwise. The original map, presented to the Board by their advisory committee, failed to included what the ACLU argued was a legally required “majority-minority district” in the South Bay. In the face of this legal argument and mounting public pressure, from the CIU and even the Union-Tribune Editorial Board, the Board of Supervisors finally approved a map that better recognized the voting rights of communities of color.

At last month’s meeting, a few slight modifications were made to the proposal but the importance of having a panel of citizens was shot down. Slater-Price agreed with Cox that the redistricting process of 1991 proved that judges had merit and were best suited to the task of drawing new districts. Ron Roberts said that judges were not necessarily unbiased but were the best choice for the job.
Speakers at the meeting commended the Board for the steps taken towards an independent commission but recommended more citizen input in the redistricting process. “Although appointing a commission of citizens seems cumbersome, sloppy, potentially argumentative, political and messy—it is also democratic,” said Brian Pollard of the NAACP. “The democratic process is also cumbersome, sloppy, argumentative and political yet it is the best process in the world.”

Creation of an independent redistricting commission is a step in the right direction, even if it is a late decision. The new process will not affect the current supervisors because of term limits, they will be out of office by the time redistricting comes around again. Hopefully, those chosen for the next redistricting will be representative of the diversity of San Diego County. Retired judges are the best choice according to the Supervisors, but perhaps a citizen panel is the perfect choice.

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

Fall Benefit

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:01:00 -0500

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Empower San Diego Fall Benefit

"Prioritizing Our Communities"

Emcee:

Donna Frye, Former San Diego City Councilmember

Thursday November 10th, 2011

6:30 pm

Home of Bill Powers

4821 Lomitas Drive

in Univeristy Heights

(Intersections are Adams Ave. & Park Blvd.)

Tickets: $20

RSVP to emily@empowersandiego.org

Sponsorship Available

Join Us to:

Honor our Progressive Champion of the Year

ACLU of San Diego Imperial Counties & Lori Shellenb

Look forward to EMPOWER's next project to ensure a fair and equitable budget in San Diego!

EMPOWER San Diego is a non-profit organization which brings communities together to open the halls of power and improve policy outcomes for everyday residents. We hold a set of progressive values that emphasizes inclusive, transparent government and the creation of a sustainable, equitable and just society.

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City Council Passes Tourism Marketing District Extension with 7 to 1 Vote

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:20:00 -0500

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return to City Hall Watch Project.

Although the benefits of this possibly illegal ordinance have not been quantified, the Council believes its potential return on investment will be beneficial to the City of San Diego.

San Diego’s tourism industry is one of the city’s strengths. Tourists flock here to experience the restaurants, hotels, nightlife, beaches and history San Diego has to offer. City Council and the hoteliers see this industry as one that potentially could rake in enough revenue to help the economy. Enacted in 2008, the Tourism Marketing District Ordinance (TMD) was meant to do just that. The TMD allows hotels to charge a 2% tax most hotel guests which is used to promote tourism. City Council gave the TMD a 40 year extension on Tuesday, September 27th in hopes that it will benefit the economy. However, opposition fears this possibly illegal ordinance will fail to bring money made by the hoteliers to benefit the whole City.

Although City Attorney Jan Goldsmith claims that the TMD is exempt from Proposition 26, its legalities are questionable. Now Article 13 of the California State Constitution, this law was put into effect in November of last year to define the definition of fee hikes that require voter approval. Opposition to the TMD ordinance believes its extension will violate article 13 if not put on the ballot. Dan Rottenstriech, a representative of the Hotel Worker’s Union claimed the exemptions listed by the City Attorney do not apply. “I am positive the courts will reject it,” Rottenstriech said.

“’TMD works for me’—that’s what I see on a lot of people’s lapels today,” said Lorena Gonzalez of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council referring to stickers hoteliers wore bearing the message, “Well it does work for them, but it doesn’t work for everyone.” During her testimony, she argued that this marketing plan would only help wealthy hotel owners, not their employees or the City of San Diego.

Trinh Le, an organizer at Center for Policy Initiative agreed that underrepresented neighborhoods would not benefit from this tax and also noted that money give to this marketing plan could have been put to better use. “1 billion dollars are not going to fix our streets or keep our libraries open,” Le said. “Instead, a small group of hotel owners will control the money.”

Emily Serafy Cox of Empower San Diego pointed out that letting a small group of elite hoteliers controlling the tax money would mean a lack of tax oversight. “The hotel industry is not an elected body and should not be controlling tax money,” Serafy Cox said.

Hotel owners testifying argued that tourism benefits both hotel owners and workers.They claimed that the TMD will keep the hotels busy and therefore create long term jobs. Many of their workers are part of low income communities, therefore the hoteliers argue, the money will “seep out” into poorer districts.

Members of the tourism industry talked about the potential their businesses could have if the government could help them market. “30 million people-- you’ve heard the number—come to San Diego every year,” Scott Hermes, an employee at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel said. “We need the money in order to convince them to come here versus the many other choices they can go.”

The Council, except for David Alvarez of District 8, were not swayed by the opposition’s testimonies and sided with the hotel industry. The council members stressed the importance of tourism in San Diego. “We need this industry,” Kevin Falconer said. The tourism sector is one that has the potential to make money for San Diego they argued.

Once the Council approves a plan for spending money and the hoteliers vote on the extension, the TMD is allowed to take affect. Once this is completed, how soon will San Diego be able to benefit from the TMD? Todd Gloria of District 3 believed the TMD has had a positive impact on his district and its extension will “create vitality in neighborhoods that need it.” However, the office of the Independent Budget Analyst Report admitted in 2007 that calculating benefits of the TMD is impossible. As of today,
no decisive quantifying study on this ordinance exists.

Tuesday’s meeting was disappointing to many in low income communities. Rottenstriech best voiced the thoughts of them and other dissidents: “this represents a paradigm shift to how the City is spending tax dollars in our City instead of helping our core city services.”

We can only hope this is not true.

by Lara McCaffrey, Community Action Reporter, EMPOWERStudents!

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Mayoral Forum Press Conference Today

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:57:00 -0500

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San Diego Mayoral Forum Press Conference presented by A Better San Diego www.abettersandiego.org

Press Conference to promote A Better San Diego Mayoral Forum is being held on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011at Balboa Theatre starting at 6:30 p.m. San Diego mayoral candidates Congressman Bob Filner and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher have agreed to participate in the Mayoral Forum, while Councilman Carl DeMaio and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis have declined invitations.

Click Here to read press coverage of this issue.

Mrs. Norma Chavez-Peterson, Director/Lead Organizer for Justice Overcoming Boundaries, and other A Better San Diego coalition members will deliver a pre-forum address to call attention to Wednesday’s Mayoral Forum and call on candidates Carl DeMaio and Bonnie Dumanis to participate. Chavez-Peterson and coalition members will be available for interviews following the address.

Meet San Diego Mayoral Forum moderators:

Norma Chavez-Peterson (Justice Overcoming Bounderies)
Lorena Gonzales (San Diego Labor Council)

Preview the San Diego Mayoral Forum being held the following night at Balboa Theatre. Following with Questions and Answers session, and get the chance to discuss why other major mayoral canidates are not participating.

ADMISSION: This event is FREE and open to the general public. Call for details. To reserve your seat for the San Diego Mayoral Forum, go to www.abettersandiego.org.

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. And you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore." -- Cesar Chavez

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City Council Passes Preliminary Statement of Work to Contract out Miramar Landfill Operations

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:24:00 -0500

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Council hopes that handing over operations to a third party contractor will save San Diego taxpayers money

written by Lara McCaffrey
Despite protests from environmentalists, landfill workers and community activists, the City Council decided to take another step towards contracting out Miramar Landfill operations to a private company. The statement of work will not come back the Council for final approval. They will not vote on the issue again until the vote to approve the final bidder. In the meantime, the final contract will need to address all details of landfill operations. Handing off operations to a private contractor is risky—they are more likely to cut corners to save money and increase production due to the lack of transparency. Any errors that result of sloppy work could have hazardous results for the environment and San Diegans’ health.

The City Chambers were almost filled completely at the City Council meeting on September 26th where the statement of work was presented. Protesters of the statement of work held up neon signs and wore stickers reading “KEEP OUR LANDFILL PUBLIC”. Twenty three speakers gave testimonies warning the Councilmembers of the potential hazards of contracting out operations to a third party. The speeches given were backed by statistics and facts that were hard to ignore. There were very few supporters of the statement of work—only three spoke in favor.

When it was time for Councilmembers’ questions and comments, tensions were running high between the eight politicians. The argument focused on allowing managed competition although the “ifs” in the contract were overwhelming.

Councilmembers David Alvarez, Todd Gloria and Marti Emerald all agreed that if “it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and opposed contracting out operations of the landfill. Alvarez quizzed Mr. Hill and the staff presenting the statement of work on data and statistics. When they could not provide the answers he was looking for, he answered his own questions with information his staff had provided earlier. “I understand you say that ‘you think that’ but we like to make data driven decisions,” said Alvarez, who was disappointed with the lack of data presented.

Gloria deemed the potential costs and hazards too great to pursue the statement of work. He argued that the council should find ways to extend the life of the landfill by increasing compaction and make changes to the fee booth even if operations were contracted out. The fee booth currently only accepts cash and check—Gloria believes credit cards should also be accepted. He also argued that the booth should have cameras installed to increase security because sums of $25,000-$30,000 are handled at the booth daily.

Although Sherri Lightner expressed her doubts with the preliminary statement of work she surprisingly voted “yes”. Young also voted “yes” expressing that he believes contracting out operations will save San Diego taxpayers a lot of money.

The preliminary statement of work passed five to three with Gloria, Alvarez and Emerald voting “no”. The chambers were filled with groans of disappointment.

For those unhappy with the outcome of the meeting, there is still hope for a turn around. The Navy, who owns the landfill, could reject the statement of work. Also, companies vying for control of landfill operations could fail to put up an acceptable bid. This happened when Mayor Jerry Sanders had tried to privatize the landfill earlier this year. Allied Waste, Waste Management and Austin-based Texas Disposal could not agree to a bid with the city of San Diego. Texas Disposal reportedly told the Union Tribune that “the deal had a great deal of financial risk.”

Currently, the lack of supporting data has not convinced the opposition—even if they do support managed competition.

“We’re making policy without data,” Alvarez told the council. “We can make gain with managed competition but we’re not going to gain anything here.”

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The Allies of CIU during Redistricting

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:14:00 -0500

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The Communities in Unity (CIU) Coalition formed in January, with participation from the LGBT Redistricting Taskforce, the 4th District Town Councils Redistricting Committee, the Latino Redistricting Committee, Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Redistricting (CAPAFR), and community leaders from areas including: City Heights, the Historical Barrio District, Rolando, and East County, National City, and South Bay. Also present were key community allies from Labor, CPI, JOB, League of Conversation Voters, CSA, ACLU, and Latinos y Latinas en Acción.

A detailed list of successes of the Communities in Unity Coalition are viewable on the Redistricting San Diego page here.

Backround on Strong Mayor Form of Government

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0500

The Passage of Proposition D

In November 2004 a five-year trial of the Strong Mayor system of government was approved by voters and initiated on January 1, 2006. Previously, a City Manager form of government made decisions regarding the City of San Diego. In the City manager form, the City Council held more power with a mayor whose role resembled that of a CEO on a board of directors.

With the passage of Proposition D in the June 2010 Primary, the Strong Mayor form of government became permanent. As a result, a ninth council district--with an estimated cost of $1-1.5 million per year--has been established. Each district will allocate 18,000
people to the newly created ninth, and all district boundaries will be redrawn. With the use of collected 2010 Census data, a citizen Redistricting Commission will redraw the district boundaries of San Diego.

Gloria Penner, host of KPBS program San Diego Week, discusses the passage of Proposition D with senior metro reporter Alison St John

Opinion piece from 2010:

Strong Mayor/Strong Council Form of Governance

The current form of city government is literally on “trial.”

In June 2010, voters will decide by special ballot whether to continue the current form of government, which gives the Mayor the duties previously assigned to the City Manager and removes her or him from the City Council. Most simply, the public vote will decide these three things:

1) Shall the “Strong Mayor” Form of Government remain permanent? (And shall the City Charter be reformed to reflect this?)

2) If yes, shall the City Council add a 9^th district (to compensate for the loss of the Mayor and provide an odd number of council members, which facilitates majority voting)?

3) If yes, shall the City Charter be amended to require that the Council produce a two-thirds majority to override Mayoral decisions?

More than merely a tidy separation of legislative and executive powers, as some continue to argue, rather this decision requires the public to understand, analyze and vote on a complex nexus of issues that continue to baffle and perplex city officials as they attempt to gather the information necessary to educate themselves and then the public.

When City Council re-opened this conversation, Empower San Diego board member Quiroz spoke during public comment and pointed out that the ballot initiative’s title communicates a bias that should be avoided when producing an impartial analysis. That is, continuing to refer to the “Strong Mayor” Form of Government leaves voters to assume that a weak form of government is the alternative. The City Council’s current preparatory actions focus on how to make the necessary changes to accommodate this form of government, rather than a balanced approach, such as budgetary and legal analyses that explore what might occur should voters decide that the trial form of government fails to adequately address the problems that precipitated it.

On October 28, when this “information item” was discussed, the representative from the city attorney’s office insisted that the “Strong Mayor” wording should be retained to avoid confusing voters. The remaining legal analysis focused primarily on the preferred nature of revisions to the Charter—either a short version amending Article 15 or an “interlineated” version that would distribute changes throughout the document. Some emphasis also was placed on the presentation of the ballot and the scheduling of future ballots to approve the amendments.

During the discussion, Councilmember Gloria emphasized that the “Strong Mayor” wording fails to represent the legislative and executive branches as “co-equal” branches of government, and that previous information gathering and assessments should be consulted. Councilmember Frye concurred that a rigorous analysis would investigate how the reassigning of powers reflected an intention to balance legislative and executive powers. Councilmember Faulconer attempted to historicize the trial form of government in terms of creating more accountability in city government by assigning executive powers to an elected official, namely the Mayor, rather than to an unelected official, namely the City Manager.

The deadline for preparing the ballot is in late February, and the ballot will be subject to the vote in June 2010. A host of questions remain.

Will voters receive balanced, unbiased and timely information? What are the alternatives to “Strong Mayor”? What is the plan for providing that information?

by Annie Lorrie Anderson-Lazo, Ph.D.

Home Defenders League to Battle Foreclosure

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 15:07:00 -0500

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The Home Defenders league becomes the first San Diegan grassroots effort to step up to the challenge of battling unrestricted foreclosing

written by Lara McCaffrey, EMPOWERStudents! policy intern

Few San Diegans have tried to convince the government to put an end to the foreclosure crisis. Organized groups that are battling foreclosures, mortgage fraud and other homeowner related issues are few in numbers. Fortunately, the newly formed Home Defenders League made up of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) and like-minded San Diegans have begun their own battle against foreclosures. Their mission is to bring attention to the issue, get more people on board, convince the government to step in and let the banks know that their days of unchecked foreclosing are over. Although in the stage of catharsis, this movement has the ability to spread with the right steps.

At the planning meeting on August 31st at the City Heights Public Library, participants discussed possible strategies to move forward with the foreclosure battle. This session was led Home Defender’s League members Carlos H. Mejia and David Lagstein and attended by homeowners facing foreclosure, predatory lending and mortgage fraud victims, members of other local activist groups and concerned San Diegans that wanted to help put an end to foreclosures. Although their numbers were few, their passions were high and due to the large scale nature of the problem—their plans were lofty.

Some ideas discussed were straightforward such as picketing banks and sending letters to pressure public officials. However, some suggested strategies that were more complicated and required more planning meetings. For example, filing an injunction which requires an attorney or entering in a dialogue with the banks. These difficulties were discussed during the planning meeting and ultimately the majority in attendance agreed that these could be feasible as well, it was just a matter of taking baby steps. “Our research must be good, be patient…” Lagstein told the anxious group. “Organization takes time.”

The leaders already had opportunities for action planned. Their first action opportunity occurred the next day, Thursday, September 1st at Make Wall Street Pay to Heal America event sponsored by the California Nurses Association. On Wednesday, September 14th, ACCE plans to bring a large group of supporters to the Land Use and Housing Committee’s hearing on the Property Value Protection Ordinance. Introduced by Councilmember David Alvarez of District 8, this ordinance will require banks to upkeep houses they foreclose to in order to protect the house’s property value. In the long run, this will discourage banks from foreclosing homes because it will force them to spend more money and energy keeping these vacant homes up to to code.

Another meeting participant had plans of his own concerning battling predatory lending. Ishmael Rodriguez organized a private lending protest with other local homeowners Rafael & Nina Navarro after becoming a victim of predatory lending. He claims that predatory lenders in San Diego are targeting low income neighborhoods such as Sherman Heights and Logan Heights. The protest is set to take place September 27th at 10:30AM at 13038 Maritime Place and will be supported by Congressman Bob Filner.

These events are just the beginning for the Homeowners Defenders League. This budding organization is the first of its kind in San Diego but will hopefully help spur a greater movement throughout California and eventually to the United States. Perhaps it will help answer a concerned Home Defenders League member named Laurie’s question:

“We’re reaching a peak!” she told the group. “What’s happening to our country?”

Hopefully we’ll find out.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

City Council to Consider Property Value Protection Ordinance

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:43:00 -0500

The San Diego City Council will consider pursuing an ordinance that will place responsibility for foreclosed homes in the hands of the banks that own them

written by Lara McCaffrey, EMPOWERStudents! policy intern

At the September 14th Land Use and Housing Committee meeting, the City Council encountered a bigger crowd than usual. More than forty people turned up to listen to a report from the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) regarding the Property Value Protection Ordinance, also known as the Foreclosure Ordinance. So many people lined up to speak in support of the ordinance that Committee Chair Sherri Lightner of District 1 had to limit public comment to one minute instead of three. The Committee could not take action on the ordinance that meeting, but its supporters’ presence and words convinced the Committee to pursue possible adoption of the ordinance in the future.

The ordinance would make banks responsible for the grounds keeping of homes they choose to foreclose and require a registry of all foreclosed homes in the city of San Diego. Often foreclosed homes are uncared for eventually become run-down and when this happens, the home is a public nuisance to a neighborhood—an eye sore that can encourage crime. If the ordinance is enacted, banks will face a fine of $1,000 per day if they fail to care for the home. Although proponents admit it does not solve the foreclosure crisis, they say the fines will slow foreclosures because the banks will now have to put more money into a foreclosed home.

Council member David Alvarez of district 8 was inspired to introduce this ordinance to the committee after listening to residents in his district complain about a nearby vacant home’s increasing state of disrepair. He found out that Bank of America owned the home—it had been foreclosed. After attending an event on foreclosures hosted by ACCE and CPI, Alvarez felt the Property Value Protection Ordinance was worth pursuing.

Although Alvarez sympathized with speakers’ concerns regarding foreclosures, he warned the supporters that this would not bring an end to the foreclosure crisis. “I don’t want to give false hope of what the ordinance would do,” he told the hopeful crowd. However, he expressed he would like to give city attorney Jan Goldstein the ordinance to draft.

Council member Todd Gloria was also interested in pursuing adoption of the ordinance. “I was living in a complex where there was a foreclosure,” he said. “It became occupied by squatters who refused to move… I hate to make this about me, but politics is personal.”

Council member Kevin Faulconer of District 2 was more wary. He grilled ACCE Executive Director David Lagstein on the costs of adopting the ordinance and its similarities to the Abandoned Housing Ordinance previously introduced by Gloria. “I’m reluctant to move forward on another ordinance…” he said. “Why didn’t we include the registry in Mr. Gloria’s ordinance?”

Lagstein explained the Property Value Protection ordinance was more aggressive in battling foreclosures than the Abandoned Housing ordinance was. “There’s a piece that’s missing with dealing with foreclosed homes,” said Lagstein. This new proposed ordinance contains elements that will directly address problems associated with foreclosures better than the previously proposed ordinance would have.

To conclude discussion on this item, Lightner announced the committee could not take action on the ordinance right away but would work on getting a report out from the City Attorney.

For now, those in neighborhoods with foreclosed homes will have to sit tight—but how much longer can they wait? In between the years of 2008 and 2012 there will be 56,689 foreclosures. That number will only increase if laws monitoring foreclosing are absent.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

2010 Progressive Champions Awards

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:43:00 -0500

In May, Empower honored awardees for their contributions to the san Diego region as "progressive Champions" San Diego Councilmember Todd Gloria, served as emcee, as we honored Colin Parent, founder of the New Leaders Council, and Lorena Gonzalez, CEO and Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AAFL-CIO.

In August, Empower held yet another awards ceremony to honor 'Progressive champions" in the South Bay. Hosted by Chula Vista Councilwoman, Pamela Bensoussan, the event honored Laura Hunter, Associate Director for Programs at the Environmental Health Coalition and the members of Friends of Friendship Park.

Empower would like to thank the recipients of the "2010 Progressive Champions" Awards for their efforts on behalf of our community.

Empower Supports Voter Empowerment!

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:24:00 -0500

Empower San Diego supported two voter empowerment bills this year- SB 397, Same Day Voter Registration carried by Senator Ron Caleron, and SB 641, Online Voter Registration carried by Senator Leland Yee. Same Day Registration would have allowed eligible citizens to register and vote all the way through election day. Currently, citizens must register to vote 15 days before an election to exercise their right on election day.

Online Voter Registration would allow our state and counties to implement a system for people to register to vote via the internet. Both Bills have the potential to increase turnout in the state, especially with younger voters, and also decrease costs and administrative headaches to the state and counties.

Unfortunately, Same Day Registration failed to pass this year. However, Online Voter Registration still lives on and now awaits Governor Brown's signature to be passed into law. Please read and sign the petition here requesting his signature.