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Post by jdredd on Feb 20, 2016 17:22:56 GMT -5
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/feb/20/chargers-stadium-development-money-goldsmith/"San Diego — A citizen’s initiative led by the Chargers could help solve stadium financing problems by reviving opportunities for collateral development of the Mission Valley stadium site, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said this week. If team officials decide to pursue a stadium in Mission Valley instead of downtown, Goldsmith said an initiative similar to those pursued last year for proposed stadiums in Carson and Inglewood could simplify the environmental challenges posed by adjacent development." So Republican hit man Jan Goldsmith, probably still glowing from his successful character assassination of Bob Filner, is jumping on the stadium bandwagon, talking up a "Citizen's Initiative" which could bypass those pesky environmental concerns. Who cares about nature when there is money to be made? Or so Republicans seem to think. Sadly for John Moores and his toadys, a "Citizen's Initiative" has to be initiated by the citizens, and not initiated in the stinking bowels of city hall. Directly.
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Post by jdredd on Feb 24, 2016 15:20:52 GMT -5
So the Spanoses are going for the John Moores dingbat "Convention Center expansion under a stadium, blocks away from the existing Convention Center" plan. Big shock. Big money sticks together (unlike working people). And John wants to build his hotel on that bayfront land the Covention Center expansion was going use, and in this town the big Republican donors get what they want. What the heck, does San Diego need Comic-con? Does Comic-con need San Diego? It may have outgrown this rinky-dink burg.
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Post by jdredd on Feb 25, 2016 14:01:51 GMT -5
Battle Lines are Being Drawn (nobody is right if everyone is wrong?) in the Stadium soap opera. On one side you have Republican donors John Moores and the Spanoses (not a rock group), the NFL, Moores toadys Corey Briggs, Donna Frye (token Democrat), and Peter Maas plus the local rag (read Dan McSwain's column in this morning's UT)supporting the stadium downtown with the non-contiguous covention center expansion in the basement (dungeon?) for those low-rent Comic-con types, and on the other side you have Comic-con (which I know for a fact was trying to avoid a Comic-con vs Chargers battle) and right-wing radio dude Carl DeMaio. Seems pretty one-sided. But the Republican powers-that-be in SD have to move fast and downplay the amount taxpayers will have to kick in to get tightwad San Diego taxpayers to buy it all. Kinda of sounds like Establishment Republicans vs Republican principles of no new taxes, doesn't it? But as we all know, rich Republicans don't mind taxpayer subsidies if THEY are the beneficiaries and not the stinky riff-raff (like Comic-con attendees). Comic-con does not fit into their vision of a new ultra-affluent bayside. Just ask existing retailers at Seaport Village about that.
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Post by jdredd on Feb 26, 2016 13:55:16 GMT -5
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/feb/25/stadium-odds-long-not-impossible/"It's a magic trick, along the lines of Petco Park’s campaign in 1998, but the appeal is that the public can be told with a straight face that the Chargers and the NFL are essentially paying for their own downtown apartment. They’re not welfare recipients. Are there sinkholes out there? Sure, enough to swallow a stadium or two. There will be swarms of challenges, legal and aesthetic. For one, Comic-Con looks at the annex with a gimlet eye. (Guess those action heroes in tights can’t walk a few blocks.)" Another one of UT's hacks tows the party line and chimes in in favor of the Moores real estate scam (aka a new stadium) downtown. And this clown throws in an insult at Comic-con attendees with a snobby comment about "heroes in tights". Nice.
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Post by jdredd on Mar 4, 2016 15:51:47 GMT -5
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/03/saldana-stadium-mayor-briggs-initiative-downtown/"San Diego — Lori Saldaña, an independent challenging Mayor Kevin Faulconer in the June 7 primary, endorsed on Thursday a proposed ballot initiative that could help build a downtown Chargers stadium combined with a convention center expansion. Saldana endorsed the Citizens Plan, which is spearheaded by attorney Cory Briggs and backed by community activists and environmentalists. The proposal would also increase hotel taxes to pay for the convention center expansion and devote much of the Qualcomm Stadium site in Mission Valley to parks and academic use." So mayor wanna-be Lori Saldana, an "independent" (former Democrat?), is kissing John Moores and the Republican Establishment's ass by endorsing the "convadium", that half-a-convention-center-in-the-basement-of-a-stadium-six-blocks-from-the-other-half boondoggle. Whatever. I suppose it is only a matter of time before Faulconer bends over. This rinky-dink town is getting just what it deserves: Keeping a third-rate NFL team, and losing a world-class Comic convention to LA.
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Post by jdredd on Mar 10, 2016 16:48:22 GMT -5
Well, the fix is definitely in on the $2B dollar "convadium" downtown. President of the sleazy Chamber of Commerce and former mayor Jerry Sanders has jumped on the NFL cartel and John Moores bandwagon. How much longer can Faulconer hold out? A couple more days? Well, in five years San Diego could have a giant white elephant stadium with a third-rate team and no Comic-con. And John Moores will have laughed all the way to the bank years before.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 4, 2016 15:27:37 GMT -5
Does anyone else think it is more than slightly suspicious that a huge tent city of the homeless has sprouted up in the last few months on the site of Spano's proposed stadium? Especially when San Diegans will vote on the stadium monstrosity in two months? What do YOU think, Mayor Faulconer?
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Post by jdredd on Dec 4, 2016 16:38:50 GMT -5
I've been so distracted by this disgraceful Presidential election that I have been ignoring the usual monkey business here at Enron by the sea. SO Spanos's Stadium Scam, also known as Prop C, lost by a margin of almost two to one. Might not have been helped by our third-rate franchise's losing streak. The Spanos crime family is expected to announce their next move soon. Hopefully it's to LA. How about El Centro? Or maybe Havana, now that the mob is on the verge of moving in again? Oh, unless Trump nixes it to pander to Miami.
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Post by Tired in CV on Dec 7, 2016 5:49:39 GMT -5
Well you talk about the stadium and comic-con in the same breath! WOW The Stadium- San Diego wants to claim America's Finest City yet, they can't play with the big boys. The stadium is old and is light years behind in technology. It needs to be replaced if a team remains here. Yes, the team is in the dumps. Another round like when Fouts played, world class quarterback, among the best and no Superbowls for him! Rivers is among the best quarterbacks with records to prove it but no Superbowl. San Diego really doesn't want a team here, they just enjoy the hotel taxes and other business generated. Afterall, the majority of the fans in the stands DO NOT come from San Diego anyway. I was hoping they would rebuild in another city in the County, but they would face the same problems. They couldn't afford a football ONLY stadium and can't seem to manage a plan to finance what is needed, a football stadium with convention facilities. Rock concerts and motorcycle events were to few and far between. Of course, that brings up the Convention Center! The Convention Center- again the city dreams big but doesn't support. Again, the majority of the attendees do not reside in San Diego! Most are coming from the north, just like football! It has been an outstanding success here, but that is where they failed themselves. More expansion is needed to keep up with the exhibits and attendees. No more funding and no more area to build out. The design eliminates building up. Ironically, building a stadium/convention center near the Convention Center may have helped. But reality is, San Diego wants the benefits but lack the ability to provide needed support! They delayed the Stadium to the point the Convention Center didn't see any progress for a possible expansion. Comic-con knows where the people come from and decided that if they go to them, they will spend more money because they don't have to travel as far or pay for a place to stay! Furthermore, If they do stay at a hotel, it will be cheaper than here. And that is BEFORE mention of a hotel tax to pay for the Stadium. San Diego is not a business friendly city and that shows when rich businessmen pass up a deal for a profitable stadium/convention center combined project. I am positive that their dealings with the Stadium project directly affected the decision to move Comic-con out of San Diego! Chargers left LA to come to San Diego, a relatively new team. May return to LA. Raiders left Oakland for LA, then returned to Oakland. Now Oakland's promises are not being fulfilled and the Raiders are ready to move again. Rams left LA for St. Louis, looking to coming back. They offered a $100 deposit on season tickets and over 10,000 were paid within an hour! All of these moves are based upon new stadiums! San Diego also chased off the Clippers and other sports teams. The majority of the people of San Diego have little interest in sports and it seems they regard Comic-con in a similar light. Maybe the locals don't like crowds? Whatever it is, the poisonous atmosphere from the City of San Diego is foremost the problem. And they will reap the rewards of running off tourists and other revenue generating fans! OH, another factor (one of many) that may have contributed in Comic-con moving was likely the city's increase in the minimum wage for fast food. Definitely a hit in their pocketbooks!
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Post by jdredd on Dec 7, 2016 11:02:14 GMT -5
Well you talk about the stadium and comic-con in the same breath! WOW The Stadium- San Diego wants to claim America's Finest City yet, they can't play with the big boys. The stadium is old and is light years behind in technology. It needs to be replaced if a team remains here. Yes, the team is in the dumps. Another round like when Fouts played, world class quarterback, among the best and no Superbowls for him! Rivers is among the best quarterbacks with records to prove it but no Superbowl. San Diego really doesn't want a team here, they just enjoy the hotel taxes and other business generated. Afterall, the majority of the fans in the stands DO NOT come from San Diego anyway. I was hoping they would rebuild in another city in the County, but they would face the same problems. They couldn't afford a football ONLY stadium and can't seem to manage a plan to finance what is needed, a football stadium with convention facilities. Rock concerts and motorcycle events were to few and far between. Of course, that brings up the Convention Center! The Convention Center- again the city dreams big but doesn't support. Again, the majority of the attendees do not reside in San Diego! Most are coming from the north, just like football! It has been an outstanding success here, but that is where they failed themselves. More expansion is needed to keep up with the exhibits and attendees. No more funding and no more area to build out. The design eliminates building up. Ironically, building a stadium/convention center near the Convention Center may have helped. But reality is, San Diego wants the benefits but lack the ability to provide needed support! They delayed the Stadium to the point the Convention Center didn't see any progress for a possible expansion. Comic-con knows where the people come from and decided that if they go to them, they will spend more money because they don't have to travel as far or pay for a place to stay! Furthermore, If they do stay at a hotel, it will be cheaper than here. And that is BEFORE mention of a hotel tax to pay for the Stadium. San Diego is not a business friendly city and that shows when rich businessmen pass up a deal for a profitable stadium/convention center combined project. I am positive that their dealings with the Stadium project directly affected the decision to move Comic-con out of San Diego! Chargers left LA to come to San Diego, a relatively new team. May return to LA. Raiders left Oakland for LA, then returned to Oakland. Now Oakland's promises are not being fulfilled and the Raiders are ready to move again. Rams left LA for St. Louis, looking to coming back. They offered a $100 deposit on season tickets and over 10,000 were paid within an hour! All of these moves are based upon new stadiums! San Diego also chased off the Clippers and other sports teams. The majority of the people of San Diego have little interest in sports and it seems they regard Comic-con in a similar light. Maybe the locals don't like crowds? Whatever it is, the poisonous atmosphere from the City of San Diego is foremost the problem. And they will reap the rewards of running off tourists and other revenue generating fans! OH, another factor (one of many) that may have contributed in Comic-con moving was likely the city's increase in the minimum wage for fast food. Definitely a hit in their pocketbooks! Actually, Comic-con has NOT decided to move. And I believe their first choice if they did is Anaheim. They had an event in LA and LA was not that hospitable. I think the snob factor was involved (Angelenos looking down on nerds). And Anaheim has Disneyland. But Comic-con is here for now. It would be funny if San Diego's Republican Mayor lost both the Chargers and Comic-con though.
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Post by jdredd on Jan 14, 2017 4:20:31 GMT -5
So the Chargers have pulled the plug and bolted to LA. The silver lining is that one nk of the Republican Establishment that has run this burg for decades have left town. Now if we could only get Trump supporter Papa Manchester to leave too.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 10, 2017 23:20:03 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/09/upshot/where-should-amazon-new-headquarters-be.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=3&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2017%2F09%2F09%2Fupshot%2Fwhere-should-amazon-new-headquarters-be.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0"Amazon has set off a scrum among cities that are hoping to land the company’s second headquarters — with the winner getting the prize of a $5 billion investment and 50,000 new jobs over the next two decades. We’re offering to help, using Amazon’s own criteria to identify a winning city." So San Diego was on the list of possible sites for Amazon's new headquarters, if only because we have more than a million inhabitants. And then the NYT eliminated us because our job growth was not high enough. Well, I can think of many more reasons Amazon should stay away, such as we got no housing for ya, and our traffic is already hideous enough. And we've already exceeded our quota of hipsters. But hey, if they drop the million person thing, and the job growth thing, I think El Centro would be an AWESOME location, with easy access to Mexico!
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Post by jdredd on Apr 20, 2018 12:31:51 GMT -5
Here in San Diego we have an awesome trolley system which will soon stretch from the border all the way to UCSD. And east into redneck territory where I live. But of course, since it runs from some less affluent areas of town to more affluent communities, it is called "The Crime Train" by some of the more deplorable residents of our town. Fortunately, I think those people are just getting louder because they are getting rarer.
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Post by jdredd on May 3, 2018 2:17:27 GMT -5
Ha-ha! After driving downtown today and seeing just how many breweries have popped up on every corner, I decided to change the name of this thread (again).
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Post by jdredd on Mar 25, 2019 15:28:26 GMT -5
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/faulconer-proposes-new-law-to-ban-living-in-vehicles-story.html Faced with a flood of homeless people living in cars near the beach, San Diego officials said Monday they will pass a new version of the city’s vehicle habitation law, which banned living in vehicles. The proposed law would replace a previous version that a federal judge declared unenforceable. The move comes in response to hundreds of complaints about public urination and other illegal activity on city streets since the City Council repealed the 35-year-old law in February. Mayor Kevin Faulconer said the city will also double its number of “safe” parking lots, from two to four, so that unsheltered people forced to live in vehicles have someplace to go at night. “If you are living out of your vehicle because you have nowhere else to go, we want to help you,” Faulconer said. “At the same time, residents and businesses have a right to clean and safe neighborhoods. We will not allow conduct that takes advantage of San Diego’s generosity and destroys the quality of life in our communities.” Sorry, folks, beach living is only for the rich.
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