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26 AUGUST 2010

ESCONDIDO: Mayoral candidates clash on ballpark, pension reform, jobs
Forum draws nearly 100 people
By DAVID GARRICK - dgarrick@nctimes.com North County Times - Californian | Posted: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 9:13 pm
A Wednesday morning forum for Escondido mayoral candidates featured clashes over a minor league ballpark proposed for the city, reforming public employee pensions, attracting better jobs to the city, how mayors should govern, and trimming the city budget.
Nearly 100 people attended the two-hour election forum, which was sponsored by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce and held at the Escondido Country Club.
Councilman Dick Daniels said he ardently supports the ballpark because it would attract enormous economic development to Escondido and help transform an aging industrial area into a district of shops and restaurants.
But the other three candidates ---- Councilman Sam Abed, former Councilman Tom D'Agosta and casino dealer Joe Bologna ---- said they had problems with city plans to spend $50 million in redevelopment money on the ballpark, with no guaranteed return on investment.
Bologna said he's spoken to several experts on baseball finances who don't think a Padres Triple-A team would succeed in Escondido.
D'Agosta said the city is moving too quickly on the ballpark and should consider locating it near downtown instead of an industrial area a few blocks to the north. He also said city officials need to demand specific revenue projections.
"They have to show us how we're going to make money," D'Agosta said.
Abed said the deal must include a commitment to collateral development from the Padres owner and a cap on ballpark construction costs, explaining that a similar ballpark in Lake Elsinore cost more than three times the initial proposals.
On pension reform, Abed criticized his opponents for being less aggressive than him about reducing benefits for new employees.
He said his eagerness to make changes had prompted the city's police union to endorse Daniels and the city's firefighters union to endorse D'Agosta.
"I am not endorsed by the unions because I am leading the charge on pension reform," Abed said.
But leaders of the two unions have said pension reform did not play a significant role in their endorsement decisions.
Abed said D'Agosta was on the council when more generous benefits were approved early last decade, and he said Daniels wants to move too slowly.
D'Agosta and Daniels said they support lower benefits for new employees. But Daniels said such changes won't help the city financially for three to five years. D'Agosta said the firefighters union has promised him it'll cooperate on changes.
Bologna said city residents should be allowed to vote on any pension changes.
On attracting better jobs, Abed said the key would be rezoning and clearing land for technology business parks and other high-end employers. Daniels said he would act as an ambassador and make businesses aware of opportunities in Escondido.
D'Agosta said "an even playing field" would be crucial, complaining that the city has been too generous with incentives for some developers while others face hassles and hurdles. Bologna suggested a combination of incentives and looser restrictions.
Daniels and Abed said the mayor's role was about building consensus and acting as an ambassador.
Abed said his strong working relationship with Councilwoman Olga Diaz, who many view as the council's only outsider, shows he'd be a better consensus builder. But Daniels said his history of uniting disparate groups shows he'd be a better ambassador.
"I'll pull everyone together," Daniels said.
D'Agosta said the new mayor must do a better job keeping the entire council informed. He complained that Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who will leave the mayor's post after 12 years this December, keeps other council members "out of the loop." Pfeiler has decided to run for a City Council seat this fall.
On trimming the city budget, Abed suggested cutting recreation programs and middle management positions, while D'Agosta suggested reducing the number of top managers and their pay. Daniels said he was optimistic no more cuts would be necessary, but he said any new cuts would have to focus on recreation and libraries in order to preserve police and fire jobs.
Election Day is Nov. 2.
Call staff writer David Garrick at 760-740-5468.
Posted in Escondido on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 9:13 pm Updated: 9:20 pm.
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25 AUGUST 2010
ESCONDIDO: City manager makes nearly $270,000 a year
Cost to city is $326,585 with pension, medical benefits
By DAVID GARRICK - dgarrick@nctimes.com North County Times - Californian | Posted: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:28 pm
Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips' annual salary of $225,800 increases to $269,475 when his auto allowance, computer stipend, retirement benefits and city-funded life insurance policy are included, according to his contract and some recently released city documents.
Phillips is also eligible for an additional $21,700 if he takes advantage of contract provisions allowing him to convert half of his nearly 10 weeks of annual vacation into cash. In addition, he is guaranteed a base salary no lower than the third-highest-paid city manager in the county.
The city's annual cost of employing Phillips rises to $326,585 when medical insurance and city contributions to his pension are included. And that number rises to $348,285 if Phillips cashes in the maximum amount of vacation.
Phillips and members of the City Council said Tuesday that such compensation was warranted by the complexities and pressures of his job, and the relatively similar compensation received by other city managers across the region and the state.
"I don't think anything in his contract is out of line," said Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler.
But two council members said some parts of Phillips' compensation package seemed questionable, particularly the number of vacation days and the city's obligation to cover travel and expenses for his wife to accompany him to three conferences per year.
Richard Rider, chairman of the lobbying group San Diego Tax Fighters, said Phillips and other city managers are overpaid compared to the private sector and some other public sector jobs with significant pressure and responsibilities.
And community activist Lisa Prazeau said the city's recent financial crisis is evidence that such compensation is unwarranted.
Phillips said his compensation is more than justified because he oversees the day-to-day operations of a city with 144,000 residents, 1,100 employees and total budgets approaching $200 million.
In addition, he said that as city manager he has to cope with an often-divided City Council providing contradictory direction on some things.
"The job includes an extremely wide range of responsibilities, and then you have the added layer of politics that goes with it," said Phillips. "I understand why people see the salaries of city managers and think they're unfair, but I don't think many of them understand the importance of the job."
Councilman Sam Abed agreed with Phillips, contending that a city manager is crucial to a city's financial health because he oversees bond sales, redevelopment projects, grants and budgeting.
"If you get an unqualified city manager, it will cost you millions of dollars," said Abed. "I think recent criticism of city managers is overstated."
Abed was referring to public angst about city employee salaries since it was revealed last month that the city manager in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell, which has about 40,000 residents, had an annual salary of nearly $800,000 and a total compensation package of more than $1.5 million per year.
Abed said he thought Phillips' number of vacation days was "high" and that pensions for all city employees were too generous, but that he had no major problems with his city manager's compensation.
Phillips, who was promoted to city manager in 2003, said his number of vacation days might seem high, but that his 25 years as an Escondido city employee would make him eligible for five weeks even if he was in a lower position. Most of the other five weeks of vacation is called "management leave," which Phillips called pretty standard.
Councilwoman Olga Diaz said her biggest concern about the contract was the guarantee that Phillips would be no lower than the third-highest-paid city manager in the county. She said such clauses put upward pressure on city manager salaries if multiple cities adopt them.
Phillips said that provision was based on Escondido being one of the few cities in the region that has its own police department, sewer and water system.
Diaz said she was also concerned about the travel expenses for Phillips' wife, but Phillips said he hasn't taken advantage of that benefit for the last "four or five years."
In addition to his annual salary, Phillips receives a $9,000 car allowance and a $1,000 computer stipend. The city also contributes $15,806 per year to his 401(k) retirement plan, and spends another $15,806 covering most of his contribution to his state pension.
The city's cost increases beyond that, because it includes $11,047 per year for his medical insurance, $520 per year for dental insurance and $45,543 for his state pension.
Call staff writer David Garrick at 760-740-5468.
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25 AUGUST 2010
Are City Managers Overpaid?
Posted on August 25, 2010 by Allen Hemphill
There is an interesting article in the North County Times, delineating the pro and con of the Escondido City Manager’s pay and benefits — which in the aggregate costs the taxpayers nearly $350,000.
Is the City Manager of Escondido overpaid?
Gosh, I don’t know. Let’s look at some numbers for managers.
Let’s compare Phillips to Four Star General Stanley Petraeus – another manager in the daily news.
Phillips gets a base salary of $225,800. Petraeus gets $213,429.
Phillips gets 10 weeks of vacation a year. Petraeus gets four weeks.
Phillips says his compensation is fair because he manages 1,100 employees. Petraeus manages more than 150,000 NATO troops.
Phillips says his management is of a population of 144,000. The population of Afghanistan is 29,021,099.
But, Phillips says – he has to deal with a fractious City Council, while Petraeus must only deal with a divided US population, Congress, and six or eight NATO nations – not to mention the Afghan “government” and tribal leaders.
I could go on, because Phillips gets a lot more money for “cats and dogs” that brings his real salary to “nearly $270,000,” but, hey, just on the surface I can easily see why Phillips is paid so well.
In this Looking Glass City we call Escondido, I am surprised we don’t demand that General Petraeus take a pay cut so there is a greater differential to our City Manager!
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8 AUGUST 2010
Doctors against Obamacare say no to a government takeover
August 8, 9:50 AM - San Diego County Political Buzz Examiner - Kimberly Dvorak
Doctors Rally against Obamacare in San Diego.
A sea of white coats filled Spanish Landing in downtown San Diego to present a united front against government-controlled health care. A group of physicians formed the National Doctors Tea Party and have begun their cross country trek; however these doctors are on a mission to educate Americans about the perils of Obamacare.

A bevy of speakers spoke about the dangers patients will face if the government is successful in monopolizing treatment options. Sharon Angle, a Tea Party candidate running against Senate leader Harry Reid, assured the fresh faces that attending a tea party may be uncomfortable at first, but the American cause is “well worth the extra work.”

Typical complaints speakers addressed was the need for choices, choices in doctors, choices in insurance and choices in politicians. Approximately 1,000 attendees cheered when Angle boasted about ousting incumbents, expanding liberty and limiting government’s reach into every aspect of daily life.

Three events compelled folks to spend a few hours of their weekend listening to doctors, radio talk show hosts and political hopefuls- President Obama suing Arizona for enforcing immigration laws; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’s comment that Missouri’s 71 percent approval of proposition ‘C’ (protecting residents from being forced to buy Obamacare) means “nothing” to the White House; and one California judge telling seven million residents their votes meant nothing and overturned proposition 8 (the right for gays to marry).

Conversation amongst rally attendees had a common theme- American was being run like a dictatorship and the legislating from the bench had to stop. The Tea Party movement has been gaining popularity during the past 18 months and plenty of first-timers came out trying to determine what they can do to change the track America is heading down.

Even the younger generation knows the economic path the country is currently on is unsustainable.

“This is my first tea party and I came out because of what President Obama did to Arizona. It was the last straw for me,” says Ted a San Diego native. “My dad fought in Vietnam and was a prisoner of war, I know what freedom is and large government and deficit spending is not freedom.”

Author of “The truth about Obamacare,” Sally Pipes also spoke to San Diegans about the devastation Obamacare will bring to the world’s leader in health care. It was only three years ago that Pipes earned her American citizenship, she emigrated from Canada, and she has been a leading voice in warning Americans about the dangers of national health care.

She explained that since Canada implemented National health care in 1984, Canadians lost immediate access to doctors, have been subject to less than state-of-the-art technology and subjected to health care rationing.

“The average waiting list to see a primary care doctor is 16 weeks,” Pipes said. “We have more than 250 doctors leave Canada each year, not because they want to make more money, but because they want to be doctors without all the restrictions.”

Many Americans do not realize the Canadian system includes rationing care and that their spending is strictly enforced by the government’s fixed budget each year regardless of circumstances. Pipes also informed the attendees that Canada has made it illegal to purchase private health care.

She also said there are some easy fixes to bring American health care costs down – “stop forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine. This cost the U.S. $210 billion last year alone.”

The country’s continued unhappiness with the state of the economy has encouraged many to get involved in politics for the first time. Many of these folks have put in all on the line to run against well-established candidates in an attempt to represent the silent majority in the upcoming midterm election.

Chelene Nightingale, California gubernatorial candidate concurred with other Tea Party speakers, “Nothing from the government is free.” She went on to say, “One of my favorite Ronald Reagan quotes is ‘freedom is one generation away from extinction.”

The message from relative unknown politicians clearly resonated with San Diegans.

Crowd favorite, Congressional hopeful and Iraq War veteran, Nick Popaditch had plenty to say about the 2,500-page health care law. “When I was injured in 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, it was the doctors who took off their protective gear to save my life during a firefight.”

Popaditch commended America’s ability to provide him with the best medical treatment in the world. “Doctors were able to take a blind man (me) to a sighted man. It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.

Like many would-be politicians, Popaditch promised the rally attendees he would repeal Obamacare if he was lucky enough to represent California’s 51st district. “I’ll defund Obamacare and the czars.” That statement earned the Iraq War hero a standing ovation.

Looking forward, doctors across America have drawn up a relatively simple plan to aid the skyrocketing costs of health care.

Start with issuing tax credit vouchers to insure 20 million without health insurance; Let insurance companies compete for customers; Expand high-risk pools (this includes pre-existing condition rules); Make insurance portable; Let patients shop around and encourage health savings accounts; Stop the lawsuit lottery by monitoring frivolous lawsuits; Reject government control; and Don’t allow bureaucrat health boards of unelected persons from making clinical decisions best left to doctors, is the plan from Docs 4 Patient Care.

The San Diego event organizer Doctor Adam Dorin of Physicians Against Obamacare said he began this journey because too many doctors were not being heard. In essence he said, “This movement is to awaken the American physician’s silent majority against Obamacare.”

The National Doctors Tea Party will continue to travel across the country educating doctors and patients with the hope that the White House will stop dictating and start listening to those who have a stake in providing the best health care to all Americans.

National Doctors Tea Party Rally Video: