Inside Government

Strategic error in Filner recall bid? Maybe

The Bob Filner saga continues to unfold in San Diego. The biggest news is that a gay-baiting gay activist is apparently backing off what once looked like a clear attempt to sandbag a nascent recall of the grabby mayor. This

Assessing Gov. Brown before next year’s election

Katy Grimes August 2, 2013

As he lays the groundwork for a likely re-election bid next year, Gov. Jerry Brown is upbeat. “California is back,” he and his supporters insist. Maybe it is in some areas. But overall, tremendous problems remain unresolved. According to a

Filner: Was it wrong to grope aides?

Chris Reed August 1, 2013

SAN DIEGO — The saga of serial groper Bob Filner took a hilarious turn Wednesday when it was revealed that the mayor’s lawyer says San Diego taxpayers should foot the bill for any damages resulting from his sexual harassment because

Filner accuser heads San Diego school system

Chris Reed July 31, 2013

The Associated Press and the state media have done a good job on San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s pathetic sexual-harassment scandal, including the latest coverage of public accuser No. 8, who came forward Tuesday afternoon. This is in contrast with

Obamacare enforcers reject Obamacare

Katy Grimes July 29, 2013

Riddle me this, Batman: the Obamacare health plan is so bad, even its IRS enforcers don’t want to give up their existing federal health plans for the new Obamacare plan. The National Treasury Employees Union wants its members to be

Scam to help Filner avoid/delay recall?

Chris Reed July 28, 2013

What was this past week’s biggest development on the Bob Filner front? What single event happened that will have the most long-term consequences in the hilarious/sad scandal of the San Diego mayor whose name will now forever be a synonym

Would a new CA tobacco tax actually DECREASE state revenues?

Katy Grimes July 26, 2013

I received two calls from the Board of Equalization late this week claiming information in a story I wrote about the latest tobacco tax bill was wrong. The calls were from Venus Stromberg, spokeswoman, and Brian Miller, tax counsel. SB 768,

Government held to far lower standard than private sector

Chris Reed July 26, 2013

The gap between the standards seen in the private sector and the public sector have never seemed bigger. In the corporate world, post-Enron, we see steady pressure on companies to put out honest numbers that play fair with shareholders and

Arnold’s state building-sale scheme returns

Katy Grimes July 25, 2013

A complex 2010 Schwarzenegger administration plan to sell 11 state-owned properties and then lease them back from the new owners was compared at the time to a short-term money raising gimmick. The state of California had the 11 properties up for

Water district family melodrama

Katy Grimes July 24, 2013

Like the rain from a hurricane, controversy involving two of California’s most powerful political families is swirling around the Central Basin Water District. They are the Cedillos and the Calderons. The district is made up of 44 cities and water utilities