City Sued Over Bahia Lease After All
After all that, the unusual lease extension granted to the Bahia Resort Hotel got the city sued anyway. The City Council reconsidered — but ultimately approved — the agreement, on the advice of the...
View ArticleClosing the Door on Open Gov
Mayor Bob Filner’s formal push for government transparency appears all but dead with the departure of the two officials leading the effort. As a candidate, Filner pledged to create an atmosphere of...
View ArticleOne of These Mayoral Agitators Is Not Like the Others
Three high-profile Democrats who’ve long been among Mayor Bob Filner’s allies urged him to resign Thursday. Two of those requests, made by former Councilwoman Donna Frye and attorney Marco Gonzalez,...
View Article3 Ways to Bolster the California Public Records Act
A couple months ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Legislature nearly gutted the California Public Records Act under the guise of saving taxpayer money. Today, the act remains intact, but it’s...
View ArticleMorning Report: How to Build Without (Too Much) Drama
You might assume every new development in the city turns into a battle or, even worse, a scandal. But you’d be wrong. Lots of major neighborhood projects make just about everyone happy, or at least...
View ArticleMorning Report: Nathan Fletcher, Past and Present
As former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher’s star once again rises, Liam Dillon looked back over Fletcher’s recent history, with an eye toward that one basic question that remains unanswered about Fletcher:...
View ArticleWhat the CPRA Needs Most: Transparency and Teeth
Readers have a lot of their own ideas about how to bolster the California Public Records Act. Their overarching concern is with how officials respond to requests made under the CPRA. The law is...
View ArticleThe Best Open-Government Cities (Hint: They’re Not San Diego)
Before he announced his candidacy for mayor, Councilman Kevin Faulconer unexpectedly joined in a Twitter conversation about how to make San Diego more open, transparent and responsive to citizens. VOSD...
View ArticleMorning Report: Southeastern San Diego’s Race Against the Clock
At any given moment, Fire Engine 12, which serves Encanto and Skyline, might be zooming past urban apartments one minute and rural, rolling hills the next. But geography’s only one of the reasons the...
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VOSD Overheard: Sept. 7-9
Look at you, engaging with your community even on your leisure time! We’re happy to see VOSD readers are just as vocal over the weekend as y’all are during office hours. Here are a few of the core...
View ArticleCity Leaders Open the Door to Open Data
Maybe you want to know how many noise violations that obnoxious bar around the block has gotten, but you don’t want to file a public records request. Maybe you want to see if big companies are giving...
View ArticleFor Frye, a Cover Story Was a Necessary Evil
In last week’s episode of Voice of San Diego Radio, I named Donna Frye the “Goat of the Week” because of a detail in CityBeat editor David Rolland’s account of how the former councilwoman helped...
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Mayoral Candidates Promise to Make Emails, Texts Public
When you see San Diego’s next mayor twiddling his thumbs on his cell phone, know that you’ll likely be able to see what he’s talking about. All five of the city’s top mayoral candidates have pledged to...
View ArticleThe Other California Public Records Law
Taxpayer money makes government records possible, so taxpayers have the right to see them. This concept is at the core of our public-records laws, but the interpretation often varies depending on who...
View ArticleClose Encounters With Open Data
Inside and outside of San Diego’s city government, advocates are asking departments to start releasing their information in a way that is clear, accessible and easy to analyze. That means departments...
View ArticleWhat Faulconer and Alvarez Will Do for IT
Technology has an impact on every facet of the city — from the police department to public parks to infrastructure. That’s why a number of local technologists and I have been working to help move our...
View ArticleEmail Purge Poses Faulconer’s First Policy Challenge
Days into his tenure, new Mayor Kevin Faulconer already has his first tough nut to crack: the floated purge of all city staff emails older than a year. Late last week, Council President Todd Gloria’s...
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Sneak Attacks Force the Issue on Government Transparency
Sunshine Week, meant to draw attention to the need for open government, couldn’t have come at a better time. In light of a handful of controversial developments around the city, San Diego’s...
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When Law Enforcement Fudges the Law
California’s public records laws are supposed to enable people to easily access public information from local governments. But the Chula Vista Police Department’s been discouraging residents from...
View ArticleHow SDPD Fares on Transparency, in Four Charts
This post has been updated. Transparency is one of those buzzwords that politicians and government agencies like to say they support, but its definition can be hard to pin down. San Diego State...
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