Welcome to Dirty DeMaio!

Fri, 01/27/2012

Next week we'll get a full look at the campaign finance reports from all the candidates, revealing how much they raised in the second half of last year. In the meantime, we're getting advanced numbers, including a report that with a new boost from his own pockets, millionaire Carl DeMaio has now dumped $355,000 of his own cash into his mayoral race.

That's more than one third of his total raised -- and in the early tally it's the difference between being ahead of or behind Nathan Fletcher in the money race.

So it got us thinking, what does $355,000 mean in San Diego? It's enough to buy a three-bedroom house. Or pay the tuition of more than 100 SDSU students. Or save the fire pits for three years. It's the combined per capita income of 11 San Diegans. And it could feed 60 struggling familes for a year.

But those are just a few examples. What could you do to help San Diego with $355,000? Tell us on Facebook, or email us. We'll highlight some of the best ones next week.

Thu, 01/26/2012

Carl DeMaio votes against $714 million in taxpayer savings

The City of San Diego finalized a major deal with city employees this week, compromising on a plan to reform health benefits that's projected to save the city $714 million. That's a whole lot of relief for taxpayers, and a giant step towards fixing the long-term health of the budget.

It might be expected that a self-styled budget hawk and taxpayer advocate like Carl DeMaio would support such a deal, but he didn't. Carl DeMaio opposed the deal to save the city's taxpayers more than $700 million. Why? Because according to DeMaio it isn't good enough and saving $700 million is too expensive. He was so committed to this notion in fact that he was willing to let taxpayers lose out on more than $700 million in concessions from city employees.

Tue, 01/24/2012

DeMaio pushes to impose tax twice rejected by voters

Carl DeMaio likes to style himself as a taxpayer watchdog, largely skipping any effort to implement his policies through his day job as a councilman in favor of going directly to voters. But strangely, a big part of his jobs plan is imposing a tax to pay for expanding the convention center -- without voter approval.

By way of context, any local tax increase is required to face voters to be approved. DeMaio knows this plenty well since he participated in the opposition campaign to Proposition D, which proposed to temporarily raise the city's sales tax. And during his time in San Diego politics, a wide range of tax proposals have been put to voters. So he knows how this works as he tries to sidestep the process.

Fri, 01/20/2012

Who does Carl DeMaio owe?

At last week's debate, Scott Lewis asked Carl DeMaio point blank whether DeMaio feels he owes his supporters. Quite openly, he assured the audience that as a politician "I do owe my supporters" Pressed as to what happens if one of those people has business with the city, DeMaio claimed that it's a non-issue because "we have not had any contract process where I'm awarding a contract." So, who exactly is it that Carl DeMaio owes, and when might he be in a position to owe them?

Let's start with whether DeMaio has anything to do with awarding contracts. According to campaign finance reports, in 2007, DeMaio received more than $2,700 in contributions from private waste management companies, including Allied Waste. In December 2009 DeMaio voted to transfer the city's franchise for solid waste management to... Allied Waste Management! In February 2011, DeMaio was pushing to outsource trash services to private contractors. And on September 26, 2011, DeMaio was part of the 5-3 majority to put privatizing the city's landfill out to bid. Maybe he wouldn't voting on contracts as mayor, but it certainly seems like his donors have already benefited from a politician who says he owes them.

In that same 2007 campaign cycle, DeMaio pulled in nearly $10,000 in contributions from hotel executives. After that, DeMaio pushed to protect hotel developers from public oversight, even though at the debate he was declaring "I think open government is a principle that you do not violate for any reason; the ends never justify the means. What do you fear with public participation and public review and input? Why fear it?" In 2010, he voted for a lease agreement bailout with Bartell Hotels designed to head off bankruptcy. The Bartell family was good for more than $1,600 in contributions in 2007.

Wed, 01/18/2012

Why is Carl DeMaio so scared of his record?

There couldn't be any clearer comparison when mayoral candidate Bob Filner visited a meeting of the San Diego Tea Party this week. Attendees there hammered Filner for his politics but ultimately respected him for showing up and taking their questions. In a similar vein, several months ago Nathan Fletcher attended the non-partisan mayoral forum put on by A Better San Diego. Meanwhile, Carl DeMaio refuses to acknowledge, much less face, people who don't support him.

He wouldn't show his face at the ABSD debate, he blackballs media outlets he deems unsupportive, he bans people from his Facebook page, and good luck finding a DeMaio event near you if you live in the wide swaths of San Diego that don't fit into DeMaio's electoral arithmetic. Because he's not really running to represent all San Diegans -- he's running to represent the people who get on board with his way or the highway.

By comparison, the mayoral debate on the 13th that DeMaio did attend was co-sponsored by a number of DeMaio's political and financial allies. The Union-Tribune was recently purchased by Doug Manchester, who promptly installed John Lynch to run the operation. Manchester and Lynch partnered on DeMaio's San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government, providing nearly $150,000 in support. Manchester later hosted a fundraiser for DeMaio's city council campaign. Two other sponsors, the Lincoln Club and San Diego Taxpayers Assocation, are outspoken backers of DeMaio's pension measure, helping to fund and promote the campaign. DeMaio's previous campaigns have also received financial and promotional backing from the groups.

Mon, 01/16/2012

Will Carl DeMaio eliminate police pensions?

After months of waiting, on Friday San Diego finally got its first mayoral debate featuring all four leading candidates. And it didn't disappoint.

Things started off simply enough, by asking Carl DeMaio whether, in light of steadily improving pension numbers driven by a steadily improving economy, he still felt that police officers should eventually be transitioned to 401k. DeMaio caved on including police officers in his ballot measure, but assured San Diego that he still planned to take away police pensions down the line. DeMaio had a prepared speech on his Roadmap to Recovery, but despite being pressed refused to actually answer the question.

No such problem for Bonnie Dumanis, who said that eliminating police pensions would be "devastating." But as the debate continued, DeMaio did manage to clarify his position. He said a few minutes later that he is proud that San Diego's police officers and firefighters don't support him, and went on to guarantee that he would take away police pensions, pledging of all city employees including police officers "I will end their taxpayer funded gravy train."

Dirty Record

Carl DeMaio's Greatest Hits

Carl DeMaio's history of reckless, hypocritical policy stretches back for years. Get caught up on DeMaio's Greatest Hits.

About Carl DeMaio

Carl DeMaio has been in professional politics for nearly 20 years. Get the rundown on Carl DeMaio's past.

CARL DEMAIO - CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Carl DeMaio might say he's for "fair and open contracting," but the facts show a web of special interest money and dirty dealings.

TAX DOLLARS = CARL DEMAIO'S PROFIT

Carl DeMaio's former company, the Performance Institute, reaped the majority of its revenue from public funds. Then, DeMaio used that money to push for his own political agenda.

CARL DEMAIO - POLITICS AS USUAL

Carl DeMaio's San Diego Citizens' Budget Project issued a report on the city budget and fiscal practices. A good idea — but not when it's done the Carl "Dirty" DeMaio way, which is politics as usual and putting political gain ahead of the public interest.

CARL DEMAIO - TAX VIOLATOR

Carl DeMaio may want you to think he has sound fiscal policy, but the fact is, Carl DeMaio can't even balance his own books and has complete disregard for state and federal laws.

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