Tag Archives: Chula Vista

Uncategorized

Don’t Ban Chula Vista Jobs – Vote No on Prop G

A broad-based coalition of labor, civic and business leaders are calling on voters in Chula Vista, Calif., to vote no on Tuesday, June 8 on an anti-union ballot initiative -Proposition G.  

Spearheaded by the Associated Builders and Contractors and out-of-state right-wing political groups, Proposition G would prohibit the Southern California city from using project labor agreements for government-funded construction work.

PLAs are project-specific, pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set out terms and conditions of employment on construction projects.

For many Chula Vista business and civic leaders, Proposition G is so radical that it would threaten the city’s economic development; costing Chula Vista needed jobs and money

Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Cohen told La Prensa San Diego:

Proposition G is bad for business. The top priority of the business community in Chula Vista is job creation and it has become clear that Proposition G appears to interfere with that mission. The potential consequences of Proposition G are so devastating for Chula Vista that a supermajority of the Chamber’s board voted to oppose it.

Nearly every elected official, including the mayor and the majority of the city council have come out against measure.

For building trades members, passage of the initiative would spell disaster, cutting out union members from working on most construction projects in Chula Vista and banning the city from making payments into a union benefits’ fund.

“If they pass it here, ABC is bragging that they will take it across California,” said Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 Business Manager Allen Shur.

This effort is a part of the ABC’s “10 in 2010” campaign in California that is designed to get local jurisdictions to enact policies to prohibit PLAs.  

Says Building Trades President Mark Ayers in a letter to union leaders:

(ABC) has already succeeded in Orange County, and the next fight is Chula Vista.  If they win here, they will have momentum going into other fights in California, and you can rest assured that we will see this strategy replicated in short order in other states.

With polling showing a tight split among voters, the No on G coalition is planning to contact more than 30,000 of them and get them to the polls.

Building trades leaders are focusing on educating their members, making sure that they know that this is an anti-union measure.  

“We’ve spent the last couple months walking precincts, making sure everyone knows that Proposition G is bad for Chula Vista,” Shur said.

“Our opponents have already spent more than $3 million on this campaign. We don’t have that kind of cash, so we are relying on our grassroots efforts to get out the vote,” he said.

To get involved in the No on G campaign, click here.

San Diego

Old and Evil Takes a Hit – Republicans Eat Their Young

6 Comments

In a message to the media today, Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda accused new Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and the entire old guard of the San Diego Republican Party (including Mayor Cox’s husband, Board of Supervisors member Greg Cox) of conspiring to run him out of office and/or destroy his life.

I guess maybe Democrats aren’t the only ones who chafe when the fresh blood doesn’t get a fair shot huh?

Castaneda was a candidate in last year’s primary for Chula Vista mayor to unseat incumbent Steve Padilla (who came out while mayor to notable fanfare and scorn).  The primary, and the runoff general election, was eventually won by Cheryl Cox.

Now Castaneda is coming out angry.  He’s been investigated for three different matters since last March and subpoenaed three times to appear before a grand jury.  In his statement, Castaneda said “I’m up for re-election in 2008 and I’m sure that the Coxes and their political allies would like nothing better than for me to run with a cloud over my head or flat-out resign.”

Among other interesting tidbits is the way he ties the old-school power network of San Diego County together, not entirely unlike his mailer last year depicting Cheryl Cox as a spider in the center of a web of consultant fees:

Castaneda said that Dumanis is part of the county’s “old power structure” that also includes Cheryl Cox’s husband, County Supervisor Greg Cox – who has budget authority over the District Attorney’s Office, he said.

Finally, the intrigue goes still deeper as Castaneda tries to retract “privileged” information:

In a subsequent e-mail, he retracted the sentence stating that O’Toole threatened to charge him with a felony if he didn’t resign.

“The mistake was not made by Steve Castaneda, but rather the assistant that prepared the release not knowing that information may be deemed privileged,” the e-mail stated.

Obviously, there’s a lot more than meets the eye going on in San Diego County, and not a lot of it would surprise the folks of Calitics.  But there’s not nearly enough light being shone on all the backroom deals and string-pulling from both parties in this county to keep a lid on messaging and ensure that they get the candidates and the issues they prefer.  I don’t know how much truth there is to this personal vendetta against Councilman Castaneda, but I know that any discussion about the way politics happens in San Diego is good.  I hope this pisses some people off.