The San Diego County Taxpayers Association is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, dedicated to promoting accountable, cost-effective and efficient government and opposing unnecessary taxes and fees.
WINNER OF THE GRAND GOLDEN WATCHDOG AWARD:
San Diego Association of Governments. TransNet Environmental Mitigation Program. TranNet's Environmental Mitigation Program is a model for local governments. It provides $650 million in upfront funding for habitat acquisition, management and monitoring programs for transportation project needs for the next forty years. Rather than waiting to buy sites as transportation projects are approved - up to 30 years in the future - environmental mitigation funds were allocated upfront, saving taxpayers million of dollars in land acquisition costs. Now that's smart forward planning.
WINNER OF THE REGIONAL GOLDEN WATCHDOG AWARD:
County of San Diego Department of Public Works. Blanket Regional Permit for Flood Control Facility Maintenance. In 1998, San Diego County Public Works staff worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to establish the first ever blanket permit for flood control maintenance activities. Prior to the issuance of the blanket permit, DPW was required to obtain a set of permits for each individual facility, slowing down the maintenance schedule. In 2005, the County again worked with the regulatory agencies to obtain a renewal, adding 100 new facilities the permit. During the seven years of its existence, the streamlined process has saved taxpayers over $5 million. More importantly, the blanket permit allows crews to work efficiently to protect lives and private property without the bureaucratic delays of the past.
WINNER OF THE METRO SAN DIEGO WATCHDOG AWARD:
City of San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department. Televising Sewer Lines. Initiated in 2001 as part of the Metropolitan Wastewater Department’s (MWWD) Sewer Spill Reduction Program, robotic camera technology has allowed city workers to assess the condition of San Diego’s sewer lines in real time. The key elements of this program include cleaning all 3,000 miles of the municipal sewerage system and televising and assessing the condition of more than 1,200 miles of the oldest, most problematic sewer lines in the system. To date, almost half of the municipal sewer lines are now televised and the investment has more than paid for itself. Thanks to this program, 32 miles of sewer lines which were scheduled to be replaced were found to only need rehabilitating, saving taxpayers $52.4 million over 4 years.
WINNER OF THE IT’S ABOUT TIME AWARD:
City of San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). Comprehensive Operations Analysis. The Metropolitan Transit System (MST) recently completed it Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) of the services it provides. This eighteen-month project was undertaken to achieve financial sustainability and reconnect with transit markets. The MTS Board of Directors approved the resulting recommendations for changes in transit services on March 9, 2006. As a result of those changes, MTS anticipates enhanced regional connections at major transfer hubs; new circular routes customized to community needs; overall increase of 14,000 riders per day; and $5 million in budget savings. The COA represents a fresh new approach to service planning and delivery of transportation services in San Diego County.
WINNERS OF THE MEDIA WATCHDOG AWARD:
San Diego Union Tribune and Copley News Service – Cunningham Scandal
Thom Jensen of 10News – Behind Closed Doors
SDCTA presented the Print Media Watchdog Print Award to the staff of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service for coverage of the Cunningham scandal. The Watchdog Award in the television category was presented to Mr. Thom Jensen of 10News KGTV for his investigative story, Behind Closed Doors. This story linked the Ball Park Financing of Petco Park to the City of San Diego’s pension debt.
GRAND GOLDEN FLEECE AWARD:
City of San Diego. Pension Consultant Fees. Last May, the City of San Diego received a Golden Fleece Award for the use and poor management of consultant contracts. We estimated that by year-end the City would spend an additional $5 million for accounting firms, lawyers and special experts called in to help the City deal with its financial mess. Well, here we are one year later and still no sign of the 2003 audit…and the latest total is up to $30 million and counting. This calls for a promotion, but not the type to be proud of…the City's Metro Fleece has been upgraded to the Grand Golden Fleece.
REGIONAL GOLDEN FLEECE:
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Airport Site Selection "Education” Campaign. San Diegans are familiar with the Airport Authority"s position: the city needs to build a new airport before demand outstrips the single-runway airport’s limited capacity. But the Airport Authority’s effort to "educate” the public on the matter, at a hefty cost of $3.8 million, is far from impartial and inappropriately teeters toward advocacy. This effort, headed by a local PR firm, has slick campaign-like brochures and commercials showing an airport crisis even though Lindbergh Field is one of the most efficient, convenient airports in the United States. Criticism by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and others regarding the over the line campaign effort has far from deterred the Airport Authority Board from altering their actions. On the contrary, they recently voted 7-2 (Sessom and Jacobson dissenting) to continue the “public education and outreach” program, funded by public dollars, through the November 2006 election.
METRO SAN DIEGO FLEECE:
City of San Diego. Real Estate Assets Department. What property does the City of San Diego actually own? It seems that for years the City’s Real Estate Assets Department (READ) didn’t really know, and certainly couldn’t share that information with the administration, the Council or the public. Over the past 10 months, the Union-Tribune has revealed the department’s scandalous lack of record keeping and management in a series of stories. The City’s “inventory” identified property the city never owned; property sold long ago; and omits land that the city does, in fact, still own! The city’s leasing system is in a similar state of disarray. How difficult would it be to log all of these properties on a computer? Even just on a simple Excel spreadsheet. It’s time to get the real estate assets house in order. The current state is a sad commentary on “America’s Finest City.”
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FOR DUMB IDEAS UNDER $1 MILLION:
The first ever SDCTA People’s Choice Award was selected through an online survey conducted by The Daily Transcript.
University of California San Diego. Chancellor Sabbatical. And tuition costs keep rising. In addition to an annual salary of $350,000, $87,500 relocation allowance and numerous other perks, UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox received $248,000 for a sabbatical she earned at North Carolina State University but did not take. UC President Bob Dynes quietly authorized the payment for the sabbatical without the knowledge of the Legislature, the Board of Regents and the public at a time when student fees were being raised. Not such a smart move by the head of the UC system!
A taxpayers’ review committee screened the nominations and selected the winners for the 2006 Golden Watchdog & Golden Fleece Awards.