ListenOff Mic
Public Pension Debate Heats Up
- March 24, 2009
- By Alison St John
Pensions are a touchy subject these days, mainly because anyone with a 401(k)-type plan is dealing with the shock of opening statements that show in black and white just how much their hard-earned savings have shrunk. Read more →
Failing Cities: The Next Big Story?
- March 9, 2009
- By Alison St John
The more I report on the state of our cities for the Hometown Accounts series, the more I wonder if this will be the next big story after the mortgage meltdown. Cities struggling to balance their budgets this year have much worse dynamics looming around the corner. If you can imagine a graph with the incomes headed south and the liabilities headed north, that's what it looks like: a great big parting of the ways, with the gap between income and expense getting wider and wider. Read more →
The True Cost of Health Care
- Feb. 21, 2009
- By Joanne Faryon
What I'm about to tell you, I've told very few people. It's about my mother and the Canadian health care system. She died last summer. It was an excruciating four days in the hospital. Read more →
City Reserves: A Bit of Back Story
- Feb. 6, 2009
Comparing city reserve funds is not necessarily an easy task: every city has its own way of divvying up the dollars, so there's a risk of comparing apples and oranges. Read more →
Who Cares About the City Budget?
- Feb. 5, 2009
I don't know about you, but I find it hard to digest and remember information when it's just a fact standing on its own. For example, the City of La Mesa's reserve fund is five percent of its operating budget. So what? Is that good or bad? Read more →
Join the Studio Audience for 'Getting By,' an Envision San Diego Special
- Oct. 20, 2008
For the past month, we've been working on a 30-minute documentary about how people are struggling to get by in San Diego. Getting By will air this Thursday Oct. 23 on KPBS-TV, followed by a half-hour of discussion with local civic leaders. You can ask questions as a part of the studio audience. Read more →
Getting By: Low Wages and Pensions
- Oct. 14, 2008
- By Joanne Faryon
The sunshine tax has long been our justification for higher prices and lower wages here in San Diego County. It’s nearly always 70 degrees and sunny – so you pay more to live here and you get paid less. Read more →
Getting By: The Sunshine Tax
- Oct. 7, 2008
- By Joanne Faryon
Did you know that average wages in 1972 were 30 percent higher in the county than the nation? A SANDAG study revealed that local wages haven't kept up with inflation. In 2005, the county average was only five percent higher than the national average. And to top it all off, San Diego County is one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Read more →
'Gotcha' Journalism or Responsible Journalism?
- Oct. 2, 2008
- By John Decker
Responsible journalism is in the eye of the beholder. On the national stage, candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin have complained about unfair questions and "gotcha journalism," while the media community defend the interviews as asking the tough questions. At the local level, we joined the ranks of media outlets across the country to find ourselves under attack. Read more →
Longing for Relief
- Oct. 2, 2008
- By Brad Martin
It's getting to be that time of year when all the sunny days run together, creating a blur of unidentifiable days and weeks, rolled into forgotten months. I am always on the verge of buying air conditioning this time of year, and yet I know cloudy, cooler, rainier days are on the way. They're just out of reach. Read more →
Previous Next
