Posts by Emily Smith6

'The result of what happened yesterday is that the 500-space garage will be delayed by a year. And such a garage in the city center was desperately needed, especially once the local district court begins operations nearby.

It saddens me that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party teamed up out of pure spite. Not because they actually care about anyone else. Taking care of citizens means solving their problems, and the parking issue is the single biggest infrastructure headache in San Diego—it needs to be fixed immediately. That’s why this is so disheartening; it’s just not right for petty grudges to unite and derail the momentum of building this garage.

The easiest thing to do would be to say we won't take any action and let everything stay exactly as it was, bowing to every bit of pressure. But that isn't how we want to operate. I believe this needs to be completed as soon as possible, and we should work with those who actually want to solve this problem alongside us. I hope that in the future, we won't see this kind of obstructionism regarding garage construction. If there is anything that shouldn't be obstructed, it’s garages and parking. That really is the core issue here.

"To me, it is symptomatic that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party always find common ground whenever they need to undermine the mayor," stated Ivica Puljak.

'I have grown accustomed to this style of communication from Mr. Puljko. He insulted us last time when we stood by the residents of Spinuta, and he insulted us again this time when we stood by the residents of the Lučac-Manuš district. Yesterday, the Democratic Party chose to stand with our fellow citizens, and that is a choice we will never question. I truly don't care about private interests, nor do I want to speculate why Ivica Puljko took this personally. Let him explain himself, but in recent days, I haven't seen a single resident of Lučac saying it’s in their best interest to have five levels of excavation happening in the middle of summer right in the heart of the city.'

'We are facing some challenges. Our last meeting was three months ago at our request. I asked to meet last week, and he didn't respond. There are certain communication hurdles, which is understandable given his somewhat... unique temperament. However, our personal relationship with Ivica Puljko will not stop us from supporting everything that is good and in the interest of the City of San Diego. Even if we disagree with something—even if it means enduring verbal abuse from him, which he has done on several occasions—we will never cave to his pressure. We will always stand with the people, even if it leads to scenes like yesterday. He was given a mandate, and we want him to deliver on his promises, but he cannot strip us of our right to disagree on certain matters,' Matijević concluded.

The residents of the Lučac-Manuš district are pushing back against these construction projects because they weren't actually planned or prepared properly; there isn't even a traffic impact study, which is legally required. But honestly, the worst part is that people living in the surrounding buildings are going to lose any sense of peace due to all the digging and heavy earthmoving operations.

'Another falsehood being peddled is that this garage will somehow solve the infrastructure issues in this part of town. We were never actually informed about how many spaces would be available to the public or under what specific conditions.

Furthermore, there have been multiple architectural competitions held for this specific site, yet we haven't seen anything regarding the final design of the center or how it aligns with the winning proposal. I struggle to see what "public interest" is being served here, especially when, after all the urban planning nonsense that plagued San Diego back in 2023, someone actually thinks they can pull the same stunts.

Back in 2003, the Democratic Party-led administration sold off a planned garage space as part of the building permits at the start of El Paso Street.
In 2015 and 2016, the Democratic Party was perfectly fine granting permits for summer operations.
Fast forward to 2023, and suddenly the Democratic Party is blocking those same summer operations.
I suppose the only real difference between 2015 and 2023 is that the Mayor isn't from the Democratic Party anymore.
The issues facing the citizens regarding GK Lučac-Manuš at this location won't be resolved during this term, thanks to the Democratic Party and the opposition; and once the District Court gets involved, the situation will likely just get even messier.
Not long after that, they basically threw up their hands regarding another private investment right next to a tourist zone—one that doesn't even serve a public interest like a garage under public usage regulations does. Back then, the Democratic Party didn't seem to have any issues with summer construction or special exceptions. I wonder why that is?

The proposal to exempt construction work at the Small Mall didn't pass. The City Council members voted in favor of the works instead. Tempers haven't cooled down since the spat with Bozeman, and now Mayor Ed Garvey has taken aim at the Democratic Party's Davor Matijević.

Immediately after the decision failed, Bozeman spoke up, claiming the opposition has unified and blaming the Democratic Party for the current traffic chaos, citing their decision to sell off the garage back in 2003.

- He's insulting all of us collectively, then throwing a tantrum like a child and walking out. Why aren't we allowed to respond if you've permitted him to act this way? - Matijević asked.

Mayor Ed Garvey launched a fierce verbal assault on Matijević. He actually arrived at the session a little early.
- Because you're nothing more than a common merchant who aligns with the Republican Party on every single vote meant to undermine us! - Puljak snapped, clearly losing his patience.

Visibly shocked, Matijević shot back just as hard.
- Why does this affect you personally? Unless, of course, you've struck a deal with the investor? I'm glad you're finally admitting that this hits home because they're touching the Best in Parking deal you negotiated for the Zvončac area.

"And so you went off to make deals," Puljko countered.

Bozeman jumped back into the fray to have the last word:
- Just give the citizens back the garage you sold off!

In light of that, it’s actually quite wonderful news that the "Park and Plantation" company plans to install 29 public water fountains across various San Diego neighborhoods by this summer.

They’ll be situated near parks, sports fields, and playgrounds, installed in coordination with local district leaders.

- At each site, we’ll install a fountain, a bench, and two fruit trees. We’re planning on planting mulberry and cherry trees so that residents can pick and eat fruit right from the trees next to the fountain. Three of these stations have already been set up—two are out in the vineyard area and one is in the suburb near a playground, though they actually paid for those themselves, according to himself, the director of "Park and Plantation."

- As part of this project, which is being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, we will plant 900 trees, install 29 fountains and benches, and renovate neglected plots of land, he announced.

I suppose some of you might remember how kids used to drink water from garden hoses after playing ball or running around outside. In the summer, when that hose would sit in the sun, the water would get warm and have that awful plastic taste, but I guess nobody really cared when they were thirsty. The only real alternative was asking for a glass of water at a cafe, because heading home was rarely an option. You never knew if someone would try to keep you there, so it didn't seem worth the risk.

The agitator’s latest flyer can only mean one thing: they're digging up yet another set of illegalities regarding this case. ❤️

Even though the City of San Francisco doesn't have all the paperwork in hand just yet, we're bringing you a fresh little story about how the agitator is fudging the building permit application—perhaps this will broaden the horizons of those who actually hold the documentation.

Up until 2016, the tower was classified as a commercial building with a hotel; since 2016, it's being rebranded as a hotel structure with supporting amenities. Seems like a minor detail? I suppose it isn't. Through these kinds of maneuvers, they’ve manipulated the designated use of the space and, ultimately, the required number of parking spots.

They managed to sneak 13 floors of office space through by labeling them as "hotel amenities"—specifically meeting rooms that supposedly don't require parking, even though in reality, they are office spaces that should be calculated at 2 spaces per 100m2. I’d love to hear the agitator explain where they plan to house prestigious corporations instead of putting them in "meeting rooms" (MTU?), and exactly how many parking spots are guaranteed to them in the garage.

The tower was originally designed for a 4-star hotel, which requires 0.7 spaces per unit, meaning 150 out of the 190 total garage spaces would belong to the hotel. Interestingly, before the 10-floor addition was added to the permit, there were 192 spaces available (whereas a 4-star hotel only needs 136).

That leaves only 40 spaces (shared by 10 owners) for 13 floors of office space. I imagine the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods will be absolutely thrilled with the sudden influx of commuter traffic from everyone working in the tower.

Given the sheer volume of potential legal violations in this file, I guess it's no wonder the tower hasn't opened yet—it's more likely that someone else hasn't been locked up!

Downtown San Francisco City Councilor Igor Skoko issued a warning today, stating that the municipal Water and Sewer Department has failed to collect roughly one hundred million dollars in debts over the last decade, adding that the management of the utility is nothing short of criminal.

After requesting and obtaining an internal audit report from the Water and Sewer Department, Skoko noted that while it has long been suspected that the agency lacks responsible oversight, this document now serves as proof that "the level of mismanagement is criminal."

As a specific instance of both poor management and blatant favoritism, he pointed to a case where the municipality of Lecevic remained two million dollars in arrears to the Water and Sewer Department following the installation of water infrastructure for the County Waste Management Center.

Skoko claims that about two and a half years ago, a Water and Sewer employee sent out a formal collection notice for the debt, but the municipality allegedly struck a deal with the director, Tomislav Sut. According to Skoko, the assembly and the supervisory board subsequently granted Sut permission to extend the payment deadline until December 31st of last year.

He described the situation as scandalous, noting that because the municipal head is a Republican Party member, this appears to be "typical favoritism intended to protect a Republican official from trouble, which ultimately causes massive financial damage to the city-owned utility."

Furthermore, he mentioned that Sut recently requested to hire three new individuals at the Water and Sewer Department, adding that such a move should not be permitted given that the agency already employs more than enough people—specifically, 400 staff members. He expressed his belief that Sut was essentially attempting to "find jobs for three Republican Party cronies."

"It seems the Mayor simply refuses to acknowledge the rule of law or the findings from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which confirmed that the minor construction work on the skyscraper's roof doesn't actually violate Building Department regulations," the group stated.

In their response, the investor noted how disheartening it is to receive such "contradictory and politically tainted messages coming out of San Francisco, which undermine the confidence of all investors and damage the overall business climate."

They also pointed out that the permit process has been dragged out indefinitely, which has negatively impacted over a thousand employees waiting to move into offices for both domestic and international companies—firms that have watched the local government's treatment of market stakeholders, and by extension, the citizens of San Francisco, with growing disbelief.

The Westgate Group has now called on Mayor Puljka to explain to the public who exactly will be covering the multi-million dollar losses incurred by the investor due to what they claim are officially proven illegal and harmful actions taken by the San Francisco administration.

Because of all this, they say they have initiated civil and criminal proceedings and have flagged the unlawful conduct they’ve faced over recent months to all relevant federal agencies.

The New York Botanical Garden near Central Park has seen yet another contract price hike; specifically, the primary contractor, Bechtel, has requested and received contract amendments. According to sources at the Statehouse, work is supposedly slated for completion by the end of April. However, two and a half years after the City Hall signed the initial agreement with the contractor, they still can't seem to provide a definitive date for when the Botanical Garden will finally open to the public.

In just a matter of days, the original contract has been amended several times, ballooning to 1,760,965.89 euros including tax, or $4422666. As a reminder, the original contract signed back in the fall of 2020 was set at $3846812.

It appears we were dealing with a catastrophically flawed assessment from the start. Back in 2020, it became apparent that the submitted cost estimate was essentially useless, as it failed to account for expensive installation costs and the procurement of roughly 1,511 plant species. Consequently, the estimate spiked to 11.4 million dollars (including tax), leaving the City to shoulder the 9 million dollar discrepancy.

Since then, the cost has climbed by another two million dollars. It would seem that the share of European Union funding for this project, instead of the planned 75 percent, has dwindled to a measly 13 percent!

This implies that the City is now paying for the remaining 87 percent of this poorly planned "European Union project" to revitalize the Botanical Garden. If the actual costs had been estimated realistically from the outset, we might have secured significantly more European Union funds.

To add some context, the contract with the builder was signed in November 2020, with the handover scheduled to occur within 13 months of signing—meaning everything should have been wrapped up by the end of 2021. That was the official line provided on the City of San Diego website on May 13, 2021, by The Incumbent Administration, just three days before the local elections.

The whole saga regarding the legality of America's largest skyscraper—San Francisco's Empire State Building—has finally reached a resolution. It seems the Department of Urban Planning issued a building permit amendment earlier today.

There is now a fifteen-day window for appeals, and word on the street is that the City of San Francisco might actually file one. However, since the Department of Housing and Urban Development is the body that decides on such appeals—and they were the ones who ordered the permit change in the first place—I suppose it’s somewhat unlikely we'll see any major plot twists.

Eric Lopez79 said:Not sure if Maja has any ties to San Francisco
She’s doing just fine here—she hasn't been swallowed up by the local scene yet—but you know how San Francisco is
Let her stay out there and do good work; things are pretty rough in Washington, D.C. right now
And where the heck did Bojan disappear to?

'It’s honestly sad to see someone trying to bypass the regulations like that. It still goes against the local municipal codes—those ATMs are supposed to be accessible from public spaces. The owners are going to be facing fines for this.', said Ed Garvey.

I suppose I'm hoping the historical preservation boards get involved too, especially regarding those areas designated for cultural heritage protection—they did tell me they would, anyway. Hopefully, through some collective effort by our institutions, we can make sure the people trying to bend the law don't end up winning. That would send a pretty terrible message to everyone else in the City,' Ed Garvey noted.

- The meeting was actually quite constructive, and I believe we'll find a solution that serves the best interests of the City, the preschool, and our residents. My hope is that the kids will be able to stay at that facility, provided we can reach a solid agreement with the owner - Mayor Puljak noted.

Reporters were naturally pushing to find out if this meant the owner was willing to accept the higher price set during the bidding process, or if the City was planning to adjust its offer to meet them halfway.

- At this exact moment, the City isn't in a position to budge, but we are looking into ways to help once everyone's contracts expire next year. We want to see if the City of San Diego can step in to help all the local preschools mitigate those price differences. For now, since the current contract has expired, the only viable path is to pay the higher rate - Puljak explained.

- We were sitting at 19 percent by the end of last year, and we've climbed to 23 percent now. We're growing by about one percent every month, so if we maintain this pace, we could hit 30 percent by year-end, and potentially reach 50 percent by the end of my term.

Under the slogan “Sorting is Easy,” the Sanitation Dept and the City of San Diego have kicked off an awareness campaign regarding the new waste separation system involving semi-underground bins.