Feed Editor 5 Oct 2006 19:56:09 GMT Blog of San Diego - Waterfront http://www.blogofsandiego.com/RSS/Waterfront.xml en-us http://www.blogofsandiego.com/RSS/BlogOfSanDiegoLogo.png Blog of San Diego - Logo Charles D. Wurster, President/CEO of the Port District: "I served in the Coast Guard 37 years. Also, the 100 yard security zone is the standard guideline and is most important on the surface of the water. (This space allows distance and time for security forces to make shoot/don't shoot decisions--regarding possibly hostile approaching vessels--during times of high alert.) Ashore, the practicalities of existing infrastructure are taken into account by the Coast Guard "Captain of the Port" who may approve a plan that provides adequate security with less set-back. That is the case for us here in San Diego." 2 Nov 2010 22:23:22 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#09/30/10 440D25C0-286F-4FDB-A1AF-60368D16B1CA Here is a letter from Christine Anderson, the Port's VP of Operations, dated July 27, 2007. In it she advises the Port Commissioners that Bill Anderson, the Mayor's Planning Director, had attended a meeting of the NEVP Joint Powers Authority (JPA) the day before. Anderson had advised Port staff that his boss the Mayor was unhappy with the Port's plans for a temporary cruise ship facility on Broadway Pier, that he wanted a permanent building there. 2 Nov 2010 22:22:41 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/31/10 13B976D9-9A7C-4330-A536-90985978121F On November 27, 2007 Carnival Corp sent this letter to the Port of San Diego regarding their shared vision for the future of the cruise ship industry in San Diego. Carnival warned that changes in the cruise ship business environment warranted changes in their joint vision. Carnival worried whether the Port's plan to spend $164 million in planned improvements to B Street Pier could be supported through long term cruise ship usage. Carnival pointed out that it could not "get close to the passenger figures" that would be required. 2 Nov 2010 22:21:46 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/30/10 A183B2BE-E58C-44A7-A852-4A612F9EA9CF This is the dirty Agreement that is spawning multiple lies about the Embarcadero Oval Park. The fact is that a Panamanian company, the Carnival Corporation, advanced the Port District $12 million at 4.5% interest to construct two home ports, one on B. Street Pier and one on Broadway Pier. The sole source of funds for repayment of this loan, which must be repaid in full by April 30, 2015, shall be a Special Facility Fee charged to each passenger while Carnival branded vessels will receive preferential berthing rights. 2 Nov 2010 22:21:17 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/19/10 A9CADFA9-F1E2-4EED-964E-F3F93F47856B This Agreement is a must read for anybody who wishes to understand what is happening on the Embarcadero. It makes the infamous Charger's Ticket Guarantee seem like a sweet deal for the City. With this Agreement the Port Commissioners tried to cede control of the Embarcadero to a Panamanian corporation. They thought that by signing this Agreement the NEVP was dead. But it is not. This Agreement is legally flawed. The Port cannot grant what it does not own. More .... 24 Apr 2010 19:13:12 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#04/24/10 330E44E9-A1BD-4FE1-8965-B49191818743 One of the biggest mistakes Mayor Sanders made was to fall for whatever slick sales talk Steve Cushman used to cajole him into backing this used-car salesman for a third term as Port Commissioner, despite term limits. It has now cost him the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP). It lies in ruins because of Cushman's cruise ships. More ... 18 Apr 2010 00:30:32 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#04/15/10 F72162BC-2FFD-4542-BF69-8900969174D7 In hiring Ron Powell, a veteran Union-Tribune reporter as its spokesperson, the Port District hired the ability to get friendly editorials to run in the U-T at critical moments like today. This is a critical moment for the Port District's North Embarcadero (Cruise Ship Terminal) plan. It needs to pull off another switcheroo. 11 Apr 2010 00:23:53 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#04/07/10 949482A7-64C2-4D8A-BAFE-E2419756015D At its monthly meeting tomorrow the Port District will be asked to consent to the assignment and assumption of a lease from Fifth Avenue Landing LLC (FAL) to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC). 11 Apr 2010 00:23:11 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#04/05/10 16AC1E9E-9B55-44BD-B120-19ECFA1E5717 Yielding to intense pressure from Carnival Cruise Lines, a Panamanian Corporation, and its political allies, the Coastal Commission staff has issued this Report in an attempt to provide political cover for the Commission to grant an illegal "conditional" permit for the Port's cruise ship terminal on Broadway Pier. 11 Apr 2010 00:22:24 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#04/03/10 7C1C8F6E-0A0B-458D-9719-00DA76B2322A Port Commissioner Lee Burdick wrote an op-ed piece in the Union-Tribune today. I posted a comment there only to have it taken down by the U-T. I guess it was too "mean" for the tender ears of Ms. Burdick. 11 Apr 2010 00:21:34 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#10/23/09 EC40ADBE-0304-485F-8D70-9B71B6D7126C I went down to City Council today to give the Councilmembers a "heads up" on the vote they must take on September 15, 2009 regarding the proposed Amendment to the Embarcadero Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). The JPA Amendment, if passed, would authorize CCDC to pay for "improvements' that would effectively turn the Embarcadero into a marine dock subject to the same Homeland Security requirements as the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. 11 Apr 2010 00:18:50 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#09/14/09 C290694A-71E4-4141-908C-1182A5B286AA Video of Council President Hueso suppressing public comment on the Embarcadero. 11 Apr 2010 00:17:52 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#09/01/09 1E79261C-F279-46B2-A794-0AC07E81246A "This makes me an honest man" said Steve Cushman Chair of the San Diego Port District, when he and Mayor Sanders broke ground on the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge on October 23, 2008. 11 Apr 2010 00:17:05 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/30/09 263700C2-FAB0-4C92-8CE5-9A35AFA0BFCD Come on down! "This is a good project" beams Kevin Faulconer, the City Council's salesman for Carnival Cruise Lines on Broadway Pier, on July 28, 2009. 11 Apr 2010 00:16:07 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/27/09 34163E4B-A5C6-4B3E-8779-3778E024E7DF I have obtained a copy of the implementation agreement for the "North Embarcadero Visionary Plan" (NEVP). The Agreement is known as the "Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement" (JPA). It is an important document because its stated purpose is "funding, designing and constructing" a project defined as "the use and development of the North Embarcadero area", as outlined in a boundary map called "Attachment A", which includes Broadway Pier. 11 Apr 2010 00:15:19 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/25/09 3C6D799C-1757-4A8E-949A-E6B6D105941B Below is where Carnival Cruise Lines currently loads the food and booze for its 2,600-passenger cruise ships together with their personal luggage. The site is part of the well-equipped Port of Los Angeles, designed to handle the heavy traffic associated with provisioning such large ships. 11 Apr 2010 00:14:18 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/17/09 8CB78F56-D518-4993-B41F-753998889B78 Here is a video clip of the California Coastal Commission taking over jurisdiction of the Coastal Development Permit the San Diego Port District issued to itself putting a "home port" cruise ship terminal on Broadway Pier, in breach of the Port Master Plan previously approved by the Coastal Commission. 11 Apr 2010 00:13:16 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/14/09 EEC1D831-4314-4285-8088-DA21A786BD24 Congressman Bob Filner points to cumulative issues that the Coastal Commission must consider on Friday when it will decide whether to uphold or deny an appeal against a Coastal Development Permit issued by the Port allowing it to renege on its promise of a 10 acre park at the bottom of Broadway. 11 Apr 2010 00:12:01 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/11/09 6663785B-8CC0-4F46-A60A-6184D7CCC4F0 This is New York's Washington Square sitting at the foot of Fifth Avenue, its triumphal arch modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, pointing up Fifth Avenue past the Empire State Building all the way to Central Park. It is a sight that makes every New Yorker proud. 10 Apr 2010 23:59:59 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#08/09/09 A24DA92F-56D2-4083-87C9-F783FA3B8B49 Those of us who have carefully followed this waterfront saga over many years have long believed that there has been deep collusion between the City, CCDC, the Navy and Doug Manchester. As the Office of the California State Geologist put it: “San Diego is playing loose with the law.” 10 Apr 2010 23:59:23 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#07/21/09 45393B67-B939-4920-9C1F-1C85131A7D9F There are only two Republicans on the San Diego City Council, Kevin Faulconer and Carl DeMaio, the other six are all Democrats. That should suggest a definite leftward tilt, a strong labor and environmental bias. We might even expect a move towards increased local taxes. 5 Oct 2006 19:56:09 GMT http://www.blogofsandiego.com/Waterfront.htm#06/12/09