I just came back from a trip abroad and was pleasantly surprised at how clean the very metropolitan Sydney downtown area was.  The transit system was good, though a shot of friendliness would have done some of the drivers and ticket booth operators a world of good.  One thing that struck me, though.  It can be summed up with this photo:

I took a good deal of time away from blogging.  Which, in retrospect, wasn't a great thing to do when I said I would write something each week.  Such is life, I guess.  The freedom to say you will do something and not follow through is a luxury for run of the mill people like me.  I am not saying it is the right thing to do, but I definitely get more of a pass than our public officials or educators or government types do.  So that brings me to my topic today, what are the politicians saying they'll do and is there really any way to make sure they do it?

Like many San Diegans, I was pretty interested in the Mayor's Proposal for mid-year budget cuts.  Turns out, his plan also includes cuts in Fiscal Year 2011 (note: unlike most people, government budgets go on a "Fiscal Year" that goes from July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next year).  I was curious about how some of the Mayor's Proposals would impact North Park so I contacted Pam Ison in Councilmember Gloria's office.  Here's the Q & A:

There is a budget crisis in the City of San Diego.  Anyone with a pulse has probably heard that we have 200 million dollars less than we need.  Over the weekend there was a Town Hall meeting or something over at Hoover.  I went.  Sat amongst the crowd, kept my mouth shut, and observed...it would have been insanely funny if not for the subject matter.  Here's my top 10 list of moments...

This is obviously VERY historic.  So maybe we aren't talking about things quite this old.

But one of the more interesting debates (for fuddy duddies like me, anyway) is about who can do what with his or her property and under what circumstances.  Everyone under the sun has argued both sides of this point, and I suppose it really matters in North Park because we have some pretty good looking old homes...like this one