Offering a surprising bit of sympathy, a bitter political foe of Mayor Murphy opines the mayor needs to go Ross Perot on the budget and use big charts and graphs in a presentation that lays out the financial facts. “He needs to say things are as good as the senior staff and he has been telling us,” says the unlikely adviser. “The mayor needs to explain to the citizens of San Diego exactly what our financial position is, what our reserves are and what our growth in revenues is projected to be. People kept in the dark assume the worst.”
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While opposing a recall as destructive to San Diego, political consultant Scott Barnett predicts a signature gathering campaign will start June 8 to remove Mayor Murphy from office, ending with a fall election the mayor will lose. Some say he’ll resign before being recalled.
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In the second paragraph of its much-publicized downgrade of the city’s bonds, here’s what Fitch Ratings says: “Fitch takes this rating action as a result of continued delays in the release of the city’s fiscal 2003 audited financial statements, as well as ongoing political struggles that appear to hinder progress toward resolving the city’s sizable financial challenges. The new ratings also reflect the city’s strong economic performance and revenue sources, giving San Diego a strong ability to pay general obligation, enterprise debt, and lease obligations.” Hardly sounds like a city with money problems.
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   Roel Construction Co. has completed the $24 million interior and exterior renovation of the 22-story, 306-room Marriott Gaslamp Quarter Hotel (formerly the Clarion) at Seventh Avenue and K Street. The project included a new rooftop bar and first-floor restaurant for the hotel owner, San Francisco-based Stanford Hotels Corp.
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As the SEC investigated San Diego’s financial woes last year, former and present city officials hired private lawyers to represent them — at the expense of the city. The most recent information available from the city attorney’s office shows that between May and November 2004, outside law firms representing five present and past San Diego officials billed the city for fees ranging from a high of $64,163 charged by attorneys for former City Auditor and Controller Ed Ryan to a low of $2,438 for District 2 City Councilman Michael Zucchet. Legal fees will mount as the SEC probe proceeds.
The city report showed that Ryan, who resigned last year, was represented by Frank Ragen and the law firm Sullivan Wertz McDade & Wallace. Former City Manager Michael Uberuaga, who also resigned last year, was represented by McKenna Long & Aldridge; Deputy City Manager Bruce Herring by Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps and Deputy City Manager Patricia Frazier by La Bella & McNamara. Zucchet was represented by Coughlan Semmer & Lipman.
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Although Rear Adm. Jose Luis Betancourt Jr.’s tour as Navy mayor in San Diego is up, his family name likely will get frequent play on San Diego movie screens. His son is a rising star as a movie editor. Head to the video store and check out Jeff Betancourt’s work in the seriously creepy DVD version of “The Grudge,” starring Sarah Michelle Gellar — if you dare.
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 A record crowd of 1,700, mostly women, filled the Convention Center’s largest ballroom for the YWCA’s seventh annual In The Company Of Women luncheon. Keynote speaker Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts in a movie of the same name, spoke for 45 minutes, then hung around until nearly 3 p.m. to talk individually with dozens of guests including Councilwoman Donna Frye, one of the first in line. The event grossed $281,000. Brockovich spoke of her life, Hollywood and the need to care when witnessing a wrong like industrial pollution, which doesn’t discriminate in ruining lives. ‘One day it just might be you (affected by the wrong) and you are going to wish there was someone who cared,’ she says.
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After spending nine years running the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island, Pam Richardson is joining Kimpton Hotels where she will serve as g.m. of the 235-room Hotel Solamar set to open in April outside the ballpark at Sixth Avenue and J Street. Richardson also is in her second term as president of the Hotel-Motel Association.
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Entrepreneur Of The Year award applications are due April 1 with the winners of the Ernst & Young sponsored competition announced June 14 during a lunch at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. The event is in its ninth year. Details are at ey.com/us/eoy or by contacting Irene Veca at irene.veca@ey.com or (619) 235-5061.
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Alan Uke’s Underwater Kinetics has donated high-intensity LED flashlights to U.S. Navy helicopter squadrons HS-2 and HSL-47 which continue helping tsunami victims as part of Operation Unified Assistance. The helicopter squadrons that received UK’s 2AAA mini- pocket eLED lights fly each morning to Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda Aceh, the logistics hub for relief efforts in northern Indonesia. There, trucks and airplanes full of aid supplies are unloaded and then reloaded into the helicopters of Carrier Air Wing 2 for delivery to towns and villages isolated by the destructive wave. The mini lights are waterproof to 150 feet, can clip on hats or clothing for hands-free lighting and offer optional high-brightness red LED for protecting night vision - ideal for military operations at night. Poway-based UK has been developing cool flashlights for more than 30 years. For more info, visit uwkinetics.com.
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 Analysts view Vyomesh Joshi, who manages Hewlett-Packard’s Rancho Bernardo-based printing and imaging operations, as a leading candidate to replace Carly S. Fiorina as CEO of the computer company. Joshi also could remain at the helm of the highly profitable division, which some investors would like spun out as a separate company.
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 Lusk
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Steve Lusk was the best in the nation in February — selected as Remodelor of the Month by the National Association of Home Builders Remodelors Council, with more than 6,800 members. It’s not his first honor — Lusk also has made Remodeling magazine’s Hall of Fame.
Lusk pegs his average custom home remodel at $250,000, but projects can run from less than $100,000 to more than $500,000. “We do everything and anything, from elevators to cantilevered decks and glass curtain walls,” he says. The company motto is “full-service design-build for busy professionals,” he says. “We’re strictly residential. Our typical clients are both working, married, with kids, with more money than time. But they’re not rich.”
Lusk Building & Remodeling includes a field staff of between seven and 10 carpenters and an office staff of five. “We do our own front-end slabs and foundations and the finishing,” says Lusk. “It’s all the stuff in the middle we have subcontractors for in all the major trades.”
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 Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. has completed construction on the $13.5 million, two-story Poway City Hall and separate Council Chambers. The work included demolition of the old City Hall for the Council Chambers, which will double as a 128-seat community conference center. Architects McGraw Baldwin designed the project. Barnhart CEO Doug Barnhart and COO Tex Barnhart are longtime residents of Poway.
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The Mission SOMA (south of Market) is the name for the new Mission restaurant (the others are in Mission Beach and North Park) finally open and serving breakfast and lunch in a converted vintage East Village structure at 1250 J St. The opening had been set for last May but suffered through permit and red tape delays by different regulatory arms, says Thomas Fitzpatrick, co-owner. “Things went from being approved by one and not the other, then vice versa. And then after being approved by both, someone changed their mind. Then we had to start all over again.” The new number is (619) 232-7662.
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Ez-Living Inc. of San Diego, a maker of mobility scooters, is hoping to bring some new customers into the fold — with its new folding bicycles, including one-speed and six-speed models. If you’re under 6 feet 4 inches and 230 pounds, you’ll fit. The 30-pound Fold-N-Go cycles themselves fit into spaces with dimensions of 32 by 26 by 12 inches — like under a bed or in a trunk. Prices are $130-$150. A three-wheel model for about $200 will be added in the fall. For more, visit ez-living.com.
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The San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina hosts the Electronic Recruiting Exchange Expo March 29-31. Strategies and models in recruitment, retention and management will be covered in workshops and sessions with credits from the Human Resource Certification Institute. For information and registration, visit erexpo.com.
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The Carlsbad-based Gemological Institute of America has formed an advisory board for the fourth International Gemological Symposium Aug. 27 - 29, 2006 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in Downtown San Diego. The board consists of worldwide leaders from every facet of the gem and jewelry industry. For more on the event and institute, visit gia.edu.
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The San Diego Performing Arts League salutes nearly 75 notable volunteers in culture at its annual Star Awards at 7 p.m. May 23 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at the Aventine. The Gold Star will go to Jeanne Jones for her board work with San Diego Opera, La Jolla Playhouse and other endeavors. Tickets are $50-$500. Call (619) 238-0700 Ext. 10 or visit sandiegoperforms.com.
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Spring marches in with a rainbow burst of giant tecolote ranunculus blooms in the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. The 50-acre solid expanse of flowering vegetation — a working, commercial flower farm — opens March 12 with a sweet-pea maze for kids to explore, an antique tractor-pulled wagon ride, as well as gardens of roses and other annuals and perennials. The fields, just east of I-5 off Palomar Airport Road, are open from 9 a.m. to dusk seven days a week through May 8. Admission is $5-$8.
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With warmer weather just around the corner, it may be time to resort to wax to remove winter hair. Ziki’s Brazilian Wax in Carmel Valley will do away with all sorts of body hair, from backs to eyebrows. The signature Brazilian Wax aims for the Southern Hemisphere. “It’s a different procedure,” says Ziki Churchill. “We wax everything there. We just leave the...” Well, let’s just say it has something to do with a zebra. Ziki’s wax and skin care products are from Brazil. She offers facials too. More at zikiswax.com or (858) 780-9929.
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The Regional Airport Authority holds four public workshops this month to discuss land use compatibility plans of local airports and potential airport sites. Each workshop will cover different airports and sites. Workshop locations and topics: March 22, 5 p.m., Vista Library Community Room, 700 Eucalyptus Ave., Vista: McClellan-Palomar, Oceanside, Fallbrook, MCAS Camp Pendleton; March 23, 1 p.m., Mission Valley Library Community Room, 2123 Fenton Parkway, San Diego: Brown Field, Montgomery Field, MCAS Miramar, NAS North Island, NOLF Imperial Beach; March 24, 1 p.m., Airport Authority office, Commuter Terminal, 3225 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego: San Diego International Airport; and March 29, 5 p.m., El Cajon Library Community Room, 201 E. Douglas Ave., El Cajon: Ramona, Gillespie Field, Ocotillo, Borrego Valley, Jacumba and Agua Caliente.
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 BarrioHaus, an adaptive mixed-use project at National Avenue and 16th Street in Barrio Logan, is the latest enterprise of BlokHaus, the development arm of Graham Downes Architecture. The firm has moved into an 11,000-square-foot space in BarrioHaus along with Sushi on a Roll catering company. The entire 39,000-square-foot space on one acre will include office, retail and restaurant space from 1,200 to 3,500 square feet with long-term prospects for live/work loft units. Downes especially is looking to lease to design and arts tenants. ‘Barrio Logan is on track to absorb the next major wave of urban infill in San Diego,’ he says. Hawkins Construction is the contractor. About $1.5 million in improvements have been made so far in the $6 million project.
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IPREX, one of the world’s largest international partnerships of independent PR firms, holds its spring meeting here March 10-12 at the Omni Hotel. Gable-Cook-Schmid Public Relations is the host firm for some 25 members attending from as far away as Düsseldorf, Germany, and London.
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Live Celtic steel sword-fighting and a lifestyle encampment Irish war band will debut this year at the 25th St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival at Balboa Park. On March 12, the Irish Congress of Southern California expects 70,000 to 80,000 attendees, says Toby Giesting, the event’s publicity chair. Festivities include Irish bands, dance performers, a kid’s zone, crafts, food and beer garden. A live recreation of a Celtic Irish village will display weaving, warfare and dress of the first millennium culture.
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The San Diego chapter of Executive Women International presents “Power Hour 2005 for Business Professionals,” featuring Marsha Lindquist, business strategist, April 19 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. Lindquist is CEO of The Management Link Inc. and is the author of “Why Are You Still Working You’re A** Off?” Networking begins at 5:30 p.m. for the dinner event. Cost is $50. For more, contact Bonnie Reiner, (619) 237-6733 or breiner@deloitte.com.
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 A new grove of Urban Trees is taking root along the North Embarcadero. Dedication of the second planting of the Port of San Diego public art project (including Sean Newsome’s 17-foot artificial arbor sprouting at his Mission Hills back yard) is set for noon March 13 at the Broadway Pier. Of the original 30 tree sculptures, the city of Chula Vista has claimed two, Scripps Hospitals have taken three and many of the rest are being sold by the individual artists at prices up to $40,000, says Allan Tait, public art project manager. For more on the trees, log on thebigbay.com/urbantrees.
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Free seminars for women will be offered through a newly organized International Business Women Owner’s network. Professionals and entrepreneurs will assist women who want to promote their own products or services. A membership form is available at aimeweb.org.
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The city of San Diego Public Library has launched a Web site-based One-Search feature enabling patrons to search the library’s catalogue resources and more than 70 online databases. One-Search is available for use at the main library and all 34 branches.
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While San Diego’s bioscience industry has so far ignored Downtown, the opposite is going on in Phoenix where the city holds the official opening this month of its $46 million, 170,000-square-foot downtown Phoenix Biomedical Center at Copper Square. Using public and private funds, the goal is to produce 1 million square feet for the biotechs.
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More than a silly movie, dodgeball has become a happening at the In Cahoots nightclub in Mission Valley. Starting at 6 p.m. on Sundays the club hosts a tournament where teams pay $5 to compete for a first-place prize made up of the registration fees and $100 from the bar. During a late February game, the pot was $290. The action takes place while rock and rap music blares. When it ends, line dancing starts.
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