San Diego Citizens' Budget Project

Mike Aguirre
Candidate for City Attorney

Click here to view images of the faxed document submitted by Mr. Aguirre to San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government.

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Survey

No.	Reform	Support or Oppose
#1	Enact a Balanced Budget Accountability Initiative
1a	Transparency in the Budget – as Proposed and as Enacted	Support
1b	Transparency on Personnel Vacancies	Support
1c	Quarterly Budget Reconciliation Rule	Support
1d	“Pay-As-You-Go” Budget Rule	Support
1e	Reverse Sales Tax Accrual Accounting for FY 2006
1f	Require Annual Performance and Cost Audit of 20% of Programs
1g	“Strong Mayor” Form of Government	Oppose
1h	Create an Independent Council Budget Analyst Office	Support
#2	Launch an Independent Audit of City Enterprise Funds
2a	Launch an Independent Audit of Enterprise and Special Funds	Support
2b	Elimination of Right-of-Way Fees in FY 2006
#3	Reorganize City Government to Streamline Overhead Costs
3a	Reorganize City Government to Streamline and Consolidate Functions	Support
3b	Create an Office of Management and Budget	Support
3c	Complete DPC Reform in One year; Devise City-Wide IT Architecture Investment Plan	Support
3d	Complete a City Lease and Asset Inventory	Support
3e	Create a Management De-Layering Reform Plan
3f	Launch a Competitive Sourcing and Performance Contracting Initiative
3g	Reform City Civil Service Rules and the Charter to Enhance City Manager Authority Over City Personnel
#4	Create “311” Citizen Service Center
4a	Create a “311” Service Center
4b	Integrate Public Affairs Outreach and Campaigns into One Office
#5	Create a Competitive Bid Process to Make Support Services Efficient
5a	Create a Competitive Sourcing Initiative to Compete at Least Seven City Support Functions in FY 2005
#6	Reform Employee and Optimization Incentive Funds
6a	Provide Incentive System for Employees and City Departments to Achieve Cost Efficiencies	Support
6b	Conduct Employee Morale and Feedback Surveys	Support
6c	Docket and Formally Vote on ZBMR Recommendations
#7	Reduce Skyrocketing Labor Costs and the Pension Liability
7a	Divert Half of FY 2005 Salary Increases to Contribute to a Comprehensive Pension Solution (Contract Renegotiation, Furlough, or Personnel Reductions)
7b	Restrain City Employee Salary Increases by implementing a FY 2006 Salary Freeze, Followed by a 1.5% “Cost of Living’ Increase in FY 2007, and a 1.5% “Performance Pay Increment” in FY 2008 (Divert all Savings to Pension Fund)
7c	Reform of Special Pay and Allowances
7d	Require City Employees to Make the Employee Portion of their Pension Contribution
7e	Implement Annual Employee Performance Reviews
7f	Roll Back Pension Benefits for New Hires (e.g. Reduce Benefits to Previous Levels) *See Page 23
7g	Elimination of the City Council’s Conflict-of-Interest in Pension Votes	Support
7h	Elimination of Option to Purchase Years of Service
7i	Reform Contingent Benefits
7j	Elimination of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan
7k	Change Composition and Governance of SDCERS Board to Eliminate Conflicts of Interest
7l	Change Disability Requirement Definition to that of Social Security System
#8	Establish a Reasonable Limit on City Spending Increases
8a	Limit Spending Increases Proportional to the Population and Inflation Increase in the City Annually (Amend Article VII, Section 71)
#9	Reduce Corporate Welfare and Subsidies to Special Interests
9a	Achieve Full Cost Recovery on Special Events
9b	Assess Fair Market Value Rent for City Properties	Support
9c	Expand Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities to Provide Vehicle for “Giving Back” to the San Diego Community
9d	Replace General Fund Support for the Business Resources and Technology Link
9e	Reform the Subsidy of the San Diego Convention Center Through Competitive Bid
#10	Reduce Mayor and Council Staff Size and Budgets
10a	Reduce Mayoral and Council Budgets by $4.5 Million
10b	Equalize Funding for City Council Members

Statement
My responses to the 2004 Candidate Survey do not include answers to the City's public budget or funding policies, because they are set by the City Council.

However, our Charter assigns the City Attorney duties to protect public funds, which I intend to vigorously meet.

I will draw upon my work as a federal financial crimes prosecutor to enforce our public funds laws. I will use my experience as a pension and securities law attorney to stop the illegal abuse of our city assets, including the City's Pension Funds. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, i will make certain that possible illegal use of public funds is thoroughly investigated. As a government waste, fraud and abuse investigator for the US Senate, I will make sure misuse of public funds cases are pursued.

Having drafted many million plus dollar contracts, I will make certain that City contracts are properly structured to protect the public's interests, and contain no more ticket guarantee type errors.

I will assemble a strong and experienced legal team to esnure the City is properly prepared and vigorously represented in court.

My goal is to be a leader who displays competence, forcefulness, optimision, the capacity to act, and, above all, the ability to inspire every attorney in tihis office to protect the legal interest of San Diegans.

I received a law degree from UC Berkeley and Masters in Public Adminstration from Harvard. I am a third generation San Diegan and father of two, Emilie and Arthur.