Center on Policy Initiatives

Life sciences industry sweeps low-paid workers under the rug

Crystal — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:14:27 +0000

Report: Janitors’ low wages a blotch on biotech’s shining reputation Janitors who clean the offices and laboratories of San Diego’s highly profitable biotech companies generally aren’t paid enough to live on, while their low wages are excluded from the industry’s claims of creating good jobs. A new report from the Center on Policy Initiatives examined...

70% of San Diego voters favor fining banks for blighted foreclosures

Crystal — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:34:22 +0000

Poll shows overwhelming support for proposed ordinance San Diego voters – across the city and across the political spectrum – favor fining banks to cover cleanup costs for foreclosed properties that are not maintained. In a poll conducted last month, 70% of voters who expect to vote in November said they support $1,000-a-day fines for...

Why San Diego must hold banks accountable for foreclosures

Susan — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:52:57 +0000

When a bank forecloses on a home and then doesn’t maintain the property, it can become a hazard to the community, a drag on property values in the neighborhood and a drain on city resources. Norma Rodriguez, a CPI organizer, explained on KUSI TV today how blighted properties owned by banks are costing local governments...

Streamlining or steamrolling?

Susan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:17:42 +0000

Under the guise of “streamlining,” Mayor Jerry Sanders is asking the San Diego City Council to steamroll community concerns and give him more power to make closed-door deals with contractors. A vote is scheduled during the Council meeting that begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 20. The broad-based Community Budget Alliance, which includes CPI and...

Students for Economic Justice: Apply now for summer 2012

Susan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:21:08 +0000

Students for Economic Justice (SEJ) is a CPI summer internship program that prepares future labor and community organizers and progressive leaders in San Diego. Students participating in this intensive 8-week program receive organizing training, skills building, and in-the-field experience working on campaigns for economic and social justice. SEJ is a paid internship for college students...

SEJ 2012 Application Link

xavier — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 01:41:29 +0000

To submit your application, please save this word document to your hard drive and then fill it out. The link to the word document is below. Then email the document as an attachment, along with your essay answers, one letter of recommendation, and your resume to sej@onlinecpi.org.

Make banks clean up their mess: News coverage of foreclosure proposal

Susan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:58:39 +0000

People whose neighborhoods have been left blighted by foreclosures joined with CPI and our ally ACCE yesterday to urge the San Diego City Council to consider our proposed ordinance to crack down on the banks. Norma Rodriguez of CPI appeared on local TV news last night to explain the need and the solution. Watch her...

The wealth gap and the Millionaires Tax

xavier — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:22:59 +0000

A UT story this morning on the Millionaires Tax proposal to fund California schools referred to “what some see as a wealth gap.” That’s like saying “some see” the Grand Canyon as steep terrain. The huge divide between the super-wealthy and the rest of us is a matter of arithmetic, not perception. The Organization for...

CPI’s Corinne Wilson Shares Sobering Foreclosure Facts

xavier — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:40:45 +0000

For the February meeting of A Better San Diego’s breakfast forum, Corinne Wilson joined Dave Lagstein of ACCE to share facts aout the devastating impact of the Foreclosure Crisis. Read the news article about the meeting here.

Thank You & Happy New Year!

xavier — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:46:27 +0000

On behalf of the CPI team, I want to wish you a very happy and fruitful new year! We’re so grateful to everyone who donated to CPI in 2011. Your generous support makes our work for economic justice and shared prosperity possible!As we enter 2012, economic inequality is increasingly prominent in the public discourse. I’m...