A 48-Cent Check on Spending by the Federal Government

Your government at work.

* Damn the bureaucrats, full speed ahead.

We The People, the San Diego governmental watchdog group, plans a demonstration at noon Saturday in front of the Star of India on the Embarcadero.

Among other fulminations, group leader Tony Bochene will wave 300-plus checks made out to the U.S. Treasury, each for 48 cents.

The checks are from people who are part of the “48-Cent Rebellion,” so named because the federal government is said to spend $1.48 for every $1 it collects.

Bochene says he’ll keep the checks in an escrow account until the government mends its big-spending ways.

He’s prepared for a long wait: He made sure the account is interest-bearing.

* Marine Lt. Gen. Walter Boomer, commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, is a top candidate to become the next commandant of the Marine Corps when Gen. Alfred Gray retires in July.

In his favor: Boomer’s much-praised leadership of Marines in Operation Desert Storm.

Working against him: His age (only 52) and the fact that other contenders have been three-star generals longer.

* Proof that recycling can be a risky business.

Prosecutors in San Diego are preparing a criminal case against street people named Beatrice and Jitterbug (a.k.a. Junebug).

The pair allegedly swiped five 7-gallon aluminum drums from a business yard in Southeast San Diego, then dumped the contents on the ground and sold the drums to a recycler to buy drugs.

For swiping the drums, a misdemeanor (boosted to a felony because of priors). For dumping the contents, a felony.

The drums were brimming with nitric acid that caused a toxic cloud when dumped that brought neighbors, the Fire Department and the county Department of Health Services.

Beatrice got scalded. Jitterbug, now in County Jail, inhaled the brew and is complaining of flashbacks.

Upscale Hard Times

Seen and heard.

* Recession comes to North County.

Spotted in Solana Beach: Four Jaguars parked outside Marshall’s, the discount retailer.

* Tom Behr, elected to replace ousted San Diego Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt, arrives at the council with a dubious distinction: Fewest votes of any winning council candidate in decades.

Behr’s 4,898 votes represent nine-tenths of 1% of the city’s registered voters.

The previous low was John Hartley, elected in 1989 with 7,900.

* Among those advising Behr during the campaign: Michael McDade, onetime chief of staff to one-time Mayor Roger Hedgecock.

* With Behr aboard, look for a move on the council to reconsider the Housing Trust Fund program (approved 5 to 4, with Bernhardt voting yes) and reroute the money to services such as tree trimming and police.

* President George Bush has been invited to San Diego’s downtown parade May 18 for troops returning from Operation Desert Storm.

Bush gets tons of parade invitations. But locals hope they have a tantalizing two-for-one offer: a big welcome-home ceremony that weekend at Camp Pendleton.

The White House is said to be “interested,” but nothing firm yet.

Building a Relationship

That’s entertainment?

For two summers during my college years, I was a construction worker helping build apartment buildings (egad, a pro-growth past). I remember my co-workers talking incessantly of matters of the flesh and heart.

Apparently I was witnessing art and didn’t realize it.

How else do you explain the official announcement for a coming attraction (“a West Coast premiere”) at the Sushi Performance Gallery in downtown San Diego?:

“Construction worker/performer, Marty Pottenger, who builds actual walls and frames doors on stage as she talks about lovers and ex-lovers.”

P.S. If Pottenger doesn’t show, I can supply some construction workers who can tell some real saucy stories. Particularly on a Monday morning.