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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Read attorney's absurd defense of taking a $300K taxpayer-funded salary while working on a CRUISE
A senior San Diego city attorney who was paid a $300,000 taxpayer-funded salary while working remotely on a luxury cruise liner for over three months boasted to colleagues that she was having an 'amazing' time, according to emails obtained exclusively by Daily Mail. Jean Jordan, Executive Assistant City Attorney for the fiercely Democratic Southern California city, spent 117 days traveling the oceans while exploring stunning destinations. She visited multiple exotic locales, including Africa, and spent three weeks in Europe, including Gibraltar - a British territory connected to Spain - and Italy, all while she was working; and reportedly accruing benefits and vacation time. The 65-year-old left on January 20 and was thousands of miles away on the other side of the globe from her office before returning on May 16, according to emails obtained through by Daily Mail through a public records request. After her controversial trip hit the headlines, internal emails from the City Attorney's office reveal Jordan messaged a city official on April 16: 'It is baffling to me that given all the things happening in the world-that this is front page news. Sigh!' And she gushed: 'On another note, trip has been amazing! We are having a grand time.' Jordan visited Africa and Europe, where she spent three weeks, with breaks in Gibraltar (pictured) and Italy as part of her exotic round-the-world adventure - all while she was working; reportedly being paid her salary and accrued full benefits, including vacation time She wrote to Stephen Cushman, a board member with the San Diego Housing Commission, after he had called critics questioning the integrity and optics of Jordan's trip 'a bunch of jealous yahoos.' Her boss, City Attorney Heather Ferbert, had previously insisted she was 'in constant communication' with Jordan despite her being on the high seas. But the internal communications reveal the remote work set-up was far from ideal, despite claims to the contrary. In fact, Jordan suffered multiple technology-related glitches and potential work-flow hurdles. She also admitted to being hobbled by the extreme difference in time zones making effective communication with co-workers difficult, including having to reschedule online conference meetings. She complained to several coworkers via emails, which sometimes included typos. 'The time difference is challenging,' Jordan griped to an assistant back in San Diego on March 6. 'Now that I am in this new time zone I am 13 hours apart. 'So in other words If it is 8:00 am you time it is -it is 9:00 p.m. my time. So for now the earlier in heather's the better for me. The meeting we have now for Friday is midnight my time.' And on March 13, she wrote to colleague Leslie FitzGerald: 'Miss talking with you. The time difference makes it hard. I will text you later and see if we can make a time work.' Jordan exchanged multiple emails with office 'Information Systems' specialist Kevin Westover over 'tech difficulties' and 'connectivity' issues, described as a 'problem.' They appeared desperate to fix on-going issues with using her Hewlett Packard laptop and various systems error messages. In one email, including typos, Westover asked: 'Hello Jean, your (sic) are still in Gibraltar? Is that considered Europe? Just trying to make sure that exception is on the list. Also, what type of error are you getting from the laptop while attempting to access SAP?' Jordan wrote: 'Hi Kevin, I cannot access again. I am in Gibraltar. I will be in Europe for the next three weeks.' She emailed him on March 26: 'I was in Gibraltar yesterday. We are on the way to Italy now and will remain in Europe for about 3 weeks. When I try to get into SAP it says 'This site can't be reached sharepoint may be down or it may have moved to a new web address.' Also, 'Can't seem to figure out how to get into success factors.' On the same day she wrote: 'I turned off Global Protect. It is working better now-but I cannot access SAP. 'I have turned off the computer several times. I turned off airplane mode and I tried to get into SAP and it says this site can't be reached.' With apparent mutual frustration, Westover responded, 'have you restarted the computer?' He also wrote: 'Can you verify you are connected to Global Protect and screenshot me the settings page from Global Protect.' Jordan explained: 'I was in Gibraltar yesterday. We are on the way to Italy now and will remain in Europe for about 3 weeks. When I try to get into SAP it says 'This site can't be reached sharepoint may be down or it may have moved to a new web address.' On the same day, March 26, Westover queried: 'Hmmmmm okay, do you even have access to internet.' Jordan wrote: 'I have rebooted computer several times. I looked up what that triangle means and it says it is a connectivity issue-something about authentication. Not sure what else to try.' She also sent him photo images of her laptop screen to help to try to resolve the issue. shots of her computer In a message to another colleague, with the subject 'BLocked,' Jordan announced: 'I cannot access again.' On March 18, she emailed yet another colleague 'I am unable to access SAP,' followed by a emoji frown face. The same day she had an email from the IT department telling her to reach out if she continued 'to have issues.' Remarkably, a clearly agitated Jordan found time to accuse a Daily Mail reporter of 'lying' in a curt April 17 email to Paola Avila, Chief of Staff to Mayor Todd Gloria, when contacted about her floating workspace. It followed a request for comment sent to Jordan on March 14 which prompted the following auto-reply: 'Thank you for your email. I am out of the office today April 14, 2025. I will not have access to email or voicemail. I will return April 15, 2025. lf you have an urgent matter please contact Leslie FitzGerald.' In an email to staff on April 15, Ferbert wrote of the 'benefits to the Office and the City when an employee is willing and able to complete their work remotely but has circumstances that may take them away from the physical office space for a limited amount of time.' Jordan was on her cruise away from the office for three and a half months. In the email, Ferbert glowingly described Jordan an 'experienced, well-respected professional who has served the City of San Diego in the City Attorney's Office for the past four years.' She noted that Jordan had planned to retire toward the end of 2024 and had pre-arranged her cruise but stayed on following Ferbert's appointment to the top post in November. Ferbert, a Democrat, had 'every confidence' that Jordan was 'completing her work well above the expectations set for all the attorneys.' Jordan is currently paid $282,651 per year and she was paid $239,000 a year prior to her recent promotion in, per the outlet. She was paid $155,000 in her previous job as attorney for Sutter County, north of Sacramento. According to her LinkedIn profile, Jordan is a 'Level 1' CrossFit trainer and has a real estate license. Marlea Dell'Anno, a former lawyer for the city, previously told Daily Mail: 'I can't tell you how many people have called me or emailed me about this. People are outraged!' 'I don't understand how as a leader you could ever think that's a good idea. 'How is the work getting done? You're talking about an executive and a taxpayer funded position. 'There's an expectation of being physically present to lead your team. 'Remote work has its place - but there's a significant difference between working from home and working from a global cruise. 'This stretches the definition of telework beyond what is reasonable.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
After shootings in Myrtle Beach, here's a look at what the downtown ambassadors do
Steady foot traffic along Ocean Boulevard in the early evening hours on Friday before the thunderstorm was met by men in yellow polo shirts. Those men are Gold Cap Ambassadors, a taxpayer funded program by the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance, and they were doing their job to keep the main drag of Ocean Boulevard between 9th and 16th Avenues clean. Carrying plastic buckets and armed with trash pickers, the ambassadors made their way up and down Ocean Boulevard picking up food wrappers, napkins and cigarette butts. A golf cart in the same color yellow as the polo shirts was parked right in front of the SkyWheel, and was utilized to drive the filled trash buckets away. While the ambassadors were walking around Ocean Boulevard early on Friday evening, there was no visible Myrtle Beach Police Department presence, including officers, cars or golf carts. Just before 6 p.m. an unmarked black Dodge with a uniform officer drove southbound along Ocean Boulevard. Two of the four out on Friday wore 'ambassador-in-training' shirts. They both declined to comment when asked about their new jobs. A third gold cap ambassador also declined to comment when approached by The Sun News. John Pellish, was picking up garbage just before 6 p.m. across the street from the Gay Dolphin Gift Cove. Originally from Pennsylvania, Pellish said he's been an ambassador since this past February and has lived in Myrtle Beach for the past three years. 'I like it down here and I like to see the city clean,' he said when asked why he wanted to become an ambassador. During a typical shift, Pellish said he picks a zone downtown and takes a plastic gallon bucket and a trash picker and cleans up leftover litter. 'We talk to everybody, help the homeless if they want it and watch out for everybody,' he said about the community interaction part of his job. If there's an emergency downtown, Pellish said he and all the other ambassadors have a radio that they can call back to their headquarters. From there, he said, someone at the main offices on the other end of the radio will call the police. Concerns about safety along Ocean Boulevard have escalated after the busy summer season started with multiple shootings and violent crime events. In the wake of the events, questions arose about how safe downtown Myrtle Beach really is and what safety measures are taxpayer funded. In addition to paying for Myrtle Beach Police Department officers to patrol downtown and implement a flushing traffic pattern to make way for emergency vehicles, taxpayers are also funding the Ambassadors program through the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance. The program was started five years ago in 2020 with the goals of improving the cleanliness and safety perceptions of downtown Myrtle Beach. 'Their duties do not replace any city services or supplement police, rather work as an extra set of eyes and ears for our multiple levels of enforcement including the police but also code enforcement and public works,' a job description of the gold cap ambassadors reads on a city-run website. At a Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance board meeting earlier this month on May 15, board members approved their budget for the next fiscal year, pending the approval of the City of Myrtle Beach's final budget by the city council. According to a slide at the meeting, the ambassadors walk approximately eight miles a day during their shift. On Friday and Saturday night, the MBDA has five ambassadors on shift from 1:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Many of the violent crimes committed downtown this summer have occurred after 10 p.m., according to previous reporting. A large chunk of the MBDA's budget is devoted to increasing the number of gold cap ambassadors downtown by four for the 2026 fiscal year. In April, the MBDA spent $54,473.62 on the ambassador program. In 2025 through the end of April, the MBDA spent $534,101.09 on the ambassadors, making it the organization's second largest expense of the year behind management and overhead. The program will be increasing its cost by 34%, a slide at the MBDA budget meeting showed. That will increase the cost to almost a million dollars, or $877,564.99, with the addition of four extra ambassadors to help serve the south end of downtown. In total, the MBDA's fiscal year budget for 2026 is $2,386,128.84, meeting documents stated. MBDA spokesperson Michelle Cantey said after the meeting that the expansion plans were already in place before the fatal North Ocean Boulevard shooting on April 26. She added that gold cap ambassadors are not a replacement for law enforcement downtown, but are meant to answer questions and be a friendly presence.
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Election candidates to get taxpayer-funded security under new proposals
Election candidates could be given taxpayer-funded security details during their campaigns as part of an overhaul of MPs' safety. The move is being considered by a parliamentary committee convened to discuss the safety risk to politicians, The Telegraph understands. It comes amid growing threats to MPs and a series of arson attacks that allegedly targeted the Prime Minister earlier this month. The recommendation is one of a number being considered by House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle's committee on MPs' safety, according to those familiar with the discussions. Known as the Speakers' Conference, the extraordinary committee was convened last year and has regularly met to take evidence from experts and formulate new ways to tackle threats. The Conference is chaired by Speaker Hoyle and comprises 14 other MPs from across the political divide. It has met fortnightly since December and will publish an interim report in June. The interim report is expected to disclose findings so far, make broad recommendations for how to improve MPs safety and set out new data-gathering ideas for how to monitor threats to MPs. On Wednesday, the committee had its penultimate meeting before the publication of the report. Those present said that draft proposals, which are not yet finalised, were discussed. These include a move to provide all parliamentary candidates with access to taxpayer-funded private security details, which have previously been available to MPs. Last year, The Telegraph revealed widespread use of such arrangements for MPs after the Oct 7 atrocities and a perceived increase in threat levels. During the last general election, the Home Office funded private security protection for MPs running for re-election through a private contractor. Candidates from all parties were provided with a named police officer in their local force to provide protection and advice. The provision was previously only available to sitting MPs. In this month's local elections council candidates for the first time had access to the same service from their local police forces. There has been an increasing focus on the threat to MPs in recent years after the murder of two MPs, Sir David Amess and Jo Cox. The Electoral Commission recently warned of a rise in threats to candidates. Its survey of hundreds of parliamentary candidates from the last general election showed that nearly half faced harassment, intimidation or threats while knocking on doors. Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, used her victory speech last July to describe the campaign as 'horrible' and 'the worst election I have ever stood in'. She was heckled and jeered at by a crowd during her speech. The committee has also looked at the role of misinformation in the increasing threat levels against candidates. As part of the Conference's work, Speaker Hoyle asked the Local Government Association (LGA) if it would be possible for councils to rebut misinformation during election campaigns. In a letter of response, seen by The Telegraph, the LGA said: 'We do not believe local authorities have any powers or responsibilities to intervene to rebut mis/disinformation about candidates in elections. Indeed, we believe they are precluded from doing so.' Other areas under consideration by the committee include the uneven approach of police forces to protecting politicians. While some forces such as the Metropolitan Police have been identified as proactive, others are seen to be less effective in protecting MPs and charging those who make violent threats. The possibility of a national framework for police forces to deal with threats to democracy has been raised. 'Awful but lawful attacks' MPs on the committee have also discussed intimidation that falls below the legal threshold for prosecution but leaves parliamentarians feeling unsafe. No firm conclusions have yet been reached on how to deal with these so-called 'awful but lawful' attacks. A spokesperson for the Speaker's Conference said: 'The House has established a Speaker's Conference to consider the factors influencing the threat levels against MPs and candidates during the election period, and the effectiveness of the response to such threats. 'Since its first meeting in December 2024, the Conference has heard from a range of groups and individuals with expertise on the issues it is considering, and will publish its initial findings in due course. The ability for Members and their staff to perform their Parliamentary duties safely, both on and off the estate, remains fundamental to our democracy.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Courage, Senate: Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, Stop Forced Funding of Big Abortion
The only certainties in this world, a famous quip says, are death and taxes. No group in America weds the two like Planned Parenthood. The indisputable head of the abortion industry, they boast of more than 400,000 abortions a year – at least ten times the capacity of Times Square. And they do it while raking in nearly 40% of their $2 billion in income from taxpayers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that just passed the House of Representatives is the best opportunity to stop forced taxpayer funding of Big Abortion since 2017, when a similar effort fell short by one vote. As the Republican majority works through budget reconciliation, all the Democrats' old lies are re-emerging: 'Women will lose critical health care.' 'Planned Parenthood does more than abortion.' More than ever, they fall flat. For the longest time, it seemed certain Planned Parenthood was 'too big to fail' and politically untouchable. At over a century old, they've outlived scandal after scandal: multi-million-dollar payouts to settle Medicaid fraud charges. Dozens of employee lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. Their eugenics-driven foundress, Margaret Sanger, getting cast under the bus during 2020's summer of unrest. Even – horrific as it is – the revelation of their selling freshly harvested organs of aborted babies for thousands of dollars apiece in incentives. The abortion giant not only survived – the subsidies taxpayers were forced to pay increased to more than $700 million, including about half a billion from Medicaid. They've survived in part by grossly exaggerating their importance as a health care provider of last resort for poor women – for instance, allowing the public to think they provide mammograms (they never have). They cling to this fiction as a shield, even while their own reports show massive declines in everything from contraception to pap smears. Except abortions, of course. Those are at record level. When a pregnant woman enters Planned Parenthood looking for help, 97% of the time she is sold an abortion, rather than supported in parenting or planning for adoption. Now, a new analysis by the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates community health centers offering women's health care outnumber Planned Parenthood locations (in-person and virtual) 15 to one nationwide. These include 5,500 federally qualified health centers, which provide comprehensive health care services to low-income and underserved populations, and 3,300 rural health clinics serving Medicaid and Medicare patients in areas particularly vulnerable to care shortages. That's on top of thousands of pregnancy resource centers that provide free baby supplies, education and assistance. Women have real choices. Community health centers are vastly more available than Planned Parenthood, and more women choose them already. When Medicaid patients choose these centers, Medicaid dollars stay with them. At last, scandal-plagued Planned Parenthood is poised to collapse under its many detriments. The New York Times, no pro-life outlet, acknowledged Planned Parenthood botches procedures and subjects patients to inhuman treatment. In one case, sewage was allowed to leak into a recovery room for days. NPR highlighted 'dysfunction' between rank-and-file employees and management, with one former employee stating she was repeatedly expected to break protocol to assist surgical abortions despite being the sole nurse on duty. Moreover, billions of dollars in donations go not to fix their appalling conditions, but to fund the organization's constant litigation and political activism. OpenSecrets found Planned Parenthood spends more to lobby the federal government than any group on either side of the abortion issue. Supposedly in a financial crisis, they've just taken out a full-page ad in The New York Times – the outlet they feel betrayed them – signed by some of the richest people in America. But the media won't save them. The courts won't bail them out. Even Gavin Newsom is cutting them off. Enter a new administration focused on rooting out waste and fraud. In March, the Trump administration halted millions in Title X funds to Planned Parenthood, citing a review of their DEI policies. In any case, millions of Americans strongly reject abortion as 'family planning.' Groups that treat it as such aren't entitled to tax dollars. The freeze is already having an effect as Planned Parenthood centers shutter across the country. Only Congress can tackle mandatory Medicaid spending, however. Some say we're tilting at windmills, since the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of elective abortions. Because money is fungible, this is like claiming subsidies to McDonald's Corporation wouldn't underwrite hamburger sales. It's rich coming from Democrats in Washington, some of whom used to support the life-saving Hyde Amendment but virtually all of whom despise it today. Even occasional Republicans, making anonymous, uninformed statements to the media, miss this key point. Fortunately, they are a minority; the pro-life movement is united to defund Big Abortion, as is the GOP with leaders like Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune. Defunding Big Abortion is a win-win for fiscal hawks and patients. With 70% of voters concerned about wasteful spending, there can be no more excuses for forcing such a terrible investment on taxpayers. This is the new certainty: Planned Parenthood's gravy train must end. Have courage, Senate Republicans. Women deserve better than shoddy and shrinking care. They won't miss the smell of sewage. It's time to expose the Democrats, not only as patronizing and hypocritical but radically blind to the harm to women and children. Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The only certainties in this world, a famous quip says, are death and taxes. No group in America weds the two like Planned Parenthood. The indisputable head of the abortion industry, they boast of more than 400,000 abortions a year – at least ten times the capacity of Times Square. And they do it while raking in nearly 40% of their $2 billion in income from taxpayers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that just passed the House of Representatives is the best opportunity to stop forced taxpayer funding of Big Abortion since 2017, when a similar effort fell short by one vote. As the Republican majority works through budget reconciliation, all the Democrats' old lies are re-emerging: 'Women will lose critical health care.' 'Planned Parenthood does more than abortion.' More than ever, they fall flat. For the longest time, it seemed certain Planned Parenthood was 'too big to fail' and politically untouchable. At over a century old, they've outlived scandal after scandal: multi-million-dollar payouts to settle Medicaid fraud charges. Dozens of employee lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. Their eugenics-driven foundress, Margaret Sanger, getting cast under the bus during 2020's summer of unrest. Even – horrific as it is – the revelation of their selling freshly harvested organs of aborted babies for thousands of dollars apiece in incentives. The abortion giant not only survived – the subsidies taxpayers were forced to pay increased to more than $700 million, including about half a billion from Medicaid. They've survived in part by grossly exaggerating their importance as a health care provider of last resort for poor women – for instance, allowing the public to think they provide mammograms (they never have). They cling to this fiction as a shield, even while their own reports show massive declines in everything from contraception to pap smears. Except abortions, of course. Those are at record level. When a pregnant woman enters Planned Parenthood looking for help, 97% of the time she is sold an abortion, rather than supported in parenting or planning for adoption. Now, a new analysis by the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates community health centers offering women's health care outnumber Planned Parenthood locations (in-person and virtual) 15 to one nationwide. These include 5,500 federally qualified health centers, which provide comprehensive health care services to low-income and underserved populations, and 3,300 rural health clinics serving Medicaid and Medicare patients in areas particularly vulnerable to care shortages. That's on top of thousands of pregnancy resource centers that provide free baby supplies, education and assistance. Women have real choices. Community health centers are vastly more available than Planned Parenthood, and more women choose them already. When Medicaid patients choose these centers, Medicaid dollars stay with them. At last, scandal-plagued Planned Parenthood is poised to collapse under its many detriments. The New York Times, no pro-life outlet, acknowledged Planned Parenthood botches procedures and subjects patients to inhuman treatment. In one case, sewage was allowed to leak into a recovery room for days. NPR highlighted 'dysfunction' between rank-and-file employees and management, with one former employee stating she was repeatedly expected to break protocol to assist surgical abortions despite being the sole nurse on duty. Moreover, billions of dollars in donations go not to fix their appalling conditions, but to fund the organization's constant litigation and political activism. OpenSecrets found Planned Parenthood spends more to lobby the federal government than any group on either side of the abortion issue. Supposedly in a financial crisis, they've just taken out a full-page ad in The New York Times – the outlet they feel betrayed them – signed by some of the richest people in America. But the media won't save them. The courts won't bail them out. Even Gavin Newsom is cutting them off. Enter a new administration focused on rooting out waste and fraud. In March, the Trump administration halted millions in Title X funds to Planned Parenthood, citing a review of their DEI policies. In any case, millions of Americans strongly reject abortion as 'family planning.' Groups that treat it as such aren't entitled to tax dollars. The freeze is already having an effect as Planned Parenthood centers shutter across the country. Only Congress can tackle mandatory Medicaid spending, however. Some say we're tilting at windmills, since the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of elective abortions. Because money is fungible, this is like claiming subsidies to McDonald's Corporation wouldn't underwrite hamburger sales. It's rich coming from Democrats in Washington, some of whom used to support the life-saving Hyde Amendment but virtually all of whom despise it today. Even occasional Republicans, making anonymous, uninformed statements to the media, miss this key point. Fortunately, they are a minority; the pro-life movement is united to defund Big Abortion, as is the GOP with leaders like Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune. Defunding Big Abortion is a win-win for fiscal hawks and patients. With 70% of voters concerned about wasteful spending, there can be no more excuses for forcing such a terrible investment on taxpayers. This is the new certainty: Planned Parenthood's gravy train must end. Have courage, Senate Republicans. Women deserve better than shoddy and shrinking care. They won't miss the smell of sewage. It's time to expose the Democrats, not only as patronizing and hypocritical but radically blind to the harm to women and children. Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Times
08-05-2025
- Science
- Times
Hope to halt climate change by thickening Arctic sea ice
The government is to spend £10 million on investigating whether climate change could be slowed by refreezing the Arctic. Scientists at the University of Cambridge will explore whether the Arctic's rapidly diminishing sea ice could be artificially thickened, with field trials set to begin in Canada this year. The scheme is one of 21 'geo-engineering' projects that will receive £57 million in taxpayer money in total. The aim is to assess whether a range of controversial techniques could one day be used to modify the climate and cool the funding includes £400,000 to explore the feasibility of building a giant parasol in space to shade a portion of the planet, and £5 million to look at whether high-altitude cirrus clouds that act as
