Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rock de AT&T

Juan Vargas
Juan Vargas

Rock de AT&T It was a penultimate series of sorts: the almost-final round of dining and entertainment freebies accepted by staffers of Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, odds-on favorite to win the 51st District seat in the U.S. Congress this fall. Thanks to communications giant AT&T, Vargas’s chief of staff Jim Anderson got two tickets worth $162 to a Sacramento Kings game on April 5, according to the company’s most recent disclosure filing. Attending the same game at $81 each were Vargas scheduler Stacey Brown and legislative director Ermelinda Ruiz.

Members of the Vargas crew weren’t the only San Diego–based recipients of AT&T’s largesse. On April 17, Democratic assemblyman Ben Hueso showed up for a Maná concert at Sacramento’s Power Balance Pavilion, where he got gratis admission and a parking pass worth $93 at a sold-out performance of the highly popular “Rock en tu idioma” band. Hueso’s consultant Lourdes Jimenez attended with an AT&T ticket worth $81.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Other legislators who got into the Maná bash for free were assembly Democrats Nora Campos, Ricardo Lara, Henry Perea, Roger Hernandez, and Das Williams, along with 16 of their legislative aides. And, as they say on TV, that’s not all. On April 20, Bill Bailey, consultant to GOP senator Bob Dutton, and Rob Flanigan, chief of staff to Republican assemblyman Brian Nestande, got two tickets each to a Kings game, total cost $322.

AT&T reserved some of its bigger gifts for the kids, handing out five tickets in June for Sesame Street Live to Marcus McKinney, special assistant to assembly speaker John Pérez. Those were worth $417. Gail Gronert and Amy Brown, both Pérez assistants, each got four tickets valued at $336 to the event, as did Bob Dutton’s consultant Julie Nystrom.

But AT&T wasn’t yet done gifting. The corporation paid for Ricardo Lara and his field representative Cory Allen to attend the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation media awards in Los Angeles on April 21. That set AT&T back a total of $746. The phone company also shelled out big money for some lucky California pols and their staffers to view the U.S. Open golf tournament at San Francisco’s Olympic Club in June. Republican assemblyman Dan Logue picked up a single ticket worth $325. His colleague Democrat Sandré Swanson got two event passes valued at $420, as did Republican senator Anthony Cannella. In all, during the second quarter of this year, AT&T laid out a total of $42,418 in “activity expenses,” lobbyist-speak for covering the cost of wining, dining, and other forms of entertainment for the company’s legislative friends.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Juan Vargas
Juan Vargas

Rock de AT&T It was a penultimate series of sorts: the almost-final round of dining and entertainment freebies accepted by staffers of Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, odds-on favorite to win the 51st District seat in the U.S. Congress this fall. Thanks to communications giant AT&T, Vargas’s chief of staff Jim Anderson got two tickets worth $162 to a Sacramento Kings game on April 5, according to the company’s most recent disclosure filing. Attending the same game at $81 each were Vargas scheduler Stacey Brown and legislative director Ermelinda Ruiz.

Members of the Vargas crew weren’t the only San Diego–based recipients of AT&T’s largesse. On April 17, Democratic assemblyman Ben Hueso showed up for a Maná concert at Sacramento’s Power Balance Pavilion, where he got gratis admission and a parking pass worth $93 at a sold-out performance of the highly popular “Rock en tu idioma” band. Hueso’s consultant Lourdes Jimenez attended with an AT&T ticket worth $81.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Other legislators who got into the Maná bash for free were assembly Democrats Nora Campos, Ricardo Lara, Henry Perea, Roger Hernandez, and Das Williams, along with 16 of their legislative aides. And, as they say on TV, that’s not all. On April 20, Bill Bailey, consultant to GOP senator Bob Dutton, and Rob Flanigan, chief of staff to Republican assemblyman Brian Nestande, got two tickets each to a Kings game, total cost $322.

AT&T reserved some of its bigger gifts for the kids, handing out five tickets in June for Sesame Street Live to Marcus McKinney, special assistant to assembly speaker John Pérez. Those were worth $417. Gail Gronert and Amy Brown, both Pérez assistants, each got four tickets valued at $336 to the event, as did Bob Dutton’s consultant Julie Nystrom.

But AT&T wasn’t yet done gifting. The corporation paid for Ricardo Lara and his field representative Cory Allen to attend the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation media awards in Los Angeles on April 21. That set AT&T back a total of $746. The phone company also shelled out big money for some lucky California pols and their staffers to view the U.S. Open golf tournament at San Francisco’s Olympic Club in June. Republican assemblyman Dan Logue picked up a single ticket worth $325. His colleague Democrat Sandré Swanson got two event passes valued at $420, as did Republican senator Anthony Cannella. In all, during the second quarter of this year, AT&T laid out a total of $42,418 in “activity expenses,” lobbyist-speak for covering the cost of wining, dining, and other forms of entertainment for the company’s legislative friends.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.