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

Jerry Brown's Fletcher endorsement a Prop 30 payoff?

Democratic governor enters San Diego's mayoral fray by backing candidate of his billionaire political angel Irwin Jacobs

Illegal Snapdragon signage at Qualcomm Stadium
Illegal Snapdragon signage at Qualcomm Stadium

Last year, New York's mayor Mike Bloomberg reached a supportive hand across the continent to San Diego, endorsing assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a newly independent candidate for mayor who had just quit the Republican Party.

Political observers in the know pointed to a multi-billion dollar deal between Bloomberg and San Diego's richest man, Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, to build a huge high-tech campus on New York's Roosevelt Island in partnership with Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Flash forward to this week, and yet another race for San Diego mayor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

This time, it's California's Democratic governor Jerry Brown endorsing Fletcher, now a newly hatched Democrat, for San Diego's top job. Like Bloomberg, Brown, too, has been financially friendly with the La Jolla billionaire, picking up big money over the years for a variety of political causes.

In September of last year, Jacobs and his wife Joan gave more than $100,000 to Brown's successful Proposition 30, the measure that raised state taxes.

Brown and other state Democrats have additional big-money ties to Jacobs, who has customarily used campaign cash to get his way with state and local politicians of both parties.

He was a major backer of GOP mayor Jerry Sanders, who let Qualcomm change the name of the city's professional football venue to "Snapdragon Stadium" as part of a multimillion-dollar marketing gimmick that Republican city attorney Jan Goldsmith said was illegal.

Then there was the case of the threatening letter from lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom to California historic preservation chief Milford Wayne Donaldson, warning him not to get in the way of a radical Balboa Park makeover sponsored by Jacobs.

Said Newsom:

This is a project with broad local political, philanthropic and community support so it may be more productive to work in collaboration with the project development team to achieve your goal of preserving this historical open-space.

As the State Historic Preservation Officer I hope that you will consider these arguments, withdraw your comments, and begin to work in collaboration with the leaders of the Plaza de Panama project.

Should you need help making contact with the project team I stand ready to assist.

Four weeks later, Newsom's reelection campaign reported it had picked up a tidy $12,000 from Jacobs and his wife, in addition to the $5000 they had already contributed to the former San Francisco mayor. A court ruling later killed the park project.

Donaldson is no longer a member of the Brown administration.

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

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Illegal Snapdragon signage at Qualcomm Stadium
Illegal Snapdragon signage at Qualcomm Stadium

Last year, New York's mayor Mike Bloomberg reached a supportive hand across the continent to San Diego, endorsing assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a newly independent candidate for mayor who had just quit the Republican Party.

Political observers in the know pointed to a multi-billion dollar deal between Bloomberg and San Diego's richest man, Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, to build a huge high-tech campus on New York's Roosevelt Island in partnership with Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Flash forward to this week, and yet another race for San Diego mayor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

This time, it's California's Democratic governor Jerry Brown endorsing Fletcher, now a newly hatched Democrat, for San Diego's top job. Like Bloomberg, Brown, too, has been financially friendly with the La Jolla billionaire, picking up big money over the years for a variety of political causes.

In September of last year, Jacobs and his wife Joan gave more than $100,000 to Brown's successful Proposition 30, the measure that raised state taxes.

Brown and other state Democrats have additional big-money ties to Jacobs, who has customarily used campaign cash to get his way with state and local politicians of both parties.

He was a major backer of GOP mayor Jerry Sanders, who let Qualcomm change the name of the city's professional football venue to "Snapdragon Stadium" as part of a multimillion-dollar marketing gimmick that Republican city attorney Jan Goldsmith said was illegal.

Then there was the case of the threatening letter from lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom to California historic preservation chief Milford Wayne Donaldson, warning him not to get in the way of a radical Balboa Park makeover sponsored by Jacobs.

Said Newsom:

This is a project with broad local political, philanthropic and community support so it may be more productive to work in collaboration with the project development team to achieve your goal of preserving this historical open-space.

As the State Historic Preservation Officer I hope that you will consider these arguments, withdraw your comments, and begin to work in collaboration with the leaders of the Plaza de Panama project.

Should you need help making contact with the project team I stand ready to assist.

Four weeks later, Newsom's reelection campaign reported it had picked up a tidy $12,000 from Jacobs and his wife, in addition to the $5000 they had already contributed to the former San Francisco mayor. A court ruling later killed the park project.

Donaldson is no longer a member of the Brown administration.

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

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Next Article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

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.