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

The current Sunroad blowup shows rank hypocrisy

Those who lauded Sanders's sleazy actions denounce Filner's bumbling ones.

The flap over Mayor Bob Filner's mishandling of the Sunroad Enterprise matter brings to mind another scandal regarding that company back in the 2007-2008 time period. Comparison of these two scandals shows the staggering hypocrisy of the San Diego establishment and its mouthpiece, the Union-Tribune.

Back in the 2007-2008 period, Sunroad built a 12-story structure near Montgomery Field; both the Federal Aviation Administration and the California Department of Transportation said it was too high, and therefore unsafe for a building this close to an airport. Then-City Attorney Mike Aguirre sued and the federal and state agencies joined the suit. A number of ugly things happened: Police Chief William Lansdowne refused to serve a subpoena to a Sunroad vice president, although the subpoena had been approved by a respected judge. Elected officials such as Bonnie Dumanis and Bill Kolender collectively denounced Aguirre. Mayor Jerry Sanders huddled with aides to figure out how to get Sunroad off the hook. Why? Well, a major reason was that Sunroad had given thousands of dollars to Sanders's campaign. Another reason is that Sunroad is a real estate developer, and that element then ran City Hall. The Union-Tribune's pathetic editorial page wrote one screed after another, claiming that Aguirre was smearing the Sunroad executive, acting irresponsibly, ad nauseam.

Now Sunroad is at it again. It wanted an easement, and to do so, paid $100,000 to the City -- repeat, to THE CITY, not, as far as can be determined, to the mayor. There appears to be no doubt that the payment was a quid pro quo; Filner was stupid to accept it for City projects. His explanations of how it all happened are shaky. It does not appear that he was massaging a donor, or putting any of the money in his pockets. But the U-T, which takes delight in smearing Filner, is on the attack, questioning his trustworthiness and integrity...blah, blah, blah.

The same establishment that fought to protect Sanders and Sunroad has now done a backflip over a much less serious issue. Do things ever change?

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

Previous article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest

The flap over Mayor Bob Filner's mishandling of the Sunroad Enterprise matter brings to mind another scandal regarding that company back in the 2007-2008 time period. Comparison of these two scandals shows the staggering hypocrisy of the San Diego establishment and its mouthpiece, the Union-Tribune.

Back in the 2007-2008 period, Sunroad built a 12-story structure near Montgomery Field; both the Federal Aviation Administration and the California Department of Transportation said it was too high, and therefore unsafe for a building this close to an airport. Then-City Attorney Mike Aguirre sued and the federal and state agencies joined the suit. A number of ugly things happened: Police Chief William Lansdowne refused to serve a subpoena to a Sunroad vice president, although the subpoena had been approved by a respected judge. Elected officials such as Bonnie Dumanis and Bill Kolender collectively denounced Aguirre. Mayor Jerry Sanders huddled with aides to figure out how to get Sunroad off the hook. Why? Well, a major reason was that Sunroad had given thousands of dollars to Sanders's campaign. Another reason is that Sunroad is a real estate developer, and that element then ran City Hall. The Union-Tribune's pathetic editorial page wrote one screed after another, claiming that Aguirre was smearing the Sunroad executive, acting irresponsibly, ad nauseam.

Now Sunroad is at it again. It wanted an easement, and to do so, paid $100,000 to the City -- repeat, to THE CITY, not, as far as can be determined, to the mayor. There appears to be no doubt that the payment was a quid pro quo; Filner was stupid to accept it for City projects. His explanations of how it all happened are shaky. It does not appear that he was massaging a donor, or putting any of the money in his pockets. But the U-T, which takes delight in smearing Filner, is on the attack, questioning his trustworthiness and integrity...blah, blah, blah.

The same establishment that fought to protect Sanders and Sunroad has now done a backflip over a much less serious issue. Do things ever change?

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