Billboard secrecy

San Diego — The sponsor of that big billboard on State Highway 94 promoting the Fourth District city council candidacy of Charles Lewis still hasn't filed a legally required campaign-disclosure statement with the San Diego city clerk's office, and a spokeswoman there says the case has been turned over to the city's new ethics commission for investigation. The sign features a disclaimer saying that it is not authorized by the Lewis campaign, and Lewis says he doesn't know who put it up. During the primary campaign, Lewis, an aide to outgoing Fourth District councilman George Stevens, took at least $4500 in contributions from employees and lawyers of Clear Channel Outdoor, the big billboard company that is waging a legal battle against the city's clampdown on booze advertising. Meantime, Lewis and his November opponent Dwayne Crenshaw took their campaigns to separate venues last week. Lewis joined his boss Stevens at a retirement ceremony for fire chief Robert Osby, and Crenshaw called a news conference with eight of his vanquished opponents in front of an Imperial Avenue nightclub to oppose the opening of new strip clubs. Lewis has received campaign contributions from employees and associates of Cheetah's, the big strip joint on Kearny Mesa owned by the Galardi family of Las Vegas ... Pressroom workers at the Union-Tribune, long at odds with management over a series of issues including pay raises, pension plans, and working conditions, held a "corporate greed rally" outside Copley company offices in La Jolla on Monday. "Please join us and our many supporters as we award David Copley the title of Corporate Pig that he has truly earned through his mistreatment of working people," says a news release.

Spanos spin Chargers owner Alex Spanos has become well known in San Diego as the beneficiary of the city's infamous ticket guarantee, which so far has cost taxpayers $25.3 million. And lately the Union-Tribune has been making noises about the need to build Spanos a new stadium to keep the team in town. Now comes Spanos with his new autobiography, entitled Sharing the Wealth, My Story, "The incredible true story of how a $40-a-week baker became a multi-millionaire owner of a Super Bowl NFL team and an unprecedented philanthropist," according to a blurb on Amazon. "He was given the key to the city of San Francisco, he provided relief funds after floods ravaged Northern California, and assisted with humanitarian aid when an earthquake struck Greece. Whenever a need arose, Alex Spanos was there to help." Spanos has also been kind to Republican politicians. Roll Call reports that the April 15 release of the book (cowritten with Dallas author Mark Seal) is set to be feted at a book party in Washington, D.C. Steve Ding, aide to California GOP congressman Richard Pombo, e-mailed an invitation: "Please make sure this is on your [Members'] schedules," Ding wrote. "No one has been more generous to Repulicans [sic] in the state of California, if not the nation, than Alex Spanos. This is our chance to honor him." ... Point Loma's Sharp Cabrillo Hospital is trying to sell off 179,000 square feet of hospital space and a nine-acre development parcel for a total of $20 million, reports Real Estate Alert. Meanwhile, the old Bayview Hospital site near Market and 26th east of downtown is on the market for $13.7 million.

Larry's legions A San Francisco group is attacking Padres owner John Moores for supporting the anti-quota "Racial Privacy" ballot initiative sponsored by Moores's fellow University of California regent Ward Connerly. But a news release put out by the Greenlining Institute isn't error free. "I am not surprised to learn that Moores would openly support such a blatantly racist initiative," the release quotes San Diego Chicano Federation vice chairman Mateo Camarillo as saying. "After all, when co-owner Ron Lucchino sold his portion of the Padres to Moores, Moores immediately eliminated the entire Hispanic and International Marketing division, headed by the first Latino V.P." Lucchino's first name, as loyal fans and foes know, is Larry. ... Tommy's Quality Meats of San Diego has recalled about 200 pounds of cooked ham that might be contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, reports Food Chemical News. The meat, shipped in ten-pound,Cryovac-sealed bags of "Tommy's Quality Meat Co. Chopped Ham," was produced on February 12 and shipped to various local restaurants. The contamination was discovered through routine testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the magazine reports. An employee at Tommy's says the ham is used in making breakfast burritos, and the cooking process would have killed any bacteria

Contributor: Matt Potter