Viejas treats GOP staffers at Petco Park
Sempra does the same for bipartisan group
San Diego The Viejas Indian tribe has been spreading plenty of freebies around the state legislature of late. The tribe has disclosed a total of $7423.31 in lobbying "Activity Expenditures" from April through June. The biggest chunk of that was for a Republican legislative staff bash at Petco Park on May 16 that set the tribe back a total of $3908. Beneficiaries included staffers for Assemblyman Joel Anderson (4); Shirley Horton (2); George Plescia (2); Martin Garrick (4); Mimi Walters (1). Each admission was valued at $195.41. The tribe also sprang for $274.21 in concert tickets for Democratic assemblyman Tony Mendoza on April 27 and food and beverages that day for Marisela Cervantes and Claudia Ornelas, two Mendoza staffers, costing $88 each at the tribe's Grove Steakhouse in Alpine.
Meanwhile, the utility giant Sempra Energy tossed its own bipartisan legislative party at Petco Park on June 24, costing a total of $3372. Attendees included GOP assemblyman George Plescia; John Ferrera, chief of staff to Democratic state senator Denise Ducheny; Don Wilcox, chief of staff to Democratic senator Gloria Negrete McLeod; John Dickinson, chief of staff to GOP senator Roy Ashburn; Rob Flanigan, senior consultant to Republican assemblyman Chuck DeVore; Shaun Flanigan, chief of staff to Plescia; and Ryan Flanigan, legislative director for Republican assemblyman Cameron Smyth. Besides their baseball outing in San Diego, Plescia and aide Flanigan also got a $35 ticket to a Giants game in downtown San Francisco on May 22, courtesy of AT&T.