O.B. Rag Takes Stand on Publishing Location of Dumanis Fundraiser

On Tuesday, September 20, reporter Doug Porter of the O.B. Rag posted on the publication’s website an article about district attorney Bonnie Dumanis’s mayoral campaign strategy. In the article, Porter wrote, “[Dumanis’s] public appearances for the coming month include fundraisers, cocktail fundraisers and more fundraisers, including one this Thursday (September 22) in the 4500 block of Del Monte Avenue, overlooking Ocean Beach.” Porter had gotten the information from an invitation posted at bonnieforsandiego.com, Dumanis's mayoral campaign site.

According to a September 21 O.B Rag article by publisher Frank Gormlie, Porter’s mention of the fundraiser’s location prompted the fundraiser’s host (someone who “works for high-powered lawyer and Democrat Lynn Schenk,” according to Gormlie) to contact the O.B. Rag and request that the article be removed.

After some emails back and forth between the host and the O.B. Rag (the two parties quibbled about the precise location not being mentioned in Porter's post), “sometime during the evening of September 20th," according to the Rag, "while Doug was at an O.B. Rag meeting, [the host] left this threat on facebook: Mr. Porter, You have personal [sic] created a situation that could cause harm to my families property and/or physical person. Your style of journalism is completely unprofessional and I will talk to everyone I know about it.”

Gormlie acknowledged that "this is a vague threat against Doug" and finished his article with this: “Question: Do the people, the voters, of a community have a right to know who is holding a fundraiser within their community for a politician — who is not well liked by many in that community — who is running for public office but who is at the same time avoiding the very public she purports to serve?”

As of today, the O.B. Rag still has a scan of the fundraiser invitation. The bonnieforsandiego.com website, meanwhile, has removed all addresses associated with private homes hosting "campaign cocktail receptions."