An Inspection of Lincoln Club Endorsements for Chula Vista City Council

In 2010, the Lincoln Club endorsed Larry Breitfelder, Republican and founder of the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association, for a council seat. Breitfelder is running again in November against Democrat Pamela Bensoussan, but it appears the Lincoln Club’s endorsement may go to the Democrat.

On March 9, Tony Manolatos, a spokesperson for the San Diego Lincoln Club, told the U-T that Bensoussan had recently addressed the Lincoln Club’s political action committee and, out of about 50 people, “a majority voted for her.” The board of directors will vote on the recommendation later this month.

This comes as no surprise to many. Chula Vista Issues, a new South Bay blog, states, “Bensoussan routinely votes against the three Democrat[ic] Council Members and routinely votes with the Republican Mayor.”

There could be another reason the Lincoln Club’s political action committee might support Bensoussan: mayor Cheryl Cox’s longtime friend is David Malcolm, a Lincoln Club political action committee co-chair. (He is also a “former port commissioner who pleaded guilty to a felony count of violating state conflict-of-interest laws,” according to a 2003 Los Angeles Times article.” The Times goes on to describe Malcolm as “a San Diego County political power broker.”)

Malcolm and Bensoussan were involved in clandestine negotiations regarding Chula Vista’s bayfront and a possible city contract to assume responsibility for clean up of the South Bay power plant. A March 2011 article titled “What Can Chula Vista Do with the South Bay Power Plant?” provided background information and emails regarding these negotiations.