High-priced highbrow

How much does it take for the nonprofit San Diego Symphony to cut a deal to provide semi high culture on public land by the bay? By the latest lobbying report of Richard Ledford, it cost a cool $12,000 to compensate him during the past three months for his persistent efforts “to secure a long term use of the Marina Park South for utilization by the Symphony Summer Pops series.” … Over at Integral Communities in Newport Beach, Lance Waite has been handing out a lot of cash to San Diego politicos. In addition to $4100 to Democrat Steve Castaneda’s failed bid for Assembly against Lorena Gonzalez, developer Waite, who is also an author, kicked in $3500 to the county GOP, $250 to Republican county supervisor Bill Horn, and $550 to the reelection bid of San Diego city councilwoman Lorie Zapf. According to Amazon, Waite has written A Day with My Dad, a book for children “about a father and daughter spending a day together hiking in the hills around their town. With no distractions, a bond can be built between a father and a daughter that can last a lifetime. This book embodies those moments that can stay with children for their entire lives.” Integral has engendered longtime controversy over its attempts to build a 284-condo/apartment complex in the hills of eastern Chula Vista. … Another generous donor to San Diego Republicans, currently raising cash for their big-money efforts on behalf of mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer, is St. Joseph, Missouri-based Herzog Contracting Corp. The outfit, which does a lot of contracting on roads, bridges, and trolley lines here, came up with $5000 on September 26. … Stuart Posnock, the member of the New Jersey–based Garden Communities owning family that last spring channeled $10,000 into a political fund controlled by then-mayor Bob Filner, is now on the side of GOP assemblyman Brian Maienschien, having given $7000 on September 20. The firm does business under names including La Jolla Crossroads, Costa Verde East Village, and Scripps Mesa Developers. The outfit is run by billionaire Zygi Wilf, owner with his family of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, which was given a taxpayer-funded stadium after various threats to move the team.