Sempra's homeless cash shuffle

San Diego's Sempra Energy has long been a cash cow for Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer's One San Diego nonprofit, which pays for his annual Thanksgiving turkey handouts in poorer parts of town.

Lately, though, the big utility, running a high-dollar lobbying and public relations war to protect its lucrative electrical distribution monopoly, has fixed its charitable sights on a Democrat, furnishing a $5000 check in the name of Third District councilmember Chris Ward to the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, per an October 10 disclosure report by Ward.

The task force, according to its website, "is an integrated array of stakeholders committed to preventing and alleviating homelessness in San Diego. We provide essential data and insights on the issue of homelessness, informing policy and driving system design and performance."

According to the nonprofit's federal disclosure report covering the year-long period from July 2014 through June 2015, the latest available online, the group received $1,086,561 in contributions and grants. Executive director Dolores Diaz reportedly got $108,982 in total compensation.

Meanwhile, Faulconer, whose statewide political hopes have wilted in the face of the city's deadly hepatitis A epidemic, has continued to expand his political charity, according to an October 16 disclosure filing with the city clerk.

Of particular note was $1000 from downtown developer Steve Williams, which on August 18 found its way into the coffers of the California Women's Leadership Association at the mayor's behest.

Founding members of the San Diego–based organization include GOP congresswoman and Donald Trump stalwart Mimi Walters and North County Republican state senate leader Pat Bates, according to the site. The group advocates "smaller government and the role of government as a facilitator, not a regulator."

The executive director is Ashley Hayek, a San Diego fundraiser for Republicans, including Faulconer, as well as a frequent defender of the president on Fox News's Fox and Friends.

According to city campaign disclosure records, Hayek's Golden State Consultants received a total of $1.8 million from April 2011 through this June 30, with Faulconer's 2014 and 2016 mayoral campaigns furnishing $706.897.

Besides her work on behalf of San Diego's GOP, Hayek has earned high marks from national Republicans as a Trump surrogate on Fox News, questioning the motives and methods of those advocating action against climate change.

"When was the last time you heard about somebody in this past year in London being killed by climate change?" she asked in a June 5 appearance on the cable network following the London Bridge attack in London.

"Listen, you have Madonna who said she wanted to blow up the White House. You have Snoop Dogg who killed the president in his music video. Then you have Kathy Griffin decapitate the president this past week, and this extreme rhetoric is being used by the Left, the same way that they are using extreme rhetoric to talk about climate change. What I want to know is how long until somebody listens and then invokes some level of violence in this country."

On a July 15 edition of Fox's Intelligence Report, Hayek called out ex-FBI director James Comey, fired by Trump in May.

"He used his government computer and his government card. He typed out a memo, he sent it to his friend. I think it was very calculated. He thought he had an ace up his sleeve that he would use to hold over the president,” said Hayek.

"And now Comey's going to have to be held accountable for these criminal actions, of leaking information..."

Much of the other charity cash behested by Faulconer so far this year has flowed with limited transparency to his One San Diego nonprofit, including $20,000 on September 21 from unidentified sources at the San Diego Foundation.