Terra Lawson-Remer out-raises Kristin Gaspar

Boss Tweed and San Diego politics

Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer is far out in front of Republican incumbent Kristin Gaspar in the fundraising battle between the two campaigns for San Diego county supervisor. According to disclosure filings with the county registrar of voters, Gaspar took in just $66,373 in monetary contributions between February 16 through June 30 of this year. Lawson-Remer got $301,286 during the same period, per her filing.

Contributing to the Democrat’s funding heft was a total of $12,275 worth of donations from East Coast givers, including $850 on May 2 from Adam Berenzweig, whose facial recognition and “mind-reading” company was bought by Facebook in 2019. He told DigitalTrends.com in September of last year about the firm’s wristband that “decodes electrical signals from neurons in the spinal cord,” the site reported. “I could certainly see a future where people are wearing this device all day, and that it’s the thing that is used to interact with people’s phones, the lights in their house, and the radio in their car,” said Berenzweig, who now works for Facebook.

Other out-of-town Lawson-Remer donations included $850 each from retired Wall Street hedge fund mogul Malcolm Wiener and his wife Carolyn Wiener of Greenwich, Connecticut, and $850 apiece from Jonathan and Thomas Wiener, of the same city. The Connecticut Post reported on June 5, 2015 that the couple hosted a lavish $200,000 fundraiser at $2700 a person for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. “The reception, held at the $29.7 million Roman villa of Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener, was closed to the media,” the account noted. Known as Villa Candia, the Wiener mansion was “developed by 19th-century New York political boss William Tweed,” and is “known for its extensive collection of rare art.”

Encinitas retiree Pete Peterson kicked in $1700 for Gaspar, as did Urban Plates restaurant owner Saad Nadhir and wife Lillian. According to the group’s website, Urban Plates is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though she came up short in the campaign cash-raising derby, Gaspar benefited from an ostensible independent expenditure by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. The PAC spent $57,070 on anti-Lawson-Remer hit pieces during the first half of the year, says its financial disclosure report, as well as kicking in $27,500 in support of Assembly Democrat Todd Gloria for mayor. Financial backers of the chamber’s PAC included Caterpillar, Inc. ($10,000, March 28); H.G. Fenton, Inc. ($20,000, March 4); Kilroy Realty, L.P. ($10,000, February 24); Republic Services ($10,000, March 19); and XJD LLC ($25,000, February 21). XJD of Beverly Hills is run by Michael Schlesinger, a controversial developer of condos on the former Escondido Country Club golf course.

No exit plan

Emergency preparedness and evacuation planning aren’t exactly at the top of San Diego State University’s list of priorities, seriously jeopardizing the safety and well-being of both students and staff. So says a newly released June 10 audit by the state university system. “We reviewed ten campus and auxiliary emergency generators, and we found that one was not tested on a monthly basis as required. The generator was designated to provide emergency power to the University Towers residence hall,” per the audit. “Performing testing of emergency generators provides assurance that critical resources will be readily available and functioning in the event of an emergency.”

The document notes that “both the campus and SDSU Research Foundation evacuation procedures were in draft form” and that “emergency preparedness training was not consistently completed by new staff within one year of hiring.”

Adds the audit, “The campus did not have a formal building safety coordinator program or policy that addressed initial and refresher specialized training or roles and responsibilities.” Worse yet, building safety officers included “employees who were no longer active, and some [who] had not completed annual refresher specialized training.” ...San Diego County’s Parks and Recreation Department has some explaining to do about some missing pieces of equipment, says a county audit. ‘Out of a sample of 24 items from the minor equipment list, 3 (12.5%) items could not be located,” according to the document. Lost items included an Apple Studio Display Monitor, valued at $645, a Simmons SD7PK Electronic Drum Set ($599), and Skate Equipment, Knee & Ankle ($860).

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

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