Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Disclosure-shy developers draw hand-slap ethics fine

Three-day filing deadlines stretched three weeks by pro-tax housing campaign

From Yes on A website
From Yes on A website

As a torrent of cash from out-of-town developers gushed into the campaign coffers of a San Diego ballot proposition ostensibly meant to boost low-cost housing with a property tax hike, proponents delayed disclosing to the city's ethics commission six $10,000-plus corporate donations until last November 2, the day before the vote.

So says a stipulation regarding the case, approved April 15 and posted online by the commission.

"In order to provide the public with readily accessible information concerning the sources of funding to committees formed to support and oppose City candidates and measures, [San Diego ethics law] requires such committees to include the text 'Funding details at www.sandiego.gov/donors' on or during its campaign advertisements,” the document says.

Sponsored
Sponsored

City law "also requires that, within three business days of receiving $10,000 (in the aggregate) or more from a single contributor, these committees send a notification email to the Ethics Commission with the name and identification number of the committee; the name of the contributor; and if applicable, the contributor's identification number."

"This information is then posted on the Ethics Commission's website so the public can access it via the website address provided on, or during... campaign advertisements," says the document. The agreement levied a mere $750 fine against a committee calling itself Yes on Measure A – Homes for San Diegans to atone for the disclosure violations.

According to the stipulation, the penalty was low in part because the Yes on A committee filed on-time disclosures required by state law with the city clerk's office. The Yes on A group also "fully cooperated with the Ethics Commission investigation," per the stipulation.

Requiring a two-thirds vote to raise property taxes through 2068, Measure A already faced a formidable fight for approval even before an October 1 Union-Tribune editorial condemned the proposal.

"Given that such housing costs on average more than $400,000 per unit — and that only a small percentage of the needy would actually get shelter if the measure passed — this is an extravagantly expensive and underwhelming approach to a problem that has much cheaper solutions," the paper opined.

Though opposed by many locals, a bevy of developers from across the country opened their pocketbooks for the cause, though word of their later contributions didn't make it to the ethics commission, and hence the general public, until the campaign was virtually over, the stipulation shows.

The six donations cited by the ethics commission document came from Century Housing Corporation of Los Angeles ($20,000, October 9), Raymond James and Associates, Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida (October 15, $10,000), Wakeland Housing and Development Co, San Diego ($35,000, October 16), Boston Capital Corporate, Boston, Massachusetts ($25,000, October 19), Mercy Housing Inc., Denver, Colorado ($50,000, October 19), and Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., Boston ($15,000, October 20.)

San Diego ethics law dictates that contribution dates, sources, and amounts be communicated to the commission within three days, but the required disclosures of all six of the October donations cited were withheld until November 2.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

When Rafael Payare met with Irwin Jacobs

The new Music Center is a heavenly hall
From Yes on A website
From Yes on A website

As a torrent of cash from out-of-town developers gushed into the campaign coffers of a San Diego ballot proposition ostensibly meant to boost low-cost housing with a property tax hike, proponents delayed disclosing to the city's ethics commission six $10,000-plus corporate donations until last November 2, the day before the vote.

So says a stipulation regarding the case, approved April 15 and posted online by the commission.

"In order to provide the public with readily accessible information concerning the sources of funding to committees formed to support and oppose City candidates and measures, [San Diego ethics law] requires such committees to include the text 'Funding details at www.sandiego.gov/donors' on or during its campaign advertisements,” the document says.

Sponsored
Sponsored

City law "also requires that, within three business days of receiving $10,000 (in the aggregate) or more from a single contributor, these committees send a notification email to the Ethics Commission with the name and identification number of the committee; the name of the contributor; and if applicable, the contributor's identification number."

"This information is then posted on the Ethics Commission's website so the public can access it via the website address provided on, or during... campaign advertisements," says the document. The agreement levied a mere $750 fine against a committee calling itself Yes on Measure A – Homes for San Diegans to atone for the disclosure violations.

According to the stipulation, the penalty was low in part because the Yes on A committee filed on-time disclosures required by state law with the city clerk's office. The Yes on A group also "fully cooperated with the Ethics Commission investigation," per the stipulation.

Requiring a two-thirds vote to raise property taxes through 2068, Measure A already faced a formidable fight for approval even before an October 1 Union-Tribune editorial condemned the proposal.

"Given that such housing costs on average more than $400,000 per unit — and that only a small percentage of the needy would actually get shelter if the measure passed — this is an extravagantly expensive and underwhelming approach to a problem that has much cheaper solutions," the paper opined.

Though opposed by many locals, a bevy of developers from across the country opened their pocketbooks for the cause, though word of their later contributions didn't make it to the ethics commission, and hence the general public, until the campaign was virtually over, the stipulation shows.

The six donations cited by the ethics commission document came from Century Housing Corporation of Los Angeles ($20,000, October 9), Raymond James and Associates, Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida (October 15, $10,000), Wakeland Housing and Development Co, San Diego ($35,000, October 16), Boston Capital Corporate, Boston, Massachusetts ($25,000, October 19), Mercy Housing Inc., Denver, Colorado ($50,000, October 19), and Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., Boston ($15,000, October 20.)

San Diego ethics law dictates that contribution dates, sources, and amounts be communicated to the commission within three days, but the required disclosures of all six of the October donations cited were withheld until November 2.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A rope course designed to resemble the Giant Dipper at Belmont Part

Maruta Gardner Playground - a parent's playground
Next Article

The ups and downs of Cel Cerro on a bike

Best outdoors times
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
April 19, 2021
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader