Campaign staffers get Todd Gloria patronage jobs

A raft of political professionals has found a haven at San Diego city hall from the storm of post-campaign unemployment, as documented by recent online disclosures posted by the city clerk's office.

Reversing years of Republican patronage, this year Democratic campaign veterans are flooding into city council and mayoral offices with the shift of control from right to left granted by voters in November.

As with the GOP before, the new hires are expected to build a new political base to ward off challenges to the new order, guarding access and protecting their newly elected bosses' agendas.

But - also like the departed Republicans - some new mayoral staffers have intriguing links to the GOP-leaning San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which championed Mayor Todd Gloria's bid for mayor over his fellow Democrat, ex-city councilwoman Barbara Bry.

Lauren Cazares, the executive assistant chief of staff for Gloria, was paid between $10,000 and $100,000 last year as an account manager for Ground Link, Inc., a San Diego-based campaign fundraising firm, per her statement of economic interests, filed January 7.

Another newly minted Gloria staffer, community representative Kohta Zaiser, lists Ground Link on his LinkedIn profile as a former employer before becoming Gloria's mayoral campaign deputy field director.

City campaign filings show that Ground Link was paid $23,436 by San Diegans for Midway Revitalization, the Canadian developer-financed campaign committee backing Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer’s successful bid to remove the height limit in the Sports Arena district via the November ballot.

In addition, Ground Link got $21,750 from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee, and $1500 from Republican Noli Zosa’s failed city council campaign.

Incorporated by onetime political director of the Chamber of Commerce Sara Kamiab in June 2016, Ground Link listed income tax preparer Richard David York as president and Kamiab as principal in disclosures filed in 2016 and 2019 with the California Secretary of State.

While with the Chamber, Kamiab, "managed an educational program for business leaders interested in public service and oversaw PAC endorsements and expenditures," according to the organization's website.

"Prior to joining the Chamber, she directed seven large scale voter turnout operations, including Mayor Kevin Faulconer's 2014 special election."

Kamiab is listed as principal officer of a political committee calling itself San Diego Small Business Coalition Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor on a February 2019 registration statement.

Gloria's chief of staff Paola Avila - another longtime Chamber staffer who was fined $200 by the city's ethics commission in August 2009 for failing to disclose her paid lobbying activity - filed a January 7 report showing she got more than $100,000 in salary from the Chamber last year.

Jared Sclar, incoming deputy chief of staff to council Democrat Raul Campillo, also hails from the political realm, where he made more than $100,000 from his campaign consulting firm Jared Sclar & Associates, according to a January 6 disclosure.

Per his LinkedIn profile, among Sclar's previous gigs were a yearlong stint in 2018 as communications director for the Association of Cannabis Professionals, and time as a field director for Democratic Congressman Mike Levin.

Randy Wilde, a policy advisor for the new mayor, received between $1000 and $10,000 from the Gloria for Mayor campaign last year, according to his January 5 filing. Wilde also spent time as a district representative for Gloria's Assembly office. In addition, Gloria staffer Cazares reported earning between $1000 and $10,000 as campaign coordinator for Democrat Colin Parent's La Mesa city council successful reelection bid.