Ben & Jerry's co-founder helps Dave Myers in sheriff race

Anti-cop ice cream

What’s for dessert? San Diego politics, judging by a March 30 $1800 contribution by ice cream kingpin Ben Cohen of Williston, Vermont, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. The out-of-town cash went to the Sheriff’s campaign of Deputy Sheriff Dave Myers. Widely known for liberal messaging, the ice cream purveyor called for defunding police in a June 19, 2020, tweet, saying, “This #Juneteenth, it’s more important than ever that we dismantle the racist and ineffective model of American policing.”

Then last September, Ben & Jerry’s took to Twitter to announce their latest ice cream variety, called Change Is Brewing, “the flavor helping to transform the nation’s approach to public safety to one that prioritizes community needs.” Added the company website: “It’s time to divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free.”

In November of last year, Cohen and his partner Jerry Greenfield co-authored an op-ed piece in USA Today calling out cops for their treatment of African-Americans. “When we were growing up, our mothers taught us the policeman was our friend. Black mothers have no choice but to teach their children to fear the police,” says the piece. “If we choose to use it, we white people have the power to hold rogue cops accountable and create a society where Black mothers can also teach their children that the policeman is their friend.”

Ben and Jerry also co-chair the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity. According to Cornell Law, “Qualified immunity protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff’s rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a ‘clearly established’ statutory or constitutional right.”

Meanwhile, resigned Sheriff Bill Gore’s pick to succeed him, Undersheriff Kelly Martinez, got $1800 from Qualcomm Senior Vice President Asma Javaid of Rancho Santa Fe on April 3, according to the Martinez campaign disclosure filing. (Other public records show Omar Javaid has the Qualcomm role.)

Real estate and towing

Nash Habib, listed on a disclosure report as the owner of Alexandria Investments, has given $1800 to the Assessor/Recorder campaign of assistant assessor Jordan Marks, who is running against ex-San Diego city council Democrat Barbara Bry. Habib, who made his contribution on March 31, per the county filing, has faced past controversy regarding his towing operation Angelo’s.

“Nashwan Habib, or as his friends call him, Nash, is the proud founder and owner of Angelo’s Towing, which has served the greater San Diego, California area for over 17 years,” says his website. “Hard work and Habib’s willingness to fight have fueled his rise,” noted a November 10, 2015, Voice of San Diego expose. “So has the inattention of local governments, which have responded to his repeated misstatements, evasions, and overdue bills by awarding him lucrative contracts.”

Other donors to the Marks cause include developer Jeremy Dentt, with $1500. “With over 85 years of cumulative experience in the real estate industry, our team symbolizes performance and hard work in every aspect of the commercial real estate market,” says Dentt’s company website. Kathy Bongiovanni, secretary at Seal Electric, and Frank Bongiovanni, retired, also gave $1500. UCSD student Cybill Hellerud of Rancho Santa Fe is down for $1800.

Michelle Hellerud runs San Diego Realty Gals, a real estate brokerage. “I am very active at the Real Estate Board and I am currently serving the San Diego Association of Realtors on their Board of Directors. I also serve on several committees including the Housing Opportunities Committee, the Government Affairs Committee, the Realtor Political Action Committee, and several others,” the elder Hellerud says on her firm’s website.

Good hair day

The 2022 reelection fund of San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzalez, who quit her Assembly seat at the beginning of the year, came up with $1400 for the Cindy Chavez for Mayor committee on April 4, filings show. Santa Clara County Supervisor Chavez is running for mayor of San Jose. She’s facing off against San Jose Councilmember Raul Peralez, another longtime labor union favorite who claimed last week that Chavez had told him to stay out of the race, per what Peralez told San Jose Spotlight as related in an April 1 online dispatch.

“She told me she was being encouraged to run by labor advocates who felt as though she was a stronger ally and candidate for them than I was. She said, ‘You have a couple things going for you: you’re handsome, and you have a nice head of hair.’” Adds the account: “Many insiders are watching this matchup closely because it could be the local labor lobby’s first opportunity in 16 years to send a candidate to the mayor’s office. The last labor-friendly mayor in San Jose was Ron Gonzales, who termed out in 2006.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

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