Photograph by Kirk Fisher, Getty Images

A one-time hopeful for the Board of Supervisors, Democrat Rafael Castellanos has been on the port commission as a San Diego City Council appointee since 2013.

Public windfall for Castellanos?

San Diego Unified Port District commissioners, fresh from a mysterious July scandal that led Chief Executive Officer Joe Stuyvesant to take an indefinite leave of absence, aren’t necessarily barred by state law from picking one of their own to replace him in the position, which as of 2020 paid a hefty $363,590. So say lawyers with the California Fair Political Practices Commission in a September 25 letter to Gary Winuk of Sacramento’s Kaufman Legal Group. Winuk asked if current Port Chairman, lawyer Rafael Castellanos, can avoid prohibition “from being hired by the San Diego Unified Port District as its Chief Executive Officer, or for any other position.”

Rafael Castellanos faces a tricky road from chairman to CEO.

The answer is yes, but only if Castellanos “resigns from office before the commencement of the Board’s hiring process” and “does not participate or attempt to influence any decisions regarding a vacancy.” The response, penned by FPPC Legal Division Chief Counsel L. Karen Harrison, goes on to say that even if Castellanos does quit the commission, “he may only enter into [a] contract for employment with the Board to the extent that the Board has not considered the employment contract during his Board membership, and he has not taken action to influence the making of the contract to promote his personal interest during his Board membership.”

Citing “the limited facts disclosed” in the port’s query, the FPPC lawyer concludes that Castellanos hasn’t had  “the level of ‘participation in the making’ of a future CEO employment contract” that would bar him from becoming CEO. In addition, “it does not appear that Chair Castellanos has otherwise acted to influence the making of a future CEO contract to promote his personal financial interest in the position.”

Still, Castellanos isn’t entirely out of the woods. The FPPC letter concludes that if it turns out “Board members did engage in preliminary discussions regarding filling the CEO position, or if the Board does so while Chair Castellanos is a board member, [Government Code] Section 1090 will prohibit the contract. We note that his recusal from Board meetings or actions will not affect the presumption of his participation.” 

Randa Coniglio: from ex-CEO to acting CEO.

The port’s decision is still hanging fire. On July 14, the commission went into a closed-to-the-public session to pick ex-CEO Randa Coniglio to be acting CEO in Stuyvesant’s absence. A one-time hopeful for the Board of Supervisors, Democrat Castellanos has been on the port commission as a San Diego City Council appointee since 2013.  As of this week, he remained on the board, per the port’s website. Commissioners don’t get paid.

Borderline hedge fund

Heath Freeman, the vulture capitalist who has acquired and gutted a bevy of newspapers including the San Diego Union-Tribune through his Alden Global Capital, has lately gravitated to another controversial line of business, this one backed by taxpayer money. Freeman owns a team in the PBR, otherwise known as Professional Bull Riders, which has long had a lucrative promotional deal with the U.S. Border Patrol; a deal that has drawn scrutiny from national media outlets. These include newspapers owned by Gannett, the chain against which Freeman waged a failed takeover battle in 2019. 

“Imagine the NFL and NBA sending Tom Brady and LeBron James to accompany the U.S. Border Patrol on a search for undocumented immigrants,” says an expose by Gannet’s USA Today. “Or how about Mike Trout and Serena Williams watching as a group of immigrants are apprehended trying to cross the border? Several members of the Professional Bull Riders did just that on a scorching day in July, riding horseback along the U.S.-Mexico border.” 

Per USA Today’s January 2020 account, “Patrol boats and a helicopter swooped in to offer support and protection not only for the agents but also for the Border Patrol’s special guests. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection supports the PBR in another way: with a $2 million sponsorship deal this year that the Border Patrol says is used to bolster recruiting.”

According to the website usaspending.gov, the latest incarnation of the contract between the Border Patrol and the PBR — billed as a ‘professional sports league marketing sponsorship,” beginning January 15, 2021, and ending this coming December 31 — is worth a potential $17 million, with $9.9 million already obligated. “The partnership actually began in 2008 and ended in 2011. It was renewed in part because of President Trump,” per USA Today. According to the Border Patrol’s “Statement of Work” that was obtained by USA Today Sports, the most recent deal between the Border Patrol and PBR started in the wake of Trump’s executive order in January 2017 that authorized the hiring of 5000 additional Border Patrol agents. The challenge the Border Patrol faced, according to the document, was a “shrinking pool of candidates” and “difficulty with recruiting” because of negative news media coverage, public perception, and reduced budgets. 

PBR’s Sean Gleason told the paper he was unfazed by critics. “It’s not politically driven. Others may see it as being ‘politically incorrect.’ Everyone’s entitled to an opinion. We are just going to go about our business.” Ex-Border Patrol agent Jenn Budd offered another opinion. “It’s propaganda. Law enforcement should just say it has openings. All this other stuff is an attempt to get at kids at young ages. Plus, the vast majority of agents do not ride horses. They sit in a filthy truck for 12 hours staring at a fence or sit in processing.” 

PBR bullfighter Seth “Shorty” Gorham posted a video of himself accompanying the agents along the border, according to the story. “I had one right here,” Gorham said on the video, referring to an undocumented immigrant. “Had him close. Had one. Found him under a tree. Tried to get him to stop. He ran off. I don’t have a radio, so I can’t talk to these guys [Border Patrol agents]. But I did manage to take my shirt off and flag the helicopter. I let them know that there was one in the area.’” Concerning the experience, Gorham later told USA Today Sports, ‘It was a lot of fun. I’ll tell you, I always thought that fighting bulls would get your adrenaline going, but nothing like that experience there.’”

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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