The Neighborhood Action Council Supporting Kevin Faulconer for Supervisor 2024 and the Community Leadership Coalition, are seeking to use a coveted list of Faulconer’s big money donors, according to the letter from FPPC General counsel Dave Bainbridge to Republican treasurer April Boling.

Campaign money maze

A December 27 advice letter from the California Fair Political Practices Commission has drawn back the curtain on the convoluted fundraising for GOP ex-San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and his county supervisor race against incumbent Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer. In addition to Faulconer’s “controlled” political committee, which is called Faulconer for Supervisor 2024, two other committees, the Neighborhood Action Council Supporting Kevin Faulconer for Supervisor 2024 and the Community Leadership Coalition, are seeking to use a coveted list of Faulconer’s big money donors, according to the letter from FPPC General counsel Dave Bainbridge to Republican treasurer April Boling. 

The list in question “discloses the identities of the candidate’s supporters and can be used to solicit further contributions, send advertisements, or expend additional funds on supposed independent expenditures supporting the candidate,” says the FPPC’s letter. But if the list, now in the hands of his “controlled” committee, is used by either of the two “independent” committees for campaign fundraising, “the giving and receiving of the donor list will constitute cooperation between the candidate and the committee, resulting in a coordinated expenditure.” the letter says. Any such “coordinated expenditure,” the opinion adds, would be considered “a campaign contribution to the candidate, subject to the contribution limit.” Such use, the letter says, “would include, but not be limited to, soliciting contributions from persons on the donor list to fund communications and distributing communications to persons on the donor list.”

Terra Lawson-Remer: getting no love from The Lincoln Club.

The Neighborhood Action Council supporting Faulconer, records show, belongs to the Lincoln Club Business League, an offshoot of the GOP Lincoln Club, which in years past has run an array of attack campaigns against targeted candidates. The Community Leadership Coalition lists Francis Barraza as its principal officer. Barraza was “Senior Director of Community Engagement for Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer. She formerly served as the Executive Director of the Republican Party of San Diego County, State Director of Hispanic Initiatives for the Republican National Committee, and most recently as the Campaign Manager for Mayor Faulconer’s successful reelection campaign,” says her profile on the website of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. A February 2020 filing, when the committee called itself The Community Leadership Coalition sponsored by the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, listed Faulconer’s onetime Director of City Council Affairs Brian Pepin as principal officer.

Double excitement

San Diego Union-Tribune Quality Editor David Clary is among the latest to depart the downsizing newspaper. “This is my last week @sdut after 21 years. I’m excited to say that I’ll be joining @nytimes as a senior staff editor on the print news hub!” per his December 20 announcement on X. Meanwhile, ex-U-T politics and government writer Deborah Sullivan Brennan also has a new gig. “I’m excited to report that I’m starting a new job, reporting on regional politics for Cal Matters and Voice of San Diego. I’ll be reintroducing the Voice’s Sacramento Report, and then adding an Inland Empire newsletter. Please ping me with news tips and ideas!” says a January 4 note on her X account...

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, up for reelection, picked up a $1350 contribution on December 31 from fellow Democrat and wealthy Congressman from La Jolla Scott Peters, who has been pushing border security. “We can manage it better, and to the extent that that requires resources, I think Democrats can be supportive of that,” Peters was cited on December 15 by NPR as saying.

Scott Peters on the border: “We can manage it better."

Meanwhile, as pressure mounts on the Biden Administration to fix the immigration crisis on the Southwest border, Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois has called out Customs and Border Protection in a December 14 letter for mishandling its San Diego operations. “In addition to inadequate medical care, we are concerned about the length of time individuals, including children, are held in CBP custody and how this impacts overall health outcomes,” wrote Durbin.

“The [Department of Homeland Security] Office of Inspector General recently conducted inspections of CBP detention facilities in the San Diego area and found 56 percent of detainees were held in custody longer than 72 hours, the general limitation on CBP detention.The length of time in custody may exacerbate existing medical care needs, create additional challenges for medical staff attending to the needs of large numbers of migrants, and create dangerous and untenable conditions in CBP facilities that were not designed for long-term detention.”

Pre-shrunken homelessness

In addition to the Scott Peters cash, Todd Gloria’s mayoral reelection bid got $2700 on December 29 from Chula Vista’s Ankur Bindal, listed on the disclosure filing as a physician and president of Aroga Biosciences. A January, 2023 profile by San Diego Magazine identified Aroga’s president and founder as Krithi Rao Bindal. “Dr. Bindal’s three-year-old global company is comprised of a team of scientists who proudly stand by their motto, ‘strength from science,’ by providing accurate scientific data to drug development regulators. Aroga’s team of scientific regulatory writers develop preclinical and clinical research submissions, which are critical to the biopharma industry in drug development.” 

On the other hand, Psychology Today’s website says Ankur Bindal is a psychiatrist who runs KMG Psychiatry in Chula Vista, catering to military clients. “KMG Psychiatry uses a combination of traditional and innovative treatments to target a wide range of conditions, including anxiety and depression, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sleep disorders. KMG Psychiatry specializes in the treatment of depression and PTSD for military person [sic]. Not only does the office use state-of-the-art technology, but they also offer flexible payment plans. When applicable,KMG Psychiatry waives copays for patients who need it.” Gloria was a key force behind last year’s passage of a new state conservatorship law to take homeless individuals off the streets and compel them to undergo psychiatric care. The bill, SB 43, was backed by the state’s two leading psychiatry associations and the National Alliance on Mental Illness — California, according to an October 10, 2023 news release posted on Gloria’s city website.

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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