News Under the Radar
Times seem to be getting better for the City of San Diego, judging from a recent “request for quotation” for the cost of presenting free movies in local parks. According to the document, the expense …
A lot of top lobbyists, registered to do business at San Diego’s city hall, spent a busy summer shuffling their client lists around. The biggest and most intriguing of the changes, local political insiders say, …
Once upon a time, John Spelich was the king of San Diego PR. Today he’s in a war with Google, fighting on behalf of one of China’s biggest internet companies over the future of the …
It hasn’t given away any money yet, but a federal political action committee set up by the new owners of SeaWorld has been raking in a lot of cash from park employees. The SeaWorld Parks …
How much does it cost to get a permit to demolish or remodel a house in La Jolla? Plenty, to judge from a recent second-quarter disclosure filed by Peterson and Price, the longtime law and …
San Diego County is looking for a few 2013 “Ford Fusion ‘S’ I-4 Sedans” — 14 to start with and more to come, according to a recent request for bids by the fleet management division. …
Qualcomm vice chairman Steve Altman has kicked in for the cause of San Diego State University basketball by picking up a travel tab for head coach Steve Fisher. According to an undated disclosure statement posted …
Irwin Jacobs goes Republican hunting Who are San Diego’s heaviest super PAC hitters this election season? Of course, first place must go to Qualcomm founder and La Jolla billionaire Irwin Jacobs, with his cool $2 …
What a difference a year can make. Last August, La Jolla–based GOP political consultant Bob Schuman had a big winner on his hands in the form of a freshly minted presidential super PAC, Americans for …
Congressman Bob Filner, running for mayor against city councilman Carl DeMaio, is being warily eyed by the ranks of the city’s lobbyists. But after his recent flip-flop in support of Irwin Jacobs’s controversial plan to …
Shamu bucks GOP county supervisor Ron Roberts has been getting credit for a lot of free SeaWorld passes lately, donations made at the “behest” of Roberts by the Competitor Group, the San Diego–based outfit that …
Super PAC icPurple, set up by Gateway computer megamillionaire Ted Waitt of La Jolla to back the failed independent mayoral campaign of ex-GOP state assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, is still in business. According to the committee’s …
Rock de AT&T It was a penultimate series of sorts: the almost-final round of dining and entertainment freebies accepted by staffers of Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, odds-on favorite to win the 51st District seat …
MJE Marketing, the lobbying outfit that’s been helping to push the controversial Irwin Jacobs Balboa Park makeover through city hall, picked up another $31,000 for its services in the second quarter of the year, recent …
Speaking of Ron Fowler, the voluble Del Mar resident spent a total of $35,224 on campaign contributions during the first half of this year, according to a major donor statement filed with the California secretary …
It was fun and food in the Gaslamp Quarter at Lou & Mickey’s restaurant and bar for Republican state senator Anthony Cannella and his scheduler Jamie Mori and chief of staff Dillon Gibbons, thanks to …