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Matt Potter

Matt Potter
Matt Potter has been a staff writer and editor at the San Diego Reader since 1989. He reports on politics and local institutions such as the Union-Tribune, UCSD, SDSU, and the City and County of San Diego.

He is the author of the weekly Under the Radar column.

Besides breaking the Cheetahs corruption story a year before the FBI raided the offices of the San Diego city council, he has written extensively on governance, medical ethics, and human experimentation issues at the University of California San Diego.

Some notable Potter stories:

June 1, 1989:The Egg Women (Mayor O'Connor, Joan Kroc, Helen Copley, and the Faberge eggs)

April, 25, 1991 Mayor Moves to Create Death Valley-like Wasteland in Point Loma (O'Connor house landscaping)

June 20, 1991: A Son by Any Other Name (Helen Copley's adoption of son David revealed)

Aug. 8, 1996: Welcome, GOP Delegates to San Diego, City of Shame

May 22, 1997: La Jolla Gentlemen and the Party Boy (secrets of Andrew Cunanan, gay serial killer)

Oct. 25, 2001: Did Bin Laden's Brother Lead a Secret Life in San Diego?

Nov. 29, 2001: Did Casey Gwinn Try to Get Don Bauder Fired? (City Attorney vs. tough reporter)

July 31, 2003: Fun with Ralph (Inzunza's eating companions at Dobson's)

Articles by Matt Potter

San Diego Port District CEO Joe Stuyvesant gets wings clipped

Captive lobbyingStrike at least one would-be influence peddler from the ranks of ex-government insiders who want to sell their big-money services to corporations seeking to get their way with San Diego’s Port District — at …

October 17, 2024
Steven Richter comes up with $1 million for Lincoln Club

A spam king and his dadA widely proclaimed ex-king of spam and YouTube influencer with a big-money slot machine channel who hails from Colorado — along with a million-dollar contribution to San Diego’s longtime hit …

October 9, 2024
Scott Peters aide gets free travel and hotel from Big Pharma

Summer of drugsDillon Cooke, an aide to House Democrat Scott Peters of La Jolla, picked up some free travel and a stay in San Francisco from Center Forward, a non-profit group known for pushing pro-Pharmaceutical …

October 2, 2024
Union-Tribune owners push San Diego Smash

U-T’s strange volleyball daysThere was a time not long ago that the Union-Tribune was the mouthpiece for San Diego professional sports. In those old days, the paper hustled mightily for the Chargers, denying for two …

September 25, 2024
Why would Viejas finance campaign of Silicon Valley's Evan Low?

Taxing charityThe well-monied effort by city hall Democrats, led by incumbent mayor Todd Gloria, to hike San Diego sales taxes picked up major cash support on September 10 in the form of $40,000 in donations …

September 18, 2024
Todd Gloria sucking out-of-town money to raise our taxes

Sports and taxesTorrents of political cash to support passage of the sales tax measure backed by San Diego mayor Todd Gloria and his fellow Democrats on the city council have begun pouring in from out …

September 11, 2024
Amid cutbacks, San Diego Union-Tribune looks for watchdog

From paper to policeIs the Union-Tribune, cast off last summer by Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong , about to get a long-hoped-for second life? So believe an ever-hopeful few, as the paper advertises for new …

September 4, 2024
Harmony Grove developers not giving up

Quid pro ArsenaultThe prospect of riches from high-end real estate continues to attract wealthy investors, who come up with major money for so-called independent political committees boosting elected officials here.For example, developers of North County’s …

August 28, 2024
State auditor knocks Imperial Valley College for under-reported hate crime

I.V. hatersA new report by the California State Auditor’s office on violations of the federal Clery Act, an crime disclosure law, has singled out the Imperial Valley Community College District for failing to fully report …

August 21, 2024
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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