On October 29, Democrat Toni Atkins, who won her race for California State Assembly, received a $2000 contribution from Arizona-based Republic Services, parent of Allied Waste, which is interested in taking over the City-run Miramar …
Lobbyist and ex-Tribune reporter Al Ziegaus and his Southwest Strategies have gone to bat for Walmart in the company’s all-out war against San Diego city hall. According to recent filings, Ziegaus and sidekick Clint Carney …
The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation’s “Party Time” website, which tracks fund-raising celebrations by members of Congress and their sponsors, is out with a list of invitations to events held by House Republicans vying for the power …
It hasn’t been the greatest of political years for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. Its last-minute, closed-door deal with Mayor Jerry Sanders to pass the sales-tax-raising Proposition D backfired when proponents failed to …
The practice called behesting, wherein state legislators tell their fat-cat campaign donors which nonprofit organizations to contribute to — and in turn bask in the reflected political glory of the donated cash — is alive …
La Jolla’s Lynn Schenk, the ex–Democratic congressmember and former aide to Jerry Brown who was written up last month in the Los Angeles Times for allegedly taking a questionable foreign trip in conjunction with her …
As usual, recent disclosures show that the county’s gambling tribes have been offering hospitality to politicians from far and wide. In particular, on September 14 Barona’s “private gaming area” hosted a $56.25-a-plate meal for some …
Twenty-nine politicos from the League of California Cities got in free to September 19’s Chargers versus Jacksonville game at Qualcomm, thanks to tickets with a face value of $98 each, distributed by San Diego city …
700CN, the gleaming blue and white 1990 Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV executive jet that was the pride of Copley Newspapers and its owner David Copley, has finally been sold. The new owner, according to Federal Aviation …
Forget the price of health insurance for its employees, the City of San Diego also has to deal with setting up a health and dental plan for its police dogs. According to a recently posted …
The EdVoice Independent Expenditure Committee, whose parent EdVoice has been backed by wealthy charter school advocates such as Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad and San Diego investor Buzz Woolley, gave $25,000 to the Republican Party …
Bridgepoint Education, Inc., the controversial private schools outfit, was spreading the campaign cash around this election season. On October 13, it gave $1500 to Democratic senate candidate Juan Vargas; the same day, Democratic assemblyman Marty …
Union-Tribune owner Tom Gores played it straight down the middle in the high-stakes battle for California governor. On October 20, the Beverly Hills billionaire gave $25,000 to Democrat Jerry Brown. The same day he gave …
On October 20, GOP congressman Darrell Issa threw a birthday party for himself at Carmine’s restaurant in Washington, D.C., a brand-new branch of the famous Carmine’s in New York, which boasts serving “every meal in …
The San Diego city auditor says he has busted a scheme in which employees of a division of the City’s General Services Department sold scrap metal from city projects for $5000 and spent $3000 of …
On September 17, Richard Ledford picked up a contract to lobby on behalf of trash hauler Allied Waste/Republic Services Inc. to help it “obtain a contract for the sale and private operation” of the City-owned …
Alma Vasic, owner of F Street Corporation, which runs the adult bookstore chain and website by the same name, contributed $2500 to Democratic assembly candidate Toni Atkins on October 11, according to state filings. The …
Who has been the biggest recipient of Senate campaign cash from Sempra Energy’s political action committee this year? According to figures compiled by the OpenSecrets.org, as of October 3, it’s none other than majority leader …
The National Science Foundation is planning what it calls a “marine seismic research” project during which “various research vessels operated by U.S. academic institutions or government agencies” will use a variety of underwater devices such …
The County of San Diego is in the market for some brand-new cars, including a 2010 Dodge Challenger SE, which the Yahoo! auto site says lists at $23,345; it’s a muscle car touted by its …
The former owner and publisher of the Union-Tribune, longtime Republican donor David Copley, has come through with a $1000 donation to the assembly campaign of Democrat Toni Atkins. Copley’s occupation is listed as retired. Atkins …
Democratic San Diego city-council candidate Howard Wayne has finally shut down his “Howard Wayne for State Senate 2012” campaign committee. According to an October 6 filing with the California secretary of state’s office, the group …
A key political ally of San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders has been on the campaign trail for Democratic congressional candidate Francine Busby, who is battling GOP incumbent Brian Bilbray. Jim Waring, who was forced out …
Democratic congresswoman Susan Davis, who regularly travels the world for free, thanks to junkets staged by the Washington-based, nonprofit Aspen Institute, has been at it again. From August 14 through 21, according to House travel …
Old Democratic warhorse Bob Mulholland, fresh from a successful bout with a serious illness, is back in the political fray, this time as part of a three-man hit team called CEO Watch, sponsored by the …
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has been picking up campaign cash of late from local givers, including $3000 from ex–UC president Richard Atkinson; $1000 from attorney Eric Isaacson; $5000 from Price Entities owner Robert Price; …
The controversy over the future of Linda Vista’s Skateworld has spilled over into the Sixth District race for San Diego City Council, with opponents of Howard Wayne pointing out that earlier this year the former …
San Diego Unified school board candidate Steve Rosen has been making a big deal about how his company, TV Magic, has repeatedly volunteered its services for the benefit of local students. “Steve and his company’s …
Proposition 19, the measure on the November ballot to legalize and tax marijuana, raised a total of $370,565.64 through the end of June, a relatively paltry portion of which came from donors in San Diego …
Concerned that the imminent departure of San Diego State president Stephen Weber, coupled with the state’s financial crisis, will crimp research funding at the school, a group of professors there has launched the SDSU Principal …
Political pundits have been quick to dissect the motive for $20,000 in contributions made earlier this year by Chargers owner Alex Spanos, a lifelong Republican, to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, pointing out that the …
In January, San Diego Magazine put Colin Rice on its “50 People to Watch in 2010” list, reporting that the loyal ex-aide and political advisor to former assemblyman and insurance-company lobbyist Juan Vargas, who narrowly …
During this spring’s state Democratic primaries, the campaign of assembly hopeful and San Diego city councilman Ben Hueso accepted a $1000 contribution from Anthem Blue Cross, a big health insurance outfit. When the donation was …
It’s the summer doldrums, time for the quiet filing of annual midyear financial disclosures by members of the San Diego City Council. As usual, more than a few of the elected officials have shamelessly taken …
Some last-minute campaign support came in for Eighth District San Diego City Council candidate Nick Inzunza in the form of a $5212 mailer dispatched June 2 by Vote Matters, an Oakland-based political action committee that …
Given the City’s financial meltdown and the national economic crisis, about the only thing growing in San Diego is the size and number of its potholes. But while there may be no money left to …
Predatory eating Amid a slew of highly classified endeavors, La Jolla–based General Atomics, which has billions of taxpayer dollars at its disposal to build Predator drones, research nuclear power options, and grow algae for experimental …
Forget the deficit, local government agencies continue to lavish tax dollars on representatives in Washington, D.C., to lobby for even more taxpayer cash. In the second quarter of this year, the San Diego County Regional …
Sometimes Facebook pages are revealing because of what they omit about their owners. Take the case of political consultant Larry Remer, fresh from Democrat Juan Vargas’s razor-thin victory over Mary Salas in the 40th District …
Even for San Diego’s city hall, which has become a bastion of secrecy during the reign of Mayor Jerry Sanders, an ex–chief of police known for his aversion to public scrutiny, it would be an …
A Los Angeles–based inspector for the state Industrial Relations Department’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, who chose to live in San Diego and stick taxpayers for the cost of her long-distance commuting, is a …
So many gifts, so little time. That appears to have been the dilemma faced by San Diego–based members of the state legislature, judging from statements of financial interest covering 2009 filed earlier this year. Democratic …
The California Fair Political Practices Commission is out with a list of the top ten biggest independent spending committees in the state’s June primary, and it features prominent links to two influential San Diego political …
San Diego has made the annual list of “Incidents Directed Against Courthouses in the United States,” put out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “An individual was questioned by a court security officer after …
What evil lurks in the bowels of city hall? Only the city auditor knows for sure, and he’s not coughing up many details, at least not to the public. Every three months, auditor Eduardo Luna …
San Diego city officials are spending $11.8 million to study whether sewage can be converted into drinking water, but their personal water supply is entirely another matter. According to a recent request for proposal, the …
Democratic congresswoman Susan Davis, already the junket queen of San Diego’s House delegation, has been racking up more miles of late. She and her husband, physician Steve Davis, went away to a swanky resort hotel …
The wife of Bill Lerach, onetime lawyer and investor champion who did a stretch in federal prison after copping a plea to fraud charges related to a client kickback scheme, gave a cool $1000 to …
San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, fresh off his “strong mayor” ballot victory, may have come up with a unique way to use the expensive reclaimed water that the City is capable of churning out at …
Democratic assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, who quit her challenge to county supervisor Ron Roberts early in the race, has transferred cash she raised for that campaign into a new committee aimed at a 39th District state …