Sheriff's Sobriety Checkpoint Yields No DUIs, Least Revenue, Auditor Says
California's state auditor is out with a report comparing the operation of sobriety checkpoints by law enforcment agencies in five California jurisdictions, including that of San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore. "No federal or state statutes or regulations exist governing …
July 4th Parade in Mitt Romney's Barber Tract May Be Cancelled
For decades, the annual Independence Day parade has been a cherished tradition of La Jolla's Barber Tract, the tony oceanfront neighborhood where GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney maintains a beach house getaway. Residents decorate their historic houses in patriotic bunting, …
V.A. Inspector General Says Problems at Call Center Risk Veterans’ Lives
The Inspector General of the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has issued a report highly critical of emergency call handling by the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in San Diego. The report says 20 agents are employed by the healthcare …
Redevelopment Watchdog Draws $200 Fine for Late Filing
With the demise of California redevelopment law, cities throughout the state have been forced to disband the large and complex local bureaucracies that sprung up to adminster the expensive programs. One bit of overhead came in the form of money …
Rick Perry's La Jolla Super PAC Reinvents Itself
Presidential candidates come and go, but, like corporations, political action committees have a life of their own. Take, for example, Americans for Rick Perry, the La Jolla-based independent super PAC that was making waves back in August when we reported …
Filner's House Campaign Committee Still in Business
Democratic congressman Bob Filner, currently a San Diego mayoral candidate, continued to collect money for his House campaign committee during the final three months of last year, according to a recently filed federal financial disclosure. There were only two big …
Issa Staffers Hit the Road Courtesy of Special Interests
January was a busy month for travel by two staffers for GOP congressman Darrell Issa. On the tenth of the month, it was off to Las Vegas for Laurent Morgan Crenshaw, an Issa legislative aide, to attend the glitzy Consumer …
Jacobs Balboa Park Consultant Paid Lobbyist $40,000
Civitas, Inc., the consulting firm being used by Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs to design his controversial Balboa Park makeover, has paid $40,000 to San Diego lobbying firm MJE Marketing Services to promote the plan at city hall. Accordng to MJE's …
Filner Vietnam Trip Paid for by Lawyers Group
A trip last month to Vietnam by Democratic Congressman Bob Filner, running for mayor of San Diego, was paid for by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, a so-called non-governmental organization. The group's causes include the plight of Vietnamese victims …
Top Qualcomm Executives Give Big to Nathan Fletcher
GOP Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher appears to be the semi-official candidate of the executive class at Qualcomm, Inc., the locally-founded mobile phone giant that has been in the news of late for its controversial Snapdragon Stadium promotional gambit. According to the …
A Guide to Ralph Inzunza's Life in Prison
Former San Diego city councilman Ralph Inzunza is finally behind bars, the only council defendant to go to prison in the city's Cheetahs strip club bribery scandal that grew out of the role of then-city attorney Casey Gwinn, son of …
Vargas Campaign Paid South Lake Tahoe Bistro, Hotel Tabs
State Sen. Juan Vargas, in the midst of a campaign to replace fellow Democrat Bob Filner in Congress, still has two years to go on his present term, so even if he loses the House race he will be able …
Qualcomm's Jacobs and Scott Peter's Wife Give Big to Democrats
It may be part-time home to GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, but traditionally conservative La Jolla also has more than a few big money Democrats in residence these days. Such is revealed by the most recent federal campaign finance filings, …
Emails Show Snapdragon Deal Left Key Financial Official in the Dark
San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders has finally released documents responding to the California public records act request we made on December 12 of last year regarding his then-incipient "Snapdragon Stadium" promotional name-change gambit. As we were first to report last …
Vargas 2010 Campaign Reports Debts of $375,784
Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, running against ex–state senator Denise Ducheny to replace Bob Filner in Congress, has continued to collect big money in its 2010 state campaign account, Juan Vargas for Senate 2010, a recent filing with the California …
Fletcher Officeholder Fund Backed by Reynolds Tobacco
Republican Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a candidate for mayor of San Diego, raised a total of $51,000 in his so-called officeholder account last year. State law permits such funds to be used to handle a variety of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by …
McMillins Give Big to Local Politicos
Mark and Scott McMillin (pictured), along with their sizable local development outfit, contributed a total of $98,328.65 to various political causes during 2011, according to a January 20 disclosure filing posted online by the California Secretary of State. The frequently …
Fabian Nuñez Reports Almost $4.7 Million in Campaign Cash
Former state assembly speaker Fabian Nuñez — a Democrat controversial in San Diego for a last-minute sentence reduction granted his imprisoned son by exiting GOP governor Arnold Schwarzenegger — is sitting on $4,690,047.25 in his political bank account, according to …
San Diego GOP Gets $12,500 from Rancho Guejito
Rancho Guejito, the outfit seeking to develop a big chunk of the 23,000 acres it owns between Route 78 nearly to Route 76 in North County, was one of the San Diego County Republican party's biggest single donors in 2011, …
Vargas Channels Schwarzenegger for Insurance Lobby
It's not a surprise to see Juan Vargas keynoting an insurance industry event; before the Democrat was elected to the state senate in 2010 he helped guide lobbying at Safeco and Liberty Mutual, and before that, while in the state …