Piñata formerly known as Mayor Filner blamed
By Doug Porter
The Balboa Park Celebration, Inc., a group empowered by former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to organize a centennial celebration of the Panama-California Exposition, is calling it quits.
Despite having $2.8 million in taxpayer-funded startup monies and a contract giving them exclusive control over the nation’s second oldest urban cultural park, the organization is dissolving its corporate entity and handing back its responsibilities to the City of San Diego.
Centennial organizers have been in the spotlight in recent weeks, amid calls for greater transparency. BPC, Inc steadfastly maintained to the end that they were under no legal obligation to reveal financial information or documents related to their activities. Lawsuits were being prepared, news accounts questioning their activities began appearing on a regular basis, and incoming mayor Kevin Faulconer joined the chorus of public concern.
Boosters for a mega-event originally forecast “a spectacular celebration producing an extraordinary visitor experience. Hopes were high that a year-long event would double park attendance to 20 million and “generate 600,000 hotel room nights, the equivalent of four Comic-Cons, and result in $278 million in direct visitor spending.”
The group went through three executive directors and two big name promoters since the deal was agreed to by the city in 2011. They repeatedly missed deadlines to present progress reports to the City Council.
From UT-San Diego:
In January, city tourism officials put off consideration of a $3.2 million request for additional funding, saying the group had not proved it could be successful pulling off the celebration.
The nonprofit celebration group was run by two former top aides for former Mayor Jerry Sanders. Former Sanders Chief of Staff Julie Dubick received $15,000 a month plus benefits, and former Director of Special Projects Gerry Braun was paid $8,000 a month as a consultant.
The 2015 budget called for boosting their payments to $20,000 and $12,000 a month, respectively. Dubick resigned last month amid the controversy.
From the onset, activities of the Balboa Park Celebration group appeared to be strongly influenced by, if not under the actual control of, the city’s big hoteliers. Civic activist George Mullen, whose attempts to be part of the planning process were ignored, warned via op-eds published at Voice of San Diego that the event planning had been hijacked by a hotelier cabal.
Todd Gloria hyping the event in this City of San Diego photo
Here’s the conclusion of one of those articles, published (remember the date) on March 19, 2013:
Due to numerous management and board missteps, our 2015 centennial celebration is in real jeopardy, and time may be too short to save it. Mistakes, missteps and setbacks in a “best of intentions” effort is one thing; it’s an entirely different thing when those mistakes, missteps and setbacks are the byproduct of a hidden agenda to serve the special interests of a powerful hotelier cabal.
Outside of the museums (who at least got a hearing and a token donation), the centennial committee became notorious for its indifference to community groups looking to participate in events.
Now that the group has collapsed, the finger pointing has begun. And, as I predicted (with any negative event occurring locally in the near future), the pinata known as former Mayor Bob Filner is taking the hits.
Via 10News, here’s the guy whose cronies were running the show:
Former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who is the current CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the recent political climate made it difficult for the group to find sponsors.
And here’s the former iMayor:
“We will have a yearlong celebration,” he said. “It will not be the $100 million dollar extravaganza that Bob Filner envisioned and did no fundraising for.”
Gloria said planning got out of control under Filner’s watch.
And here’s (GOP) City Councilman Scott Sherman:
Sherman also pointed the finger of blame to Filner.
“I think the whole Filner saga … everybody during that whole 10 months, everybody around here, quite frankly, was afraid to do anything,” he said.
The truth about what actually happened with the centennial lies in the files of Balboa Park Celebration, Inc. And it’s not likely we’ll be learning anything contrary to the “party line” anytime real soon. After all, it wouldn’t look good if it was revealed that the city’s “job creators” couldn’t get the job done.
According to Fox5:
The group dissolved it’s corporate status and intends to transfer records, intellectual property and financial assets to the city.
This means ultimately this information will be under the purview of…wait for it…. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. I’d be willing to wager we’ll see the classified reports of the CIA on Osama bin Laden’s death long before the centennial documents get made public.
It’s That Time Again
Candidate Sarah Boot filing (via Twitter)
The City Clerk’s office reports that Rafa Bautista, Blanca Lopez Brown and Tony Villafranca all took out papers yesterday to run against District 4 Councilwoman Myrtle Cole.
Sarah Boot and Lorie Zapf both filed nomination papers for District 2, hoping to replace termed-out/now-mayor Kevin Faulconer come November.
Zapf, who’s being moved out of her current seat on the city council due to redistricting, is telling voters she’s running for “re-election.” Boot issued a press release yesterday challenging out this claim, calling it a “Zapf Gaff.” Here we go…
A Very Confusing Reality in San Diego These Days
Yesterday Mayor Faulconer’s communications guy Matt Awbrey announced via Twitter that the proposed City policy requiring the destruction of emails more than one year old would be suspended pending further review.
Attorney Cory Briggs called it perfectly with this Tweet:
I now live in a world where on same day @kevin_faulconer did right thing (save e-mails) and @AlvarezSD didn’t (linkage fee). Pinch me….
— Cory Briggs (@corybriggs) March 5, 2014
Also at City Hall, following negotiations with representatives of downtown business interests opposing a resumption of a linkage fee for new construction on large projects, the City Council unanimously voted to kill the idea. The monies collected under this plan would have added to the coffers of a fund used for creating affordable housing in San Diego.
A group headed by the Chamber of Commerce took to the streets with a (misleading at best) campaign collecting enough signatures to force an initiative overturning the fees. So it came to a motion by Councilwoman Myrtle Cole giving fee opponents three months to come back with alternatives.
Now everybody’s promising to engage in “further study” on mechanisms to increase the supply of affordable housing. A similar council “task force” back in 2011 came up with exactly: nothing. Industry counter-proposals made in the run up to this latest confrontation included tax increases, requiring super-majority voter approval. In other words: nothing.
Now I don’t care much for the (reduced) linkage fee-to-bureaucracy method currently in place for increasing affordable housing. But I very strongly disagree with the idea of doing nothing, which is all that’s really on the table.
I’d rather see energies going into increasing the minimum wage to something close to a living wage. And the same interests who blackmailed the council into dropping the linkage fee idea will fight this idea.
From UT-San Diego:
While joining her colleagues in the vote, Councilwoman Marti Emerald characterized business opponents as carrying on a “snow job” and lying about their intentions.
“Pardon me if I’m skeptical, if I’ve lost faith with the tired, hackneyed arguments you bring to the council chamber,” Emerald said. “I don’t believe you’ll be responsible.”
The House of Propaganda Comes to Town
In case you’ve missed it, Rep. Scott Peter’s congressional challenger Carl DeMaio has been running a guerrilla media campaign. Mostly it’s about getting his name in the news. After all, once you look past the slogans and the veneer of our own “New Republican,” there isn’t much he can do about his party’s baggage.
The Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity is running real ads on TV attacking Congressman Peters for supporting the Obama death squads (or something like that). DeMaio’s ads are mostly postings on social media.
More than a few eyebrows went up when the challenger decided to use imagery from the House of Cards series (on Netflix) to promote his campaign. After all, the character played by Kevin Spacey (Rep. Frank Underwood) is just about the the most amoral lead played on TV since James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano.
So here’s DeMaio’s blurb:
The Democrats have responded with a full blown Tumblr site called House of Carl further exploring that thought.
On This Day: 1623 – The first alcohol temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia. 1956 – The Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation in public schools. 1982 – Blues Brother John Belushi died of drug overdose in the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles at the age of 33.
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Of course it’s Filner’s fault, while Teflon ex-mayor Jerry Sanders gets away with cronyism of the highest order. It must be so nice to be him, you get all of the power with none of the responsibility.
Progressive “darling” Todd Gloria’s first act as interim mayor was to allow the rebuilt North Park Jack-in-the-Box to go through. His last act was to propose dumping e-mails older than one year old. Yes, Gloria has a nice grin. So does a jackal.
I couldn’t agree more! What a letdown he’s been.
I guess we just have to point our faces to the ground, recognize reality and let Jerry Sanders and the Inglorious i-Todd put together a bid for the summer Olympics. (Hey, why not the winter Olympics? We’re pretty used to being snowed.) If we build those two stadiums and an arena and an Olympic Village and an aquatics center we could also get the Republicans to celebrate themselves here in 2016.
No, wait, we’ll build all those sports centers for the Republican convention in 2016 and that will prove we can host the Olympics in 2026. Yeah, that’s it. I’m offering shares.
How can it possibly be Filner’s fault when the committee was run by former Sanders staffers? Wouldn’t that indicate that the Chamber of Commerce prez is more to blame? He put them there in the first place!
Yes, an executive staff appointed by former mayor Sanders is awarded six-figure salaries and it’s Bob Filner’s fault nothing happened. One of the outgoing BPC Inc. (don’t you just love the ka-ching-bling grandeur) even had the nerve to say Filner did nothing during the YEAR he was in office. He was officially in office 10 months, half of which time he was neutralized by the scandal and in therapy. If the lies weren’t so expensive you’d have to admire the size of the sacks of these boodlers.
So Sanders hacks jump on board, suck up as many taxpayers dollars as possible while doing nothing and then bail when the heat comes and give it back to the city drained of the tax dollars. You got to love this town.
I think this is outright fraud, and if Jan Goldsmith was a responsible city attorney he would file suit against the now defunct ersatz organization’s management to recoup our money. I can’t believe the salaries these city raiders pulled down for doing next to nothing. This is a boondoggle plain and simple.
Best subheader, ever.
The official Balboa Park Centennial Inc. was headed off track long before Dubick road in to burn up what was left of public funds or Filner tried to help by granting more good $ after bad. This failure lies on the heads of those who got paid the money and the Board of Directors that did not provide adequate oversight. Part of their flawed approach was about control and not about working with the community.
As for hotel interests – if you read the MOU – it was always about bringing in tourism to fill beds. That’s how the deal was justified to begin with.
But you can’t expect to get sponsors when there’s “no there, there.” Sponsors are only attracted to things that are already happening. This could have been happening if they hadn’t blown all the money on themselves and consultants. What the second set of consultants finally came up with were some OK ideas – nothing really new – but some nice ideas. But they should have reserved some cash to pay for some real things.
Ironically, the museums are getting most of what they wanted to begin with: few events and cash for themselves. The goal was always to drive additional traffic to the paid-museum venues. The Tourism Funds could still be used to advert those special exhibitions.
What are the lessons?
1. YOU CANNOT PRIVATIZE THE PUBLIC INTEREST
2. The government has insuffucient oversight to hold such entities accountable.
Many others….
–cdc
@EarthDayMom
BTW here’s the list of people who were unable or unwilling to hold their staff accountable for $2.8 million in public funds:
The BPCI Team
Board Members
Ben Clay (co-chair)
Nikki Clay (co-chair)
Patti Roscoe (secretary), Founder, PRA Event Planning, Retired
Denise Carabet (treasurer), Business & Finance Journalist & Manager, Retired
Frank Urtasun, Regional Vice President, External Relations, SDG&E
Andy Fichthorn, President, SeaWorld San Diego, Retired
Mick Hager, President & CEO, San Diego Natural History Museum
Don Ings, President, Solar Turbines, Retired
Patricia McQuater, Legal Counsel, Solar Turbines, Retired
Stephen Russell, Associate Designer, Platt/Whitelaw Architects, and President of the Board, City Heights Community Development Corporation
Nancy Chase, Founder & Principal, The Chase Group, Public Policy Partners
Bill Walton, NBA player, retired, and NBA Sportscaster
Kris Michell, President & CEO, San Diego Downtown Partnership
Jorge D’Garay, President, D’Garay Public Relations
Grant Holm, CFO, Waxie Sanitary Supply
Stacy Rosenburg
Yehudi Gaffen, CEO, Gafcon, Inc.
Great contribution, Carolyn Chase. I can’t help wondering if all these people, most with experience at managing many millions of dollars, didn’t regard $2.8 million as a couple of dimes not worth paying attention to. With so many of them sitting on the board surely it must have been easy for most of them to assume somebody else would oversee how the odd $100,000 here or there was being spent.
Thanks. I think it was all about the trust that comes with being part of the “good ol people” who are used to schmoozing but not necessarily used to delivering something on time, on budget – except when supported by lots of staff – and funding provided by someone else – i.e. consultants. Their top-down political attitude doomed them from the start since they always felt entitled to take over the Park.
They should have packed up shop when the SOHO lawsuit was lost …. but there wouldn’t have had to be a lawsuit by SOHO if they’d had real sensitivity to community groups. But if you get used to getting your way because you have access to power, you tend to then think you can always get your way. And usually, they do.
In this case it appears to be a high level of arrogance combined with an evident ignorance about what it really takes to attract sponsors. I never thought that the Centennial would be that big of a draw….but I was open to them creating something. Unfortunately they thought they knew better – but the only thing we can see that they really knew better was how to get $ out of the Mayor and City Council and then spend it on themselves and consultants without accountability.
Amen.
Let’s not be to quick to add Mr. Yehudi Gaffen to those who didn’t provide oversight. HE certainly seemed to be paying attention!!! He cleverly saw that Ms. Dubick had “Talent” that he could use and hired her away from that. I’m sure he has great plans for her as he moves through more “public/private” partnerships, as he calls them.
He likely has a job she is better suited for – in addition to providing a soft place to land as most insiders end up getting. I would guess he won’t tolerate $$ for no results when it’s his own $.
Wouldn’t that be nice if it were so…he was part of the “Board” that let this happen. A quick check of his involvement in the Orange County’s “Great Park” fiasco and other local ventures suggest otherwise.
If they are planning on huge numbers of people coming to Balboa Park, they better figure out a better public transportatio0n system than they now have. Even on a normal Sunday, it’s a bottleneck getting out of there even if you can find a place to park which isn’t a foregone conclusion. It sounds to me like a good place to stay away from if they are successful in attracting all those tourists from all over the world. They might better start by figuring out the logistics of getting people in and out of there. Extending the trolley up Park Blvd would be a good place to start. Otherwise, it’s going to be a madhouse.
It’s not just DeMaio’s “party’s baggage” haunting his campaign… there’s plenty unsavory on record from his single council term.
Keep it coming, Sara. What I loved most about the video showing Carl and his partner was that the audio was muted so the sound of the crowd’s booing couldn’t be heard. Muzzling the people seems like an “Old Republican” strategy not a new one.
Not in the city, that is … I have participated in several community band/orchestra groups over the past 25 years and I tried, unsuccessfully, to gain access to this “brain trust” early-on – like in 2012. I can attest to this comment in the article:
“Outside of the museums (who at least got a hearing and a token donation), the centennial committee became notorious for its indifference to community groups looking to participate in events.”
I finally gained a real contact in about October 2013!! Yay!! Then, they left to project, too. Fired? Resigned? I don’t know, but they were the only responsive, professional contacts I EVER found with the BPC. Zip from the infamous Gerry Braun …
KPBS interviewed Mr. Braun today. He does Mr. Bojangles justice – boy can that dude tap-dance!! Bold-faced lies about seeking community organizations’ input. At least, he didn’t try to pin it all on Filner, but he didn’t really detail anything or anyone else.
Think positive, right? Let’s take this experience and expand it to the Olympics. If we could be the “Unconventional City” in the 70’s, let them/it be the Un-Olympic city of the 21st century.
Left the City in Motion in 1975 for unincorporated San Diego County – two reasons: Poor schools and poor government (politicians, not workers!). NOTHING has changed. Enron by the Sea? How about Jersey by the Sea?
On Carl DeMaio and the House of Carl website, there’s this further quotation: “When I say Ted Cruz, I’m talking about myself” . Gulp! Below this graphic quotation, Carl continues with “Take a look at what Ted Cruz is doing. Freshman Senator, he’s certainly creating a lot of stir. So I do believe one individual can make a difference. And it’s a question of whether you are willing to stand your ground.” [San Diego Lions Club event, 10/1/13]”
Right! This attitude & quotes need to be highlighted frequently throughout the campaign for Scott Peters’ seat.
“House of Carl”???? REALLY???? Have they actually WATCHED “House of Cards”???
The key players are cold blooded murderers in addition lots of other sick behavior. Hard to believe this ad campaign isn’t satire!
I would take Carolyn’s list and charge them all with larcency and fraud, and get the money back that was wasted by them.
STAY TUNED. Lots of juicy tidbits coming. Thanks to all who have reached out to me on this!
Ripley’s Believe it or NOT – From the UT, yesterday:
“Gerry Braun, the longtime communications consultant for Balboa Park Celebration Inc., has been hired by the nonprofit as transition director to oversee closure of the group. … According to Braun, the nonprofit’s board of directors hired him on Friday to oversee that transition. He said the salary is being negotiated. Braun was making $8,000 a month consulting for Balboa Park Celebration, and the former head of the organization was paid $15,000 a month. … Braun also noted the defeat of the Plaza de Panama project, which would have closed a portion of the park to cars and freed up more exhibit space. ‘It would have given us a different start and made the park much more exciting and appealing,’ Braun said.”
Jesus.
The City has and retains rights to have all the records….so the details should/will? come out (NOTE the use of the term “Conservancy” is a sign they used that agreement as the basis for this one and had sloppy lawyering:
From the Balboa Park Centennial Inc MOU with the City of San Diego:
Section 7.05 Audit and Inspection of Records. The Conservancy shall make available to the City for examination at reasonable locations within the City/County of San Diego, at any time during normal business hours and as often as the City deems necessary, all of the data and records with respect to all matters covered by this MOU, any and all implementing agreements, and subcontracts [City’s Right]. The City’s Right includes the right to make audits of all invoices, materials, payrolls,
records of personnel, and other data and media relating to all matters covered by the subject agreements. The Committee shall maintain such data and records for a period of not less than five years following termination of this MOU, or alternatively, shall transfer such data and records to City. The Committee shall include the City’s Right as described in this Section in any and all of its subcontracts, and shall ensure that it is binding upon all of its subcontractors. The City’s Right shall
survive the termination of this MOU.
Braun the journalist would not believe Braun the political hack!
btw the burn rate for BPCI for the $2.8 million was about $107,000/month over the 26 months of their agreement. Nice work if you can get it. Sad sad sad.
Such good stuff in this column, Doug.
WOW. What great readers we have! Thanks for all your input. It’s like crowdsourcing a story. Here’s some more updates, published today (Thursday): http://sandiegofreepress.org/2014/03/nobody-who-works-full-time-in-san-diego-should-live-in-poverty/#.UxjJSvmwJig