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As City Attorney Pulls the Strings, New SDPD Chief Gets Warm Welcome

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By Doug Porter

Mayor elect Kevin Faulconer surprised San Diego yesterday by naming SDPD veteran Shelly Zimmerman as new chief of police. The surprise wasn’t his choice of Zimmerman, a well regarded veteran with 31 years of service in the department; it was how fast he moved to make the announcement.

As was the case with Chief Lansdowne’s retirement, the local media was filled with statements praising Zimmerman. Even the Reader’s Don Bauder, who regularly dishes up dirt on local politics, approved, saying Zimmerman was an ideal choice for a police department in trouble for its members’ sexual misdeeds.

Caught flatfooted by the announcement was iMayor Todd Gloria   [Read more…]

SDPD Chief Lansdowne Takes One for the Team

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By Doug Porter

San Diego’s Chief of Police is gone as of Monday, March 3rd. Retired. Resigned. Whatever.

Incoming Mayor Kevin Faulconer will be starting his term with a clean slate, able to downplay reports of police misconduct as the failures of prior administrations.  

The systemic problems within the SDPD won’t be actually resolved by his resignation, but the perception that action has been taken will likely trump demands for actual reforms, or, God forbid, an actual independent monitor. Fortunately, there was another, less noticed, development yesterday that may derail hopes by local officials that these scandals will fade away.      [Read more…]

It’s ‘Pin the Tail on Filner’ Week in San Diego

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By Doug Porter

‘Blame Bob Filner’ seems to be the catchphrase of the week here in San Diego. Months of demonizing our former mayor in the media have seemingly created an atmosphere where it’s possible to deflect political and legal problems by simply blaming The.Worst.Mayor.Ever.

I don’t argue the point that he screwed up. He’s suffering the consequences. And it’s my educated guess that there’s more legal troubles headed his way. But this business of trying to blame him for all of San Diego’s ills has got to stop. What’s next? Can we blame Filner for the lack of rain? Or too much rain, if that should happen?

If you believe reports in the Daily Fishwrap and other local media, the ex-mayor is now supposed to take the fall for two of our city’s new found embarrassments-an illegal campaign contributions scandal and a floundering Balboa Park centennial– in what seems to me to be an obvious effort to protect other officeholders.   [Read more…]

The Dark Side of the 2015 Balboa Park Celebrations

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By Doug Porter

A non-profit group set up by the city to create a world class year long celebration of the centennial of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition  in Balboa Park hasn’t produced much of anything concrete to date, despite spending millions of dollars in public monies. And they’re making the claim that their lack of progress is nobody’s business.

Citizen activist David Lundin’s inquiries into the machinations of the group responsible for planning the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration have stirred up quite a fuss. After reading reports about difficulties and missed deadlines by the entity (Balboa Park Celebrations, Inc) he filed a series of requests for documents (ala Public Records Act).

The resulting exchange was simply stunning in its arrogance and hostility. My response from reading the email exchange between Lunkin and the group is that something must be seriously amiss with this group.

  [Read more…]

‘Jim Crow’ Campaign Against Gays Goes National

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By Doug Porter

A 33-27 vote in the Arizona House last night sent legislation to GOP Gov. Jan Brewer allowing business owners in the state to assert their religious beliefs to refuse service to persons who they believe to be homosexual. The state that brought us openly racist anti-immigrant laws four years ago has once again taken the lead in defending bigotry.

Conservative Christian groups and their Republican allies are desperate to stop the clock. The handwriting is on the wall.  Sexual orientation as a criteria for full participation in society is on its way out. In state after state, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are chipping way at policies that enforce discrimination based on who you love.

Lest you think this Arizona legislation is an aberration caused by too much time in the sun, be aware that even more heinous legislation was promoted by GOP pols in Kansas, Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota, and Tennessee. Furious public opposition has stalled those efforts for now, but there’s always next year.   [Read more…]

I’m Afraid of the SDPD

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By Will Falk

The San Diego Police Department scares me. All police, for that matter, scare me.

I’m writing this because I cannot drown out the sharp pops of a burst of police gunfire hanging on the still desert air.

I heard the eerily common sound of gunshots as I watched a video of police shooting an unarmed 20 year-old black man named D’Andre Berghardt near Red Rock Canyon in Nevada the other day with my partner.

A few days before viewing the video, we were on our way to Red Rock Canyon for a rock-climbing trip with friends. Highway 159 provides access to the canyon, but was closed due to a “police incident.” We made a mental note to check on the incident when we got home.   [Read more…]

Another Day, Another SDPD Sex Scandal: Can City Leaders Put a Lid on It?

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By Doug Porter

Police Chief Bill Lansdowne called a press conference yesterday evening to announce yet another reported incident of sexual misconduct involving a SDPD officer.

One of the women contacting the SDPD following allegations against officer Christopher Hays, provided information leading to yet another officer, who is now under investigation for allegedly touching and exposing himself to a female arrestee.

The chief told the assembled press that the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues. “We are doing everything we should be doing in this case,”  Lansdowne said, and repeated an earlier plea for any other potential victims or witnesses to come forward to report wrongdoing   [Read more…]

Candidates Jockey for Kevin Faulconer’s City Council Seat; OB’s Gretchen Newsom Garners Endorsement from Women’s Group

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By Doug Porter

The dust hasn’t settled from the February special election, but the jockeying for a soon-to-be-open position on the San Diego City Council in District 2 is getting into high gear.

Run Women Run, the non-partisan group advocating for increased female participation in electoral politics, announced their support for Gretchen Newsom as the interim appointee this morning. Let the politicking begin!

Kevin Faulconer’s ascendancy to the city’s top job in March will leave his seat on the city council open. Within 30 days after he takes the oath of office the remaining council members are tasked with appointing a replacement who by law cannot then run for re-election for that seat.

There are four candidates (that I am aware) of vying for the job: Ed Harris (Life Guard) , Don Mullin (Former Chief of staff for Marti Emerald), Gretchen Newsom (OB Town Council President), and Howard Wayne (Former Assemblyman). Since the campaigning in this situation is largely out of public view, today I’ll take a quick look look at those seeking the position.   [Read more…]

SDPD’s Non-Solution to the ‘Driving While Female’ Crisis: Let’s Study It

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By Doug Porter

News accounts concerning incidents of sexual assault by San Diego Police Department officers have finally reached critical mass. Chief of of Police William Lansdowne told UT-San Diego on Saturday the department has decided to seek an outside auditor “to take a hard look at how the department handles misconduct and how it can better weed out rogue cops.”

Incoming Mayor Kevin Faulconer issued a statement on Sunday declaring his intention of meeting with Lansdowne “in the coming days to discuss an independent audit as part of my broader goal of rebuilding the police department and ensuring we are recruiting and retaining the best officers to serve San Diegans.”

The recent arrest of Officer Christopher Hays, accused of inappropriately touching or forcing as many as seven women to perform sex acts, has tipped the scale to the point where this issue can no longer be ignored. It should be obvious by now that the SDPD has a problem with a well-studied phenomenon known as “Driving While Female.”   [Read more…]

Fear and Gambling at Pauma Casino

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By Doug Porter

Anna Daniels and myself took a road trip yesterday to beautiful downtown Temecula to meet and talk with employees of Casino Pauma who have been struggling for union representation. Native American casinos like Pauma are located in sovereign territories whose coverage  by labor laws are limited to the terms described in compacts negotiated with the Governor’s office and ratified by the legislature.

Following an initial investigation by its General Counsel, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against Pauma Casino alleging that management’s response to the wearing of union buttons was an unfair labor practice. The unions says that workers who wore buttons have been threatened with disciplinary action if they failed to remove the buttons.

Organizers with UNITE HERE Local 30 staged a press conference in the parking lot outside of a Ramada Inn in Temecula prior to the start of a week long series of hearings by an administrative judge from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Separate from the hearing, workers have been asking the tribe to agree to a fair process, free from intimidation and retribution, while they decide whether to unionize.

   [Read more…]

Alvarez vs Faulconer: It Ain’t Over ‘till You’ve Voted

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Here’s all you need to know: “Politics is like driving. To go backward put it in R. To go forward put it in D.”

By Doug Porter

As the mayoral election campaigns enter their final days of campaigning there is unanimity on one point- the election results will be determined by turnout.

After all the in-person campaigning, all the advertising and all the debates, it’s going to comedown to how motivated voters are. Media reports say the mail-in ballots already received (but not counted) seem to favor Kevin Faulconer (counting districts he carried in the last election). The Alvarez camp’s ground game, on the other hand,  is as good as it gets in San Diego politics.

While Kevin Faulconer has been advertising on Facebook for paid canvassers, hundreds of David Alvarez volunteers have been going door-to-door advocating for their candidate. Polling sponsored by mass media organizations indicates a dead heat. A “sixteen point gap” in earlier surveys has disappeared.   [Read more…]

Carla Keehn, Candidate for San Diego Superior Court Judge

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By Eva Posner

It’s no secret San Diego is suffering from election fatigue. First there was the mayoral primary in June 2012, then the general in November. For reasons we all know, another race for mayor started less than a year later in September of 2013. The primary was held in November and we are coming up on the general on February 11.

Unfortunately there will be no rest for the weary, because no sooner will we know our next mayor than the battle for Congress will begin in earnest. And Governor. And Assembly. As well as ballot measures regarding the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update and likely the Linkage Fee. Maybe recreational marijuana or a minimum wage proposition as well.

With energy and money being spent on high profile races and hot button issues, even the most ardent politicos can sometimes ignore races further down ballot. Which is how we end up with people like Gary Kreep, the birther judge who made San Diego a laughing stock long before Filner, getting elected to office.   [Read more…]

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