Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

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

Pete Wilson's friends: Tom Shepard, Larry Lucchino, David Malcolm, Brian Bilbray, Byron Wear, Mike Alessio

Roger Hedgecock showed up beaming among ballpark supporters

As the hour drew near for Bill Clinton's Monday night mea culpa, a snazzily dressed crowd from Governor Pete Wilson's lavish birthday fundraiser made its way to the bar at the downtown Hyatt Regency to watch the historic spectacle on big-screen TV. Among the well-connected Wilson supporters were Tom Shepard, one-time Hedgecock aide now making big money from the pro-baseball stadium campaign; Padres co-owner Larry Lucchino; wealthy port commissioner David Malcolm and wife Annie; Congressman Brian Bilbray and two aides; city councilman Byron Wear; and Mike Alessio, whose late father John (a buddy of fallen banker and Nixon crony C. Arnholt Smith) was convicted of income tax evasion and spent two years in federal prison. As might be expected of Republican partisans, the Wilson crowd booed and yelled at each Clinton utterance, and when the president invoked "Our God," someone at the bar screamed out, "Yeah, the God of Love!" Union-Tribune editor-in-chief Herb Klein, a top Nixon aide now regarded as San Diego's political godfather, attended the fundraiser on the fourth floor but didn't come down to watch the president.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Coke law

San Diego lawyer Philip DeMassa made headlines back in November 1985 when he pleaded guilty to harboring Robert Kent Lahodney, a suspect wanted in connection with the infamous Coronado Company dope-smuggling caper. DeMassa, a preeminent member of the city's drug dealer defense bar, had initially been charged with conspiracy in the case against the sophisticated smuggling operation, which ultimately convicted 60 people. The charges against DeMassa became a national cause célèbre among defense lawyers when federal agents raided DeMassa's office and took more than a thousand client files; an appellate court later ruled the government had violated the clients' privacy rights. Because of his guilty plea to a felony, DeMassa was barred from practicing in federal court, but an effort to have him disbarred from practice in California on grounds of moral turpitude ultimately failed. These days he's back practicing law, leading the charge against the Los Angeles Police Department, which he accuses of abusing wiretap laws and violating the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. One of DeMassa's clients is an alleged L.A. drug dealer busted two years ago by LAPD for coke possession. DeMassa discovered the bust was the result of what he maintains was an illegal "handoff" from one cop to another of wiretap data collected during a separate investigation. A superior court judge agreed and ordered the district attorney to fess up by turning over the transcripts of the previously undisclosed wires to DeMassa; he told the New York Times they will clear his client.

Slime city

You can tell when campaign season is getting serious when the Union-Tribune takes off the verbal gloves against folks it considers foes of progress. This time around the enemy is anybody opposed to the $400 million-plus, taxpayer-funded Padres ballpark. Case in point: former city councilman Fred Schnaubelt, a lifelong Republican who was a faithful donor to Susan Golding's failed U.S. Senate campaign bid. In a story appearing last Friday under the byline of U-T reporter Ray Huard, Schnaubelt, who sells real estate for a living, was called a "Libertarian Party activist." With its popular connotation of "nuts and sluts," the word Libertarian is apparently one of the worst appelations the U-T can pull out of its somewhat limited political lexicon;U-T editorials frequently attribute any sort of municipal dissent to "Libertarian activists." Huard declined comment. Meantime, the U-T is also showing its support for the stadium cause by sticking Padres posters on its outdoor news racks. Then there is the case of fallen mayor Roger Hedgecock. The radio talk-show host showed up beaming among ballpark supporters on the speakers stand at last Saturday's rally featuring Tony Gwynn and game announcer Ted Leitner, once a critic of the Chargers' stadium deal. It's shaping up to be a very long campaign ... U-T sportswriters are being honored this month in the American Journalism Review's "Cliché Corner" for the following: "Size does matter, as the Godzilla ads tell us, and the size of McGwire's home runs is what truly sets him apart from anyone else in the game today."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?

As the hour drew near for Bill Clinton's Monday night mea culpa, a snazzily dressed crowd from Governor Pete Wilson's lavish birthday fundraiser made its way to the bar at the downtown Hyatt Regency to watch the historic spectacle on big-screen TV. Among the well-connected Wilson supporters were Tom Shepard, one-time Hedgecock aide now making big money from the pro-baseball stadium campaign; Padres co-owner Larry Lucchino; wealthy port commissioner David Malcolm and wife Annie; Congressman Brian Bilbray and two aides; city councilman Byron Wear; and Mike Alessio, whose late father John (a buddy of fallen banker and Nixon crony C. Arnholt Smith) was convicted of income tax evasion and spent two years in federal prison. As might be expected of Republican partisans, the Wilson crowd booed and yelled at each Clinton utterance, and when the president invoked "Our God," someone at the bar screamed out, "Yeah, the God of Love!" Union-Tribune editor-in-chief Herb Klein, a top Nixon aide now regarded as San Diego's political godfather, attended the fundraiser on the fourth floor but didn't come down to watch the president.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Coke law

San Diego lawyer Philip DeMassa made headlines back in November 1985 when he pleaded guilty to harboring Robert Kent Lahodney, a suspect wanted in connection with the infamous Coronado Company dope-smuggling caper. DeMassa, a preeminent member of the city's drug dealer defense bar, had initially been charged with conspiracy in the case against the sophisticated smuggling operation, which ultimately convicted 60 people. The charges against DeMassa became a national cause célèbre among defense lawyers when federal agents raided DeMassa's office and took more than a thousand client files; an appellate court later ruled the government had violated the clients' privacy rights. Because of his guilty plea to a felony, DeMassa was barred from practicing in federal court, but an effort to have him disbarred from practice in California on grounds of moral turpitude ultimately failed. These days he's back practicing law, leading the charge against the Los Angeles Police Department, which he accuses of abusing wiretap laws and violating the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. One of DeMassa's clients is an alleged L.A. drug dealer busted two years ago by LAPD for coke possession. DeMassa discovered the bust was the result of what he maintains was an illegal "handoff" from one cop to another of wiretap data collected during a separate investigation. A superior court judge agreed and ordered the district attorney to fess up by turning over the transcripts of the previously undisclosed wires to DeMassa; he told the New York Times they will clear his client.

Slime city

You can tell when campaign season is getting serious when the Union-Tribune takes off the verbal gloves against folks it considers foes of progress. This time around the enemy is anybody opposed to the $400 million-plus, taxpayer-funded Padres ballpark. Case in point: former city councilman Fred Schnaubelt, a lifelong Republican who was a faithful donor to Susan Golding's failed U.S. Senate campaign bid. In a story appearing last Friday under the byline of U-T reporter Ray Huard, Schnaubelt, who sells real estate for a living, was called a "Libertarian Party activist." With its popular connotation of "nuts and sluts," the word Libertarian is apparently one of the worst appelations the U-T can pull out of its somewhat limited political lexicon;U-T editorials frequently attribute any sort of municipal dissent to "Libertarian activists." Huard declined comment. Meantime, the U-T is also showing its support for the stadium cause by sticking Padres posters on its outdoor news racks. Then there is the case of fallen mayor Roger Hedgecock. The radio talk-show host showed up beaming among ballpark supporters on the speakers stand at last Saturday's rally featuring Tony Gwynn and game announcer Ted Leitner, once a critic of the Chargers' stadium deal. It's shaping up to be a very long campaign ... U-T sportswriters are being honored this month in the American Journalism Review's "Cliché Corner" for the following: "Size does matter, as the Godzilla ads tell us, and the size of McGwire's home runs is what truly sets him apart from anyone else in the game today."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
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
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader