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

Tough guys

The by-now-infamous F-word meltdown by San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders is only the latest instance in a long history of bad-boy behavior by the onetime chief of police, who was tutored on the mean streets of Long Beach, where his father was a motorcycle cop. As a young San Diego patrol officer, Sanders, a San Diego State dropout, was reportedly a hard drinker caught up in the macho culture of local law enforcement. His South Mission Beach roommate was Tom Stickel, later to become a wealthy Coronado financier, who recalled that the pair led a loose life; his friends said Sanders spent time haunting local bars and picking up women. In February 1976 Sanders got a “reprimand” from his superiors after he was arrested for drunk driving by California Highway Patrol officers, who chased his Porsche 914 at high speed down the freeway. Somehow, he avoided criminal prosecution.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When Sanders ran for mayor in 2005, there were rumors that he was violently short-tempered and verbally abused his first wife, Kerrill; Sanders denied it, though he’d had the couple’s 1993 divorce file sealed from prying eyes. Asked in 2005 about their divorce, Kerrill said, “It was a very amicable parting,” but declined to elaborate, other than to say the case had been sealed “to protect our privacy.”

Perhaps the most interesting of Sanders’s current relationships is that between him and his press aide Fred Sainz, a hardball Republican operative who was a 1988 advance man for the first George Bush and went on to work for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Sainz showed up in San Diego as a functionary for the GOP’s 1996 convention and remained to do various political duties for local Republicans; he was hired as an aide by GOP mayor Susan Golding and later became PR man for the city-run convention center operation. Sainz, known for his prickly personality, has been bulking up in local gyms and has become an intimidating presence around city hall and at Sanders political rallies.

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

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising

The by-now-infamous F-word meltdown by San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders is only the latest instance in a long history of bad-boy behavior by the onetime chief of police, who was tutored on the mean streets of Long Beach, where his father was a motorcycle cop. As a young San Diego patrol officer, Sanders, a San Diego State dropout, was reportedly a hard drinker caught up in the macho culture of local law enforcement. His South Mission Beach roommate was Tom Stickel, later to become a wealthy Coronado financier, who recalled that the pair led a loose life; his friends said Sanders spent time haunting local bars and picking up women. In February 1976 Sanders got a “reprimand” from his superiors after he was arrested for drunk driving by California Highway Patrol officers, who chased his Porsche 914 at high speed down the freeway. Somehow, he avoided criminal prosecution.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When Sanders ran for mayor in 2005, there were rumors that he was violently short-tempered and verbally abused his first wife, Kerrill; Sanders denied it, though he’d had the couple’s 1993 divorce file sealed from prying eyes. Asked in 2005 about their divorce, Kerrill said, “It was a very amicable parting,” but declined to elaborate, other than to say the case had been sealed “to protect our privacy.”

Perhaps the most interesting of Sanders’s current relationships is that between him and his press aide Fred Sainz, a hardball Republican operative who was a 1988 advance man for the first George Bush and went on to work for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Sainz showed up in San Diego as a functionary for the GOP’s 1996 convention and remained to do various political duties for local Republicans; he was hired as an aide by GOP mayor Susan Golding and later became PR man for the city-run convention center operation. Sainz, known for his prickly personality, has been bulking up in local gyms and has become an intimidating presence around city hall and at Sanders political rallies.

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

Bait and Switch at San Diego Symphony

Concentric contemporary dims Dvorak
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
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