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

Unplugging DeMaio

Self-promotional plans by freshman San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, seen by many insiders as the most politically ambitious member of the council since Mayor Pete Wilson first aspired to higher office in the 1970s, have hit a roadblock with the City’s Ethics Commission. In an advice letter released December 16, commission general counsel Alison Adema told DeMaio that he could not use funds from a political committee he controls to pay the costs of virtual district meetings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Your office has been approached by a vendor with regard to setting up Telephone Town Hall Meetings as a means of facilitating your communications with constituents,” wrote Adema. “You anticipate sending follow-up letters to constituents who participate in these virtual meetings. Similarly, you hope to create and distribute printed materials to solicit public input on a variety of Citywide and community issues.”

According to the letter, DeMaio wanted money for the effort to come from San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government, described by its website as “a non partisan public policy action committee.” The committee has backed several ballot measures, including the strong mayor initiative and public pension limits. According to federal records, donors in 2005 included $100,000 from Manchester Resorts LP, owned by hotel mogul Doug Manchester, and $15,000 from the Performance Institute, Inc., a consulting firm founded by DeMaio. Disclosure statements on file for the period ending June 30 of last year, the most recent available, show that the committee had $46,800 in cash on hand, all of that derived from a $50,000 no-interest loan DeMaio made to the committee on June 10.

Adema held that because DeMaio controls the committee and he is now on the council, “You may no longer use SDCAG funds to engage in issues advocacy unless such advocacy is truly related to ballot measure activity.” If DeMaio wanted to conduct the virtual meetings, Adema said, he could use funds remaining in his election campaign committee, Reform City Hall with Carl DeMaio. She added that it was okay for DeMaio to use his city staff to distribute printed materials, as long as the documents related “to City issues” and the staffers did not “distribute any political materials that support or oppose a City candidate while on ‘City time.’ ” But the use of any DeMaio intern’s time paid for by San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government “must be related to a proposed or actual ballot measure.”

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business

Self-promotional plans by freshman San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, seen by many insiders as the most politically ambitious member of the council since Mayor Pete Wilson first aspired to higher office in the 1970s, have hit a roadblock with the City’s Ethics Commission. In an advice letter released December 16, commission general counsel Alison Adema told DeMaio that he could not use funds from a political committee he controls to pay the costs of virtual district meetings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Your office has been approached by a vendor with regard to setting up Telephone Town Hall Meetings as a means of facilitating your communications with constituents,” wrote Adema. “You anticipate sending follow-up letters to constituents who participate in these virtual meetings. Similarly, you hope to create and distribute printed materials to solicit public input on a variety of Citywide and community issues.”

According to the letter, DeMaio wanted money for the effort to come from San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government, described by its website as “a non partisan public policy action committee.” The committee has backed several ballot measures, including the strong mayor initiative and public pension limits. According to federal records, donors in 2005 included $100,000 from Manchester Resorts LP, owned by hotel mogul Doug Manchester, and $15,000 from the Performance Institute, Inc., a consulting firm founded by DeMaio. Disclosure statements on file for the period ending June 30 of last year, the most recent available, show that the committee had $46,800 in cash on hand, all of that derived from a $50,000 no-interest loan DeMaio made to the committee on June 10.

Adema held that because DeMaio controls the committee and he is now on the council, “You may no longer use SDCAG funds to engage in issues advocacy unless such advocacy is truly related to ballot measure activity.” If DeMaio wanted to conduct the virtual meetings, Adema said, he could use funds remaining in his election campaign committee, Reform City Hall with Carl DeMaio. She added that it was okay for DeMaio to use his city staff to distribute printed materials, as long as the documents related “to City issues” and the staffers did not “distribute any political materials that support or oppose a City candidate while on ‘City time.’ ” But the use of any DeMaio intern’s time paid for by San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government “must be related to a proposed or actual ballot measure.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party

A couple of accidental crashes at California English
Next Article

San Diego Holiday Experiences

As soon as Halloween is over, it's Christmas time in my mind
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