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

Jerry Brown’s Gift Horses

Del Mar horse-racing interests donated heavily to a PAC that is giving to Jerry Brown’s reelection campaign.
Del Mar horse-racing interests donated heavily to a PAC that is giving to Jerry Brown’s reelection campaign.

The true source of the bulk of a $15,000 contribution given to the 2014 reelection bid of Democratic governor Jerry Brown by the Thoroughbred Owners of California PAC has finally been revealed. As we reported earlier this year, the money was received by the Brown camp on February 3, a few days after the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, operator of the famous track, gave $5000 to Brown. The virtually simultaneous contributions came amid a reportedly fierce lobbying effort by the cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach regarding four upcoming Brown appointments to the board of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which runs the fairgrounds. In addition, both cities had been angling to get the state to sell the fair-and-racing complex to them, an effort that has gone nowhere since Brown took over from GOP governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The cities’ plan to take over the racetrack and adjoining property hinged on a scheme to get Arizona horseman Mike Pegram and two partners to ante up $30 million toward a proposed sale price of $120 million, with the balance to be raised by $45 million in revenue bonds and a $45 million state loan. In return, Pegram’s group would have gotten a 55-year lease on the track.

But after Brown arrived in Sacramento, and an enabling bill by Democratic state senator Christine Kehoe failed to advance in the legislature, Pegram pronounced the deal dead last July. He told the Union-Tribune, “We said, ‘You know what, this isn’t going anywhere,’ and instead of spinning our wheels, we decided we’ve got better things to do.” Pegram left open the possibility that he might return to the bargaining table should political conditions improve.

Now it turns out that Pegram — owner of 26 McDonald’s restaurants in Arizona and 2 Nevada casinos — and fellow Arizona horse owner Karl Watson, one of Pegram’s prospective partners in the Del Mar deal, each gave $5000 to the Thoroughbred owners PAC on February 1. The Brown camp reported getting $15,000 from the PAC on February 3. The information was revealed in a March 18 financial disclosure by the Thoroughbred association and one by Brown dated February 3, posted online by the California secretary of state’s office. Before the Brown contribution was made, according to the filing, the PAC had just $7622 in the bank and at the end of the reporting period the PAC had a cash balance of $2622. The two horsemen’s contributions represented the only money received by the fund for the year to date.

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

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Next Article

Bait and Switch at San Diego Symphony

Concentric contemporary dims Dvorak
Del Mar horse-racing interests donated heavily to a PAC that is giving to Jerry Brown’s reelection campaign.
Del Mar horse-racing interests donated heavily to a PAC that is giving to Jerry Brown’s reelection campaign.

The true source of the bulk of a $15,000 contribution given to the 2014 reelection bid of Democratic governor Jerry Brown by the Thoroughbred Owners of California PAC has finally been revealed. As we reported earlier this year, the money was received by the Brown camp on February 3, a few days after the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, operator of the famous track, gave $5000 to Brown. The virtually simultaneous contributions came amid a reportedly fierce lobbying effort by the cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach regarding four upcoming Brown appointments to the board of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which runs the fairgrounds. In addition, both cities had been angling to get the state to sell the fair-and-racing complex to them, an effort that has gone nowhere since Brown took over from GOP governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The cities’ plan to take over the racetrack and adjoining property hinged on a scheme to get Arizona horseman Mike Pegram and two partners to ante up $30 million toward a proposed sale price of $120 million, with the balance to be raised by $45 million in revenue bonds and a $45 million state loan. In return, Pegram’s group would have gotten a 55-year lease on the track.

But after Brown arrived in Sacramento, and an enabling bill by Democratic state senator Christine Kehoe failed to advance in the legislature, Pegram pronounced the deal dead last July. He told the Union-Tribune, “We said, ‘You know what, this isn’t going anywhere,’ and instead of spinning our wheels, we decided we’ve got better things to do.” Pegram left open the possibility that he might return to the bargaining table should political conditions improve.

Now it turns out that Pegram — owner of 26 McDonald’s restaurants in Arizona and 2 Nevada casinos — and fellow Arizona horse owner Karl Watson, one of Pegram’s prospective partners in the Del Mar deal, each gave $5000 to the Thoroughbred owners PAC on February 1. The Brown camp reported getting $15,000 from the PAC on February 3. The information was revealed in a March 18 financial disclosure by the Thoroughbred association and one by Brown dated February 3, posted online by the California secretary of state’s office. Before the Brown contribution was made, according to the filing, the PAC had just $7622 in the bank and at the end of the reporting period the PAC had a cash balance of $2622. The two horsemen’s contributions represented the only money received by the fund for the year to date.

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

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
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