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

Jack McGrory —moneybags lobbyist

$136,257 given since 2013

Jack McGrory —  quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk
Jack McGrory — quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk

California politicos insist that nominations to state boards and commissions aren’t dependent on the generousness of campaign contributions, but the experience of Jack McGrory, just named to the board of the state university system by Democratic governor Jerry Brown, may test that truism, critics say. The controversial ex-San Diego city manager grew super-rich after departing city hall to sign up to work for La Jolla mega-millionaire Sol Price, and later, Padres owner John Moores.

While at the city, McGrory carried water for Republican mayor Susan Golding, whose grandiose 1996 GOP convention plans, and Chargers stadium expansion required deft budgetary shape-shifting. “Golding ordered Jack McGrory to figure out how to pay for it all…no one quite understood how he did it, and that was his secret,” wrote Roger Lowenstein, author of 2008’s While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis. “Council members complained they didn’t understand his machinations… but the truth is they were happier not knowing what McGrory was up to.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lately, McGrory has been leading the campaign to convince city voters to turn over control of the Mission Valley venue formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium to San Diego State University for academic and commercial development. Skeptics have questioned the motive in raising more than $1.5 million, most of it from wealthy university alumni, per latest disclosure filings. How McGrory balances his theoretically non-partisan role as a state university trustee against his local political maneuvers remains to be seen. But quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk in light of his previous campaign contributions, including a total of $8500 to Democratic Senate leader Toni Atkins.

Asked by Union-Tribune columnist Logan Jenkins whether he had done any lobbying for his new position, McGrory responded, “I mentioned it to Toni a year ago.” In all, McGrory has personally produced $46,945 in state political money since 2001, most of it for Democrats, including Assembly members Todd Gloria, Shirley Weber and Lorena Gonzalez. An outlier was Republican Shirley Horton’s unsuccessful race for the Board of Equalization in 2014, to which he gave $6800. The former city manager has played even more significant stakes at San Diego’s city hall, where he and Allyson McGrory have kicked in a total of $136,257 since 2013, including $105,000 to SDSU’s Mission Valley land transfer effort. Last June, federal disclosure records show, McGrory gave ex-Navy SEAL and Democrat Josh Butner $3000 for his House race against Republican incumbent Duncan Hunter.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Jack McGrory —  quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk
Jack McGrory — quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk

California politicos insist that nominations to state boards and commissions aren’t dependent on the generousness of campaign contributions, but the experience of Jack McGrory, just named to the board of the state university system by Democratic governor Jerry Brown, may test that truism, critics say. The controversial ex-San Diego city manager grew super-rich after departing city hall to sign up to work for La Jolla mega-millionaire Sol Price, and later, Padres owner John Moores.

While at the city, McGrory carried water for Republican mayor Susan Golding, whose grandiose 1996 GOP convention plans, and Chargers stadium expansion required deft budgetary shape-shifting. “Golding ordered Jack McGrory to figure out how to pay for it all…no one quite understood how he did it, and that was his secret,” wrote Roger Lowenstein, author of 2008’s While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis. “Council members complained they didn’t understand his machinations… but the truth is they were happier not knowing what McGrory was up to.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lately, McGrory has been leading the campaign to convince city voters to turn over control of the Mission Valley venue formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium to San Diego State University for academic and commercial development. Skeptics have questioned the motive in raising more than $1.5 million, most of it from wealthy university alumni, per latest disclosure filings. How McGrory balances his theoretically non-partisan role as a state university trustee against his local political maneuvers remains to be seen. But quick confirmation by the state Senate is regarded as a slam dunk in light of his previous campaign contributions, including a total of $8500 to Democratic Senate leader Toni Atkins.

Asked by Union-Tribune columnist Logan Jenkins whether he had done any lobbying for his new position, McGrory responded, “I mentioned it to Toni a year ago.” In all, McGrory has personally produced $46,945 in state political money since 2001, most of it for Democrats, including Assembly members Todd Gloria, Shirley Weber and Lorena Gonzalez. An outlier was Republican Shirley Horton’s unsuccessful race for the Board of Equalization in 2014, to which he gave $6800. The former city manager has played even more significant stakes at San Diego’s city hall, where he and Allyson McGrory have kicked in a total of $136,257 since 2013, including $105,000 to SDSU’s Mission Valley land transfer effort. Last June, federal disclosure records show, McGrory gave ex-Navy SEAL and Democrat Josh Butner $3000 for his House race against Republican incumbent Duncan Hunter.

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

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
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