https://www.sdsu.edu/news/2024/07/the-enduring-sdsu-legacy-of-frederick-w-pierce-iv

Fred Pierce, only 61, suffered a heart attack June 11 at his Rancho Santa Fe home, per a July 14 San Diego Union-Tribune paid obituary. (Pictured with Christine Pierce).

The El Paseo mess

The last living player in a 2005 backstage power struggle over future development at San Diego State University has died. As consultant to the San Diego State University Research Foundation, Fred Pierce, battled the school’s then-president Steve Weber and his second-in-command, Sally Roush, both now also dead. Pierce, only 61, suffered a heart attack June 11 at his Rancho Santa Fe home, per a July 14 San Diego Union-Tribune paid obituary that contained no mention of the epic confrontation.

Stephen Weber told Fred Pierce to take a walk on El Paseo project.

Pierce, allied with Tom Carter — then a board member of the non-profit SDSU Research Foundation, which runs much of the school’s finances — ultimately lost a bitter fight over the foundation’s control of a sprawling commercial and residential complex that was to bear the name El Paseo. The foundation’s board had already had its way with city hall insiders, as well as the Union-Tribune, then owned by David Copley, which endorsed the Paseo project.

But Roush, always wary of corruption under the easy-going Weber, smelled a rat. “The Foundation or Fred is presenting this as the Foundation and City vs. the University,” reads a March 17 2005, email from Roush to Weber. “In my position, I cannot cajole, require, or otherwise get them to stop. As long as that is the position that Tom and other community board members believe in, the whole mess is just that much worse.”

As described in an August 2006 write-up in the Reader, the so-called El Paseo Project “was touted as an urban village, akin to a combination of Horton Plaza and Point Loma’s Liberty Station, at the doorstep of San Diego State University. One hundred fifty-three thousand square feet of retail, including an Urban Outfitters and a 7-Eleven; a 14-theater multiplex cinema; housing for 1300 students; and 110,000 square feet of university offices, all designed, built, and financed by the San Diego State University Foundation — a nonprofit university auxiliary — at no cost to taxpayers. Estimated price tag: $350 million.”

In April 2005, when Carter, formerly a top executive with the collapsed Great American Bank, hatched a plot to bring in a shadowy East Coast developer, Roush was livid. “They have no construction, project management or other related experience,” she emailed Weber. “They are a ‘shell’ corporation for off-book financing. If we want to pursue this effort, you need a discussion with [then-CSU Chancellor] Charlie [Reed] to ensure you have his approval to proceed in this manner.” In another email to Weber, Roush implored: “Steve, sooner rather than later we need to make a decision on this project. I don’t think you have the confidence you need to have in the project management team (Pierce, [SDSU Foundation chief operating officer Steve] Bloom) for a project of this magnitude. If you are ultimately going to assign this project over to the University, the sooner it is done the better for all. If you choose to leave the project with the Foundation, again the sooner we all know that the better.”

As Roush raged on, Weber gave in, taking back the project from the foundation. “First I have to say I am going to resign from the board today,” Carter — who would later succumb to colon cancer — abruptly announced at his last meeting. “I have served on almost any kind of board you can imagine. I take it very seriously when I’m on a board of directors. The word ‘fiduciary’ is always something you must remember. What I have seen happen here in the past year is foreign to the kind of operations I have been accustomed to.”

Thus toppled from the project, SDSU alum Pierce eventually went on to greater glory, doing a string of lucrative student housing deals and ultimately donating $3 million to the school, resulting in a fraternity and sorority complex being named the Pierce Greek Life Center.

A glowing July 8 tribute on SDSU’s website, which offers not a word about El Paseo, says Pierce was “next in line to become chair of The Campanile Foundation Board of Directors,” a non-profit auxiliary set up by Weber in 1999 to raise cash for the university from deep-pocketed special interest donors.

KPBS’s Digital influence

With its onetime ally, the San Diego Union-Tribune, on the financial ropes and largely out of the business of political spin, San Diego State University-owned-and-operated KPBS is looking to hire a so-called Public Matters Editor for between $90,000 and $100,000 per year. “This position is grant-funded for up to three years. Continued employment is dependent on funding,” says a job notice posted last week by the San Diego State University Research Foundation, which doesn’t reveal who is footing the bill. The new hire will manage “the editorial and engagement vision of the Public Matters Democracy team,” the advertisement says. “This new initiative seeks to engage the San Diego and Imperial County communities around elections, civic engagement and thoughtful conversations among individuals with diverse perspectives. KPBS’ Public Matters initiative will center people and solutions throughout our coverage.”

The notice goes on to say that “this key individual will ensure that KPBS is embedded in our surrounding communities and expanding our efforts in communities where we don’t currently have a strong foothold, to provide representation from the full spectrum of San Diego and Imperial Counties and bring together a diversity of voices and perspectives through our journalism, and digital and in-person engagements.”

Also to be onboarded: a Public Matters Social Media Host/Reporter and an Investigative Reporter. “This team will prioritize audience engagement and accountability-driven journalism, including a mix of thought-provoking short, medium and feature-length stories, fresh explainers that teach the audience something new.” In addition, the successful job seeker will be expected “to collaborate regularly with other KPBS leaders at all levels in all departments in order to illuminate the key roles democracy and civic engagement play in a healthy society.”

Voice of the BIA

Ex-San Diego City Council Republican Chris Cate, currently a board member of the non-profit news website Voice of San Diego, a key KPBS competitor, has been earning big bucks from the Building Industry Association San Diego PAC through 3MC Strategies, a consulting outfit Cate created after being termed off the council four years ago.

Joel Anderson looks to builders to help build his campaign.

“Cate is the founder of 3MC Strategies, a San Diego firm specializing in public policy, public affairs, and business development,” says a bio on the Voice’s website. “Chris founded the firm following his 8 years of service on the San Diego City Council representing District 6.” A July 9 filing with the county shows 3MC receiving a total of $20,000 from the BIA political action committee during the period from February 18 through June 30 of this year.

The PAC also forked over $20,000 to GOP County Supervisor Joel Anderson’s reelection bid, $44,000 for Republican ex-San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s challenge to incumbent Democratic County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, $10,000 for the GOP-leaning Lincoln Club, and $35,750 to the county Democratic Party.

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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