When he was mayor of San Diego, Republican Kevin Faulconer was slapped with a $4000 fine by the city’s ethics commission (ultimately paid by his campaign committee) for failing to disclose so-called behested payments for his now-defunct charity, known as One San Diego.

Gloria’s Colma casino cash

When he was mayor of San Diego, Republican Kevin Faulconer was slapped with a $4000 fine by the city’s ethics commission (ultimately paid by his campaign committee) for failing to disclose so-called behested payments for his now-defunct charity, known as One San Diego. The cash came from Campland, LLC, a city leaseholder seeking Faulconer’s favor in a bid to extend its lucrative grip on Mission Bay real estate. Campland gave the mayor’s non-profit $10,000 in February 2018, but Faulconer didn’t report the gift until six months after the legally mandated 30-day deadline. A bevy of other questionable donations to the mayor’s charity, including one from a concern run by Padres general partner Peter Seidler, also went undisclosed for weeks and months. “This was the result of an unfortunate administrative error, but the buck stops with me,” Faulconer said in an emailed statement to a reporter.

Todd Gloria sidestepped a shaming — this time.

Now Faulconer’s mayoral successor, Democrat Todd Gloria, has just escaped paying a financial penalty for similar failures as an Assemblyman. “We found that on June 28, 2018, the California Charter School Association made a payment of $5000 to Foundation for California’s Technology and Innovation Economy at your behest.” says a July 9 Warning Letter to Gloria from California Fair Political Practices Commission enforcement chief Angela J. Brereton. “Additionally, on August 18, 2018, Lucky Chances Inc. made a payment of $5000 to the Foundation at your behest. Both of these payments triggered behested payment reporting obligations under the Act. Once a source reaches the $5000 disclosure threshold in a calendar year, all payments from that source, regardless of the amount, must be disclosed.” Says the letter: “Your actions violated the Act because you failed to timely file two behested payment reports within 30 days of the date of the payments.” Brereton then went on to cite several so-called mitigating factors to justify why Gloria was getting no financial penalty. “The payment amounts were low, you filed the outstanding reports before the Enforcement Division contacted you, and you have no prior Enforcement history.” But the new mayor is not entirely off the hook, per the letter. “The information in this matter will be retained and may be considered should an enforcement action become necessary based on newly discovered information or future conduct. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act in the future will result in monetary penalties of up to $5000 for each violation.”

Lucky Chances, Inc. runs a casino in Colma, famous for its 17 cemeteries containing the graves of many San Franciscans, noted and otherwise — including murdered mayor George Moscone. Lucky Chances has had more than its share of run-ins with federal and state regulators, including an October 2008 prison sentence for owner Rene Medina in an income tax case. He turned the operation over to his sons Rommel and Ruell. But a January 2, 2020 document filed by the California Gambling Control Commission alleges that Rene was still “involved in the operation, management, and control” of a separate corporation linked to the family. That firm furnished “third-party provider services to Lucky Chances casino,” per the document. “The management outfit does not provide third-party services to any other card room.” The declaration continues, “Rene Medina is disqualified from licensure under the Act because in 2008, he was convicted of three federal felony tax evasion counts based, in part, on falsifying records relating to the Casino’s business and operations.”

Summer Stephan, readying for reelection with a little help from Reagan’s writer.

Summer’s money

District Attorney Summer Stephan, the handpicked establishment candidate appointed by the county board of supervisors to succeed her boss Bonnie Dumanis, had a good first six months of 2021 raising money for her reelection bid next year. Per a July 30 disclosure filing, Stephan raked in $236,390, ending the period with a hefty cash balance of $209,562. At least $30,900 came in from members of the legal profession, the document shows, including $1800 each from lobbyist Paul Robinson, Morrison & Foerster’s David Doyle, and David S. Casey, Jr. Out-of-town donors include San Clemente’s Ken Khachigian, a lawyer and one-time speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, who kicked in $500...A big-money county employees union has come up with a punchy name for its recently registered independent expenditure committee targeting a foe on the board of supervisors: “Defeat Dangerous Jim Desmond for Supervisor 2022 Sponsored by Service Employees International Union Local 221.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

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