C I T Y L I G H T S NEWS TICKER
Mayor privately courted by developer Mission Valley stadium promoters offer free lunch With the Spanos clan headed to L.A., San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer is vigorously promoting what critics fear may become yet another taxpayer giveaway to a pro- fessional sports franchise — and secrecy is again playing a part in his game. “I am so excited as mayor of the
potential this new franchise can bring to the city,” said Faulconer of a plan by a group of super-rich La Jollans to plant a Major League Soccer venue and accompanying commercial development on the 65-acre site of Qualcomm stadium. But, as was the case with the
Chargers proposition, documents show, Faulconer’s open-ended endorsement of the soccer proj- ect — whose financials remain a secret — has been preceded by multiple closed-door meetings between the mayor and the proj- ect’s would-be developers. Records of the discussions
were produced not by the city but by San Diego State University — a would-be user of the new Mis- sion Valley stadium — following a request made under the state public records act. The documents show Faulconer
and developers Mike and Nick Stone met on January 5 of last year at the downtown offices of devel- oper Morgan Dene Oliver. “RE lunch with the mayor,”
emailed Tracy L. Houdmann, executive assistant to Michael R. Stone, founder of FS Investors, to SDSU staff chief Megan Collins, on December 22. 2015. “The lunch will be at noon at
Oliver McMillan (they have a private dining room and chef in-house). I do not have an agenda and doubt there will be a formal one.” Added Houdmann, “Also, I can
Tracy Houdmann: “The lunch will be at noon at Oliver McMillan (they have a private dining room and chef in-house).”
confirm the 7th from 3-5 at SDSU. Thanks again for all the help coordinating both meetings!” Then, on May 6, Michelle Porras, Faul-
coner’s director of scheduling, emailed an aide to SDSU president Elliot Hirshman set- ting up another meeting with the Stones. Yet another discrete meet-up regard- ing the putative development occurred in
C I T Y L I G H T S By Reader staff writers
the mayor’s office November 30 between Faulconer, San Diego State officials, “plus FS attendees,” according to the records furnished by the university. What makes the repeated pri-
Morgan Dene Oliver. Oliver and those associated with his firm have given $34,750 to Faulconer.
vate contacts between FS Inves- tors and Faulconer particularly intriguing has been the absence of an FS lobbyist disclosure filing under a city influence-peddling code adopted after the Cheetahs strip club pay-for-play scandal that rocked city hall with federal indict- ments of three city councilmen. “‘Lobbying’ means having a
direct communication with a ‘City Official’ for the purpose of influenc- ing a municipal decision,” explains the city ethics commission’s Janu- ary 2016 lobbying guide. “If you own or work for a busi-
Mike Stone. He and Nick Stone met with Faulconer over a year ago.
ness or organization, including a non-profit or charitable organiza- tion, and you lobby on behalf of your business or
employer...then that business or employer may be an ‘Organization Lobbyist,’” says the manual. “It will qualify as an ‘Organiza-
FS Investors registered on January 24 of this year, identifying partner Nick Stone as lobbyist.
tion Lobbyist’ if its owners, com- pensated officers, or employees have an aggregate total of 10 or more lobbying contacts with City Officials on behalf of the business or organization within any 60 cal- endar day period.” Thus, if developers keep their
city hall contacts to fewer than the legal threshold, they can avoid reporting the costs and contacts of their influence-peddling efforts. FS Investors registered as a lob-
byist on January 24 of this year. Since 2009, Oliver and those
associated with his OliverMcMillan development firm have given a total of $34,750 to Faulconer political funds, city disclosure filings show. Masood Tayebi, a partner in the MLS venture, gave the mayor’s re- election campaign $1050 in July 2015, and his wife Surinder Tayebi kicked in $1000 for Faulconer the year before.
Matt Potter
Fishing boat sabotaged Owners admit trying to sink it for insurance money Christopher Switzer and Mark Gillette on October 11 took their charter sport-fishing continued on page 26
Peter Navarro:
Will he launch
...trade war, armed war with China?
By Don Bauder I
n San Diego County from 1992 through 2001, Peter Navarro ran unsuccess-
fully for mayor, county supervisor, city council, and Congress. Then he became an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine. Now he is in Washing-
ton DC, and his books and documentaries are making waves around the world. Conceivably, policies
he is pushing could gen- erate both a trade war and a shootin’ war between the two great powers, the United States and China. Gulp. Through books and documentaries, Navarro has become recognized for his insights on China’s dirty trade tricks, and he has writ- ten a book and directed a series of documentary films on the possibility of an all-
Neal Obermeyer Peter Navarro (above) and graphic from Death by China website
out war with China. Trade and military
scholars generally consider Navarro a jingoist — one who advocates belligerence. As Charles Tiefer wrote in Forbes, “Navarro is not at all just a ‘trade hawk’ about China. He is a ‘hawk’ about China across the board, in all the theatres of strug- gle, including the military. Navarro is, about China,… a war hawk.”
Navarro has written
or cowritten three books warning of China risks: The Coming China Wars (2006), Death by China (2011), and Crouching Tiger: What Chi- na’s Militarism Means for the World (2015). A video docu- mentary accompanied Death by China and a series of ten videos accompany his fright- ening 2015 book, explor- ing the possibility of armed conflict between the two
C I T Y L I G H T S
2 San Diego Reader February 9, 2017
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