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

Unpublic relations

— As school-board elections approach, San Diego Unified chief Alan Bersin continues to haul out the big guns to tell his side of the highly contentious story. Word has leaked from district headquarters on Normal Street that none other than Al Ziegaus, the public relations maestro behind the now defunct Stoorza Ziegaus PR agency, and his award-winning aide Bernie Rhinerson have joined the Bersin bandwagon as behind-the-scenes "consultants" to the district. According to district sources, the new PR hands are sitting in on weekly district meetings to hash out public relations strategies and make sure that all literature and news releases issued by the district are helpful to the Bersin loyalists running in the two school-board races up for grabs this year. Ziegaus, a city hall reporter for the Evening Tribune in the '70s and one-time aide to ex-city councilman Jess Haro, went on to join Gail Stoorza-Gill to form Stoorza, Ziegaus, & Metzger, which picked up some of the most lucrative PR and advertising contracts in town (third partner, Bobbie Metzger, former press secretary to ex-state assembly speaker Willie Brown, left the agency in 1996). Two years ago, Ziegaus struck out on his own and set up, with Rhinerson and Chris Wahl, Southwest Strategies, which has represented a variety of developers as well as the San Diego Unified Port District. This June, the firm announced it had picked up a contract from the city of Coronado: "SWS will design and produce a city newsletter, prepare city informational news releases, and provide content and design upgrades for the City web site." Just how much Ziegaus is getting from the school district and who is picking up the tab is still unknown. Sources say Bersin has been telling insiders that the money is coming from unidentified "private donors" and not official district funds. PR consultant Ziegaus himself declined comment on anything having to do with his work for San Diego Unified and referred all questions to the district's public affairs office, which failed to return phone calls ... A day after it was revealed here that state Democrats wouldn't be unhappy to see state bond funds for Republican mayor Dick Murphy's pet downtown library project hung up in limbo, state staffers in charge of the money suddenly reversed course last week and said that errors they had found in the city's $20 million-plus grant application would be ignored. San Diego Democratic state senator Dede Alpert is on the special commission that has ultimate say over how the money is spent. Whether a final vote on the funding is held before or after the gubernatorial election is now considered crucial to whether Murphy manages to collect the money. The mayor has put his prestige on the line with his promise to build the new building across the street from the downtown ballpark and is expected to cite both if he makes his own longed-for run for governor four years from now.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Inside gatherers The big San Francisco law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, which has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to local officials up and down the state, including San Diego city and county, is the subject of a big write-up in San Francisco's legal newspaper, the Recorder: "Even where there is a bidding process, Orrick is such a well-known quantity among public officials that it enters the process with a leg up on competitors." The paper quotes San Diego County chief financial William Kelly as saying about the firm after sealing a recent deal: "We were very familiar with Orrick."... Padres owner John Moores has given $5000 to Bill Richardson, Democratic candidate for governor of New Mexico. Richardson's tenure on the board of troubled Moores-controlled Peregrine Systems has drawn fire from the Republican in the race ... Paralegal extraordinaire Erin Brockovich has joined the board of San Diego's Save the World Air, Inc., says a recent news release from the firm, which makes a "Zero Emission Fuel Saver" device ... KUSI weatherman C.S. Keys, who moved here from Pittsburgh a few years back, is getting some belated praise from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV-writer Tony Norman: "Remember C.S. Keys, the popular, but chronically troubled weatherman for both KDKA and WPXI? Keys grew up watching the same Philly news personalities I did, so he never realized that some things -- like allegedly beating up a girlfriend -- just aren't done in Pittsburgh. Keys may have been run out of town on a rail, but he landed on his feet in San Diego, where he's managed to stick to the path of righteousness in his personal life."

Contributor: Matt Potter

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

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob

— As school-board elections approach, San Diego Unified chief Alan Bersin continues to haul out the big guns to tell his side of the highly contentious story. Word has leaked from district headquarters on Normal Street that none other than Al Ziegaus, the public relations maestro behind the now defunct Stoorza Ziegaus PR agency, and his award-winning aide Bernie Rhinerson have joined the Bersin bandwagon as behind-the-scenes "consultants" to the district. According to district sources, the new PR hands are sitting in on weekly district meetings to hash out public relations strategies and make sure that all literature and news releases issued by the district are helpful to the Bersin loyalists running in the two school-board races up for grabs this year. Ziegaus, a city hall reporter for the Evening Tribune in the '70s and one-time aide to ex-city councilman Jess Haro, went on to join Gail Stoorza-Gill to form Stoorza, Ziegaus, & Metzger, which picked up some of the most lucrative PR and advertising contracts in town (third partner, Bobbie Metzger, former press secretary to ex-state assembly speaker Willie Brown, left the agency in 1996). Two years ago, Ziegaus struck out on his own and set up, with Rhinerson and Chris Wahl, Southwest Strategies, which has represented a variety of developers as well as the San Diego Unified Port District. This June, the firm announced it had picked up a contract from the city of Coronado: "SWS will design and produce a city newsletter, prepare city informational news releases, and provide content and design upgrades for the City web site." Just how much Ziegaus is getting from the school district and who is picking up the tab is still unknown. Sources say Bersin has been telling insiders that the money is coming from unidentified "private donors" and not official district funds. PR consultant Ziegaus himself declined comment on anything having to do with his work for San Diego Unified and referred all questions to the district's public affairs office, which failed to return phone calls ... A day after it was revealed here that state Democrats wouldn't be unhappy to see state bond funds for Republican mayor Dick Murphy's pet downtown library project hung up in limbo, state staffers in charge of the money suddenly reversed course last week and said that errors they had found in the city's $20 million-plus grant application would be ignored. San Diego Democratic state senator Dede Alpert is on the special commission that has ultimate say over how the money is spent. Whether a final vote on the funding is held before or after the gubernatorial election is now considered crucial to whether Murphy manages to collect the money. The mayor has put his prestige on the line with his promise to build the new building across the street from the downtown ballpark and is expected to cite both if he makes his own longed-for run for governor four years from now.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Inside gatherers The big San Francisco law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, which has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to local officials up and down the state, including San Diego city and county, is the subject of a big write-up in San Francisco's legal newspaper, the Recorder: "Even where there is a bidding process, Orrick is such a well-known quantity among public officials that it enters the process with a leg up on competitors." The paper quotes San Diego County chief financial William Kelly as saying about the firm after sealing a recent deal: "We were very familiar with Orrick."... Padres owner John Moores has given $5000 to Bill Richardson, Democratic candidate for governor of New Mexico. Richardson's tenure on the board of troubled Moores-controlled Peregrine Systems has drawn fire from the Republican in the race ... Paralegal extraordinaire Erin Brockovich has joined the board of San Diego's Save the World Air, Inc., says a recent news release from the firm, which makes a "Zero Emission Fuel Saver" device ... KUSI weatherman C.S. Keys, who moved here from Pittsburgh a few years back, is getting some belated praise from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV-writer Tony Norman: "Remember C.S. Keys, the popular, but chronically troubled weatherman for both KDKA and WPXI? Keys grew up watching the same Philly news personalities I did, so he never realized that some things -- like allegedly beating up a girlfriend -- just aren't done in Pittsburgh. Keys may have been run out of town on a rail, but he landed on his feet in San Diego, where he's managed to stick to the path of righteousness in his personal life."

Contributor: Matt Potter

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

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
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.