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

Liquor-store owners get a pass on late report

State watchdog gives repeat Fletcher funding violator a warning

Nathan Fletcher

Knocked out of serious politics by a relentless barrage of hit pieces dispatched by the GOP Lincoln Club, Nathan Fletcher — the onetime Republican assemblyman who became an independent and later a Democrat in his failed quest to become mayor of San Diego — has been out traveling the world, getting in shape for the Rock and Roll Marathon, and generally appearing to be enjoying life on behalf of his employer and campaign money backer Qualcomm, Inc., and founder Democratic billionaire Irwin Jacobs.

But a few pungent whiffs of last year's bitter campaign still linger.

The Neighborhood Market Association, a group of San Diego County market- and liquor-store owners, has gotten a pass on enforcement by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission regarding campaign-finance violations arising from Fletcher's bid for office last year, which featured on-air testimony with his mother about a previously unacknowledged tumultuous family history in Reno and Arkansas.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"On or around October 21, 2013, the Association made a $10,000 contribution to the Neighborhoods for Nathan Fletcher — A Committee to Support Nathan Fletcher for Mayor 2013, Sponsored by Neighborhood Market Association and Restoring Trust in San Diego, and failed to timely disclose that contribution," according to a May 12 letter from commission enforcement chief Gary Winuk to Stephen Kaufman, the neighborhood market group's lawyer.

"Your client’s actions violated the Act because they failed to disclose the $10,000 contribution either as a major donor, or as an intermediary through the Association’s committee’s filings pursuant to Regulation 18419," Winuk wrote.

“However, because the contribution was disclosed by the candidate, your client amended the campaign statement to reflect the contribution as soon as they were made aware of the omission, and because your client does not have an enforcement history, we are closing this matter with a warning letter."

"This letter serves as a written warning," Winuk added. "Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act in the future will result in monetary penalties up to $5000 for each violation."

The market association may not have an enforcement history with state regulators, but it is more than a little bit familiar with San Diego’s city ethics commission.

In February 2010, the group entered into a stipulated agreement with the commission and agreed to pay $14,000 in fines to resolve charges it had failed to report cash it spent to beat 2008's Proposition D, a proposal to ban booze on city beaches.

"One of the primary purposes of the City’s campaign laws is to ensure that information regarding a committee’s sponsorship, funding, and expenditures is timely disclosed to the public," noted the stipulation.

"In this case, the voters in the City of San Diego did not receive this essential information because campaign statements were not filed with the City Clerk (in either paper or electronic format) as required by local and state law."

But the market association wasn't through.

In April of last year the group agreed to pay a $6000 fine to the ethics commission on yet another disclosure rap, this one for failing to adequately report its sponsorship of hit pieces and robo-calls it launched in May 2012 against Fletcher's then-mayoral opponent Bob Filner.

City records show the association and its representatives continue to involve themselves in San Diego politics, most recently giving $1000 each to the mayoral hopes of Democratic city councilman David Alvarez and the eventual victor of the contest and Lincoln Club favorite Republican Kevin Faulconer.

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

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next 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
Nathan Fletcher

Knocked out of serious politics by a relentless barrage of hit pieces dispatched by the GOP Lincoln Club, Nathan Fletcher — the onetime Republican assemblyman who became an independent and later a Democrat in his failed quest to become mayor of San Diego — has been out traveling the world, getting in shape for the Rock and Roll Marathon, and generally appearing to be enjoying life on behalf of his employer and campaign money backer Qualcomm, Inc., and founder Democratic billionaire Irwin Jacobs.

But a few pungent whiffs of last year's bitter campaign still linger.

The Neighborhood Market Association, a group of San Diego County market- and liquor-store owners, has gotten a pass on enforcement by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission regarding campaign-finance violations arising from Fletcher's bid for office last year, which featured on-air testimony with his mother about a previously unacknowledged tumultuous family history in Reno and Arkansas.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"On or around October 21, 2013, the Association made a $10,000 contribution to the Neighborhoods for Nathan Fletcher — A Committee to Support Nathan Fletcher for Mayor 2013, Sponsored by Neighborhood Market Association and Restoring Trust in San Diego, and failed to timely disclose that contribution," according to a May 12 letter from commission enforcement chief Gary Winuk to Stephen Kaufman, the neighborhood market group's lawyer.

"Your client’s actions violated the Act because they failed to disclose the $10,000 contribution either as a major donor, or as an intermediary through the Association’s committee’s filings pursuant to Regulation 18419," Winuk wrote.

“However, because the contribution was disclosed by the candidate, your client amended the campaign statement to reflect the contribution as soon as they were made aware of the omission, and because your client does not have an enforcement history, we are closing this matter with a warning letter."

"This letter serves as a written warning," Winuk added. "Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act in the future will result in monetary penalties up to $5000 for each violation."

The market association may not have an enforcement history with state regulators, but it is more than a little bit familiar with San Diego’s city ethics commission.

In February 2010, the group entered into a stipulated agreement with the commission and agreed to pay $14,000 in fines to resolve charges it had failed to report cash it spent to beat 2008's Proposition D, a proposal to ban booze on city beaches.

"One of the primary purposes of the City’s campaign laws is to ensure that information regarding a committee’s sponsorship, funding, and expenditures is timely disclosed to the public," noted the stipulation.

"In this case, the voters in the City of San Diego did not receive this essential information because campaign statements were not filed with the City Clerk (in either paper or electronic format) as required by local and state law."

But the market association wasn't through.

In April of last year the group agreed to pay a $6000 fine to the ethics commission on yet another disclosure rap, this one for failing to adequately report its sponsorship of hit pieces and robo-calls it launched in May 2012 against Fletcher's then-mayoral opponent Bob Filner.

City records show the association and its representatives continue to involve themselves in San Diego politics, most recently giving $1000 each to the mayoral hopes of Democratic city councilman David Alvarez and the eventual victor of the contest and Lincoln Club favorite Republican Kevin Faulconer.

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

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

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

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
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.