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

Sempra’s generosity

The best Italian cuisine in Brentwood, anyone?

Cristina Garcia got a $139 meal from Sempra.
Cristina Garcia got a $139 meal from Sempra.

The Constitution posits a barrier between church and state, but in California nothing can keep politicians and Sempra lobbyists apart, judging by the giant utility’s recent disclosure of its third quarter lobbying activities.

On July 23, for instance, Democratic assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Pico Rivera got a $139 meal from Sempra at L.A.’s Church & State bistro, where the cuisine is “traditional French Bistro fare, created using only seasonal produce of the highest quality,” according to the establishment’s website. “All of our products come from organic farms and have been compassionately raised without antibiotics or hormones.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Her fellow Democrat Henry Perea was given a Dodgers ticket worth $103, as well as a $33.80 meal at Café Pinot in downtown L.A., with an “impressive metropolitan skyline view, a gorgeous garden setting, and floor to ceiling windows.”

Perea also chowed down on the utility’s tab to the tune of $109.57 at Palmieri Restaurant, which features “the best Italian cuisine in Brentwood,” according to its website. Jennifer Beall, staffer for Orange County Republican assemblyman Bill Brough, was more cowboy-minded, picking up a $125 ticket to the Rancho Mission Viejo rodeo on August 22.


Ex-SDG&E PR staffer Rachel Laing, a self-employed influence peddler who once worked as a media handler for Republican mayor Jerry Sanders, is taking cash from the taxpayers again. According to her third quarter lobbying report, the onetime Union-Tribune reporter’s Laing Strategic Communications took in $4500 from Civic San Diego, the city’s urban development arm, for “communications and stakeholder outreach services.” In August, she kicked in $700 to the mayoral re-election fund of the GOP’s Kevin Faulconer.


Lobbyist and ex-Democratic city councilman Tony Young, who is president of Faulconer’s One San Diego anti-poverty nonprofit, did well for himself this summer, according to his quarterly filing. Ygrene, a home solar-power financing outfit, paid Young’s company Civic Link Strategies $11,000 to get the city council to pass an ordinance “to include the city in a state-wide energy financing program.” He got $7000 from Zirx, an on-demand computerized car parking service. SDG&E forked over $15,000 for lobbying regarding a “climate action plan,” and the Otay Water District paid him $9000 to fight the city’s proposed rate hike for its recycled water.

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

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Cristina Garcia got a $139 meal from Sempra.
Cristina Garcia got a $139 meal from Sempra.

The Constitution posits a barrier between church and state, but in California nothing can keep politicians and Sempra lobbyists apart, judging by the giant utility’s recent disclosure of its third quarter lobbying activities.

On July 23, for instance, Democratic assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Pico Rivera got a $139 meal from Sempra at L.A.’s Church & State bistro, where the cuisine is “traditional French Bistro fare, created using only seasonal produce of the highest quality,” according to the establishment’s website. “All of our products come from organic farms and have been compassionately raised without antibiotics or hormones.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Her fellow Democrat Henry Perea was given a Dodgers ticket worth $103, as well as a $33.80 meal at Café Pinot in downtown L.A., with an “impressive metropolitan skyline view, a gorgeous garden setting, and floor to ceiling windows.”

Perea also chowed down on the utility’s tab to the tune of $109.57 at Palmieri Restaurant, which features “the best Italian cuisine in Brentwood,” according to its website. Jennifer Beall, staffer for Orange County Republican assemblyman Bill Brough, was more cowboy-minded, picking up a $125 ticket to the Rancho Mission Viejo rodeo on August 22.


Ex-SDG&E PR staffer Rachel Laing, a self-employed influence peddler who once worked as a media handler for Republican mayor Jerry Sanders, is taking cash from the taxpayers again. According to her third quarter lobbying report, the onetime Union-Tribune reporter’s Laing Strategic Communications took in $4500 from Civic San Diego, the city’s urban development arm, for “communications and stakeholder outreach services.” In August, she kicked in $700 to the mayoral re-election fund of the GOP’s Kevin Faulconer.


Lobbyist and ex-Democratic city councilman Tony Young, who is president of Faulconer’s One San Diego anti-poverty nonprofit, did well for himself this summer, according to his quarterly filing. Ygrene, a home solar-power financing outfit, paid Young’s company Civic Link Strategies $11,000 to get the city council to pass an ordinance “to include the city in a state-wide energy financing program.” He got $7000 from Zirx, an on-demand computerized car parking service. SDG&E forked over $15,000 for lobbying regarding a “climate action plan,” and the Otay Water District paid him $9000 to fight the city’s proposed rate hike for its recycled water.

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

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
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.