san diego county politics

Follow the money: Joel Anderson edition

(Editor’s note: Oh, what a long, strange trip it’s been for former state Sen. Joel Anderson who, like Old Man River, keeps running for political office while playing fast and loose with campaign finance laws, along. Over 10 years ago, when he was a state assemblyman from La Mesa, Joel Anderson was the subject of an investigation into questionable campaign contributions that ended with election…


Owning San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones

According to her 2018 campaign disclosure statement, mayoral candidate Rebecca Jones received $50,965 in donations from 180 individuals. Only 53 have San Marcos addresses. Seven of ten of her cash supporters were, like me, not eligible to vote in the election. Jones’s opponent, Chris Orlando, raised $29,000 in donations from 139 individuals, 94 of whom have San Marcos addresses. I was disappointed to learn that…


Team of CSUSM alums win San Marcos seat

Maria Nunez is representing District 1 on the San Marcos City Council after being elected last November as the culmination of her first political campaign. But that representative just as easily could be Arcela Nunez-Alvarez, Maria’s older sister and a fellow Cal State San Marcos alumna. Or it could be Ana Ardon, another CSUSM alum and, for the last 15 years or so, a colleague of Nunez-Alvarez’s…


San Marcos council scam dates to 2007

If San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones’ attempt to circumvent local voters by appointing a new City Council member next month instead of scheduling a special election sounds familiar, it is. It has happened before and Jones was the beneficiary of the new seat, her first political office, as a result. That happened in 2007 when then-mayor and newly elected San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond…


Duncan Duane Hunter’s town hall from hell

Deep state. Thousands of Obama appointees trying to take down Donald Trump from the inside as part of an Orwellian government that controls us. An intelligence community, FBI and Department of Justice “that have been infiltrated by seditious Obama folks that want to go after the President.” Or how about defending Judeo-Christian values that we have in this country. And then there’s “The Hunter Plan”…


February fools? Issa calls for special prosecutor, Hunter to hold town hall

Pigs flying. Signs of apocalypse? Was there something in the water today? A double-bent moon shot full of tequila. Could King George III be sane? On Friday, unconfirmed word circulated that Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th District) would reverse course suddenly and hold an in-person town hall meeting. The next day, Mike Harrison, a Hunter aide, sent emails to Indivisible leaders saying a town hall would…


Hunter: Arrest protesters for trespassing

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th District) on his website says: “I value all feedback from residents of the 50th Congressional District of California.” Just not at his El Cajon or Temecula district offices. When it comes to tearing down high school art from the Capitol, Hunter seems fearless, but when it comes to constituents visiting his El Cajon or Temecula office or holding an in-person town…


Closed door policy at Issa’s Vista office?

(Note: Updated 2 p.m. Thursday with quotes, information.) It was a case of meet — sorta —  and definitely no greet on Inauguration Day at the Vista office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49th District), according to representatives of 26 constituents in a group calling itself Courageous Resistance Encinitas who tried to deliver a letter protesting Donald Trump’s installation to staff there. Newfound public political action met a…


Falling down Duncan Hunter’s rabbit hole

CONGRESSMAN DEFENDS BUNNY TRAVEL There is nothing better than a ridiculous scandal involving a public person to excite journalists. Congressman Duncan Hunter has provided journalists a perfect whipping boy for the past several months over improper charges to Hunter’s campaign funds. The ongoing revelations have triggered months of investigate reporting aided by the findings of the Federal Election Commission. Last week the most absurd disclosure of…


10,000 join San Marcos Women’s March

Ten thousand came when only 2,500 were expected. Women’s March North County San Diego quadrupled its expected number Saturday as an excited, and determined group marched from San Marcos Civic Center to Palomar College. A few early sprinkles and the unexpected numbers did nothing to dampen the mood at the free-wheeling people’s parade. Far exceeding expectations, the thousands of marchers overflowed Mission Avenue sidewalks spilling into…