Dear Marti, I read the following:

(From San Diego Magazine) THE POKING NOSE: With San Diego still struggling to stem the riptide of red ink, the city is “desperately trying to ‘refinance’ its debt,” according to one City Hall wag. “In other words, some want to stretch payments out longer for short-term savings. Sounds familiar,” she says. “Very much like underfunding the city’s pension yesterday to pass on the debt to our children tomorrow.” … Another one bites the dust? San Diego Social magazine has apparently stopped the presses. Calls to its listed phone number are going unanswered … City Council offices are buzzing about the recent abrupt departure of Councilmember Marti Emerald’s chief of staff, Xema Jacobson. (Former policy chief Don Mullen has replaced her.) A colleague says the departure is related to a new ethics complaint involving Emerald’s office, but Emerald says no. “Why would anyone start a rumor like that? Xema and I have been close friends for 20 years,” she says. “She made the decision to leave as part of a realignment of the office.”

Recently Marti Emerald asked the Mayor’s office to televise her upcoming confrontation with the Ethics Commission, which he denied as it would conflict with the Planning Commission. For those of you who don’t track Emerald closely, she is in hot water with the Ethics Commission for various violations and doesn’t much like it that the “troubleshooter” role is someone else’s. So why does Marti want this televised? The general feeling downtown is that she is going to be fairly harshly punished and fined for her ethical violations. Why would she want us to see that?

I’ve also heard what ‘Sunshine’ heard – that Xema is out as Chief of Staff to Marti Emerald. Further, though, I heard that Emerald offered the position to another long time City Hall staffer liberal Democrat Don Mullen. Xema and Mullen had a very, very rocky relationship, and rumor has it he threatened to quit in the last couple days for a job outside City Hall.

I didn’t check my emails from Friday until this morning. Upon reading them, what did I find but an email from one of the previous “Crimmins Crowd” on the local GOP Committee – this one allegedly the contents of a back and forth email between a young, disturbed activist and a former San Diego County Republican Party Chairman, largely dealing with the less than positive relationship some years ago between California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring and the former Chairman in question. The intent of the exchange is clearly an attempt by the activist to convince the past-Chairman to air whatever grievances he might have. This is the fourth such email that I’ve gotten from “Da Rat” as he calls himself since Michael Crimmins was bounced off the local GOP Committee 44-1 (the 1 being his own vote). I think they make pretty clear who the individual filling our emails with “anonymous” defamatory attacks on Nehring and current Chairman Tony Krvaric is. I will be forwarding these documents to Ron Nehring and Tony Kravaric. The behavior of the “anonymous” individual in question is repulsive, juvenile, and worthy of a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution.

Turns out “Troubleshooter” Marti Emerald is going to deal with her looming Ethics Commission judgement like a screaming, writhing child being led out of a crowded grocery market… she’s going to fight every step of the way. Delightful. This week, her lawyer argued that one of the three Commissioners (apparently now the Ethics Commission is so busy the Commissioners delegate judgement to smaller groups than the group as a whole)  should excuse himself because of previous comments in the Voice of San Diego. After much eye rolling this was done, leaving two Commissioners, which is too few to deal with the issue. I’ve got to state for the record I think this policy of irritating the “judge and jury” is brilliant… should give me much to write about later.

In other news, another ethics complaint, based on hundreds of pages of documents from Emerald’s office dealing with city business, is about to be filed. Having fun, Zema? The emails I’ve read, and I haven’t read the bulk of them, from the public  information act sure doesn’t make it sound like you are…

Sometimes, you hope its possible that both sides in a contest of some sort lose. Today at 9am “Troubleshooter” Marti Emerald, embattled and embroiled in a major ethics mire, goes before the Ethics Commission.

According to three sources over the last couple of days, two of them at least mildly reliable, there was a poll in the field in San Diego City Council Districts 2, 6, and 7 last week. When I first heard the district numbers I thought that the person I was speaking to meant District 8, but I was corrected. All three persons were very clear — District 7, currently held by “Troubleshooter” Marti Emerald, who is not up for election, was polled, not District 8.

Every war comes to an end, and the war over control of the Republican Central Committee that has heatedly flared, on and off for the past two years, is over. In the last four days, in a sweeping route, Republican Chairman Tony Krvaric’s ‘organization’ has emerged wholly victorious over what became an ever shrinking, and every more bizarre, collection of malcontents.

Witness last week’s anonymous email, which accused Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring and Tony Krvaric of a variety of crimes. The result? A Sacramento Bee investigation and article which, from most perspectives, all but said “there is nothing there.” A loss of credibility for the malcontents.

Last night the San Diego Republican Party took the unusual (I’ve never seen it in 25 years) step of ousting a member: Michael Crimmins. I was not present for the event but I did get several reports. I can’t stress enough how unusual, again, it was to have such an ouster and as much a vote like 44 to 1 (Crimmins being the 1) calling for Crimmins to be removed. Normally any action in this or any other political party has at least some sort of other side. The reason Crimmins was removed involved (1) unproved accusations of corruption against other committee members (2) racist comments towards Congressional candidate Mason Weaver, who is African American. As he left, several persons saw Crimmins bump Executive Director Barrett Tetlow and mutter something along the lines of “this means war.” Seriously, Michael? Do you really have to be that much of a Warner Brothers cartoon?

It gets better though. Although some of the coffee house press was present, the promised press conference of “a dozen San Diego and California Republican Party members” providing evidence of various crimes alleged of CRP Chairman Ron Nehring and Tony Kravaric never materialized. Shocking!

According to my source tonight there is a meeting going on right now in Tierrasanta, with over TWO DOZEN community leaders from around D7 to address the question “what to do about Marti Emerald’. Attendees were asked not to discuss the meeting or attendees for fear of retribution. I will honor that request, even though the individual who reported from the event did not clear this ‘off the record’ aspect of their report before passing notes on.

I’ve now heard half a dozen times that various union public safety employees in the Oceanside Recall are walking door to door in fake, pseudo uniforms, while campaigning to Recall Jerry Kern. They are prohibited from wearing their real uniforms while conducting political activity. I asked one of my lawyer friends about this, and he got back to me Tuesday with the opinion that ‘impersonating a public safety official’ could be a crime, since if this is the case, these individuals would, by wearing the pseudo uniforms, be implying that they are on official business when they are not. I’ll offer a SD Rostra Coffee Cup for anyone who gets a clear picture of an individual wearing one of these fake uniforms. Detail adequate to complain is required… including a clear face picture.

PS – various public information requests have now been submitted in regard to the council office of Marti Emerald, with more coming. If they find what they think they are going to find, on a couple fronts, there will be more sobbing in the parking structure.

Got an email from a friend to a friend to me this morning… Councilwoman Marti Emerald went to a San Carlos community meeting last night, chewing a double wad of gum the whole time. The crowd was not exactly friendly. The highlights:

Marti took some time to attack the Ethics Commission for picking on her… that they were being unfair about actually investigating complaints against her! She also blamed the Boling for Council campaign for filing the complaint… and since old Mr. Murphy knows exactly who filed the complaint I can assure Marti that the actual filer is much, much more amusing.

Well… I was sent this document that is allegedly the agenda of Marti Emerald’s Advisory Committee meeting. Anyone notice anything odd? That’s right… only the “pro” side of the new city hall and new downtown library were given a hearing.

So at the end of the day her campaign donors held a meeting, were given a presentation from her point of view, and were ‘independent’ voices advising her to move on and support the projects. No big deal.

What is going to be even more amusing is seeing exactly who was there.

A public information request will be formally filed in re the ‘Emerald Advisory Council’ in the next several days. In the meantime, I’d love to see the agenda of the meeting with the Mayor’s staff member. Anyone who has it can just send to MIGHTY THOR, I’m sure he’ll pop it over, or click the ‘I want to advertise’ button on top and use that email and I’m sure it will work its way to me.