New Poll, Convention Center Drama, Big Bucks and a Shift in Leadership

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Politics & Media Mashup leads off with a look at some of the more interesting stories of the week and wraps up with links to some of the best stories about politics and media at the local, state and national levels.

This blog post on San Diego Rostra about a new San Diego Mayor 2012 poll garnered a lot of interest this week. The U-T’s Tom Blair picked it up and so did the Nathan Fletcher campaign.

The poll shows Bob Filner and Carl DeMaio in a virtual tie for the lead in the race to become San Diego’s next mayor followed by Nathan Fletcher, who linked to the note in Blair’s column on his Facebook page:

From UT San Diego: Supporters of Nathan Fletcher for mayor are buoyed by a new poll on the mayor’s race reportedly commissioned by candidate Bob Filner… for the first time, it shows Fletcher surging (to 20 percent), eight points ahead of Bonnie Dumanis, despite his relatively low name ID. A huge war chest for TV advertising, nearly $1 million raised so far, should help erase Fletcher’s ID deficit.

Share this post with your friends and continue the momentum!

 

Convention Center Drama

City Hall watchers were treated to a show this week when the City Council voted 7-1 to shift sales and marketing duties from the Convention Center to ConVis.

The vote was taken just before hoteliers started voting on whether to tax themselves to expand the Convention Center. Labor is mighty upset, which could spell trouble at the labor-friendly Coastal Commission, which has to approve the expansion plans.

The U-T San Diego isn’t happy either because the Mayor’s expansion plan would void Papa Doug’s grand waterfront vision. Then there is the Convention Center staff, some of whom made their feelings known as council was voting Tuesday.

What’s at stake? A little gathering called Comic-Con and other super size conventions that pump millions into the local economy. Got all that? If not, check out this and this.

Money, Money, Money

The latest campaign finance reports filed Thursday show money is pouring into the San Diego Mayor Race.

The U-T’s Craig Gustafson summed it up this way in his his story:

DeMaio has raised the most with $1.26 million, including $456,000 of his own money. Fletcher, however, leads the way with the most money — $963,000 — from donors. Dumanis is third overall with a total of $601,000.

Available funds look a little differently:

  • DeMaio: $822,482
  • Fletcher: $578,787
  • Dumanis: $232,309
  • Filner: negative $14,234

Filner, some campaign insiders believe, is relying on a labor-backed Independent Expenditure campaign to get him through the primary. Will it cost him? Good question.

Teachers Union Changes Leadership

Bill Freeman remains president of the San Diego teachers union, but the union’s controversial vice-president, Camille Zombro, was voted out this week.

A story by the Voice’s Will Carless said:

Camille Zombro, widely considered the architect of the San Diego Education Association’s shift towards a more hard-line, isolationist philosophy and a long-respected power broker in local education, has lost her bid for re-election as the teachers union’s vice president.

The result comes just two weeks after Zombro’s key ally, Craig Leedham, was placed on administrative leave. The removal of the two divisive, high-ranking officials comes at a crucial time for negotiations with the San Diego Unified School District.

The district has begged the union to make concessions in order to stave off hundreds of teacher layoffs. Some insiders believe concessions will surface eventually. This shake up in union leadership could speed things along. Click here to read the U-T’s take.

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Tony Manolatos is a communications strategist. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedInYou can hear Tony talk politics and media with KOGO’s LaDona Harvey every Friday at 2:35 p.m. on AM 600 and FM 95.7.
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