“Midway Rising” — the redevelopment group chosen by Mayor Gloria for the Sports Arena area — is owned by one of his largest political contributors.
The group is represented by principal Brad Termini of Zephyr Development. As San Diego’s LaPrensa reported last week:
Termini and his wife, Stefanie, were the two largest contributors to a special campaign committee created solely to support Todd Gloria’s campaign for Mayor in the 2020 election.
Brad and Stefanie Termini donated $100,000 to the committee on Oct 30, 2019. Termini is listed as the CEO of Zephyr Investors, LLC, and his wife is listed as a “Homemaker”.
Brad and Stefanie Termini also contributed a total of $4,500 directly to the Todd Gloria for Mayor campaign committee controlled by Gloria during the election cycle.
Not only that, as investigative reporter Alberto Garcia reported:
Four of Termini’s relatives in Buffalo, NY, also contributed a total of $4,500 directly to the Todd Gloria for Mayor campaign committee. Termini previously ran his family’s development company in Buffalo and recently launched a $300 million marijuana cultivation operation there.
No other contributions matched the amount of the Termini’s individual contributions. The Termini’s contributions to the special committee, San Diegans from Every Community in Support of Todd Gloria for Mayor 2020, amounted to over one-fifth of the total. The committee raised a total of $484,071 through the June 2020 Primary season.
Garcia also raises a whole host of other problems with Midway Rising: how city staff wasn’t allowed to thoroughly vet it, whether the group has the ability to handle such a large development, and is their financial status all that stable. It’s worth a read – go here.
Dear reader: I hope you’re sitting down when you read this — it’s such a shock!
Oh, Frank…so cynical for one so young.
Cough, cough! Ya know, we intellectually know this kind of stuff goes on all the time – but here, it’s so openly flaunted. Right in plain view.
So blatant, so corrupt — what Italian friends call “the bronze face.”
This is not acceptable. And there’s interlocking enabling “legislation” from the State Legislature that’s also blatant, corrupt and unacceptable. What’s missing — aside from ethical integrity among San Diego elected public officials — is educated, organized, effective, public pushback, led by (a dwindling cadre of) truth-telling journalists.