One of Mayor Gloria’s campaign opponents, Larry Turner, claims he and his family live in Ocean Beach, having moved here in July 2023, is under scrutiny by Gloria’s allies for possibly violating residency rules in running for mayor. It’s not the OB address that’s under question, however.
The Voice of San Diego reports today that a “new lawsuit is seeking to boot city cop Larry Turner from the mayor’s race. The lawsuit alleges Turner isn’t actually a full-time resident of the city of San Diego….”
“Turner is one of six candidates running to unseat Mayor Todd Gloria. So far, none of Gloria’s opponents have garnered major campaign cash or attention. The main question — barring any wild developments — is which one will come in second during the March 5 primary election. That person will face off with Gloria in November.
“The lawsuit isn’t the first whiff of a challenge to Turner’s residency. One of the political action committees supporting Gloria paid a private investigator $5,000 to dig into Turner’s residency, as our Scott Lewis reported in the Politics Report last week.
“The whole thing is a political hit job, Turner told Lewis. He argued the mayor’s people think he poses the biggest threat so they want him out of the race.”
Here, Scott Lewis of Voice of San Diego explains more:
Larry Turner, the police officer running against his boss’ boss, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, hasn’t reported raising any money yet but the mayor’s friends have taken notice of his potential.
One of the leading political PACs working to help Gloria get elected, New San Diego, paid a private investigator $5,000 to look into whether Turner actually lives in the city of San Diego as required by the city’s Municipal Code for candidates running for mayor. In a letter sent Feb. 6, longtime elections and ethics attorney Bob Ottilie wrote that Turner does not appear to have established valid residency within the city of San Diego. Turner disputes it.
The facts: City law says you must be a registered voter within the city of San Diego 30 days before filing papers to run. Turner registered as a voter living at an address downtown and that was the address that would count when he filed papers.
Turner and his wife also though own a home technically in El Cajon but he says it’s more of an Alpine-area. He admits that’s where he voted in 2020 and 2022. Turner says the downtown location was his home until he moved to Ocean Beach in July.
“We live in OB. We go back to the house in El Cajon/Alpine when my parents are in town and we stay out there a little bit,” he said. But he plans to raise his two kids, ages 1 and 2, in Ocean Beach.
“We love it; except for people not picking up their dog poop,” he told me.
The downtown address is key, though: Ottilie reports that a private investigator named Lawrence Hamilton was hired to look into the issue and found no evidence Turner and his family actually lived at the downtown condo. The investigator tracked vehicles at the El Cajon address and reports never seeing them near the downtown condo. And searches that would have shown utilities or other connections to the downtown condo never turned up Turner’s name.
Turner brushed it all off as a political attack.
“I can get all the rent and utility checks. I had mail sent there. Friends and neighbors saw me come and go, etc. This is just a cheesy attempt by the mayor to get Genevieve [Jones-Wright] more votes March 5 because everyone believes he can beat her in the general,” he wrote in a follow-up text to our conversation.
Even Ottilie’s letter acknowledges that Turner lived in San Diego before purchasing the place near Alpine. Turner said after his time in the Marine Corps, he bounced around the city a lot and bought the home in East County for his parents. They bought it in late 2019 and, when Covid hit, they ended up staying in the house and a trailer they parked there while they did work.
I voted for Larry already, and know that he would make a great mayor
With the garbage job Gloria has done, as a Native San Diegan since 1954, I would welcome ALL comers.
While the city leaders play political games, flood victims will likely be used as photo ops.
https://voiceofsandiego.org/2024/02/15/trust-between-southeastern-san-diego-flood-survivors-and-local-government-is-dead/#comment-25280
You may not have the money, but the nice mayor waived the reconstruction fees. And what do you get for incompetence? Why another tax proposal while the mayor holds a sign saying protect our infrastructure. Vote Gloria and Elo-Rivera out!
Agreed!
Vote Gloria and Elo-Rivera out!
And dump Whitburn and Campbell, too!
Turner responses with Fox5: https://fox5sandiego.com/election/mayoral-candidate-refutes-lawsuit-claiming-he-doesnt-live-in-san-diego-who-is-behind-the-suit/
Elo-Rivera’s comment of a tax disgusted me seeing the fees cut with the whole ADU issue. Tax the people not the builders?
This guy does not seem like my cup of tea BUT if he is serious about dealing with the dog poop in Ocean Beach he has my vote. :)
Hope that was in jest.
Update from CBS8:
Mayoral candidate Larry Turner is scheduled to appear in court next week to answer allegations that he lacks a necessary qualifications to run for San Diego mayor based on where he lives.
Turner’s campaign is now providing more details as to where and when Turner has lived in San Diego.
This lawsuit challenges the eligibility of the San Diego police officer to run for the city’s top job, claiming that he does not meet the residency requirement. However, a defiant Turner said he is ready to prove to the courts that he actually lives in the city.
“I’ve got my lease agreements, my checks, statements from my neighbors,” said Turner, speaking to CBS 8 inside the Ocean Beach bungalow he calls home.
Turner also continued to blast the lawsuit he’s currently facing, which alleges he is not a San Diego resident and therefore not qualified to run for office.
“This is just a ridiculous attempt to mess with an election,” he said, “This is very Trump-ish.”
Friday, Turner’s campaign released a list of which San Diego communities where Turner says he has lived, dating back to 2015, noting that from 2020 to 2023, he lived near Alpine. The release states that he moved to East Village in downtown San Diego in July of last year, and then Ocean Beach in December.
“This is ridiculous,” Turner said. “It is messing with an election, doing this right before the March fifth primary, trying to take people away from understanding that I’m the person to lead this city.”
“Election integrity is the thing that protects our democracy,” said attorney Bob Ottilie, who spoke to CBS 8 earlier this week, and filed the lawsuit on behalf of San Diegan Michelle VanDiver.
The suit claims that all publicly available information contradicts Turner’s claims he is a San Diego resident.
“There is no evidence out there that you did move,” Ottilie said. “There’s a ton of resources that should show that.”
Turner contests that claim
“The evidence that they are talking about is not where my feet are right now,” he said. “They are looking at where my library cards says I live, that my driver’s license has another address on it. That does not mean that’s where you live.”
CBS 8 reached out to the San Diego City Clerk, who confirmed that she worked with the Registrar of Voters to verify that Turner was a registered voter of the City of San Diego at least 30 days before his nomination papers were filed.
While it appears it will be left to the courts to decide whether Turner is ultimately qualified to run, Turner said his campaign is continuing forward.
“I am the one who is going to turn this this around,” Turner said. “We’re going to stop the clown car, we’re going to fire the clowns, and we’re going to move in a different direction.”
Both sides of this case are scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning, which is two weeks before the March 5 primary election.
The statement from Turner’s campaign reads in part:
“For the past eight years, Larry Turner, San Diego Police Officer, and Community Relations Officer, has resided most of the time in the City of San Diego. For a brief period, he resided in Bonsall (2016-2017) and spent a short time in an area close to Alpine (2020-2023) to establish a retirement home for his aging in-laws and parents.
• Mira Mesa mid 2015 to late 2016
• Ocean Beach early 2017-2018 • Rolando in mid 2018-2020
• Shelter Island/Point Loma (yacht residence) early 2022 to mid 2023.
Due to Covid concerns, his wife and kids stayed at the Alpine address for their wellbeing.
• East Village – July 2023 through December 2023
• Ocean Beach – December 2023 through now (February 2024)”
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/mayoral-candidate-larry-turner-prove-eligibility/509-5c405638-fe86-49e0-9ba8-03379219636c
Judge rules that Turner can stay on the ballot. A legal challenge to San Diego mayoral candidate Larry Turner’s qualifications to run will not be ruled on by a judge until after next month’s primary election.
Well if Gloria’s henchmen are going after him, then he must be worried. You have my interest now!