It was always a long shot – the Larry Turner for San Diego Mayor campaign — but when a poll came out in mid-September ( 10News-San Diego Union-Tribune ) that showed a fairly tight race between Gloria and Turner, hope appeared — not at Vine Street but within the Turner camp and among all those San Diego residents disgusted with Gloria.
According to the poll, 37% of those asked said they’d vote for Gloria if they were filling out their ballot right now, while 33 % said they’d vote for Turner. Meanwhile, 28% indicated they were undecided. This totally upset the campaign of coasting to victory for Gloria and even the U-T called him out on it.
Yet, as the race settles down in its last few weeks, it has become clear the San Diego establishment has turned against Turner. This was evidenced in today’s Union-Tribune when the paper’s editorial board came out and declared that despite his missteps, Gloria was the clear choice for mayor.
Instead of going through every point the UT editorial board made in their decision to choose Gloria, here’s just one paragraph that says mountains in their analysis. It’s only a two-sentence paragraph. Here it is in full:
When asked about the related view of many of his supporters that Gloria is corrupt — a conjecture-driven claim with zero hard evidence — he said that is a crucial issue he will closely examine if elected- Remember, Turner is a sworn San Diego police officer. Does being a candidate for office preclude him from having to follow the police Code of Ethics in commenting on such wafer-thin accusations about the mayor of the city where he works?
So, here’s the top editors of the UT dismissing accusations of any corruption by Gloria as “a conjecture-driven claim with zero hard evidence ….” And that Turner has “wafer-thin” accusations against Gloria.
Wow. “Zero hard evidence”? “Waver-thin”? Have these editors been asleep? Were they out of town when it became known that one of the developers of Midway Rising was — along with his wife — the biggest donors to Gloria’s 2020 campaign for mayor?
Here’s what the Rag reported in September 2022:
Mayor Gloria’s Choice for Sports Arena Redevelopment – ‘Midway Rising’ – Owned by One of His Largest Contributors
“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.
Also that September, even the San Diego Union-Tribune joined a chorus of media and other voices in raising questions and revelations about the redevelopment team led by Brad Termini of Zephry Partners. By then, La Prensa and CBS 8 were questioning whether Midway Rising was the proper choice to lead the Sports Arena area development.
Here are just some of the allegations, claims, and facts against developer Termini and Midway Rising, raised by the U-T:
- Terminis’ political contributions were made in 2019 and 2020, months before Termini’s company, Zephyr Partners LLC, began preparing its bid;
- Opponents of the mayor’s decision say the city did not perform adequate background checks on Termini and his company;
- Plus they say Gloria was improperly influenced by the campaign donations and rushed the process;
- Public confidence in the city’s real estate dealmaking has been marred by the several recent missteps, most notably the acquisition of the 101 Ash St. office tower.
- Termini‘s company was selected as a partner even though it has never built a project as large and complex as Midway Rising; it has built smaller housing projects of a few hundred units;
- the company has a history of selling its development rights to other builders once entitlements have been secured from local planning officials;
- employees in the city’s real estate department say they have been sidelined in the sports arena redevelopment effort, and that the internal analysis had been dictated entirely by director Penny Maus and her top assistant, Lucy Contreras, who recommended Midway Rising to the city land use committee;
The U-T quoted one city employee who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation:
“Seems incredible to me that they haven’t done much background searching on the successful bidder. That is a huge red flag. And where is that due diligence?”
Plus, the U-T warned the City Council to go slow and get their votes right about who to choose as the redevelopment team. Of course, the City Council did approve Midway Rising – yet the on-going shenanigans continued to raise hefty eyebrows.
Here are some of the headlines over the last couple of years:
- Midway Rising Fined $5,000 for Failing to File Lobbying Disclosure Until Nearly Year After Due
- Union Leader Urged the San Diego City Council to Select Midway Rising But Failed to Disclose Her Husband Was Its Paid Consultant
- Midway Rising Drops Middle-Income Family Units From Redevelopment Plan – Council Members Angered
- Former Councilman Byron Wear Re-Surfaces as Public Supporter of Midway Rising But Fails to Disclose He’s Their Paid Consultant
- Midway Rising Developer Gave $650,000 to Campaign to Remove Height Limit in Sports Arena Area
It comes down to this: everybody in San Diego’s establishment is just too comfortable with the status quo to want to upset the arrangement. How can we give up on Gloria, they ask themselves. Nobody of political weight and substance ran against him in the Primary, so really, everybody must be just fine. They’re ready to write Larry Turner off as a small footnote of the city’s history. Another 4 years!
The UT has always been a fish wrap with the exception of a few lone individuals. It is as bad as it has ever been in my 47 years of living here. I wouldn’t even wrap fish in it now.
I totally agree. We should have respect for the fish.
Does anyone really read that “rag” anymore anyway? No offense to this publication intended. Much less take anything they have to say on authority? We can only hope Turner will be a dark horse in this race. Judging by the number of Turner signs in Bankers Hill and surrounding area is surprising. The people are pissed off at Gloria.
Turner has a lot of signs in OB too.
Turner has a lot of signs in our part of Hillcrest too. Hope this means something. Gloria has shown his complete contempt for the people who actually live in San Diego. Turner at least appears to care a lot.
Larry Turner supporters and public, just keep on pushing. After doing 32 Community Planning Committee meetings of neighborhood attendees. While passing out Larry Turner business cards, and reading my 2 min. script in the Public Comments portion of the Agenda, I personally have heard from them, loud and clear. Betrayed they feel about Gloria. And, they want more business cards to give their neighbors because they’re going to vote for Larry. They welcome me and thank me for being there. Out of all those community meetings I have attended to get the word out, recently just one person said she was not interested. Keep passing the word folks. Direct voters to larryturnerformayor.com
Frank, thanks for providing what is obviously a necessary refresher history lesson for those with short-term memory loss when it comes to Todd Gloria’s shenanigans. It is impressive that you didn’t even have to mention 101 Ash Street to make a strong case against Todd Gloria!
Maybe we just don’t want another Democrat in office who says what he will do and then does the opposite. It was refreshing to hear LTs’ answers to the question
put to him. No hemming or couching his bets, just a simple Yes or No. How refreshing.
This article seems incredibly slanted and in of it self intended to write Larry Turner off. Does the OB rag have its own interest in seeing mayor Gloria stick around for four more years? Given the bombastic title of this article one has to wonder.
Slanted? Why does expressing the reality that the establishment has written Turner off mean to you that we’re “secretly” drumming for Gloria, when all you have to do is peruse our pages over the last 4 years and see for yourself our disdain for ol’ Todd? Okay, don’t go back 4 years, how about just this last year. We’ve been consistently opposed to him since he ran in 2020. Maybe you have your own secret agenda to make the Rag appear differently. Eh?
The reality? the SD police associating nor the SD Tribune’s represent my or really anybody else’s reality.
My comment was to point out that your article starting with a tittle like “San Diego Establishment Turns Against Turner for Mayor” is going to have the most impact. Most are not going to click on 10 links to read the history. They are simply going to walk away with your tittle in mind.
As a journalist I assume you can understand that no one is going to read the last four years of articles by the Rag regarding Gloria but they will remember the eight words that start your article. Eh?
As for my “agenda” it is to see someone in office do better than the last four years. If you and the Rag are in such opposition of Gloria then perhaps you should think twice before posting such a headline about his opposition three weeks before the election.
Then we agree to disagree. You’re off on the point of the post.
The UT’s endorsement of Todd Gloria was not intended as an invitation for repeating the ” conjecture-driven claim [of corruption] with zero hard evidence” but of course that won’t stop the “wafer-thin accusations” from recirculation. The endorsement sets forth a convincing argument that despite Gloria’s many faults he is an infinitely better candidate for mayor than Turner who has no plans except “glib ‘it’s that simple’ policy prescriptions for complex issues.”
It should be noted the OB Rag is endorsing a Republican posing as an Independent at a time — and also endorsed by conservative MAGA Republicans — when some traditionally Democratic voters are abandoning Harris for Trump. Analysts offer frightful predictions those protests votes will result in an unthinkable second Trump presidency with all its dire consequences.
Progressives seem never to learn that protest votes for Jill Stein-like candidates who cannot win elections but serve only to satisfy fits of pique will never serve the ultimate purpose of a better society. Indeed, such irresponsible voting behavior is obstructionism at its very worst.
Hey, thanks ol buddy, fer all yur good words.
It should be noted that Carl is a de facto defender of Gloria by using the Dem/ GOPher assumption (as though people can’t think independently) as though one vote translates to an entire ticket going one side or the other without discernment. That you purport the UT endorsement makes Gloria the the better candidate while dismissing Turner as Republican instead of Independent, shows your preconceived bias as well. By default, a race between a Dem and an Independent, GOPhers will most likely choose the Independent. Guilt by association does not work here.
Well said Chris!
Mark, we quoted you in the Rosecrans 4-story building post.
Larry Turner is NOT a Repub. He’s been a lifelong Independent who happens to believe both sides of the aisle can work together in this non-partisan race. It boils down to do you like what Gloria has done TO many communities, and neighborhoods and would you rather have a mayor who does things FOR the communities, and neighborhoods. One thing I know for sure is if you believe Gloria has done a great job, watch taxes skyrocket, and everything else he can think of, and you shouldn’t have the right to whine about it. Many people voted for a “strong mayor form of government”, and look what you got. My thought this is what if SD gets some self serving wing nut?? And here we are. Don’t make the same mistake twice.