Editor-at-large
The two candidates competing to be the next mayor of San Diego come from distinctly different backgrounds and from different generations but from the same political party in what is San Diego’s first Democrat-only mayor’s election.
San Diego Councilwoman Barbara Bry and State Assemblyman Todd Gloria will face off in the November 3rd election after eliminating San Diego Councilman Scott Sherman, a registered Republican, in the primary in March. The two elected officials have both served on the Council; Bry currently represents the coastal areas in District 1, and Gloria represented Central San Diego’s District 3 from 2008 to 2016 before being elected to the Assembly.
County School Chief Failed to Report Free Dinners
By Alberto Garcia
The San Diego County Board of Education’s Superintendent failed to report expensive dinners he received from lawyers that worked for the county district at the time, and he now denies the dinners ever happened.
Dr. Paul Gothold, who was hired as the county schools Superintendent in June 2017, reportedly had at least two dinners with the lawyers while he was seeking the post in San Diego.
“Paul Gothold asked us for help in securing the job of San Diego County Superintendent,” one of the lawyers told La Prensa. “Paul and his wife wanted to move to San Diego on a permanent basis and he asked us to make that happen,” the lawyer added.
Luciana Corrales
A San Ysidro School Board member has failed to disclose her employment and personal income as required by state law.
Luciana Corrales, who was first appointed to the board in June 2014 and then elected to a full 4-year term in November 2014, filed Economic Interest disclosures in July and December 2014. The forms are blank as to her employer and amount of income earned between June 2013 and December 2014.
The forms, officially referred to as Form 700, are required under state law to be filed by all elected officials. The disclosures should include all income, assets, and liabilities with only few exceptions. For instance, income from government entities or a person’s primary residence are not required to be disclosed.
School Lawyers Under Increasing Scrutiny
By Eduardo Rueda, Investigative Reporter
A San Diego-based law firm known for representing public entities has come under increased scrutiny for its legal work in various local school districts.
The law firm of Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz has represented most of San Diego’s 42 school districts over the past 15 years. Its most visible lawyer, Daniel Shinoff, has played a role in many high profile school district cases throughout the county.
Earlier this year, the firm was sued for malpractice by the San Ysidro School District for allegedly failing to inform that school board of potential settlement offers during a case and for breach of its fiduciary duty to the district. The law firm settled the case for $2 million at the first mediation between the parties, before any depositions were taken or binding arbitration sessions started. The District received a net payout of over $1.8 million after paying outside legal fees. The District
Todd Gloria Says He’s ‘the Son of a Maid and a Gardener’, But Critics Question Accuracy
(Pictured above, Todd Gloria with his parents, Phil and Linda Gloria, and his partner, Adam Smith, on March 3, 2020, at Registrar of Voters. Photo credit John Gibbins / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Investigative Reporter
State Assemblyman and candidate for Mayor of San Diego Todd Gloria has consistently told voters that he’s become a successful community leader having been raised as
“the son of a maid and a gardener” as a way to demonstrate that he’s not part of the elite political establishment, but that narrative is now being challenged after he admitted his “mom and dad were a maid and a gardener in the 1970s” before he was born and his dad has been an aerospace industry executive for most of Todd’s lifetime.