Photograph by Chris Woo

California state Senator Ben Hueso picked up a gratis $130.50 admission to Petco Park on September 11. Others along for the same free ride were Hueso scheduler Joana Enriquez,  as well as Ronald Gonzales-Lawrence, Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, 52nd District, Chino, and two other Rodriguez staffers, Sean Connelly, and Jenny Macias.

Hueso’s Sempra home run

San Diego-based power behemoth Sempra Energy spread around free tickets to local politicos this summer for the playoff-bound Padres, according to a mandated state disclosure filing. California state Senator Ben Hueso picked up a gratis $130.50 admission to Petco Park on September 11, says the October 31 document.

Ben Hueso, a fan of the Padres, or at least free Padres tickets.

Others along for the same free ride were Hueso scheduler Joana Enriquez,  as well as Ronald Gonzales-Lawrence, Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, 52nd District, Chino, and two other Rodriguez staffers, Sean Connelly, and Jenny Macias.

The Dodgers prevailed over the Padres that game, securing a playoff position, only to be beaten by the Padres, who went on to lose out on a World Series spot to the Philadelphia Phillies

…Meanwhile, the Barona gambling tribe lavished free meals on a host of California elected officials and staff, including Assembly members David Alvarez ($43, September 14), Cottie Petrie-Norris ($79.13, September 22), Matt Haney ($48.11, September 30), Kelly Seyarto and spouse ($253.14, September 8), Marie Waldron ($253.14, September 8), Steven Choi ($126.57, September 8), James Gallagher ($126.57, September 8), Vince Fong ($126.57, September 8), and Tom Lackey ($126.57, September 8). State senators partaking of Barona hospitality during the quarter included Andreas Borgeas ($126.57, September 8), Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh and spouse ( $253.14, September 8). Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis got a free Barona meal worth $42 on August 22, as did her Southern California External Affairs Representative Jesse Gilfgoff, the tribe’s filing shows.

Tesla’s San Diego navy

The San Diego Naval Base’s 92136 zip code has wound up ninth on the list of the top ten zips with electric cars operated by the federal government, having 1914 vehicles, compared to downtown Washington, D.C.’s 20005 zip code, ranked at the top with 2726. A December 2021 executive order by President Joe Biden called for “all affected federal vehicle acquisitions to be zero-emission vehicles, such as electric vehicles, by 2035, including 100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions beginning in 2027,” says an October 20 report by the Government Accountability Office.

“Approximately 70 percent, or about 230,000 federal vehicles, and 86 percent of all sedans, covered by the Executive Order are located in urban areas.” But, the report notes, there’s currently a big disparity in the number of charging stations for electric vehicles. “California contains over 25 percent of all federally owned charging infrastructure, while the District of Columbia—despite containing the ZIP code with the most federal vehicles— has 110 charging ports across 35 locations.”

Eric Dargan has taken over as COO, but Goldstone isn’t going away.

Bridging the gap is likely to be costly, per auditors. “Such infrastructure development will require a significant investment — the total price of charging stations is highly variable, from $1,000 to over $100,000 for the most complex situations.”

…Jay Goldstone, who ran much of the city of San Diego for Democratic mayor Todd Gloria as acting chief operations officer before finally stepping down last month for his permanent replacement, ex-Houston public works chief Eric Dargan, has filed a disclosure statement revealing he is now “Special Advisor to the Mayor.”  Per the document, dated November 1, Goldstone left his position in the department of chief operating officer and administration on October 31, and assumed his new job in the mayor’s department the next day. The document shows Goldstone owns Qualcomm stock worth between $10,000 and $100,000, with no other assets, income sources, or gifts listed.

White gold rush

Property owners in San Diego’s minority neighborhoods are missing out on the real estate price windfall experienced by white areas of the city. So says a study by Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and Junia Howell, visiting assistant professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago, calling out San Diego and other overheated real estate markets around the country for what they call racial inequality in the value of houses.

“Using the newly released Uniform Appraisal Dataset — the most comprehensive set of market appraisals in the nation — Howell and Korver-Glenn find that homes today in white neighborhoods are appraised at double the value of comparable homes in communities of color,” says a November 2 university news release. “This represents a 75% increase in neighborhood racial inequality in home values over the last decade,” says the study.

“The difference was even more dramatic in the hottest markets — including Austin, Texas, Boston, Colorado Springs, Colo., Miami, San Diego, and Seattle — where racial inequality in appraised values increased by $91,000, or 43%.” Per the release,  “this increase in inequality is nearly three times greater than the increase in racial inequity in stable housing markets like St. Louis.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

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