I saw a link in the above article about a $511 charge incurred in Spring 2013 on Feelner’s City credit card for 5-6 visits to the Westgate Hotel (across the st from City Hall) where his former? bodyguards are now telling the press he “met women.” Uhh, folks, the Westgate’s daily rates start at $194 night.
These obviously weren’t “room charges.” These charges were very likely at the coffee shop or lounge, where HUNDREDS of local court, city and county employees go during lunch and after work and many “power meetings” of all stripes are routinely held. Feelner could have taken female community activists, developers or other female local elected officials there for lunch, a 10:00 am pastry and coffee or happy hour for all we know :=0
I downloaded the link with the e-mails back and forth about those bills. Each elected official (local and state) is allowed a certain amount of personal expense per month to run their office as they see fit. If that is a latte machine for their staff, so be it.
For a high-ranking elected or appointed officer of a large CA city, county or the state has a typical monthly vehicle allowance is $400-$700 and a typical office-expense allowance of $700-1500.
Why Feelner’s office did not submit receipts for these charges is unclear, but it could be because no one is doing the work because the mayor’s office is in such “turmoil.”
Feelner is a 20-yr veteran of Congress, for G@d’s sake. He KNOWS he is supposed to submit receipts for his expenses.
Goldsmith stated on the Roger Hedgecock show at 11:30 today
that his office had a proposal before the Council for its regular meeting of August 28 to ask a Superior Court judge for an “emergency injunction” or something of that nature which would, in effect, strip Feelner of his mayoral duties due to him not providing receipts for his official expenditures on the City credit card. I just don’t see this maneuver being successful if the receipts they are asking for are in the possession of Feelner’s counsel or filed with the court in response, ESPECially if Feelner’s employee(s) who were supposed to do this work have used this debacle as an “opportunity” to go out on “stress leave.” That is SOP among employees working for an elected official.
As usual, Allred took the oppty on Roger’s show this morning to grandstand and joke that she has heard from more women (but they refused to come forward) but admits no court has decided anything yet and she is only representing ONE client (a City employee) in a lawsuit against the City.
Boxer and now Feinstein? now appear to be grandstanding for Filner’s resignation and Boxer has undoubtedly spent hundreds of hours with Filner over the years and knows him WELL. She has decided to take this stand … not on any proven facts but because she is embarrassed for he CA Dem party of which she is a longtime member and doesn’t want any flies swarming around HER starched cuffs. Her stance is all about HER credibility and the DEMS ability to maintain their stronghold on the CA electorate in the future. Neither politician has any percipient knowledge whatsoever about the events Feelner is accused of and in fact neither of them reside or work in SD County.
Goldsmith is misguided. Instead of trying to find out what REALLY happened, he seems to be trying to find ANY REASON that might stick to the ceiling to get a judge to agree to strip the mayor of his duties.
Remember, that if Goldsmith is actually successful with this coup, this doesn’t mean Feelner won’t collect his municipal salary while he is stripped of his duties. It only means he will show up for work and his duties will have been assigned elsewhere. It doesn’t get him out of office.
Any Pigg residents of SD should ask themselves how they feel about paying Filner for doing nothing until the outcome of all the “investigations” is reached.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in the supposed “investigations” currently in progress by the County Sheriff’s Dept and the AG’s office that Allred brought up on the Hedgecock show. They have both (the AG moreso) investigated the h@ll out of a LOT of prominent San Diegans over the decades without anything ever coming from it. They are the (supposedly “impartial”) parties SD local gubments always call on when they want to order a “witch hunt.” H@ll, even HEDGECOCK was at one time under the microscope by all the same players! And he likely still uses the same shirt laundry today!
It’s very possible that Filner left “rehab” early because his counsel advised him to do so. In staying, it might appear to the public that he thinks he is guilty of all the charges currently being thrown at him.
It’s all just a big y-a-a-a-aw-w-w-wn … this too, shall pass.
