Bob: You are guilty of the sin you accuse others of by personally attacking Stephen Whitburn for the perceived transgressions of some of his supporters. As I said earlier,Todd had some admirable qualities but experience is not one of them. To compare Todd to Bill Clinton is silly but makes the point. Clinton had experience in Washington D.C. as a congressional intern while he attended Georgetown. He then won a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to Oxford and after returning to the States went to Yale law school. Todd is no Bill Clinton.

Posted by Ian Trowbridge | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 1:11 pm

Im not interested in personal attacks, just people looking at the facts. For Todd to suggest that he will fight for us when his list of developer contributions is at least 6 pages long is difficult to swallow. Here is just a few of the many concerns like his contributions from Sherm Harmer, Building Industry President that pushed for 301 university adamantly opposed any provisions for historic preservation and any provisions for height limitations and a living wage for workers as well as contribution from Elliot Feuerstein Mira Mesa Shopping Mall Real Estate Developer among many many more. 2. The endorsement on his website by the 2 Coronado council members Carrie Downey & Casey Tanaka who tried to fight the citizens proposition J that would stop runaway development.

Posted by Christine | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 1:18 pm

Spare us. 301 University was a condo project that went thru an extensive review process and met all the zoning regulations and community plan regulations. It was approved and a bunch of NIMBYs jumped in and stopped it. And people wonder why housing is so expensive? Gloria sues developers? Is he a lawyer? Brings federal money to San Diego? Sounds like a pork belly ear marking tax and spend politician to me. Regardless of who wins in District 3, it will once again be represented by a medicore councilmember who was bought and paid for by special interests. I mean nothing personal against anybody. Special interests control local elections and have since we started electing by gerrymandered districts. We now have a "black district, a "Chicano District" and a "gay district". Qualifications, if any, are behind in priority---way behind.

Posted by Oh Pleeeze | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 2:01 pm

I support Todd because I truly believe he knows more and cares more about District 3 than any of the other candidates. As a life-long resident of San Diego, Todd brings a perspective that can't be matched by other candidates who moved here just a few years ago from 2,000 miles away. Todd is experienced, energetic, personable, smart and dedicated to public service. I believe Todd will be the next City Councilmember for my district.

Posted by Tom | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 2:04 pm

Reader: Dollar Flows, March 26th, 2008 “Employees of a small defense contractor headquartered in Mission Valley have created a stir in local political circles with their flurry of contributions this past fall to Third District San Diego city council candidate Todd Gloria”

Posted by Christine | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 2:04 pm

C'mon. What has Todd done but put purple signs all over the district for what seems like over a year. He has ridden on the coattails of Susan Davis even with his purpleness. What does Todd really stand for? Distric Three needs attention. It needs someone who will talk to and work with the residents. Hillcrest, itself, is falling by the wayside after all that promise with the past renaissance. All the communities need attention and that doesn't mean developer attention and 6-pack or mega-story development projects. I haven't sided with any campaign except to not be interested in Hartley. But, Todd has some rolling up his sleeves to do before I am convinced.

Posted by outfoxed | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 2:10 pm

Todd Gloria is a hard working young man who I have found to listen; discuss intelligently; offer suggestions; and take constructive criticisms. I worked around Hartley a few years back and found him to be demanding; unbending and if not bowed to, almost unbearable to be around. I do not know the others. I have always known Todd to do the right thing for the right reasons. He is not afraid to say no. After a long debate of an issue and spelling out why it was necessary for him to say yes, he said no. I respected his decision even though I was frustrated with his opposing view. I believe he said no because he felt it the right thing to do for the right reason. What more could we ask of our elected officials?

Posted by Sparky | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 3:00 pm

Mr. Nelson says: 'It seems that those taking the time to write are more interested in personal attacks on gay people, union people, and business people than in discussing the issues.' Yeah, a lot of people don't like your boy...Gee I wonder why...Maybe because he's chumming for a life by selling out to developers and other special interests, throwing out bits and pieces of his political capital like rotten, bloody fish parts.

Posted by Christopher Hall | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 3:50 pm

Todd's experience and accomplishments speak for themselves. For those blindly questioning his abilities or telling him to roll up his sleeves, open your eyes. Take the time to look at Todd's website or attend an event - listen to what he has to say and talk to him. You'll see that he has dedicated his life to public service and he has worked hard for many years to advocate for District 3. As far as fundraising goes, it is naive to expect a candidate in this day and age to turn away any legal contributions. It is costly to run a campaign and there is nothing wrong with accepting contributions from varied interests. An honest and educated person like Todd will take all points of view into consideration before making a decision on policies. Todd is a man of integrity.

Posted by Noelle | reply to this comment
May 1, 2008 7:17 pm

I have nothing against gay people, union people, or business people. But I'm very suspicious of professional political people. I don't fault Todd Gloria's positions, but his "friends" who have endorsed him are the same ones who have a history of screwing this city. The fact that he's ONLY worked in politics works against him. Since Whitburn has the same positions, without the baggage, he's just a better choice for District 3. Otherwise, I do wish Gloria well. He seems very nice. But he should choose better friends.

Posted by Fred Williams | reply to this comment
May 2, 2008 7:00 am

Anyone following the District 3 race closely knows that the reaction to this week’s Café San Diego posts is descriptive of how both TG and his supporters, and SW and his supporters conduct themselves. Dozens of posts by Whitburn supporters slandering Gloria for no substantive reason while Whitburn’s thread has only vague compliments on how charming he supposedly is. This typifies why we need Todd Gloria in City Hall. By the nature of their boisterous personalities firebrands like Frye and Filner lack of the institutional respect actually needed to move policy. Admittedly, they are fun to watch, but aside from vague claims of “open government,” don’t really do anything. In a district that is literally falling apart at the concrete seams, we need a Nuts & Bolts innovator like Todd Gloria to effectively and competently work through the problems of the day.

Posted by J. Norwich | reply to this comment
May 2, 2008 10:47 am

"I have always known Todd to do the right thing for the right reasons. He is not afraid to say no." Not afraid to say no??? Are you joking. Like I said I have 6 pages of evidence showing that Todd does not have the best interests of the community at heart, here is yet 1 more example: Support and $ from Perry Dealy - President of Manchester Development and public point-man for Doug Manchester's Navy Broadway Complex development which is tied up in litigation because of an inadequate EIR. Manchester is the developer who single-handedly funded the ban on gay marriage initiative. No offense but the gay community is not connecting the dots here. This has become a popularity contest rather than a true election.

Posted by Christine | reply to this comment
May 5, 2008 1:37 pm

When both Todd Gloria and Stephen Whitburn announced their candidacy many months ago, I initially supported Todd Gloria. Today, I am a Whitburn supporter because I have observed his actions and find them to be consistently honorable and intelligent. On the other hand, Todd has taken far too much money from developers who are well conditioned to expect a return on their investment -- obviously they have confidence in Todd.

Posted by NorthParker | reply to this comment
May 6, 2008 11:56 am

While we are all setting the record straight, Todd Gloria said publicly that he would have voted in favor of Kensington Terrace had he been on the Council. The Grand Jury report that came out last week uses that project as the case study for the example of inaccurate and incomplete Mitigated Negative Declarations, and also used the testimony of City staff at that Council hearing as an example of the inaccurate and incomplete answers provided during the hearings. More significantly, the report stated, "we found evidence that people with vested interests persistently interfered with and badgered city personnel involved in the planning and approval processes to get various changes made in community plans and regulations." So the fact that Todd gets a ton of money from developers really leaves the door open for Mitch Berner et al to continue business as usual. No thanks.

Posted by Maggie M | reply to this comment
May 6, 2008 12:55 pm

The regional Building Industry Associations and its development industry allies are funding a slate of pro-development candidates for city council, including Todd Gloria, April Boling, Phil Thalheimer and Carl DiMaio. If you want to see a pro-development city council that will continue practicing corrupt business as usual, vote for the BIA's candiate slate. If not, vote for the BIA candidates' opponents.

Posted by Watcher | reply to this comment
May 8, 2008 1:37 pm

Thank you "Watcher" You are right-on. It seems so glaringly obvious to those of us that have been paying attention. Unfortunately many people dont look at the money that closely and so months later when their candidate is voting for big business they dont understand what happened. Lets nip this one in the bud. No Gloria. He hasnt even won the race and has already done significant damage to our neighborhoods w/ his developer positions.

Posted by Christine | reply to this comment
May 9, 2008 5:25 pm

Dont be fooled by the Purple signs--someone paid for all those. Todds supporters are much more interested in this as a popularity contest rather than who will best support their interests. The guy is a career politician at 29--he went to USD--a school known for its snobbery and status seeking not its academics or public service. He has taken $ from every slimeball out there including defense contractors extorting the Homeland security fund as well as jennifer leSar--everyone knows this is Toni Atkins partner and a major SD develper. There is an agenda here.

Posted by Just say No | reply to this comment
May 9, 2008 5:31 pm

• Users may post more than one comment, but should not pose as multiple users. Multiple posts from the same IP address but with a different user name on each will be reviewed to determine whether abuse has occurred.
• Posts with overly personal attacks or unsubstantiated allegations may be edited or deleted.
• Please be patient with the posts -- there may be a delay before they appear on the site -- and make sure to enter the code in the "image verification" box.