Strange Development
Joe Hoffman says he rarely confuses the two hats he wears--one as a deputy commissioner in the state Department of Real Estate, the other as an appointee of Gov. George Deukmejian to the Commission of the Californias, comprised of two delegations from Baja and one from California.
But others may have switched those hats for him earlier this month, as the developers of a Rosarito Beach condominium touted the state giving them a permit to solicit sales in California.
Hoffman is quoted in a news release from La Paloma Condominiums by the Sea saying that the permit from his department is “quite a feather in the cap” of the developers.
Although that may be true--only three such permits have been issued in the past four years--Hoffman expressed surprise when told of his press release quotation.
“I may have said it to somebody, (but) we cannot endorse any product,” Hoffman said in a recent interview.
Unclouding Sun’s Image
Among the 100 or so people gathered at Sun Savings & Loan’s annual meeting last week was a staff member from The Gable Agency, a local public relations, advertising and marketing firm that has just been retained by Sun.
Sun has been without a public relations agency since last summer, when The Stoorza Co. resigned after a bitter board of directors fight that ended when Chairman and President Daniel W. Dierdorff stepped down.
Gail Stoorza was a Sun director who found herself in the middle of the Dierdorff imbroglio--seemingly a conflict of interest. Sun paid her firm about $500,000 in 1984--most of that for advertising expenses.
Gable, a former financial editor of The Tribune whose agency is on a monthly retainer, will have his work cut out for him.
“We retained them . . . to help us build our image and reputation for the future,” said John McEwan, Sun’s president and chief executive. “Sun has a tarnished image, and it’s my intent to improve that by performance.”
Gable has worked for Sun before: He was retained as Sun’s public relations and advertising agency in 1982 and early 1983. But Gable and Sun parted after disagreements over public relations strategy and the contents of advertising and literature.
They Said ‘Em
You’ve got to hand it to the folks at Cal Omega, the Carlsbad subsidiary of Gaming and Technology in Las Vegas that is trying to get the State of Washington’s Gambling Commission to allow electronic games.
Cal Omega makes “video punchboards” that it wants to put in bars and lounges in Washington.
The quote of the month comes from Cal Omega General Manager Jay C. Sarno, who, when announcing his firm’s intention to expand in the Northwest, proclaimed that “we’re all legitimate, honest folks, and we’re holders of Nevada gaming licenses. We’ve been investigated every which way except by a proctologist.”
The second most outrageous quote of the month belongs to Peter Ciccarelli, who recently formed his own advertising agency in Rancho Bernardo.
Ciccarelli’s motto: “If I can’t sell it, I’ll set the fire myself.”
Growth Growing
San Diego is growing faster than the experts had predicted. During the first four months of 1985, San Diego Gas & Electric added nearly 12,000 new customers, representing a 4% annual growth rate and higher than the 2.8% rate predicted by SDG&E; prognosticators.
The largest growth pattern is in North County, where the growth rate is averaging more than 6% per year.
Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Among the corporate types who will lose their jobs during Oak Industries’ corporate cost-cuttings: Bob Hartney, Oak’s vice president of corporate relations for 13 years.
Only three years ago, Hartney’s staff numbered six, as the Rancho Bernardo-based media concern was one of the industry’s high-flying darlings.
When he leaves in mid-July, Oak’s corporate relations staff will dwindle to one.
