Does ‘New Politics’ Reek of Old in Case of Wine Sales Permit?

One of the promises of the district-elections movement was that the “new politics” would be free of the taint of money.

No more would contributors to San Diego City Council campaigns be granted special access or favors. Council members elected by district would no longer put their contributors’ interests above those of the neighborhoods.

No one sang this song more loudly than John Hartley, first as a district-elections organizer and then as a successful challenger to Councilwoman Gloria McColl. But is there a gap between rhetoric and reality?

Take the case of Federal Market at Federal Boulevard and 47th Street in East San Diego. The owner, Kathy Hallak, who lives in La Mesa, would like the City Council to grant her a permit to sell beer and wine.

On April 10, 1989, the council voted, 5 to 1, to turn Hallak down. The council was following the negative recommendation of the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Neighbors, other merchants and the head counselor at a nearby school said another beer and wine sales outlet--the neighborhood already has six--would mean more litter, loitering and problems linked to drinking.

“Many of the businesses are operated by people who do not live in the community and therefore do not have to face the consequences,” wrote one homeowner.

Now flash forward to the first election under district elections.

Many of the leaders of the fight against Hallak were supporting McColl. On Sept. 11, just before he defeated McColl, Hartley received a $50 contribution from Hallak.

On Nov. 7, as Hartley was trying to reduce his campaign debt, he received another $100 from Hallak. On Nov. 21, he received $200 from Shawcat Hallak of El Cajon, described by neighbors as a relative of Kathy Hallak.

A week ago Councilman Hartley asked the city attorney’s office to clear the way for Hallak’s beer-and-wine request to be “docketed for reconsideration.”

Reconsideration is a procedure whereby a matter returns immediately to the council, without starting over at the Planning Department. Otherwise, Hallak would have to wait a year and begin at the beginning.

Hartley’s request would expand the rules of reconsideration. City officials cannot remember another case of a council member asking for reconsideration of an item decided before he or she took office.

In a brief interview, Hallak said she hadn’t spoken to Hartley, then said she had.

“Yes,” she said, “I talked to Mr. Hartley. He said he would help me. Gloria McColl messed up my case, so we got rid of her.”

Hartley says his request for reconsideration is routine “constituent service” and not influenced by the Hallaks’ contributions.

He says Kathy Hallak did not receive due process and the opposition was “politically motivated” by McColl. He sees no contradiction with his strong stand in favor of “neighborhood power.”

Senior Chief Deputy City Atty. Jack Katz says Hartley does not have legal standing to seek reconsideration, although one of his council allies could do it for him. Only council members on the winning side of an issue can seek reconsideration.

Barbara Pake, secretary for the Webster Community Council, the neighborhood planning group, said her group was unaware that Hartley was seeking to revive Hallak’s application.

“We’re still opposed,” she said. “Our neighborhood is saturated by liquor sales. Mr. Hartley should know that.”

The More, the Merrier

All over the place.

* San Diego Councilman Ron Roberts on the controversy over hiring more staffers for council members:

“With all this talk over the years about two per 1,000 (residents), I always thought we were talking about police, not council staff.”

Roberts can afford to make jokes. He was among those council members not seeking to add staff.

* The standoff continues at UC Berkeley between students barricaded inside the Barrington Hall dormitory and the cooperative housing association that wants to evict them.

“Barrington is an outlet for creative energy,” said Rebekah Ekberg, 20, a sophomore from San Marcos. “I can’t leave and still feel good about myself.”