Juan Cabrillo Weighs in With Another View of the House Banking Scandal

Before we leave the congressional check scandal, I should report a recent conversation with Juan Cabrillo.

He’s the statue out on Point Loma. He calls occasionally to sound off.

“You know which of our local congressmen really makes my limestone flake?”

“Duncan Hunter, the unrepentant one?”

“No, he says he always knew the House bank covered overdraft checks, and so he went full bore. He’s right: it wasn’t public money, just a pool of congressional paychecks. No harm, no foul.”

“How about Bill Lowery?”

“No problem. He says he and the wife just lost control of their checkbooks. I can sympathize. When I was off exploring the New World, Mrs. Cabrillo made a mess of our finances.”

“How about Jim Bates? Didn’t he use overdrafts to pay for his reelection campaign?”

“So what? The liberals have been saying for years that there should be public financing of campaigns. Bates just took matters into his own hands.”

“All right, then, which congressperson has you upset?”

“Ron Packard, the one from Oceanside.”

“Ron Packard? He only had a few funny checks and he’s been pretty contrite that it was all a big mistake.”

“That’s just the point.”

“Pardon me?”

“Figure it: Packard kept his money in a bank for nine years that paid no interest and that made free loans to every bounder in Congress, no questions asked.”

“Tell me more.”

“Whose money do you think Hunter and Bates and the rest were using? Pinch-pennies like Packard, and Packard probably didn’t get as much as a thank-you.”

“So?”

“If Packard couldn’t see what a good deal the House bank was for big spenders, and what a bad deal it was for tightwads like himself, I have my doubts about him. How can I trust a guy like that to invest my tax money?”

“Is there a monumental truth here?”

“I prefer a congressman like Hunter, Bates or Lowery who sees a good thing and grabs it. Maybe he’ll grab one for me someday. Better a grabber than a sap!”

“Goodby, Juan.”

Freeway Funnies

It says here.

* North County bumper sticker: “Experienced Blind Driver.”

* Attempts at an out-of-court settlement in Susan Bray’s lawsuit versus the City Council have not been successful and a trial is set for July 13.

Bray is the ex-city planner who received $100,000 to settle a sex harassment claim against ex-Planning Director Bob Spaulding but is now suing the city for breaching the confidentiality clause.

Bray’s attorney wants the trial to begin July 13 without further delay. Meanwhile, Bray is undergoing chemotherapy and other treatment for breast cancer.

* An exclusive private school in San Diego is advising parents that tuition ($1,250 for six weeks) for its summer tutorial program “may be tax-deductible as a medical expense, according to recent IRS rulings.”

* An advisory from the Department of the Navy says the softball tournament this weekend will take place on fields “on (the) dry side of Naval Station San Diego.”

As opposed to the water, presumably.

The Spoils of Power

The San Diego Reader just finished printing a two-part memoir by C. Arnholt Smith, who had kept silent for nearly two decades since his fall as the ultimate political and business power in San Diego.

Just how powerful was Smith?

Here’s a tiny example, which Smith did not include in his Reader pieces but is recalled (with some chagrin) by city government old-timers.

When Smith built the Westgate Hotel directly across the street from City Hall in the early 1970s, construction crews needed to close off the street.

It was done. Without any permit.

Then Smith decided to permanently use one lane of the street as an entryway to the hotel’s underground parking.

That was done, too. Without any permit.

If any elected officials or bureaucrats noticed what was happening right under their noses--and how could they avoid it?--they didn’t dare say anything.