The Charity Side-Door

One Playbook, Two Mayors, Both Fined

How two San Diego mayors of opposite parties ran the same play. A mayoral nonprofit lets donors with business before the city give money at the mayor's behest — outside campaign-contribution limits and with minimal disclosure. Republican Kevin Faulconer built One San Diego and drew a $4,000 Ethics Commission fine (2019) for failing to disclose the behested payments; after the 2020 party change, Democrat Todd Gloria's allies set up For All of Us as a 501(c)(4) behind a fiscal sponsor (Mission Edge) and Gloria drew a $10,500 Ethics fine (2024). Same species of enforcement, opposite parties — the charity side-door is structural, not partisan, and it outlived the mayor who invented it.