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Monday, August 11, 2008 | In recent months, SEDC has received most of the focus from voiceofsandiego.org and other news outlets. The story surrounding CCDC also involves misuse of public funds and potential criminal activity, but is taking longer to unfold. Just like at SEDC, the majority of the CCDC board is termed out. Much less attention has been paid to this situation.
At the urging of CCDC board chair and interim-Chief Operating Officer Fred Maas, Barbara Kaiser was passed over as COO. In a glaring conflict of interest, Maas too could have been appointed acting president and COO. Kaiser, the CCDC vice president of real estate operations, is a relative newcomer to CCDC and would bring none of the baggage that Maas, CCDC Chief Financial Officer Frank Alessi, and the rest of the Board, carry. In fact, that might be why she was rejected — she was too likely to tell it like it really is.
Jennifer LeSar has been appointed as head of an ad hoc search committee to replace Nancy Graham, despite her chummy relationship with Council member Toni Atkins. Unless plans change, the replacement process will soon be formalized, creating all sorts of conflicts of interest.
The Board should be replaced based on its failure to provide due diligence when Nancy Graham was appointed. They still refuse to disclose the achievements that supposedly merited her $65,000 bonus. They failed to represent the public interest.
The Mayor needs to get his act together and move forth proactively, not retroactively, to nominate candidates for all corporations and commissions, especially those that have access to millions of dollars in public funds.
Maybe his failure to act here is because his supporters prefer to keep their buddies at CCDC in power for as long as possible.