I’m famous in our newsroom for not knowing anything about sports.
I spent my Friday unsuccessfully trying to intro this newsletter with something related to baseball — I even tried to watch a game online — because we had a big follow up on an investigation related to the Padres.
It didn’t work out, but here’s some interesting news about the Padres that has nothing to do with Opening Day or the game’s score. Grab some cafecito and let’s jump in.
Crickets on Concession Scandal
If you were at Petco Park this week, you likely stopped at one of the concession stands for a hotdog, an expensive water or michelada. A person volunteering for a charity may have been the one helping you.
Background: Concession stands at Petco Park are staffed by employees and volunteers from nonprofits. These nonprofits provide labor in exchange for a percentage of sales. It’s a win-win arrangement. But last year Voice investigative reporter Will Huntsberry revealed that a group called Chula Vista Fast Pitch had been pulling in thousands of dollars inside the park, even though it wasn’t a real charity.
Then, Huntsberry uncovered that two groups were paying their supposed volunteers under the table and below minimum wage. Our investigation sparked an investigation by the FBI and the District Attorney’s office. #Impact.
Ahead of Opening Day, Huntsberry wanted to know: What’s changed?
We were told that Delaware North, the company that oversees Petco’s concessions, committed last year to providing “additional resources” to review charity groups’ legal status and “heightened operational standards in 2024.”
Huntsberry requested interviews with top officials months ago, but he never heard back. With Opening Day approaching, we reached out again to see if the Padres or Delaware North would tell us what’s changed. They didn’t respond.
So, next time you go to a game, let us know if the person who served you was volunteering with a group. You can reach me at andrea.lopez@voiceofsandiego.org.
Read all the stories in the investigation here.
Update on Another Scandal
This week we learned that former supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s accuser is going through another change of attorney. We reported that Grecia Figueroa had parted ways with her attorneys at Pride Law. This is the second change to her legal team.
Figueroa told Voice that she plans to continue the suit and is looking for a new attorney. Meanwhile, she appeared in court on Thursday where a judge put a restraining order on her cell phone. That prohibits her from deleting anything from the device.
We also reported Friday that Fletcher plans to sue her for defamation. That is now public, KPBS has more here.
The latest: Judge Matthew Braner on Friday denied Figueroa’s request to prevent Fletcher’s legal team from getting ahold of their messages from Meta, Instagram’s parent company. (Fox 5)
Background: Figueroa last year filed a lawsuit against Fletcher accusing him of sexual harassment and sexual assault. She also sued her ex-employer, the Metropolitan Transit System. Fletcher resigned from the county and board of MTS, which he chaired.
He has maintained that their interactions were consensual. A batch of messages released earlier this year in court filings shed light on some of their conversations. His legal team has been fighting to obtain more messages.
At Friday’s hearing, Figueroa told the judge that the defense is fixated on getting one message. She said it does not exonerate Fletcher.
“The defense forgets that consent is given in person, not on Instagram, and no means no,” she said in court.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- Our education reporter Jakob McWhinney writes that parents with children enrolled at Logan Memorial Educational Campus feel that the school district has not lived up to its promises. They are worried that even with an expensive rebuild, the school does not have the resources to provide academic opportunities to their children. McWhinney attended a meeting where parents listed off their grievances. Here’s what went down.
- Our Tigist Layne has the latest on two proposed sales tax measures in North County.
- Speaking of taxes, we’ve written a lot about three state propositions that could change everything we know about taxes. Capitol reporter Deborah Brennan writes that two of those propositions are in “a death match.” The proponents for each prop have different interpretations of what would happen if they both pass. Read the Sacramento Report here.