Tijuana Strip Clubs: Judge Axes Donation Cap to San Diego Politicians
… Former Republican city council candidate Phil Thalheimer, the Republican Party of San Diego and business political action committee The Lincoln Club of San Diego brought their legal challenge to the city’s campaign finance laws in December 2009. The lawsuit claimed that certain provisions of the law intended to curb corruption violated their rights to free speech.
Gonzalez’s ruling does not glaze over San Diego’s sordid political history. “In this case, the record sufficiently demonstrates corruption in the San Diego municipal government,” she wrote, citing the yellow cab scandal in which the city raised taxi rates for campaign contributions.
”Then, in 1985, San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock resigned after being convicted of concealing illegal campaign contributions,” Gonzalez continued. “In 2001, City Council member Valerie Stallings resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charge. Most recently, three City Council members were indicted on fraud and conspiracy counts involving channeling campaign contributions from the adult entertainment industry in exchange for an agreement to repeal the no-touch laws in strip clubs.”