East County Magazine
District Attorney and Mayoral Candidate Bonnie Dumanis Unlikely to Prosecute Due to Political Ties to Sanders, Complaint says
February 26, 2012 (San Diego) - Today, Ray Lutz, national coordinator of Citizens Oversight Projects (COPS - Citizens Oversight, Inc.), submitted a complaint to the San Diego County Grand Jury regarding the claim that Mayor Jerry Sanders committed felony embezzlement by selling promotional signage to Qualcomm, allowing them to change their sign to "Snapdragon" during one NFL football game and two college bowl games for only $1000.
Sanders was notified by the City Attorney that the agreement with Qualcomm was unlawful. Sanders proceeded anyway, generating an agreement after the fact which was not approved by the City Attorney, as required by law, and not ratified by the City Council. "We are worried that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will not prosecute her friend and political endorser in the Mayoral election, and so this submission to the Grand Jury was therefore required. We hope they will do their job and investigate this issue and prosecute Sanders -- no one should be above the law," Lutz said.
COPS submitted the complaint also to the San Diego City Attorney, San Diego City Council, Mayor Jerry Sanders, and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. COPS also attempted to make a citizens arrest of the Mayor on January 29, 2012, at his office but the San Diego Police, who report to Sanders, would not assist in the arrest. Sanders office staff said he was "not in" and said they did not know when he would be in, despite the fact that earlier, the same office staff admitted that his schedule is set two months in advance.
Lutz said the Grand Jury is perfectly suited for such an inquiry because this case includes illegal operations by the Mayor, overstepping his lawfully granted powers, and providing the use of public assets by a corporation for a promotional campaign. Sanders provided the promotional exposure to the "Snapdragon" product line by Qualcomm for a scant $1,000 instead of at least $125,000 or even much more, to bring the promotional exposure in line with market values, he added.
"We attempted to arrest Sanders because it is our right as citizens to make such an arrest based on California law when it is clear that someone has committed a felony. In this case, even the City Attorney agreed in two documents that Sanders operated unlawfully," Lutz said.
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