OB RAG vs Dumanis Campaign: Ragster Threatened and then Campaign Removes All Addresses of Residential Fundraisers After Rag Publishes Location of Ocean Beach Site

Cross-posted from OB Rag

There’s an unofficial and underground tussle going on right now between the OB Rag and the Bonnie Dumanis for Mayor Campaign. It is subtle and you have to look literally between the lines.

But it involves vague threats against Doug Porter, our OB Rag reporter, who published an article about Dumanis’ “secret” campaign with a comment referring to an Ocean Beach fundraiser for the District Attorney on Thursday, September 22nd.

First, Doug wrote his post about the lack of public appearances by Dumanis during this segment of the San Diego mayoral campaign, in fact calling her efforts a “non-campaign”. Dumanis is refusing to join the other candidates on the campaign trail, she cancelled her appearance at City College, she passed up the first mayor debate held on September 17th at Politifest, and is limiting the appearances she is making, as Doug points out:

Dumanis appears to be staking her political future on a campaign that seemingly involves meeting as few actual voters as possible. Unless they have cash.

And then Porter drops his other shoe with more criticism:

Her public appearances for the coming month include fundraisers, cocktail fundraisers and more fundraisers, including one this Thursday (September 22) in the 4500 block of Del Monte Avenue, overlooking Ocean Beach. The suggested minimum donation for all these events is a mere $150. No word on whether there will be drug testing at the OB event.

Porter had obtained his information from the Bonnie Dumanis for Mayor website, easily accessible by and to the public.

Doug then cites sources of opposition to the Dumanis for mayor train:

The Dumanis non-campaign is, in part, dictated by ongoing and very vocal opposition to her practices as District Attorney regarding medical marijuana co-ops (actively prosecuting) and domestic violence towards women (alleged indifference).  Opponents aligned with both causes have vowed to actively campaign against her Mayoral bid, ….

 And then a commenter at Doug’s post, who was not happy with how DA Dumanis has prosecuted recent domestic violence cases, wrote:

… Thanks for the info on Bonnie in OB on Thursday night. Maybe a few NOT DUMANIS friends can get together with our bullhorns, signs, and James Gang NOT DUMANIS T-shirts to have a little fun? God Bless the OB Rag!

 And Doug responded:

gosh, what a grand idea to welcome Bonnie to OB. here’s the link to the invitation. http://goo.gl/Q8rzd

Again, all Doug did, was copy the link from the “Event” page of the Dumanis for Mayor website.  The link went to the invite published below.

And then the proverbial – using the vernacular – “shit hit the fan.”

A couple of things happened: someone named “Ashley” left a comment to Doug’s post alleging that she was posting his home address, as a sort of seemingly retaliatory measure to get back at him for posting the location of Thursday’s fundraiser.  Well, first of all, it was an incorrect address for Doug – and we have to apologize to whomever’s address it really was – it has since been removed.

And then more. Thursday night’s fundraiser in Ocean Beach is being hosted by a number of people, including an OB resident Kelly Spoon.  We have found out that “Ashley” appears to be related to the Spoons.


Kelly Spoon – who apparently works for high-powered lawyer and Democrat Lynn Schenk – fired off an email to the OB Rag vaguely asserting that we had posted :

“information on your site that directly effects the safety of personal property and individuals. I request that you take it down immediately.”

In a reply email to Spoon, we asked what information she was referring to.  And she answered that we had listed the block number for the fundraiser, and that block only had 7 houses on it, implying that it would not be difficult to find.  (We checked – the block has at least 14 residences on it – many McMansions.)

Meanwhile, sometime during the evening of September 20th, while Doug was at an OB Rag meeting, Kelly Spoon left this threat on facebook:

Kelly Spoon

Mr. Porter, You have personal [sic] created a situation that could cause harm to my families property and/or physical person. Your style of journalism is completely unprofessional and I will talk to everyone I know about it.

Now, granted this is a vague threat against Doug. Yet it’s a threat by the executive assistant to a well-known Democrat (turn-coat?) about his supposed unprofessional style of journalism, and that she “will talk to everyone [she] know[s] about it.”  Presumably, this means her boss as well.  And Lynn Schenk, her boss, does know a lot of influential people. She was a member of Congress, worked for Gov. Davis, and staged an unsuccessful run for the state Attorney General.  So, the vague threat has some weight behind it.

Early this morning, a commenter – wanting to assure everyone that no “violence” at the fundraiser was being contemplated – left this:

Sorry to see Doug get embroiled in all this drama about addresses.  I would like to assure everyone that if a few ND [No on Dumanis] protesters do go over there, we promise to conduct ourselves with the utmost of care. We promise not to wave picket signs right in people’s faces, keep our yelling to a friendly level, & not call anyone there a “WHORE” unless Bill “Whore” Gore shows up. I am so looking forward to debuting my new James Gang NOT DUMANIS T-shirt at this event.

This is a residential area and I grew up on that hill right around the corner.  I am sorry to see that the neighborhood has changed so much in the wrong direction.  This address is a McMansion- an ugly house built out to the very edges of the property line but it does have a lovely, unobstructed view of the Pacific. If Bonnie does still show up, and the protesters remain on the public sidewalk, without creating too much of a noise disturbance – we are well within our rights to protest this evil, wicked woman supping in Ocean Beach with misguided hosts. The homeowners SHOULD be ashamed that they have the temerity to invite DIRTY DUMANIS into the good karma, bohemian enclave of Ocean Beach-home of DOUBTLESSLY many medical marijuana patients.

The OB Rag Legal Department responded to Kelly Spoon’s last email:

Nothing in Doug Porter’s post or in the subsequent comments was “private” information. The address, location and time of the Dumanis fundraiser is clearly accessible to and by the public on her website.  If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

  Spoon answered:

…  I am co-hosting the event and a friend of Ms. Dumanis. The event is not on the website of the campaign and if it was it was put there by mistake and has since been removed. This is a PRIVATE event my family has been a living in the community of Ocean Beach for over 20 years and has always been a strong community advocate. We shop local businesses we promote to our friends in San Diego how wonderful it is to live in Ocean Beach and to come visit. As  a community neighbor it would have been gracious of your reporter to contact us to see if blogging our address was okay with us. I would like the line in the article removed about the specific block if at all possible. Thank you for all your prompt responses. I am a reader of your Rag. So you can label me as an uppity woman.

While we appreciate Spoon’s backhanded endorsement of the Rag and of Ocean Beach, we still have to say that Porter originally obtained all his info off the Dumanis website – which at the time – was clearly accessible by anyone.

But we did go once more to the Dumanis website, and sure enough, ALL the addresses of the private residential fundraisers for Dumanis had been removed. A couple to be held at restaurants still had addresses.  The remaining information on the different “invites” clearly had the addresses lifted – as the blank space attested to this last minute “editing”.  The invite page to the OB fundraiser was missing in its entirety.

So, we are on the edge of a new segment of the Dumanis for Mayor Campaign, the stealth segment where now even information about her appearances at fundraisers is being limited, so the public doesn’t get to see her at all.

Question: Do the people, the voters, of a community have a right to know who is holding a fundraiser within their community for a politician – who is not well liked by many in that community – who is running for public office but who is at the same time avoiding the very public she purports to serve?

by Frank Gormlie