As County Clerk, just as he did previously at the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), Ernie Dronenburg disrespects the law. As the second article below shows, he is also a fan of channeling non-profit money to his high-pay pals at related for-profit entities.
Now a San Diego group says he's using the his public office to promote his own personal agenda.
See 10 NEWS VIDEO with Ernie Dronenburg speaking.
Group blasts San Diego County clerk Ernie Dronenburg for questioning same-sex marriage
10newsvideos
Jul 23, 2013
Three weeks after the nation's highest court made a ruling on Proposition 8, which overturned the ban on same sex marriages, tying the knot in San Diego may be tangled up in tension again.
Et tu, Ernie Dronenburg?
San Diego County Clerk seeks to halt gay marriages
By Kelly Davis
CityBeat
Jul 19, 2013
CityBeat's occasionally endorsed Republicans for elected office, usually after getting assurance from the candidate that he won't, well, act like a Republican. In 2010, we gave Ernie Dronenburg our thumb's up over Democrat David Butler for San Diego County assessor / recorder / clerk, largely because Dronenburg promised us that he wouldn't meddle if Prop. 8 were overturned:
Dronenburg’s a Republican and conservative activist, and that makes us worry, sure, but he’s promised us that if Prop. 8 is ultimately negated, his office will treat same-sex couples with respect and dignity.
But today came news that Dronenburg filed a petition with the California Supreme Court, asking that his office be allowed, at least temporarily, to stop performing same-sex marriages. Dronenburg explained to the conservative website San Diego Rostra that he was merely seeking clarification on whether Prop. 8 needs to go back to the Ninth Circuit Court for a ruling.
It's tough to buy the argument that Dronenburg's simply doing his due diligence. Why? Because it wasn't the county's lawyers who who filed the petition on Dronenburg's behalf, but attorney Charles LiMandri. If that name's not familiar, here's a LiMandri primer: Charles LiMandri, a Catholic lawyer best known for his pro-life, anti-gay legal crusades. LiMandri considers himself an expert on "countering the gay agenda," having served as an attorney for the National Organization of Marriage in the Prop. 8 battles and for the San Diego firefighters who sued the city after being required to march in a Pride parade. More recently, LiMandri launched an attack on University of San Diego for hosting a drag show; he's currently demanding that the Catholic university forbid its students from doing internships at organizations that support same-sex marriage.
In 2012, in backing gay Republican Carl DeMaio for mayor, LiMandri said he would "pray for him" (not to get elected, but to change his sinful ways) and that his endorsement wasn't to be considered an endorsement of DeMaio's "lifestyle."
California Attorney General Kamala Harris quickly issued a statement on Dronenburg's petition: "The filing offers no new arguments that could deny same-sex couples their constitutionally protected civil rights. The federal injunction is still in effect, and it requires all 58 counties to perform same-sex marriages. No exceptions."
Tim McClain, spokeperson for county Supervisor Ron Roberts, said Roberts knew nothing about this in advance. McClain offered this statement from Roberts:
"This petition was filed without my consent, consultation or support. I am disappointed and had thought we had moved past such divisiveness after the U.S. Supreme Court's declarative ruling."
County tax assessor Ernie Dronenburg forced the nonprofit NTC Foundation to pay taxes owed by its “for-profit” subsidiary.
NTC Foundation's High-Paying Jobs
By Matt Potter
San Diego Reader
April 6, 2011
Officers have been raking in fat salaries at the nonprofit NTC Foundation, which San Diego city taxpayers bailed out last week to the tune of $1.1 million after county tax assessor Ernie Dronenburg forced the group to pay property taxes owed by its “for-profit” subsidiary. According to the foundation’s latest report to the Internal Revenue Service, filed November 16 of last year and covering 2009, chief financial officer Larry Eyler was paid $148,269; executive director Alan Ziter got $123,558; and operations director Lew Witherspoon received $103,788. Construction manager Neal Singer, listed as an independent contractor, was paid $147,100. Pam Hamilton-Lester, onetime executive director of the City’s Centre City Development Corporation and now the NTC Foundation’s president and chief executive, got $75,886 for a 30-hour week, according to the document.
1 comment:
Dronenburg is a clown. He must be defeated in the next election.
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