PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
INLAND EDITION
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 2, N0. 12
JUNE 5, 2015
IN LIVING COLOR From left: Sophia Rideout, Melissa Nickerson and Christine Rideout get colorful at the second annual Holi Festival of Color in Escondido’s Grape Day Park on Saturday. See more photos from the event on page 8. Photo by Tony Cagala
Dave Roberts addresses allegations By Bianca Kaplanek
REGION — In claims filed by two former staff members, Dave Roberts is accused of misusing county resources, creating a hostile work environment and having an unprofessional relationship with a male staffer. The 3rd District county supervisor said the only thing he is guilty of is poor judgment when it came to replacing his chief of staff. “My mistake was obviously not hiring the correct staff for my office,” Roberts said, referring to Glynnis Vaughn, whom he hired to replace John Weil as his chief of staff. “When you look at the facts this was a bad personnel hire on my behalf. “If you look at the first two years my office was a stable, smooth operation, with almost no personnel changes,” Roberts added. “Then on January 7, a new chief of staff started and worked for approximately 50 days. In that time we had seven resignations, plus her own.” Weil was chief of staff for former Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, who supported Roberts to replace her when she opted not to run in 2012. He left the office in December because he said he was moving out of the county. More than 60 people applied for the job. Roberts said three people recommended he hire Vaughn. Of those who have left his office recently, including four people in three weeks, Vaughn and Diane Porter, his former office manager and scheduler, have filed claims against the county, a precursor to a lawsuit. They claim Roberts used his staff for campaign
Toran Gaal is hand cycling across the country to raise awareness for adaptive athletes. He also hopes to raise $20,000 to donate to the Semper Fi Fund, which helps ease the financial burden on recently injured service members. Photo by Ellen Wright
Double-amputee to cycle across America By Ellen Wright
ESCONDIDO — Escondido resident and retired Marine Sgt. Toran Gaal just finished four marathons in four weeks. He placed first in the Achilles division at the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon Sunday and the following day, he began a bicycle ride across America. Gaal hopes to complete the 65-day trek on a hand-cycle, because he lost both his legs in Afghanistan after an Improvised Explosive Device detonated underneath him. His goal is to raise
San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts says his mistake was “obviously not hiring the correct staff for my office,” in response to several recent allegations. Roberts was sworn in on Jan. 7, 2013 as the District Three Supervisor. File photo by Bianca Kaplanek
work — he is up for re-election in 2016 — and shared a hotel room on a business trip with Harold Meza, a policy adviser and community representative. They also claim, among other things, that the supervisor showed favoritism toward males and promised raises and promotions if staff members would lie to the human resources department. Using copies of text messages and a sworn statement from Meza, Gary Gartner, a spokesman for Roberts, refuted the allegations during a May 21 press conference. Speaking on his own behalf for the first time, Roberts denied any inappropriate relationship with Meza. “I want to be crystal
clear,” Roberts said. “We did not have an affair. These slanderous, false allegations have to stop. They are a lie. “We never stayed in a hotel together,” he added. “We did go on a water authority trip and we were assigned to a military-style workers barracks. There were two single beds in the room. If I wasn’t gay this would not even be a story.” In his statement Meza said he and Roberts were “booked into a room with two separate beds.” “All that happened was that I went to sleep in my own bed. There was no sexual activity of any kind. “Let me be perfectly clear on this,” Meza added. “I am a heterosexual male.” Copies of text messag-
es between Roberts and Porter that were distributed by Gartner include several happy emoticons and present what appears to be a positive working relationship and friendship between the two. One features a cartoon outlining 12 outstanding personality traits of a great boss, which Porter described as Roberts “to a tee.” In her final text on March 31 she wrote, “You know I love me some Dave Roberts.” Porter’s attorney also distributed copies of text messages, one of which has Roberts saying Meza could keep him warm on a trip to the East Coast, although Meza ultimately did not TURN TO ROBERTS ON 18
$20,000 for the Semper Fi Fund, a nonprofit that provides assistance to wounded service members. “I just want to raise awareness for adaptive athletes across the world,” Gaal said. He told the crowd of about 70 people at City Hall Monday how important exercise was to him in coping with his injury. “I spent much of two years of my injury just wallowing in my own self-pity but I got out and started surfing,” Gaal said. TURN TO CYCLE ON 18
Abed to address rumors of run for supervisor seat Monday By Ellen Wright
ESCONDIDO — Mayor Sam Abed is planning to address rumors Monday that he will be running for the San Diego County District 3 Board of Supervisor seat currently held by Supervisor Dave Roberts. In recent weeks, allegations have come up from two of Roberts’ former staff members that he misused county resources, created a hostile work environment and had an unprofessional relationship with a staff member. He refuted the claims calling them slanderous and false. The Republican Party of San Diego County is hoping to replace him, although nobody has stepped forward yet to officially
announce a candidacy. “There will be at least one Republican candidate before summer,” said Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County Tony Krvaric. “As long as Roberts is there, we’ll keep challenging him.” Krvaric said they’re not in a hurry to place support behind one candidate because the election is a year away. “There’s plenty of great talent out there, and any one of them would make a great supervisor,” said Krvaric. He also stressed the importance of the seat. Roberts is the only democrat on the Board of SuperTURN TO SUPERVISOR ON 18