The Close Ties Between A Councilmember's Staff And His Campaign

By Jim Hinch, the Voice of San Diego

September 19, 2024

Earlier this month, National City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez invited four new employees in his City Hall office to introduce themselves at a City Council meeting.

Leaving his seat at the dais, Rodriguez joined his new hires at a lectern and promised taxpayers that the “four wonderful individuals” now working for him as city-paid assistants would be “providing community outreach within our city.”

“We are very honored and humbled to have you here,” Rodriguez said to his new employees.

The employees were hired using a controversial new source of money the city’s four part-time councilmembers awarded themselves last year: $100,000 each in the city’s annual budget to hire staff and pay for travel and other city-related expenses.

So far, most councilmembers have used their new office budgets to hire a part-time assistant or attend public affairs-related conferences. Some critics call the budgets a “slush fund” and have begun demanding greater transparency at City Council meetings.

Now, critics say, Councilmember Rodriguez has gone a step further and is using his city-paid staff to help him win re-election in November.

Three of the four employees Rodriguez introduced to the Council on Sept. 3 have direct ties either to his current re-election campaign or his previous unsuccessful mayoral bid two years ago. City documents show that virtually all the work the new employees have done for Rodriguez has been on issues—rent control, affordable housing and maximizing opportunities for food vendors—central to the councilmember’s election pitch to voters.

State law prohibits use of public funds, including city employees, for campaign purposes.

The sudden appearance of politically connected employees in Rodriguez’s previously unstaffed City Hall office two months before the November election has led critics, including Rodriguez’s campaign opponent and even the city mayor, to accuse Rodriguez of using city funds to promote his re-election.

“The perception [in the community] is that they’re not doing city work,” Mayor Ron Morrison said of the new employees. “The work they said they did were all on his campaign issues…It doesn’t sound like this kind of spending is consistent with anything that’s good practice.”

Rodriguez denied that he is misusing taxpayer resources and accused his political opponents of “going around saying all kinds of things.”

“It’s my job to address my community and address their needs,” Rodriguez said. The new employees in his office “are doing community outreach and addressing community issues. I’m glad I’m finally able to have individuals [in my office] to help with that.”

The new employees include Cindy Lopez, a National City library trustee and current candidate for a local elementary school board who has also been “volunteering for campaigns,” according to Rodriguez. Lopez also leads a local Democratic club that voted to endorse Rodriguez’s re-election bid four days after a consulting business Lopez owns was awarded a $47,000 city contract in March.

The contract, for “outreach strategies” to city residents about “projects that will positively

impact the community,” ended in June. Shortly after, Lopez was hired part-time as an executive assistant in Rodriguez’s office, earning $33 per hour.

Two of the other employees, Yovannys Mierez and Ernesto Rodriguez, are partners in a San Diego media company called UnknwnLabs that filmed a campaign ad for Rodriguez during his 2022 run for mayor.

“They did a cool video,” Rodriguez said of the 30-second ad. “We had action shots. It was a well-produced video.”

Rodriguez said he was introduced to UnknwnLabs by Angel Marquez, a field representative for U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla who previously ran Rodriguez’s 2020 campaign for National City Council.

“I was looking for someone to do [campaign] videos,” Rodriguez said. “They did good work and we hired them immediately.”

Rodriguez said UnknwnLabs’ current work for his City Council office was “completely separated” from the company’s previous campaign work. Both Mierez and Ernesto Rodriguez are paid “$27 or $28” per hour for the work they’re doing for his office, Rodriguez said.

“I’m not contracting any of my staff on my campaign whatsoever,” he said.

Randi Castle-Salgado, Rodriguez’s opponent in his re-election campaign, said such reassurances do little to change her belief that Rodriguez is misusing city funds for personal gain.

“He’s using the money [for new employees] to campaign with,” Castle-Salgado said. “[It’s] left a bad taste in the mouth of constituents and he has lost a lot of support…When I saw misuse of city funds, I decided to run” against him.

Resident Ed Nieto criticized Rodriguez directly during public comments at a recent City Council meeting. “We have four people assigned to one councilmember two months before election time. Come on, give me a break,” Nieto said. “We’re burying our heads in the sand and allowing abuse to happen.”

Since awarding themselves additional funds last year, councilmembers have received two rounds of $100,000, the first in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the second in 2024-25. Rodriguez used his 2023-24 funds to award Lopez and UnknwnLabs temporary contracts for community outreach work worth a total of $62,000. He used this fiscal year’s $100,000 to hire Lopez and the partners in UnknwnLabs as part-time city employees.

The temporary contract with Lopez was awarded to a consulting business she owns called Cordero Coaching and Consulting. The contract describes the business as “a creative, strategic public relations firm with over 10 years of combined experience in providing analytical and innovative communications.”

State business records show that Cordero Coaching in fact was established by Lopez less than one month before the company was awarded the $47,000 contract by National City. The company’s address in both state records and the city contract is residential apartment in National City.

The contract with UnknwnLabs describes the company as a “SoCal digital marketing agency focusing on developing visually appealing and compelling content that engages and resonates with your target audience.”

The company’s website and social media accounts show no videos or other materials related to government issues in National City or any other city. Featured work includes restaurant ads, company brand images and rap videos.

Neither Lopez, Mierez nor Ernesto Rodriguez responded to requests for comment.

Less than a week after Rodriguez converted his three staff members from contract workers to city employees, they helped him stage a community outreach workshop on a city proposal to maintain rent control in mobile home parks. The workshop was one of several Rodriguez and his staff staged this year “to inform [residents] about rent control laws,” Rodriguez said.

“I championed that,” Rodriguez said of the rent control issue. “That’s one of my topline [campaign] issues. We need to protect what’s affordable and build more affordable units.”

Rodriguez blamed questions about his use of staff employees on Castle-Salgado, who he said opposes rent control and other government efforts to assist economically struggling residents and is “always trying to make an issue of something.”

A truer picture of his campaign, Rodriguez said, is community events such as volunteer canvassing walks and an upcoming weekend fundraiser, during which Rodriguez would be cooking and serving menudo made according to his grandmother’s recipe.

“I’ve lived here forever,” Rodriguez said of National City. “My wife owns a business here. [My opponents] are just trying to drum up whatever they feel can paint me in a negative light. It is what it is.”

Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization supported by our members. We reveal why things are the way they are and expose facts that people in power might not want out there and explain complex local public policy issues so you can be engaged and make good decisions. Sign up for our newsletters at voiceofsandiego.org/newsletters/.