Cardenas crooks avoid political ruin
Jesus and Andrea Cardenas can bounce back from perdition-lite. But what will change in the politically corrupt world they thrived in?
San Diego County housing, food, and water costs spiral upward like a giant tornado. Neo-fascism looms large across America. Climate change and nuclear brinkmanship threaten to destroy organized human life on Earth.
Meanwhile, the infamous political siblings and confessed criminals Jesus and his younger sister, former Chula Vista City Councilmember Andrea Cardenas, stand convicted on two counts each of felony grand theft as they star in South Bay’s current political-melodrama.
They are the latest of San Diego County’s top politicians to stumble over their own ambition and hubris and they won’t be the last.
Working as a team, they stole $176,000 from the Paycheck Protection Plan, a poorly monitored government program that offered grant opportunities to small businesses harmed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jesus and Andrea also stole $26,700 of state unemployment-insurance money and Jesus owes an undetermined amount in back taxes to the State of California, according to the prosecution.
Jesus was sentenced on March 27 with two-years probation, 45 days in work furlough, 135 days of home detention, and restitution but no jail time.
The judge allowed him to continue working as a political consultant, the profession that led to his conviction, if he obeys all applicable rules henceforth.
Andrea will be sentenced in late August, but her court-ordered punishment is expected be no more severe than her brother’s.
Political and criminal mastermind
Jesus, the mastermind behind the duo’s crimes, according to the prosecution, was the San Diego County Democratic Party’s (CDP) top campaign strategist.
His ties to labor unions, real estate developers and law enforcement were a major fundraising asset for the party, according to insiders and public documents.
Jesus is credited with transforming the county from a post World War II Republican stronghold into solid-blue territory during the second decade of the 21st Century.
He helped elect some of the county’s most powerful elected officials, including first-term Supervisor Nora Vargas and first-term San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn in 2020.
“Jesus Cardenas has built a reputation around his powerful ability to influence Party endorsements and his abilities as a consultant to elect candidates,” CDP vice chair Sara Ochoa said by email.
“Many candidates for smaller offices likely never had any direct engagement with Jesus, though they likely were more electable with the Party endorsement and programs he helped design over the years,” she added.
“The demonstrated efficacy of the slate mailers, phone and text banks, and digital campaigns have uplifted many candidates and stands on its own,” she said.
Whitburn hired Cardenas as chief of staff because “He brings a wealth of successful business experience to our city,” he told the Union-Tribune.
Much of his success has occurred since 2016 when he founded Grassroots Resources, the consulting firm Andrea helped him run.
But Jesus’s political work, which goes back at least 14 years, has a history of checkered ethics and business practices that test the law.
Grassroots Resources is central to the 18 felony counts originally brought against the siblings by District Attorney Stephan Summers on Nov. 1, 2023.
DA gets interested
The U-T’s Aug. 2022 expose of potential ethical and legal conflicts of interest and illegal business practices by Jesus caught the attention of the District Attorney’s office.
Jesus operated Grassroots Resources while it was suspended for violations of state and federal rules, the U-T reported, and some of his clients had business before the city.
His $120,000 per year chief of staff job was his priority, according to city rules, not his consulting business, a partnership at that time which was valued between $100,000 - $1M according to his official financial disclosure.
“Municipal code makes it illegal for city employees to benefit from personal businesses during hours when they are being paid by the city,” the U-T story carefully explained.
Cardenas claimed that he was well versed in the city’s ethical standards and had meticulously separated himself from his consulting business to avoid work conflicts.
He was acting only as an advisor while Andrea was in charge of daily operations, he told the U-T.
“Although I have an interest in Grassroots Resources,” Cardenas said, “I no longer manage operations, seek clients or engage in day-to-day activities.”
But what about his younger sister’s potential conflicts of interest as a Chula Vista city councilperson while running Grassroots Resources?
She didn’t list company clients as a source of income on her financial disclosure forms. She didn’t have to, she said, because she was a Grassroots employee, not a co-owner or partner of the firm.
She was “Director of Communications and Community Engagement,” according to a resume she presented on October 12, 2021 (10 months prior to the first U-T report) to the Sweetwater Authority, a public agency that provides drinking water to Chula Vista and National City.
She was applying on behalf of Grassroots Resources for a consulting contract of up to $50,000 with the agency, which sought to improve outreach to its low-income and Spanish speaking ratepayers.
Two other consulting firms, NV5 and JPW Communications, also applied.
SWA staff evaluated each of the applicants before they were interviewed by the water board’s communications committee. They ranked Grassroots Resources last based on a point system. NV5 received the highest ranking.
Separate interviews of all applicants were conducted in public session by committee directors Josie Calderon-Scott, Paulina Martinez-Perez and Alejandra Sotelo-Solis.
Jesus played a key role in the public selection process by appearing as the strategic advisor for Grassroots Resources.
He explained his role at the company.
“I’m the former CEO of Grassroots Resources. I currently stepped out of that position and now I’m the strategic advisor. I work for the City of San Diego, so I just wanted to let you guys know that,” he told the committee.
At that moment Cardenas was actively and directly seeking a client for the business that he still owned.
Martinez-Perez and Sotelo-Solis voted to recommend NV5 for the contract. Calderon-Scott voted for Grassroots Resources.
The committee’s recommendation was placed on the full (seven-member) board’s agenda for October 27.
Then Grassroots would get another chance, thanks to Calderon-Scott and director Jose Preciado, who on June 21 had become a candidate for Chula Vista City Council.
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