Political corruption nothing new

Arecent poll by Chapman University revealed 60% of

American adults fear corruption by government officials.

Yet throughout our history, government corruption has been nothing new. As long as there is money to be made, there will always be those who choose personal greed over service to their nation and community.

Take the story of my great-grandfather, Virgil Bruschi — a city councilman in the city of San Diego during the 1920s. As the narrative goes, one day after being fed up with the unethical behavior of his fellow councilmen, the handlebar-mustached, ItalianAmerican stood up, wiped his whiskers, turned to his colleagues and said, “You’re all a bunch of (censored).” He then walked out.

The story began in 1925 when a self-righteous editor named Abraham Sauer of the San Diego Herald wrote an editorial accusing three councilman, Virgil Bruschi, Don Stewart and Harry Weitzel of being underhanded. He called San Diego the most corrupt city of its size in America.

Grampa Bruschi was not a professional politician. As a local merchant, he was well respected for his honestly and kindness by those who needed supplies, but did not always have the immediate funds to pay.

His memoirs reveal that in 1916, friends encouraged him to run for an opening on the city council. He wasn’t interested at first but later was “persuaded.” Bruschi’s campaign slogan was “Fair play for everybody.”

Her served for 12 years, including reelection twice by a substantial majority. Bruschi got “the biggest primary vote ever polled by a politician in San Diego.” According to the San Diego Sun newspaper.

Bruschi claimed he never turned people away from his office, no matter what their status was in life.

But Sauer’s attack triggered assembly of the county grand jury and a summons for my great-grandfather (incidentally, also a relative of the late Howard Mason from Lodi) to testify. In July of that year, the jury indicted Weitzel on charges of bribery, accusing him of accepting money for votes.

However, Sauer was not satisfied. Convinced that politics being what they were, Weitzel would go free. He thought the judge would be on the wrong side of justice, as His Honor was from San Francisco — a place where the editor said corruption was commonplace.

The primary witness against Weitzel was a man named Edward Fletcher. The businessman was trying to sell his water company to the city.

Fletcher asserted under oath that Weitzel was looking for a kickback to make the deal happen. According to his testimony, the councilman wanted $100,000 (about $1.8 million in today’s inflated money). In return for the bribe, Weitzel would assure favorable votes from Bruschi and Stewart.

Bruschi and Stewart were called to testify. Both vehemently denied any knowledge of the alleged Weitzelgenerated quid pro quo and claimed never to have taken any money for votes.

Fletcher testified that neither he nor his business partners every accepted the offer. Weitzel denied all accusations, but later a jury returned a verdict of guilty.

Amazingly enough, several months later a court of appeals overturned the conviction, declaring it was not a crime for a city official to arrange for a bribe. It was only a crime if someone agreed to accept it.

Of course Grandpa Bruschi, a man who had always prided himself on honestly and integrity, was soured by the whole political experience. With his reputation tarnished by unfounded accusations, he decided not to run for reelection.

Grandpa’s store remained in the family for several years into the 1990s. We paid the taxes on it, even though over time, parts of the neighborhood had deteriorated to skid-row standards.

We hoped that someday, our fortunes would change. But with Gaslamp Quarter and the new baseball park developing nearby, you can bet city officials had other plans.

The property, although in good condition, was seized by the city through eminent domain, reserved for a favored developer and temporarily turned into a parking lot.

Today it is the site of a new high-rise hotel.

Events from the 1920s to the present have left cynical attitudes in our family toward elected officials for generations.

After reviewing recent news stories about various politicians, both local and national, I think it is safe to say that questionable political ethics for some probably have not been altered during the last 98 years. And based on personal experiences, things may not have changed much in some major California cities as well.

Steve Hansen is a Lodi writer. Contact him at news@lodinews.com