Roger Hedgecock - Is this the best you can do?

“The Carson City Republican Central Committee, is hosting a program with Roger Hedgecock. You are invited to attend in room 3100 at the Nevada State Legislature on Saturday, March 8, 2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Roger Allan Hedgecock, is a conservative talk radio host and former mayor of San Diego, California. His show is syndicated by Radio America.”

Submitted to Carson Now by Carol Howell
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Here is what Ms, Howell did not state in the spirit of “transparency” which now has become the new “buzzword” in American and Nevada Politics!

Rodger Hedgecock first became active in politics at an early age, having volunteered to work in U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater's 1964 Presidential campaign. In 1976, he was elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and served until 1983.

In 1983 he was elected mayor of San Diego. Although San Diego municipal elections are "non-partisan" (i.e., party affiliation is not listed on the ballot), Hedgecock ran as a "progressive" Republican.[citation needed] He campaigned to stop the "Los Angelization"[2] of San Diego, a term in San Diego politics synonymous with the uncontrolled urban and suburban development, overcrowding and pollution of Los Angeles.[3][4]

In 1985 Hedgecock was charged with several felonies related to receiving over $350,000 in illegal campaign funds and was forced from office because of the scandal.[5] All the key players, including Hedgecock's associates and the financier himself,[6] admitted in sworn statements that they knowingly and willingly broke the law when they conspired to funnel the money from a wealthy financier into Hedgecock's 1983 mayoral campaign.[7] Though Hedgecock claimed none of this was true, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and was found guilty of twelve counts of perjury, related to the alleged failure to report all campaign contributions.

Since California, like most states, does not allow convicted felons to hold elected office, Hedgecock was forced to resign on December 5. His first trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury after the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction. However, two of the 12 jurors in the first trial submitted sworn statements that the jury bailiff, Al Burroughs, provided them alcohol and tried to pressure them into finding Hedgecock guilty. State prosecutors then conducted an investigation into the possibility of criminal jury tampering.

As part of the investigation, Burroughs admitted trying to influence the verdict. Under California Superior Court rules, any attempt on a bailiff's part to influence a verdict is "serious misconduct" that can be grounds for reversal. However, prosecutors refused to release the transcripts of their investigation interviews to Hedgecock's attorneys.[8]

An appellate court in San Diego ruled in 1988 that the judge presiding over the second trial "who had announced from the bench that he believed Hedgecock was guilty -- was wrong to block release of" those transcripts to the defendant. Hedgecock was still denied access to those documents for two more years until he appealed to the California Supreme Court, which ordered the transcripts released. In that appeal, the Supreme Court threw out the 12 perjury convictions and set aside the remaining conspiracy charge pending a hearing on Hedgecock's motion for a jury trial on grounds of jury tampering.[8]

The defense finally obtained the transcripts in October 1990. The next month, Hedgecock reached a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in return for no jail time or retrial. As part of the deal, a judge reduced the felony to a misdemeanor and dismissed the case on December 31.[8]

With the controversy ending his political career, Hedgecock accepted a job as a talk show host on San Diego's KSDO-AM, which later changed call letters and dial position to KOGO AM 600. He started four days after resigning, with his first show on January 20, 1986.

His show aired from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Several years later, Hedgecock's time slot moved to 12 noon to 3 p.m. to make room for The Rush Limbaugh Show in the schedule. His show eventually moved to the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Hedgecock

During the time of this controversy, I was the Production Director for KSDO Radio owned by Combined Communications. After his hiring, KSDO became known as the “felony frequency” throughout the San Diego radio community.

I left the radio station prior to his hiring at KSDO. Even my hypocrisy can go so far.

The current thinking of the modern conservative movement and the Nevada Republican Party is that there must be a complete ideological purity before one can be considered a “true conservative “.

Roger Hedgecock is not a paragon of conservative virtue, nor should he be considered an intellectual fountainhead of conservative thinking.

He is a talk show host, nothing more and nothing less, schooled in the knowledge on how to appeal to a certain audience in order to “jack up his ratings”.

If one really needs to hear a “talk monkey” to reinforce your confirmation bias, then you have failed as citizen of this great Country!

“If everyone is thinking the same…then nobody is thinking”
General George S. Patton