Port official blows $4,500 at strip club

Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Port official blows $4,500 at strip club 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A high-ranking Port of Oakland official is in hot water for throwing down $4,500 in public funds for a party at a Houston strip club.

Port commissioners met in an emergency closed session late Friday to discuss the case involving Maritime Director James Kwon and his $4,537 bill for a "drink and dinner reception" at Treasures, an upscale gentlemen's club where Kwon entertained about a dozen shipping industry executives during a 2008 conference in Houston.

Not that it would have been immediately apparent to port officials that the bill was for a strip club. The receipt Kwon submitted for the reception says it was held at D. Houston Inc. - the name of the strip club's parent company.

"Port commissioners take this matter very seriously," board President Gilda Gonzales said in a statement after their meeting.

It doesn't help that Treasures has been accused of being the site of prostitution, drug dealing, weapons crimes and sexual assaults dating at least to 2008.

Kwon's strip-club spending spree didn't come to port officials' attention until just recently. The timing is especially terrible for the port, which is in the midst of a protracted labor fight with maintenance and other workers over terms of a new contract.

Now, officials are scrambling to get a handle on the strip-club visit and to determine whether it was part of a broader pattern by Kwon of misuse of public money.

Kwon, maritime operations director since 2007, wasn't available for comment - he's in China attending another port conference.

"Over the last several years we have been taking steps to address Port expenditures, including developing policies," Gonzales said in her statement, adding that commissioners are conducting "further investigations to ensure expenditures like this don't occur again."

While they're at it, port commissioners might want to take a closer look at some of their own bills.

Our review of the past two years of credit card expenses for the commissioners and their support staff shows tens of thousands of dollars in travel and other expenses - including one instance in which a couple of commissioners flew first class.

On the ball: The Golden State Warriors plan to introduce the first drawings of their proposed San Francisco arena Monday - and it's sure to be a talker.

Sources who have gotten a sneak peek say the 135-foot-tall arena would be placed at the far outer edge of Piers 30-32, in hopes of making it appear smaller and creating more of a sense of open space.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants have quietly parted ways with their development partner in their grand scheme to build high-rises, parks and much, much more on 27 acres next to AT&T Park.

Nonetheless, the Port Commission, which was briefed on the Cordish Companies of Baltimore's exit last week, has given the Giants a six-month extension on their exclusive development rights to the publicly owned site while the team looks for a new partner.

Team President Larry Baer would say only that the project is "moving along at a good pace," and they are continuing to talk to Cornish about a role.

But one thing is clear - the Giants see increasing value in their deal, and they expect to take a bigger money stake.

In the stretch: As we round the bend for the final lap to the Nov. 6 election, here's how handicappers are seeing the big state races:

-- Proposition 30: "On the ropes," was how one source close to the campaign summed up Gov. Jerry Brown's effort to temporarily raise the state sales tax for everyone and increase the income tax for the wealthy to balance the budget and prevent cuts to education.

Voter cynicism about giving lawmakers more money appears to be the chief obstacle - which is why Prop. 30 forces are trying so hard to get multimillionaire Molly Munger, sponsor of the rival Proposition 38, to back off on her attacks.

-- Proposition 32: A multimillion-dollar radio and TV blitz by public employee unions sent this latest effort to curtail labor's power into a tailspin. Although most polls still show the measure going down, labor folks are getting very nervous at the prospect of being outspent and outgunned in the final weeks of the campaign - thanks to millions coming in from conservative millionaires backing Prop. 32.

-- Proposition 34: Anti-death-penalty advocates had hoped the high cost of enforcing capital punishment would help with its repeal. But in an ironic twist, cost may be Prop. 34's biggest drawback, especially when voters see that the measure directs $100 million to law enforcement agencies for investigations of homicide and rape cases.

-- Proposition 36: "Three strikes" reform appears to be a home run with voters.

-- Proposition 37: The call for labeling genetically engineered foods was an odds-on favorite out of the gate. But support appears to be slowing, thanks in part to questions being raised by the food industry.

-- Prop. 38: Munger's measure to raise the state income tax for all but the poorest to get more money for education remains below the 50 percent threshold. The only question is whether Munger continues her potshots at the governor's tax plan and sinks them both.