The heavily redacted records, released through California Public Records Act Request No. 25-4770, state that Lawson-Remer attempted to use her County identification badge in lieu of traditional identification while seeking entry into Part Time Lover on January 10, 2025. Investigators substantiated that allegation, concluding she was there and presented her government-issued identification for entry, while rejecting a separate claim that she was publicly intoxicated.
However, in a statement provided to SanDiegoVille after publication, Spencer Katz, Lawson-Remer’s Director of Strategy and Communications, said the supervisor was never notified of or interviewed during the ethics review and would have disputed that she was at the bar.
“Had she been interviewed she would have shown she was in Encinitas eating dim sum with her kindergartner on the night in question,” Katz stated.
The response creates a significant unresolved conflict. County investigators concluded that Lawson-Remer personally attempted to use her badge at the North Park establishment, while her office now maintains she was not there at all. Because County officials closed the review without interviewing Lawson-Remer, the investigative file contains no examination of that account and no explanation for how her official credential came to be left at the bar if she was elsewhere.
The response creates a significant unresolved conflict. County investigators concluded that Lawson-Remer personally attempted to use her badge at the North Park establishment, while her office now maintains she was not there at all. Because County officials closed the review without interviewing Lawson-Remer, the investigative file contains no examination of that account and no explanation for how her official credential came to be left at the bar if she was elsewhere.
Katz did not identify the restaurant, provide the approximate time of the meal or include documentation supporting the account. SanDiegoVille has asked Lawson-Remer’s office whether it can provide receipts, photographs, location records, witness information or other materials corroborating her whereabouts that evening.
County identification badges are government-issued credentials intended to identify employees and officials and facilitate access to County facilities in appropriate circumstances, making their use in private settings a matter of public accountability.
Perhaps more notably, the County elected to close the matter before completing a full investigation. According to the released records, Lawson-Remer was never interviewed, was never notified that a complaint had been filed and never received the investigation’s findings because officials determined the matter did not warrant proceeding beyond an interim review.
County identification badges are government-issued credentials intended to identify employees and officials and facilitate access to County facilities in appropriate circumstances, making their use in private settings a matter of public accountability.
Perhaps more notably, the County elected to close the matter before completing a full investigation. According to the released records, Lawson-Remer was never interviewed, was never notified that a complaint had been filed and never received the investigation’s findings because officials determined the matter did not warrant proceeding beyond an interim review.
The records gained renewed attention after the anonymous Instagram account @truth_tonix began publishing photographs of Lawson-Remer’s badge, screenshots of witness text messages, excerpts from the investigative report and other exhibits while promoting what it described as a forthcoming exposé. Although the account characterized the incident as evidence of broader political corruption, the County’s investigation reached substantially narrower conclusions.
According to the County’s Office of Ethics, Compliance and Labor Standards, the alleged incident occurred at Part Time Lover in North Park on the evening of January 10, 2025. Like many bars, the establishment requires patrons to present valid government-issued identification before entering, regardless of age.
The investigative report identifies Lawson-Remer as the person who arrived at the establishment and displayed her official County Supervisor identification badge when asked for conventional identification.
According to the County’s Office of Ethics, Compliance and Labor Standards, the alleged incident occurred at Part Time Lover in North Park on the evening of January 10, 2025. Like many bars, the establishment requires patrons to present valid government-issued identification before entering, regardless of age.
The investigative report identifies Lawson-Remer as the person who arrived at the establishment and displayed her official County Supervisor identification badge when asked for conventional identification.
The interim report states:
“The evidence supports a finding that D3 [Lawson-Remer] did try to use her County ID badge/position to gain entrance to the bar.”
Based on the evidence investigators reviewed, the County substantiated the allegation that Lawson-Remer improperly attempted to use her official badge while entering the establishment.
The investigation does not conclude that she ordered employees to admit her, threatened staff or expressly invoked her elected office to obtain entry. Rather, investigators concluded only that she attempted to use her County identification badge and position during the interaction.
Lawson-Remer’s office now disputes that account entirely, maintaining that she was in Encinitas eating dim sum with her child that evening.
The released records do not indicate that investigators examined whether another person could have possessed or used the badge, compared witness descriptions with photographs of Lawson-Remer, obtained surveillance footage or independently verified her location.
The incident might never have reached County investigators had Lawson-Remer’s official identification badge not been found at Part Time Lover.
The released records do not indicate that investigators examined whether another person could have possessed or used the badge, compared witness descriptions with photographs of Lawson-Remer, obtained surveillance footage or independently verified her location.
The incident might never have reached County investigators had Lawson-Remer’s official identification badge not been found at Part Time Lover.
“Who’s her boss?”
The County employee replied:
“She has no boss, she is the boss.”
He then added:
“She is one of five. At the moment, she is THE BOSS.”
The conversation then shifted to the alleged encounter.
According to screenshots of text messages included in the investigative file, the manager wrote that Lawson-Remer “came in without an ID,” “pulled that white power shit,” “got drunk” and “left her badge.”
The County employee advised that the incident should be reported through the County’s Ethics & Compliance Hotline and forwarded the messages, along with photographs of the badge, to investigators.
Rather than accepting those text messages at face value, County investigators reportedly interviewed witnesses, including the purported bar manager, and evaluated the allegations separately.
That distinction proved significant. The bar manager acknowledged that he did not personally witness the initial interaction at the entrance because he had been away from the door when the patron arrived. His understanding of the encounter instead came from what the doorman later told him. That means the manager whose text messages prompted the complaint did not personally see the person identified as Lawson-Remer present the badge.
The released records do not make clear whether the doorman independently identified Lawson-Remer by name or appearance, whether investigators showed him photographs, or whether the conclusion rested primarily on the presence of her badge.
The records further show that Lawson-Remer’s office did not notify County Security that the credential was missing until January 14, four days after it was reportedly found at the bar.
An email sent that morning by a District 3 legislative assistant asked County Security to deactivate Lawson-Remer’s existing badge and expedite a replacement. Security deactivated the missing badge and issued a new credential that same day.
The County’s Identification/Access Card Program, cited by investigators as one of the policies applicable to the matter, provides that lost County identification cards “shall be reported within 24 hours of determining the loss.”
The investigative report does not state when Lawson-Remer first became aware that the badge was missing or analyze whether the January 14 report complied with that policy. Investigators concluded only that the badge was eventually reported and properly deactivated after notification.
Lawson-Remer’s office has not yet explained when she first discovered that the badge was missing, how it came to be at Part Time Lover if she was in Encinitas or whether anyone else had possession of it on the night of January 10.
Investigators found no evidence supporting the separate allegation that Lawson-Remer was publicly intoxicated.
Although the text messages claimed she had “got drunk,” the bar manager told investigators he did not know whether she consumed alcohol, ordered drinks or appeared intoxicated.
He further stated that the doorman had never described the person as drunk, but only as rude or entitled.
The report ultimately concluded:
“There is no evidence that D3 was ‘drunk’ or intoxicated in public.”
Investigators therefore found the intoxication allegation unsubstantiated while substantiating the separate allegation involving use of the County badge.
The interim report stopped short of recommending disciplinary or corrective action and made no determination regarding whether any other identification-card policies had been violated.
County Closed Review Without Interviewing Lawson-Remer
Although investigators substantiated improper badge use, the County decided not to continue the investigation.
Records show that the complaint was opened on January 28, 2025, and an interim investigative summary was completed the following day. Rather than proceeding with additional interviews or issuing a final report, County officials determined that the matter did not warrant further investigation.
As a result, Lawson-Remer was never interviewed, was reportedly not notified that a complaint had been filed and did not receive a findings letter.
The released records contain witness interviews, text messages, photographs and internal County correspondence, but they do not include Lawson-Remer’s account of the incident, her claimed alibi or any explanation regarding how her badge came to be at the bar.
The records also contain no indication that Lawson-Remer received formal discipline, counseling or other corrective action stemming from the substantiated finding.
Katz cited the incomplete process while promoting a proposed independent ethics body expected to go before San Diego County voters in November.
“San Diegans have the chance to establish an Independent Ethics Commission in November because we deserve effective ethics oversight, and instances like this leave too much uncertainty,” Katz stated. “Supervisor Lawson-Remer was not notified or interviewed as a process of this ethics review.”
His statement does not directly address who possessed the badge at Part Time Lover, when Lawson-Remer realized it was missing, why her office did not report it until January 14 or whether her office believes another person used the credential.
The released records initially appeared to answer the central question of what County investigators concluded. Lawson-Remer’s response now raises a more fundamental issue: whether investigators correctly identified her as the person who presented the badge at Part Time Lover.
The report states that she did. Her office says she was in another city with her child.
Because Lawson-Remer was never interviewed and the investigation ended after an interim review, the County never tested that account, sought her response or reconciled her claimed whereabouts with the presence of her badge at the bar.
Other unresolved questions include who possessed the badge that evening, whether Part Time Lover or nearby businesses retained surveillance footage, whether the doorman independently identified Lawson-Remer, when she first learned the credential was missing and whether the January 14 report complied with the County’s 24-hour reporting requirement.
It also remains unclear why a substantiated finding involving the Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors did not result in a completed investigation, whether County leadership was informed, whether any informal corrective action occurred outside the investigative process and whether the incident prompted any review of policies governing official identification badges.
SanDiegoVille has asked Lawson-Remer’s office to identify the Encinitas restaurant and provide any available documentation corroborating her account. The County has also been asked whether investigators attempted to verify the identity of the person at the bar, obtain surveillance footage, examine whether another individual could have possessed the badge or evaluate Lawson-Remer’s whereabouts on January 10, 2025.
This article will be updated if additional responses or documentation are received.
Originally published July 21, 2026. Updated July 21, 2026, to include a response from Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer’s office disputing that she was present at Part Time Lover on the night in question.
