The San Jose Police Foundation is a charity that helps the police department in tough times, raising money through its "Bowling for Badges" event for causes like the canine unit, the mounted horse patrol and a gym for cops. But those noble aims have been overshadowed recently by a controversy that centers on police Chief Chris Moore's objection to the lobbying activity of the foundation's president, Rich De La Rosa.
With former Ron Gonzales aide Sean Kali-rai, De La Rosa has started a lobbying firm, Forest Consulting, which represents Garden City Casino in its dealings with City Hall.
Garden City is a big donor to the police foundation. And it is building a major new casino near the airport, so its regulation by the San Jose police is no small matter. City officials say the cops regard the card club as less eager to comply with the rules than its competitor, Bay 101.
Here's the rub: Moore saw a conflict in De La Rosa's role as president of the foundation and as lobbyist for Garden City. And he recently urged the San Jose insurance man to step down from the board.
"Rich has done a great job,'' Moore told IA. "But when you have the president of the police foundation actively engaged in trying to minimize regulation for Garden City, it's hard to say, 'We'd like to have your help with the mounted unit.' "
De La Rosa agreed to step back, at least temporarily. But in a telephone conference call last week, the police foundation board strongly backed him and told Moore, in effect, to butt out.

"I don't see where the conflict comes from," De La Rosa said. "What I do is raise money for the foundation, and the board decides how we'll spend that money."
Board member Vic Ajlouny says the message to Moore was: "We're here to help your department, but you don't own us."
For his part, the chief acknowledges that he can't dictate to the charity. But he hasn't changed his views about Garden City. "I want them to be successful, but they're fighting us every step of the way," he said.