Dan Shea speaks up for Sheel Seidler in Padres ownership dispute

Dear San Diegans:

With a sense of anxiety over the current Padres saga and believing that too much misinformation and duplicity is being perpetrated upon the community, someone has to point out the parts that don’t make sense. So let me tell you what I know, but don’t take my word for it, much of this is already in the public domain – you just have to know where to look. So if no one else will speak up, I will!

I met Peter and Sheel Seidler in 2012 and was immediately struck by their shared interest in improving our city. We quickly developed a friendship, and over the years worked together on a number of community-oriented discussions. There were many late nights discussing how to invest critical resources and using the Padres as a cornerstone to build lasting coalitions that could help people. During these conversations, I was always impressed by Sheel’s deep understanding of intricate policy areas (she is, after all, a proud graduate of the University of San Diego Law School), but also her inherent ability to show real empathy towards others, particularly those centered around homelessness and addiction.

I was able to witness, firsthand, Peter and Sheel Seidler as true partners in every aspect of their life together – as parents, as philanthropists, as community leaders, and as stewards of the Padres franchise. So many of Peter’s successes are also Sheel’s. While Peter became a larger-than-life public figure, Sheel was much more than a supportive spouse. She was his partner every step of the way, serving as his closest confidant and most trusted adviser during a period of incredible success for the Padres franchise.

When Peter unexpectedly died, we were all devastated. However, I knew immediately that Sheel would be uniquely capable of continuing to lead the Padres forward and committing to the betterment of San Diego. I knew this for two reasons. One, because I’ve called San Diego my home for more than four decades – I’ve started businesses, advised companies, and led civic organizations. I also know this because I had a front row seat to Peter and Sheel’s beautiful love story and partnership as they navigated their strong commitment to helping others in the community, oftentimes the most vulnerable among us.

So what would Peter think about this current saga? Over the years, Peter and I became very close. I can tell you without hesitation he did not foresee this callous and cruel behavior by his family toward his beloved wife. And I can also tell you that he chose to be with Sheel for her quiet strength and would be over the moon proud of her for protecting what he left her and his children, and for protecting the vision they shared for the ball club and his adopted home of San Diego.

Sadly, there have been repeated, disheartening attempts by Peter Seidler’s brothers to distort the truth about Sheel and Peter’s partnership and intentions. Worse, they have launched personal attacks at Sheel which can destroy her reputation not only within the MLB community, but also here at home in San Diego. Sheel’s complaint and the public record are clear that they have blocked Sheel and her and Peter’s children’s rights as the beneficiaries of the Peter Seidler Family Trust in an attempt to control those assets – including the Padres – for themselves.

How much they may spin facts towards their goal seems to be endless. One of the more disgusting distortions I have first-hand knowledge of, as do they given many family members were present. When Peter was going on the ventilator knowing he wouldn’t be able to provide verbal approvals for routine transactions, he gave a routine power of attorney to his wife, as spouses do.  Peter wanted to ensure that a transaction he had orchestrated related to property he had purchased went through. Somehow, Peter’s brothers have spun these normal marital actions as a characterization of Sheel doing something she should not have since Peter was the Trustee, grotesquely giving it the appearance of her doing something untoward.

So let’s talk about real facts.

This is a story about two families: the Peter Seidler Family – Peter, Sheel and their three children – and the O’Malley Seidler Family, consisting of some of Peter’s adult siblings, whom I observed over the years to have financial relationships with Peter but didn’t witness or hear Peter discuss deeply emotional or personal relationships. Peter’s brothers like to act and speak as if the Padres are owned by everyone named Seidler. They do not distinguish between the two different parts of the family because it does not serve their purpose. It should be obvious that when Peter spoke of his family controlling the Padres for years to come, he was speaking of his wife and kids.

The team was primarily bought by the Peter Seidler Family, with Sheel now the majority owner. Peter did, however, allow his siblings to individually own minimal minority, non-controlling shares. The assets in the Peter Seidler Family Trust – which Peter’s brothers have controlled since his death through Peter’s Trust and are required to act in the best interests of Peter’s wife and children-  do not include any part of the O’Malley Seidler money. It is all Peter Seidler family money, in a marital trust. Now let’s call it for what it appears to have become: a naked attempt to take the legacy of the Peter Seidler family and make it the legacy of the O’Malley Seidler family – they didn’t even name Peter’s children in listing the Seidler family in their brazen December press release on Control Person, while mentioning Peter’s wife only in passing. They may attempt to confuse the issue, but legal documentation shows otherwise. The Padres are owned by the Peter Seidler Family Trust, established for the sole benefit of Sheel and Sheel and Peter’s three children upon Peter’s death.

Peter Seidler was remarkable – a wonderful husband and father, a brilliant businessman, a leader in the community, and a visionary owner of the Padres. The one incontrovertible fact in this saga is that Peter wanted Sheel and their three children to have the assets he obtained through his many successes, and to not be redefined by what looks like wayward brothers who rode his coattails and claim to be their inherent success.

But the Seidler brothers appear now to be trying to skew the facts, and – through troubling actions – take the legacy and assets of the Peter Seidler Family for the O’Malley Seidler Family. Again, the court documents plainly spell out many of these actions such as breach of fiduciary duty and self-dealing in financial transactions they administered. As you can read for yourself, the documents tell that when the self-dealing was discovered, the O’Malley Seidler brothers attempted to reverse the transaction as if nothing happened. And in the span of a little over a year, first Robert resigned as Trustee, naming another brother, Matt, as Trustee, and now Matt says he is naming yet another brother John. In reading the public documents, it is as if the brothers have continued to view the Trust as if it were for anyone of their choosing named Seidler, so long as it isn’t Peter’s wife or children.

There are plenty of other examples of the brothers viewing the Trust as their personal piggy bank. I encourage everyone to read the concerning allegations in Sheel’s legal filing against them. The legal complaint can be viewed here: Padres Lawsuit | DocumentCloud. If you read nothing else, just look at pages 5, 6, 7, and 8, paragraphs 11,12, 13, 14, and 15, for color and insight.

Now the question is evident: can you trust the Trustees? You might be wondering why Peter would allow people like this to serve as Trustees if this could be an outcome? The answer is starkly simple: most of us trust people until they prove they cannot be trusted. As the legal complaint demonstrates, when the spigot supporting the O’Malley Seidler brothers sadly turned off, a different side of them became apparent, a side that cannot be trusted.

Fiduciaries should protect the best interests of beneficiaries. Families should look after each other, especially during the lowest moments. Since the brothers have temporarily wrestled the stewardship of the Padres away from Sheel Seidler, the management of the organization – under their watch and presumably direction – appear to be intent on bullying Sheel. I’ve witnessed being with Sheel and seeing she didn’t have access to her and Peter’s office at Petco, is not credentialed. Current/temporary Padres management has told media partners that Sheel cannot be interviewed, even though she owns the largest single block of Padres ownership, silencing her. Even public reporting notes that at least 20 current or former Padres employees or close associates have spoken to the media anonymously citing fear of retribution and or loss of their jobs from the temporary leadership at the organization (under the brothers). There are many other examples that many people in addition to me are fully aware of.

Sheel, like Peter, is an extraordinary individual who cares deeply about the Padres and San Diego. She is kind and compassionate, yet tough when needed. She is intelligent and opinionated but listens and collaborates to solve problems. She will invest in the Padres and do whatever it takes to win and will be the type of leader that can improve the lives of people across San Diego. One the other hand, the brothers are attempting to confuse the lines of ownership and stewardship without a legal basis, but rather by smoke and mirrors.

The Padres – and our community – need Sheel now more than ever.

Sincerely,

Dan Shea

Proud Supporter of Sheel Seidler