ABC’s Story About Surf Has A Personal Agenda

Despite ABC’s careful wordsmithing of how this story came about, Kimberly Hunt was witnessed at the facility on February 14th at about 2pm, taking pictures and/or video prior to the originating broadcast of this story on February 16th. She is a longtime resident of the neighborhood above the facility and it was her HOA’s president, Scott Kameron, who was featured in the story.  Their HOA has a long-standing and well-known feud with Surf going back 25 years.  Their neighborhood, Fairbanks Polo Club Estates, is made up of 54 homes with many neighbors who support Surf and their activities, but it also has a minority of vocal residents who take every opportunity to launch nuisance complaints to the city and SDPD to disrupt their operations, and in this case, precious field access for our kids.  This story was clearly attached to a personal agenda and this isn’t the first time it’s happened. 

To be clear, Surf has nothing against Kimberly or her husband, they’re both San Diego icons and always welcome at the facility.  We just wish that same sentiment could be extended in both directions for a cooperative outcome, neighbor to neighbor.

This is the ABC Editor’s note that has been modified multiple times:

EDITOR’S NOTE: As we continue to cover stories surrounding the pandemic's impact on our community, I want to address our reporting in our article, "County issues cease and desist letters to youth sports clubs at Del Mar polo fields."

Story ideas come from various sources and sometimes within our newsroom. There are instances in which station staff members have personal experience or knowledge surrounding a story. Our editors vet these news stories in those cases and assess newsworthiness and relevance to our viewers. It is then assigned to a different reporter to avoid any conflict of interest. We thoroughly investigate every story before we air it. We did so in this case.

Social media posts and at least one other news organization have made inaccurate statements regarding this story.

It is not true that ABC 10News anchor Kimberly Hunt belongs to a group that opposes youth sports activity at the Polo Fields. The claim that Kimberly Hunt shot a video of the sporting events used in the story is also false.

We are committed to accuracy and fairness in our reporting, and we stand behind our story. As with all ABC 10News coverage, we welcome your feedback.

Doris Lewis is the News Director at ABC 10News.