In a letter written to the entire Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) membership base, board president Bobby Vannoy wrote that board members, executive director Joyce Marieb, her partner, Linda Barufaldi, and Vannoy have received a series of anonymous, threatening phone calls, e-mails and letters.

In the May 3 letter, Vannoy stated: “… in recent weeks the messages have gotten increasingly threatening and hostile. The messages often contain explicit language and derogatory racial and gender-based epithets directed at Joyce.”

As a result of these messages, Vannoy wrote, the GSDBA is working with the San Diego Police Department to identify the source of the messages. He added that they are taking safety precautions to protect the GSDBA office and staff.

Lt. Margie Schaufelberger, SDPD liaison to the GLBT community, confirmed that an investigation is ongoing, and said she could not release any other information related to the case.

According to Vannoy’s letter, similar messages have also been sent to GSDBA members, and he asked for anyone who had already received such a letter, e-mail or phone message to come forward.

“It is unfortunate that we have to spend time and resources on an issue like this, but we are taking these threats seriously,” Vannoy wrote. “Joyce has been a phenomenal leader for this organization, and she deserves our whole-hearted support during this very difficult time.”

The Gay & Lesbian Times received an anonymous e-mail on May 2 containing accusations that Marieb is a “horrible person” and is “dishonest and probably a thief.” The e-mail’s author went on to accuse the GSDBA of not cooperating with its membership base, and claimed all of the ads on the current GSDBA Web site are from board members.

Calls made to GSBDA members confirmed that this e-mail was also sent to other members. However, calls placed to both the GSDBA and the SDPD by the Gay & Lesbian Times were unable to substantiate any claims of threats or hostility toward the GSDBA or Marieb. As of press time, the only information released to the Gay & Lesbian Times was the anonymous mass e-mail.

“This to me is nothing but a popularity club for some individuals. You can never get anything from these people unless you have something they need,” the e-mail’s anonymous author stated.

The e-mail was signed “an angry Ex-but happy GSDBA Member.” The author also said they would “continue to e-mail other members to inform them of this atrocity.”

Vannoy and Marieb told the Gay & Lesbian Times they could not comment further about the details concerning the threats made against the GSDBA due to the open investigation.

“That letter was what we wanted our members to know,” Marieb said. “That’s what we have to answer to. That’s why we sent that out, to let them know what’s going on in case they received similar [threats].”