Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

City Auditor heads for the hills of Beverly

Long-time watchdog departs amidst San Diego mayoral meltdowns

Luna going to work for Beverly Hills
Luna going to work for Beverly Hills

San Diego city auditor Eduardo Luna, an eleven-year veteran of rooting out scandals at what insiders assert is an increasingly dysfunctional city hall, is heading for Beverly Hills to assume a similar role in the super-rich city of the stars.

Luna's move, which he confirmed by phone, has city observers worried that the city of San Diego under the problematic governance of Kevin Faulconer may be in for more turmoil if a new auditor, to be selected and nominated by the Republican mayor for council approval, is less resistant to special interests than Luna has been.

“He looked like he was going to be a quiet pushover," La Jolla commentator Norma Damashek said of Luna during a 2014 battle with then-mayor Jerry Sanders, "and he turned out to be a tough guy in the best sense of the word. So, now [San Diego’s leadership] is trying to humiliate him or make his life so hard that he will resign before his time is up.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Sanders and his friend and protege Faulconer became foes of the auditor after he called out irregularities in the handling of real estate development fees administered by the city's Development Services Department in 2012.

Since then, the auditor's office has uncovered scores of fraud and mismanagement cases leading directly to the mayor's doorstep.

Luna's exit comes just weeks after Faulconer began advertising for a headhunter to lead an executive search to replace the incumbent auditor, whose ten-year term - enacted by voters to protect the office's integrity - runs out early next year.

Luna had considered remaining in his position, but the mayor and his backers made it clear that he should look elsewhere, per several insiders.

The city's audit committee, currently consisting of Republican council members Lorie Zapf and Scott Sherman, along with three public members, including Republican Lincoln Club honcho and real estate consultant Tom Hebrank, will review Faulconer's pick for Luna's replacement.

Hebrank has contributed $10,921 over the past decade to city politicos, including $1875 to the campaigns of Kevin Faulconer, per disclosure records. The full city council gets final approval, per the headhunting solicitation.

Faulconer and his GOP backers are said by several sources to be fast-tracking the process in what appears to be an effort to get the replacement through the council by the end of this year.

Luna will resign his San Diego position on September 28 and become Independent City Auditor for Beverly Hills October 1.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest
Next Article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
Luna going to work for Beverly Hills
Luna going to work for Beverly Hills

San Diego city auditor Eduardo Luna, an eleven-year veteran of rooting out scandals at what insiders assert is an increasingly dysfunctional city hall, is heading for Beverly Hills to assume a similar role in the super-rich city of the stars.

Luna's move, which he confirmed by phone, has city observers worried that the city of San Diego under the problematic governance of Kevin Faulconer may be in for more turmoil if a new auditor, to be selected and nominated by the Republican mayor for council approval, is less resistant to special interests than Luna has been.

“He looked like he was going to be a quiet pushover," La Jolla commentator Norma Damashek said of Luna during a 2014 battle with then-mayor Jerry Sanders, "and he turned out to be a tough guy in the best sense of the word. So, now [San Diego’s leadership] is trying to humiliate him or make his life so hard that he will resign before his time is up.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Sanders and his friend and protege Faulconer became foes of the auditor after he called out irregularities in the handling of real estate development fees administered by the city's Development Services Department in 2012.

Since then, the auditor's office has uncovered scores of fraud and mismanagement cases leading directly to the mayor's doorstep.

Luna's exit comes just weeks after Faulconer began advertising for a headhunter to lead an executive search to replace the incumbent auditor, whose ten-year term - enacted by voters to protect the office's integrity - runs out early next year.

Luna had considered remaining in his position, but the mayor and his backers made it clear that he should look elsewhere, per several insiders.

The city's audit committee, currently consisting of Republican council members Lorie Zapf and Scott Sherman, along with three public members, including Republican Lincoln Club honcho and real estate consultant Tom Hebrank, will review Faulconer's pick for Luna's replacement.

Hebrank has contributed $10,921 over the past decade to city politicos, including $1875 to the campaigns of Kevin Faulconer, per disclosure records. The full city council gets final approval, per the headhunting solicitation.

Faulconer and his GOP backers are said by several sources to be fast-tracking the process in what appears to be an effort to get the replacement through the council by the end of this year.

Luna will resign his San Diego position on September 28 and become Independent City Auditor for Beverly Hills October 1.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.