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 attorney seeks $500K for private counsel to defend fireworks lawsuits

The San Diego City Council, meeting in a special session today, is set to consider granting a contract worth up to $500,000 to the law firm Latham & Watkins at the request of city attorney Jan Goldsmith to represent the city in defending against litigation related to alleged violations of the California Environmental Quality Act as a result of offshore fireworks displays.

On the other side of the issue, lawyer Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group has prevailed in the first three suits to be decided by superior court. Gonzalez has been representing the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, has served as official counsel for the Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego chapter, and is now going public with an admonition against city attorney Jan Goldsmith for recommending the hiring of Latham & Watkins as outside counsel.

First, Gonzalez says, Goldsmith has gone on record in recent years with an article in the city attorney’s newsletter entitled Taking Back Outside Counsel Cases that boasts of the cost savings realized by the attorney keeping most litigation in-house.

“There is a role for outside private law firms assisting the City in cases where it is impossible or impracticable for the City Attorney’s Office to act as the City’s lawyers. These are situations involving conflicts of interests or special areas of practice,” writes Goldsmith in the piece, making the case that there remain exceptions to his stated policy of preferring in-house representation.

Gonzalez then goes on to suggest that a conflict of interest itself exists with the Latham firm, as it was hired to represent the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation – against whom Gonzalez successfully argued in 2011 that debris from exploding shells could be harming marine life in a nearby sanctuary and that review of the matter was needed. The judgment that year was stayed to allow the Fourth of July fireworks display to continue.

Meanwhile, a bill pushed by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and introduced in the state legislature by Juan Vargas that would allow local agencies to grant exemptions to the Environmental Quality Act for annual fireworks displays appears to have stalled, having failed to get out of committee in a July session.

Coast Law Group, Gonzalez’ firm, will appear before the council to urge the city “to put as much energy into resolving the lawsuits as it has into fighting them.”

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

Previous article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Next Article

Happy accidents on the Bob Ross soundtrack

Jason Lee and Dave Klein craft new sounds for a classic show

The San Diego City Council, meeting in a special session today, is set to consider granting a contract worth up to $500,000 to the law firm Latham & Watkins at the request of city attorney Jan Goldsmith to represent the city in defending against litigation related to alleged violations of the California Environmental Quality Act as a result of offshore fireworks displays.

On the other side of the issue, lawyer Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group has prevailed in the first three suits to be decided by superior court. Gonzalez has been representing the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, has served as official counsel for the Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego chapter, and is now going public with an admonition against city attorney Jan Goldsmith for recommending the hiring of Latham & Watkins as outside counsel.

First, Gonzalez says, Goldsmith has gone on record in recent years with an article in the city attorney’s newsletter entitled Taking Back Outside Counsel Cases that boasts of the cost savings realized by the attorney keeping most litigation in-house.

“There is a role for outside private law firms assisting the City in cases where it is impossible or impracticable for the City Attorney’s Office to act as the City’s lawyers. These are situations involving conflicts of interests or special areas of practice,” writes Goldsmith in the piece, making the case that there remain exceptions to his stated policy of preferring in-house representation.

Gonzalez then goes on to suggest that a conflict of interest itself exists with the Latham firm, as it was hired to represent the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation – against whom Gonzalez successfully argued in 2011 that debris from exploding shells could be harming marine life in a nearby sanctuary and that review of the matter was needed. The judgment that year was stayed to allow the Fourth of July fireworks display to continue.

Meanwhile, a bill pushed by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and introduced in the state legislature by Juan Vargas that would allow local agencies to grant exemptions to the Environmental Quality Act for annual fireworks displays appears to have stalled, having failed to get out of committee in a July session.

Coast Law Group, Gonzalez’ firm, will appear before the council to urge the city “to put as much energy into resolving the lawsuits as it has into fighting them.”

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

San Diego City Attorney Passes on Fireworks Litigation

Next Article

Feds Let Sempra Investigate Itself

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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader