City agrees to $120,000 settlement in lawsuit over downtown PBID overcharges
City council agreed to end the lawsuit during an April 16 closed session meeting.
During a closed session meeting last week, San Diego city councilmembers approved the settlement offer from SCI Consulting for mistakes made in the engineer's report for the Downtown Property-based Business Improvement District. The Orange County-based consultant will pay the City …
Mobile home parks give big to San Diego Democratic Party which in turn gives $20,000 to Mayor Filner
Four mobile home associations gave a total of $12,000 to the SD Democrats on April 26
Mobile home park associations are moving in the same direction as the Democratic Party. An April 29 filing from the San Diego Democratic Party shows that four separate mobile home park owners and affiliated associations gave the party a total …
State Auditor gives City's development services department poor grade on protection of historical resources and public notification
State auditor recommended more be done to protect historical resources.
The City of San Diego's Development Services Department received a few bad scores in an audit from the California State Auditor. The review found that the department doesn't do a good enough job protecting historical resources and notifying the public …
Judge denies San Diego Unified's request to rehear case over Hoover High's new stadium lights
District's motion for retrial is denied.
The lights at the end of the stadium tunnel are beginning to grow dim in San Diego Unified School District's legal fight over the $800,000 in Proposition S school-bond revenues that it spent on stadium lighting at Hoover High School. …
Proposed ordinance would outlaw the sale of pets raised at commercial breeding facilities
The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee to discuss ban on sale of puppy mill puppies at upcoming committee meeting.
A city council committee is taking the lead in an effort to outlaw pet shops from selling companion animals that were bred in high volume breeding facilities, also known as puppy mills, catteries, and rabbit mills. On Wednesday, the Public …
Fourteen Barrio Logan property owners represented 70 percent of vote needed to establish new Barrio Logan Maintenance Assessment District
Majority of residents, 54% voted against the MAD
The Barrio Logan Association, the non-profit that will control the newly formed "Community Benefit Maintenance Assessment District," is eager to get the district up and running. On March 22, the interim Board of Directors for the Barrio Logan Association, headed …
City council to pay $175,000 check to a man who fell on a shoddy sidewalk in San Ysidro
The segment of sidewalk near Smythe Elementary has long been an issue in the community.
This fall marks two years since Ubaldo Gutierrez fell off his bicycle while riding on a shoddy sidewalk near Smythe Avenue in San Ysidro. Since that time, Gutierrez has been forced to trudge through the courts to recoup wages and …
Ex-San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor due back in court on Thursday
O'Connor will appear in court for a case filed by her sister's former husband over the sale of a Mendocino luxury hotel
Former San Diego mayor Maureen O'Connor is due back in court on Thursday, or, at least her lawyers will be there. On April 25, Judge John Meyer will call into session another hearing in the case filed by O'Connor's twin-sister, …
Lawsuit aims to prevent massive wall signs from being allowed in City
San Diegans for Open Government filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego and Westfield LLC for trying to scuttle current zoning laws.
The signs point to a showdown in court. Last week, San Diegans for Open Government, a non-profit government watchdog group, filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego and Westfield Group over an attempt to scuttle current zoning laws …
Lorena Gonzalez rakes in more than $160,000 in campaign contributions in five month span
Union-head Lorena Gonzalez far ahead of her opponent Steve Castaneda in campaign donations.
Chief executive of the San Diego and Imperial County Labor Union and now state assembly candidate, Lorena Gonzalez, is proving to be quite skilled at fundraising. Gonzalez, who is running for the assembly seat vacated by Ben Hueso, has raised …
Council sets date to discuss draft medical marijuana ordinance
Draft ordinance improves access from 2011 ordinance.
Proponents and patients of medical marijuana in San Diego will finally get a chance to voice support for a new ordinance that clears the way for medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the City. On Monday, April 22, the City …
City accused of not releasing public documents, sued for violating public records act
SCI Consulting filed lawsuit on Superior Court alleging the City witheld public information.
The bad blood between the City of San Diego and a maintenance assessment consulting firm it once hired is flowing heavier and hotter than ever. The consulting firm has filed a new lawsuit against the City accusing officials in the …
Mayor Filner proposes cutting City Attorney budget. City Attorney responds with $2,500 gift to Republican Party
Goldsmith's latest disclosure shows a $2,500 donation to the local GOP party one day after Filner releases draft budget proposal
Mayor Bob Filner's proposal to pay for additional public services by cutting more than $1 million from City Attorney Jan Goldsmith's department isn't going over too well with the GOP faithful. The draft budget calls using one-time funds as well …
Food truck operators accuse the City of San Diego of harassment in new lawsuit
Code compliance officers now issuing citations to all food trucks, even those on private property
Code enforcement officers in San Diego have been busy serving up a wide assortment of citations to food trucks throughout the City ever since city councilmembers agreed to tighten the rules governing the operation of food trucks during a December …
Settlement reached in City's lawsuit over downtown assessment district's errant engineer's report
Court documents show the City Attorney and SCI Consulting have come to terms in case of overcharged assessments on Property-based Improvement District
The mess over a faulty engineer's report which resulted in thousands of downtown residents being overcharged hundreds of thousands of dollars in assessments for the downtown Property-based Improvement District (PBID) is nearly over. The district provides downtown neighborhoods "enhanced" services …
Mayor Filner calls on City Attorney Goldsmith to drop the lawsuit against City retirement system
Mayor and SDCERS president Herb Morgan will appear tomorrow to issue a public request to Goldsmith
Just when all the tensions between Mayor Bob Filner and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith over the Tourist Marketing District started to ease, it appears as if the two might have another clash is brewing. This fight is over the City's …
Save Our Heritage Organisation defends The Castle, sues City Council to return building's historical designation
Lawsuit filed on April 8th looks to overturn appeal granted by city council.
Fresh off their victory over the Plaza de Panama project, historic preservation group Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) is heading back to court. This time, SOHO has a new mission; to defend the "Castle." Built in 1927, the Luscomb Building, …
Development Impact Fees to drop in Mission Valley
More units coming to Mission Valley means developers will pay less per unit.
On Tuesday, city councilmembers will decide whether to decrease the amount in fees that developers are required to pay for public facilites in Mission Valley. City forecasts show more residential development coming to Mission Valley then expected in the next …
City Attorney weighs in on formation of downtown arts and entertainment district
Suggests a pilot program as a way to discover any future legal liabilities
Brighter lights; same city. That may be the case if the City decides to move forward with turning a 65-block portion of downtown into a new arts and entertainment district. On August 1, 2012 representatives from Finwater Advisors, a Denver-based …
City and Police Chief sued for civil rights violations at Children's Pool in La Jolla
Man says police targeted him for his pro-seal views.
Children's Pool isn't just a safe spot for Harbor Seals to breed and raise pups. It also is a first-rate view for seals to witness the legal dustup between hundreds of residents fighting over public access to the beach, seal …