Don’t Bother Asking San Diego City Hall – They Won’t Tell

‘Join me Monday morning to remind the City Council that providing constituents with basic info on government process is a core responsibility.’

By Paul Krueger

On Wednesday, October 29, someone placed an item about a City of San Diego legal battle on the City Council’s Closed Session Agenda for Monday, November 3.

On Thursday, someone took it off.

We don’t know who put the item on the agenda. And we don’t know who removed it. Neither the Mayor’s office, Council President Joe La Cava’s staff, nor the independently elected City Attorney’s office will answer any questions about the process.

This was not a routine item. The City is ready to double down on its continuing efforts to circumvent the voter-approved 30-foot height limit west of Interstate 5. And, as usual, it is operating in stealth.

In a strongly-worded unanimous decision issued October 17, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal said the city failed to produce an adequate environmental study of the negative impacts of high-density, high-rise development throughout the Midway District.

The court invalidated the results of an election that jettisoned the height limit. And it ordered the city to give residents a more complete assessment of the impact of super-density development before they cast their votes.

In its appeal, plaintiff Save Our Access argued, “San Diegans deserve to know the complete picture of removing the 30-foot height limit.'” The court concurred, stating, “We agree that the California Environmental Quality Act requires as much.”

Mayor Todd Gloria and City Attorney Heather Ferber swiftly and forcefully criticized that ruling. “We will be asking the City Council to appeal (the decision) to the State Supreme Court,” Gloria said. “Failure is not an option, and we will get this done.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the City Clerk updated the Council’s Closed Session docket to include a private discussion of a costly, high-stakes appeal to the State Supreme Court.

I had earlier sent the City Attorney’s office several generic questions about the Closed Session agenda, including who places items on that agenda, how and when the results of any decision are reported, and when a notice of appeal must be filed.

All my questions focused on Council procedures. None of them sought any information in any way related to the height limit ruling or a possible appeal. But the City Attorney’s office refused to answer any of them.

“We don’t mean to be difficult,” explained the City Attorney’s Chief of Staff, “but we’re prohibited by the City Charter from giving legal advice to anyone but our client, the City of San Diego, meaning we can’t give legal advice to individuals.”

That evasive response defies common sense. I didn’t ask for legal advice. I asked for an explanation of how the Council conducts public business.

But at least I got the courtesy of a reply.

Everyone else refused to respond or even acknowledge my emails and my follow-up phone calls. That includes Councilmember Joe LaCava’s chief-of-staff; another staffer who assists LaCava with matters related to his administrative duties as Council President; Mayor Todd Gloria’s “Communications Director” and Assistant “Comms Director”; and our usually very helpful City Clerk.

The Rag published a story Wednesday about the Closed Session item, with information on how the public can tell the Council how it feels about the height limit ruling and a possible appeal during public comment before that Closed Session discussion.

Then, early Thursday afternoon, the City Clerk’s office notified the public that the item had been dropped from the Closed Session docket.

Those notices never include any information about who wanted the item pulled from the docket, or why. I certainly don’t expect any of our elected officials to share any information before next Monday’s 10 am Council meeting.

But I’ll be there in person to restate my questions and remind the Council, the City Attorney, the City Clerk, and the Mayor’s staff that providing their constituents with basic information about our government process is — or definitely should be — a core responsibility of every elected official.

I hope you’ll join me just before the closed session at 10:00 a.m., in person or virtually, in demanding answers to these basic but very important questions. You can participate virtually during non-agenda public comment through this link: https://sandiego.gov/councilmtg