| Lawyers' bills mounting for ethics investigations San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE Jun 02, 2007 by Tanya Mannes CHULA VISTA -- Chula Vista spent $411,261 in the last 14 months for outside lawyers who represented city officials questioned by the district attorney's newly formed Public Integrity Unit. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis created the unit in early 2006 to investigate public corruption allegations throughout San Diego County. To date, the unit has indicted one person -- Jason Moore, an aide to former Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla -- on perjury charges. Since March 2006, the city paid 11 law firms to represent employees who testified before the unit's criminal grand jury, according to information the San Diego Union-Tribune obtained through a California Public Records Act request. City Attorney Ann Moore provided the bill totals but not the attorneys' invoices or contracts, saying they are protected by attorney-client privilege.... The city is required under state law to provide legal representation to its officials and employees who are involved in litigation related to their official duties. "We have no choice but to hire private attorneys to perform whatever type of legal work is necessary," Moore said. She said the work can't be done in-house "because our office represents the city, not the individual employees or officials."... "There needs to be some accountability on these secret investigations and the resources attached to them," Ramirez said. "We need to get some answers from the District Attorney's Office about whether or not these investigations are legitimate." Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox said most of the decisions to hire outside counsel were made before she took office in December. "Since much of this was acted on by a previous City Council, it is pretty hard for me to know whether it is justified," she said. Cox noted that the city can force an employee or official to pay back the money "if the person was found to be acting outside the scope of their employment, or doing something illegal." ...Prosecutor Patrick O'Toole, who heads the Public Integrity Unit, has focused much of his energy on Chula Vista. He subpoenaed nine witnesses in seeking the indictment of Jason Moore, which was part of a larger investigation involving more witnesses, according to grand jury transcripts released after the indictment. Moore pleaded not guilty in April. Last month, Castaneda said the unit had initiated three separate investigations of him in the last year. He accused Dumanis of targeting him for political reasons and pressuring him to resign. He has not been charged with a crime. City attorneys in San Diego, Imperial Beach, Solana Beach, Lemon Grove, National City, Del Mar, Santee, Carlsbad, Oceanside and San Marcos said there have been no Public Integrity Unit investigations in their cities. Chula Vista's legal bills come as the city prepares to cut its budget because of a slowdown in new home construction. Cox recently called for austerity, saying she is prepared to fund "little other than core services" for several years. [Maura Larkins' note: Cox clearly believes that lawyers are at the top of the list of core services.] In a prepared statement, Dumanis... defended the Public Integrity Unit. "The public has a right to expect that their public officials are not breaking the law," Dumanis said. "Protecting and vindicating this right is one of the most important priorities in the District Attorney's Office, and the Public Integrity Unit continues to ensure that this is done." (see table below) |
| City of Chula Vista |
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| San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has given Patrick O'Toole free rein to use her office for political purposes, attacking opponents and looking the other way for friends. |
| The D.A.'s office has focused on Chula Vista, and has indicted only two people, both of whom were involved in running campaigns against current mayor Cheryl Cox. One of them was indicted for perjury for taking two hours off work, and then saying he filed his leave slip BEFORE he took off, when he actually filed it AFTER. This author sees this as the epitome of malicious vindictiveness carried out on the taxpayer's dime. |
| The irony is that Cheryl Cox herself has committed, according to this author's evidence and understanding of the law, not just subornation of perjury, but multiple other crimes as well, making her far more guilty than the employee who took two hours off work. This author reported her findings to Bonnie Dumanis, and quoted from the law to make the illegalities clear, but Bonnie Dumanis wrote back saying no violations of law had occurred. Why is Bonnie Dumanis protecting Cheryl Cox from obstruction of justice charges? Why is Bonnie Dumanis attacking Cheryl Cox's political opponents? Clearly, Bonnie Dumanis has turned the District Attorney's office into a Republican campaign headquarters rivaling that of disgraced and resigned US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. |
| Castaneda says DA's probes are ploy 'Unsubstantiated charges,' he claims By Tanya Mannes STAFF WRITER May 12, 2007 Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda said yesterday that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis investigated him three times in the last year to try to force him to resign. Castaneda contends that Dumanis conspired with Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, his opponent in last year's election. Castaneda hasn't stated an intention to challenge Cox in the next mayoral race, but many expect him to do so. Steve Castaneda In a statement e-mailed to the media, Castaneda said Patrick O'Toole, who leads the Public Integrity Unit at the District Attorney's Office, began targeting him in March 2006 in a “political witch hunt.” Castaneda said O'Toole initiated three investigations of him and subpoenaed him three times to testify before the criminal grand jury regarding “completely unsubstantiated charges raised by political opponents with deep political connections.” “I'm up for re-election in 2008, and I'm sure that the Coxes and their political allies would like nothing better than for me to run with a cloud over my head or flat-out resign,” Castaneda said. He said O'Toole recently offered him a choice: Step down from office immediately or he would charge him with a felony. Castaneda said his attorney advised him not to comment further on the deal, including what the felony charge would be. Castaneda said the lengthy, expensive process of fighting a felony charge would take a toll on his family's reputation and his career – even if he prevailed in court. Patrick O'Toole “The DA knows this, and they are leveraging that reality in an attempt to achieve the political outcome they seek,” he said. Castaneda said Dumanis is part of the county's “old power structure” that includes Cheryl Cox's husband, county Supervisor Greg Cox, who has budget authority over the District Attorney's Office, he said. O'Toole declined to comment on Castaneda's allegations. “We don't comment on investigations or the status of grand jury matters,” he said. Dumanis also declined to comment, according to her spokesman, Paul Levikow. Last year, Cheryl Cox and Castaneda ran in the Chula Vista mayoral primary in an effort to unseat incumbent Mayor Steve Padilla. Castaneda received 25 percent of the votes in the June 6 primary, which wasn't enough for him to proceed to the runoff. Cox won in November. Cox said yesterday that Castaneda's allegations came as a surprise. “I don't know what he's talking about,” she said. She said she considers Castaneda a colleague, not a rival, and noted that both share the goal of demolishing the South Bay Power Plant. “The race with me and Steve was over in June,” Cox said. Castaneda said O'Toole's three investigations focused on an apartment that Castaneda rented for his wife in Sunbow Villas; property that he purchased in 2005 with Chula Vista resident Henry Barros; and his role as a board member of the Chula Vista Redevelopment Corp. Castaneda has been a City Council member since 2004. He is a transportation and land-use consultant who was once an aide to Ron Roberts, the former San Diego councilman who is now a county supervisor. “I am not a wealthy man, and this pretense has cost me personally thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to say what it has cost the taxpayers,” Castaneda said. He said he has spent $15,000 on attorney fees, and the city hired council for him and other city officials who were forced to testify in the investigations. Shortly after his announcement was sent out, Castaneda attempted to remove one statement in it. In a subsequent e-mail, he said that the news release should not have stated that O'Toole threatened to charge him with a felony if he didn't resign. The information is true, but it “may be deemed privileged,” he said. Dumanis established the Public Integrity Unit in early 2006 to root out public corruption involving violations of state law in San Diego County. Last year, O'Toole began using the county's criminal grand jury early in his investigations as a fact- finding body. The grand jury has the authority to issue subpoenas, and witnesses testify under oath. Previously in San Diego County, the criminal grand jury was presented with the results of a district attorney's investigation as a final step in getting an indictment. Now the grand jury gets involved much earlier, before prosecutors have determined whether any crime was committed. O'Toole is a former federal prosecutor who previously served as the U.S. attorney in San Diego. He developed the new procedure based in part on the federal model and on procedures used in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties, he said. The criminal grand jury has 19 members. A new group is convened every 30 days, selected by lot from the trial- juror pool. Jurors' identities are kept confidential. It's unrelated to the county's civil grand jury, which examines how local government agencies are doing their assigned tasks. Members of that group, also called the Blue Ribbon Panel, are nominated by judges and serve a full year. |
| Strangely secret "Public Integrity Unit" has prosecuted only two individuals-- both political opponents of Cheryl Cox There was no wrongdoing revealed by the investigations; "crimes" were generated by the investigation DA unit works as quietly as it began By Tanya Mannes STAFF WRITER May 20, 2007 Last year, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis quietly created a Public Integrity Unit, which uses a criminal grand jury to look into the most serious allegations of government corruption throughout the county. In existence about 14 months, it has filed charges against one person: Jason Moore, a former Chula Vista mayoral aide. ...Patrick O'Toole, the prosecutor who leads the unit, has said that the Moore case was part of “an ongoing investigation into the possible misuse of government resources, money and time in Chula Vista.” ...[Dumanis] promised that in the future, in most cases, “we will not investigate a complaint until after an election.” That wasn't the case last year. The investigation of Moore began in August, while he was an aide to Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla and working on his re-election campaign, according to the grand jury transcript unsealed April 12. Castaneda said the investigations of him began in March 2006, as he was campaigning for mayor. The public has been given little information about the unit's work. The investigations that focused on Moore and Castaneda began before Dumanis announced the Public Integrity Unit existed. She did that March 1. Moore was indicted March 27. He has pleaded not guilty to five felony perjury charges. The 732-page grand jury transcript shows the investigation began in August, shortly after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Moore was caught spying on an Aug. 3 fundraiser for Padilla's political opponent, Cheryl Cox, who went on to beat the incumbent in the November election. O'Toole was looking into whether Moore was on city time that day. Based on the investigation, O'Toole doesn't dispute that Moore ultimately took the time off but contends he lied in sworn testimony about when he submitted a request for personal leave. “If someone lies to a grand jury, they're going to be charged with perjury,” O'Toole said. In seeking the indictment of Moore, O'Toole questioned witnesses on seven days from March 8-26, according to the transcript. The grand jury considered testimony from Moore; Padilla; Padilla's chief of staff, Tom Oriola; city records custodian Louis Vignapiano; Marcia Raskin, the city Human Resources director; Natalie Flores, the City Council's executive secretary; Chad Blum, Padilla's campaign manager; Don Giaquinto, a Padilla campaign worker; and Mike Goloskie, an investigator with the district attorney's special investigations unit. 'Political witch hunt' Castaneda said the Public Integrity Unit spent 14 months investigating three separate allegations against him. O'Toole subpoenaed Castaneda and other witnesses to testify about an apartment Castaneda rented for his wife; property he purchased as a business venture in 2005 with Chula Vista resident Henry Barros; and his role as a board member of the Chula Vista Redevelopment Corp. He has not been charged with a crime. On May 11, Castaneda issued a public statement accusing Dumanis of leading a “political witch hunt” against him. He alleged that Dumanis conspired with Cox to begin targeting him in March 2006, when he was running against Cox in the mayoral primary. He said Cox's husband, county Supervisor Greg Cox, influences Dumanis because the Board of Supervisors controls the district attorney's budget. Castaneda said Dumanis was using the unit to force him to resign. He said O'Toole recently offered him a deal: Resign immediately, and he would not charge him with a felony... Dumanis formed the Public Integrity Unit in early 2006, when she assigned O'Toole, a former federal prosecutor who previously served as the U.S. attorney in San Diego, to develop a way to handle the sensitive cases in which public officials are accused of criminal wrongdoing. The unit now comprises two full-time prosecutors and one part-time prosecutor within the Special Operations Division. Dumanis said it's a way to “let people know that we are watching.” O'Toole is using the criminal grand jury in the earliest stages of investigations, a tactic based on the federal model and procedures used in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. The grand jury proceedings, in which witnesses testify under oath, take place behind closed doors to protect those accused of crimes, Dumanis said. “We have complex investigations that take months, sometimes years,” she said. “We don't want reputations tarnished before our investigation is finished.” When Dumanis announced the Public Integrity Unit on March 1, she said it had been “a work in progress” for more than a year. She has said she wanted to wait until after last year's November elections to announce the unit. The announcement was further delayed because of the holidays and her busy schedule... The District Attorney's Office estimates that it has prosecuted 50 cases involving public officials and employees since Dumanis took office in 2003. |
| Trial and re- election bid could coincide Castaneda to decide soon on campaign By Tanya Mannes San Diego Union Tribune September 23, 2007 Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda, who has pleaded not guilty to felony perjury charges, expects to go forward with a high- stakes trial in February – at the same time he could be running for re-election. Castaneda's four-year term expires at the end of 2008. A primary election for his seat will be held in June. This past June, a county grand jury indicted Castaneda on 13 felony perjury counts related to his sworn testimony during an investigation into his residency in the Sunbow Villas apartment complex while it was being converted to condos. Castaneda allegedly lied to the grand jury about whether he intended to buy one of the condos. In an unrelated matter handled by the grand jury, Castaneda was also indicted on two misdemeanor counts of failing to disclose income from selling a vacant lot. Castaneda, who has vowed to fight the charges, said he will announce in the next few weeks whether he will run for a second term. “It is very clear that I have not finished the work I promised the voters I would do as their representative, and I intend to work very hard to do that,” he said recently. If he is found guilty on all counts, he faces up to 52 years in prison and would have to resign from the City Council. However, both the prosecution and the defense say that in this case, if there's a conviction, any sentence would entail little or no prison time. Two Chula Vista residents have filed papers to run for Castaneda's seat: Pat Moriarty, a health care professional; and Richie Macias, a business owner. The candidate nomination period doesn't close until March 7. Prosecutor Patrick O'Toole, who heads District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' Public Integrity Unit, sought the indictment. He said it will be “an interesting trial.” “We'll get a glimpse into the seamier workings of politics and the political world,” he said. A trial was originally set for October. But Castaneda's attorney, Marc Carlos, asked to move the date because of a scheduling conflict. The two sides have agreed to a trial date of Feb. 25. Carlos said he sees legal flaws in O'Toole's case. “The main issue here is materiality,” Carlos said. “In 20 years of criminal defense, I have never seen a case where the underlying action is legal. Mr. Castaneda did nothing wrong – and Pat O'Toole even says that in the grand jury transcripts.” The felony counts against Castaneda are related to his grand jury testimony during O'Toole's yearlong investigation. O'Toole was looking into allegations that Castaneda used his office to receive special treatment from the owner of the Sunbow Villas apartment complex. Castaneda was a tenant at the complex and was accused of seeking favors, such as free rent, from Sunbow owner Ash Israni, according to the 1,200-page grand jury transcript. The investigation found that Castaneda paid his rent and didn't ask for special treatment. O'Toole told the grand jury the perjury charges are warranted because Castaneda should be held accountable for “lying about the facts” even if no crime was uncovered. During O'Toole's questioning, Castaneda answered “no” when asked several times under oath if he had thought about buying one of the Sunbow condominiums while he was a tenant at the complex. O'Toole said that was a lie because Castaneda had asked about the price of the condominiums even though he didn't ultimately buy one, according to at least one witness interviewed by the grand jury. Carlos said the numerous felony counts are troubling, considering it would have been legal for Castaneda to buy a condo. “They're bringing this guy in, they're investigating him, they're finding there's nothing he did wrong – but they turn around and charge him anyway,” Carlos said. “It's scary that they can do that.” Castaneda, 48, is a transportation and land-use consultant who is one of four part-time City Council members. He rented the apartment in Sunbow for about a year, beginning in August 2005. The two misdemeanor counts are related to omissions on Castaneda's economic interest statements, which all elected officials must file. He didn't report the $30,000 he made from selling a vacant lot at 40 L St. in a joint venture in 2005 with Chula Vista resident Henry Barros, the indictment says. Castaneda has been vocal about O'Toole's investigations, saying they are politically motivated. He contended that Dumanis conspired with Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, his political rival in the 2006 mayoral primary. |
| From "Blog of San Diego" Bonnie Dumanis and Chula Vista The story the U-T does not want you to read - Dumanis and Chula Vista 12/29/07 by Pat Flannery ...letter being presented to the Chula Vista City Council on December 18, 2007. Activist Sonny Chandler, on behalf of a civic group called the "Chula Vista Better Government Association", called upon the Council to conduct an investigation into official corruption in Chula Vista. The letter was also sent to the State Attorney General and to the U.S. Attorney on December 7, 2007 asking that they: " ... conduct an investigation to determine if there are conflicts of interests, abuses of power and prosecutorial misconduct involving John Moot, Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox and the local District Attorney’s office. For the reasons listed below, we are not confident that the District Attorney’s office or the City’s Board of Ethics can perform a fair and impartial investigation into these matters. We further request that you investigate a potential conspiracy involving former Chula Vista City Councilmember John Moot, the office of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, local land developer Jim Pieri and Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox to deprive Chula Vista voters of good government by abusing their positions and power to improperly influence and intimidate elected officials and community groups on behalf of the proposed condominium high rise." It makes interesting reading, especially the parts about Bonnie Dumanis and Pat O'Toole. The civic group suspects that Dumanis and O'Toole may have filed bogus charges against Chula Vista City Councilmember Steve Castaneda, at the behest of a well-connected Chula Vista developer named Jim Pieri, who apparently wanted "someone more likely to approve his projects" on the City Council. A natural reaction for an ambitious developer. The group reports that Pieri contributed $15,050 to the Lincoln Club of San Diego County during Cox's campaign who in turn contributed $51,000 to Cox. Yep, that's how it works. I was also informed that the U- T refused to run the story, despite the fact that the "Chula Vista Better Government Association" did all the work. It compiled these 334 pages of back up material and obviously did its research. This story should be the kind of juicy political yarn any red-blooded newspaper would love to run. And it is all documented. Pieri is now leasing office space to the DA in Chula Vista at $71,328 per month. That's a pretty nice lease. Here it is. Interesting how Dumanis ended up renting from Pieri. I have a feeling we have not heard the last of this story. I wonder why the U-T did not want you to read it. Are they protecting Dumanis? Well, here it is anyway, all 334 pages of it. |
| Chula Vista councilman's perjury trial to go forward The felony perjury trial of Chula Vista Councilman Steve Castaneda will go forward as scheduled April 7, placing in limbo his candidacy for re- election. Castaneda's attorney, Marc Carlos, filed a motion to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the alleged perjury is not connected to any crime. This week, Superior Court Judge Michael Wellington denied the motion, allowing the trial to go forward. “My client has rejected plea offers and he's going to assert his constitutional right to go to trial,” Carlos said. If convicted of a felony, Castaneda would be ineligible to serve on the council. His three challengers in the June 3 election are Patricia Aguilar, president of the civic group Crossroads II; Pat Moriarty, a medical supervisor; and Scott Vinson, chief executive of Coldwell Banker Royal Realty. The District Attorney's Office indicted Castaneda last year on perjury charges after a grand jury investigation into his residency in the Sunbow Villas complex in Chula Vista. The complex was being converted to condominiums. Prosecutor Patrick O'Toole contends that Castaneda lied several times in sworn testimony when he said he didn't intend to purchase a condo, even though Castaneda ultimately didn't buy one. –T.M. |
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mauralarkins.com
| SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT |
| Councilman Steve Castaneda |
| McCann is deputy mayor; Miesfeld city attorney San Diego Union Tribune Dec. 13, 2008 The City Council this week named Councilman John McCann deputy mayor as part of the annual City Council reorganization. The position was previously held by Jerry Rindone, whose term ended this month. The council appointed Bart Miesfeld city attorney. He had been filling in as interim city attorney since Ann Moore retired earlier this year. In November, voters approved making the job an elected position. An election for the post is planned for 2010. –T.S. |
La Bella & McNamara,
$51,945
Luce Forward, $67,458
McKenna Long & Aldrich,
$71,842
Morrison & Foerster,
$48,987
Frank Vecchione, $29,481
Total: $411,261
$51,945
Luce Forward, $67,458
McKenna Long & Aldrich,
$71,842
Morrison & Foerster,
$48,987
Frank Vecchione, $29,481
Total: $411,261
Baker & McKenzie,
$37,676
Benjamin L. Coleman,
$14,790
Cooley Godward, $6,105
Coughlan Semmer &
Lipman, $49,782
Irell & Manella, $19,782
Knut Johnson, $13,413
$37,676
Benjamin L. Coleman,
$14,790
Cooley Godward, $6,105
Coughlan Semmer &
Lipman, $49,782
Irell & Manella, $19,782
Knut Johnson, $13,413
| CHULA VISTA'S LEGAL BILLS |
| South Bay Review June 5, 2004 Chula Vista Police Department hired KFMB Ch. 8’s Liz Purcell to serve as the public information officer for the city. Purcell has also served as the spokesperson for former District Attorney Paul Pfingst. |