San Diego City Council members stunned Deputy City Attorney Michael Calabrese at Tuesday’s council meeting, asking him to reconsider a conflict-of-interest code he wrote for the city’s parking district advisory boards.
Members of the various parking advisory boards ” including La Jolla’s Community Parking District Advisory Board ” were present at the Feb. 26 meeting, along with members of Promote La Jolla, La Jolla’s business improvement district. All declined to speak after District 3 Councilwoman Toni Atkins made a motion to send the conflict-of-interest form code back to the City Attorney’s Office until next month.
The council asked the city attorney to bring back two options: either the boards will remain purely advisory, keeping them from filing the form with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), or they will retain some power, but the council asked Calabrese to limit the amount of disclosure, Calabrese said. Because it is the city council’s job to change the scope of the parking board’s power, Atkins asked Calabrese to help rewrite the boards’ functions, giving him about a month.
Although she supported Atkins’ motion, District 6 Councilwoman Donna Frye said there were “concerns by the citizens that [parking] board members might have a financial interest, and that it seems reasonable that there is a financial interest disclosure form.”
Frye said she first proposed that residents sitting on parking district advisory boards fill out conflict-of-interest forms when members of the public came to her with concerns.
“Community members brought this up because they were unable to determine what role these members might be playing,” Frye said. “If they own a parking garage or a parking facility or a valet service, I want to make sure we are addressing this.”
District7 Councilman Jim Madaffer said the City Attorney’s Office included some disclosures on the conflict form that were unreasonable. And because the city council has the final vote, he said, the parking boards’ were already advisory, therefore could bypass the FPPC form. But Frye told the council she raised the issue because she wants to know that she can trust whatever final proposals come before her.
“I need to know if the decision I receive from a city group is [made] because five of the members own parking garages,” Frye said.
The council “” which supervises Parking District Advisory Boards in La Jolla, City Heights, Normal Heights, Kensington, North Park, Golden Hills, Pacific Beach, Old Town and the City of San Diego ” passed the resolution unanimously, which will allow the parking boards to resume their duties in an advisory capacity.
Calabrese, with the city attorney’s office, will “recraft” the local boards’ authority for the city council and bring his results to the council’s April 4 meeting.
“We’re going to take a completely different direction,” Calabrese said. “We’re going to take all of the power away from the local boards and make sure they are all purely advisory.”
Calabrese said he has a month to examine the documents related to the parking boards and change them for the council. Members of the parking district advisory boards were concerned about filing financial disclosures, he said. In areas such as Pacific Beach, Old Town and La Jolla, the conflict of interest code was “going in a direction they did not like.”
The public can attend regularly scheduled parking meetings, where Calabrese will continue to take comments as he crafts the new parking boards, he said. La Jolla Community Parking District Advisory Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday, March 19. For the exact time and place, contact Promote La Jolla, (858) 454-5718, or go to www.lajollabythesea.com.
Residents and merchants opposed to paid parking have formed the Save Our Village group, which will meet Friday, Feb. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at K. Nathan Gallery, 7723 Fay Ave. For more information, call (858) 459-3490, or visit www.nopaidparking.org.
For more information about the San Diego City Council, or to watch minutes from the Feb. 26 city council meeting, go to www.sandiego.gov.