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

UCAN Arguing for Stay of Litigation

In an ex parte huddling at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wed. March 14) in the chambers of Superior Court judge John S. Meyer, Utility Consumers' Action Network will request that pending litigation be stayed. Whistleblowers in the organization have complained of numerous irregularities and filed suit over them, and the U.S. Attorney's office has requested financial documents. The request for a stay is curious, since UCAN's chief executive, Michael Shames, has been telling the media that he wants to get the whistleblowers and their lawyer, Mike Aguirre, in court for a complete airing of the complaints.

In the pre-meeting filing by lawyer Thomas Shpall, UCAN complains that it has "a shortage of unrestricted funds to sustain operation, uncertainty of future income, [and] restriction on existing funds." Nonetheless, it wants to pay $400,000 to UC-Irvine professor Peter Navarro so he can complete a movie bashing China. This is the heart of one of the complaints: Nucor, the steel company, arranged to pay $1 million to Navarro to make the film, but at Navarro's request agreed to run the funds through UCAN, in a maneuver the UCAN's board didn't know about. But UCAN only paid $600,000 and it wants to complete the deal. Another enigma: according to the North County Times, Shames says UCAN has $2.5 million in the bank.

Attorney Bob Ames was brought in as chief operating officer last April, the month after Shames told the staff he wanted to dissolve UCAN and fire most of the staff. Shpall's document says that Ames was brought in "to preserve UCAN's property." But staffers made a video of Ames destroying documents. UCAN says they were old documents destroyed because of a pending headquarters move. But if Ames knew Shames intended to disband the organization (and he was informed of that by employees), one wonders why he destroyed any documents — especially since he has been one of San Diego's most prominent bankruptcy attorneys.

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

Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule

In an ex parte huddling at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wed. March 14) in the chambers of Superior Court judge John S. Meyer, Utility Consumers' Action Network will request that pending litigation be stayed. Whistleblowers in the organization have complained of numerous irregularities and filed suit over them, and the U.S. Attorney's office has requested financial documents. The request for a stay is curious, since UCAN's chief executive, Michael Shames, has been telling the media that he wants to get the whistleblowers and their lawyer, Mike Aguirre, in court for a complete airing of the complaints.

In the pre-meeting filing by lawyer Thomas Shpall, UCAN complains that it has "a shortage of unrestricted funds to sustain operation, uncertainty of future income, [and] restriction on existing funds." Nonetheless, it wants to pay $400,000 to UC-Irvine professor Peter Navarro so he can complete a movie bashing China. This is the heart of one of the complaints: Nucor, the steel company, arranged to pay $1 million to Navarro to make the film, but at Navarro's request agreed to run the funds through UCAN, in a maneuver the UCAN's board didn't know about. But UCAN only paid $600,000 and it wants to complete the deal. Another enigma: according to the North County Times, Shames says UCAN has $2.5 million in the bank.

Attorney Bob Ames was brought in as chief operating officer last April, the month after Shames told the staff he wanted to dissolve UCAN and fire most of the staff. Shpall's document says that Ames was brought in "to preserve UCAN's property." But staffers made a video of Ames destroying documents. UCAN says they were old documents destroyed because of a pending headquarters move. But if Ames knew Shames intended to disband the organization (and he was informed of that by employees), one wonders why he destroyed any documents — especially since he has been one of San Diego's most prominent bankruptcy attorneys.

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