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

Lawsuit accuses Downtown San Diego Partnership of misusing assessment district funds

Suit alleges non-profit has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer assessments on non-permitted items.

Executives at the Downtown San Diego Partnership will have to defend what some say is mismanagement and misuse of taxpayer funds in court.

On August 12, government watchdog group, San Diegans for Open Government, filed a lawsuit against the downtown non-profit corporation responsible for administering the Property and Business Improvement District, also known as the Clean and Safe Program.

The lawsuit alleges that the non-profit, run by former Chief of Staff for ex-mayor Jerry Sanders, Kris Michell, has used the the $5.5 million in annual assessments with little or no oversight, spending as it sees fit on high-priced consultants and non-permitted services.

Established in 2000, Clean and Safe is funded by assessments levied on downtown property owners. The assessments pay for a variety of enhanced services such as tree-trimming, sidewalk cleaning, security patrols, and maintenance of water fountains and neighborhood parks.

Over the course of the past decade however, the non-profit Downtown San Diego Partnership has expanded the list of services in an attempt to turn downtown into the economic engine that drives the City and County.

It has done so by funneling hundreds of thousands in assessments to programs meant to cut down on "street disorder." In other words, spending money to rid downtown of panhandlers, people sleeping in entrances and on city sidewalks, public intoxication and public urination; issues that "detract from the business being conducted" in downtown.

The problem: those services cannot be found anywhere in the state law that regulates assessment districts.

Nor does spending $130,000 on local consultants to help run the program.

And, neither does the law allow for executives to spend money on a new business model and website for the non-profit.

The lawsuit from San Diegans for Open Government hopes to put an end to the Downtown Partnership's extravagant spending habits.

"Any agreement between City and Partnership or anyone else that purports to authorize or ratify the expenditure of PBID monies in a manner that violates California Streets and Highways Code...is illegal and unenforceable."

The groups asks that a judge order the non-profit to refund residents for all illegal expenditures.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/apr/21/city-light-2/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/feb/08/citylights2-clean-and-safe-consultant/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/oct/10/downtown-pbid/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/may/28/downtown-san-diego-partnership-to-spend-110000-fro/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/aug/12/downtown-san-diego-partnership-hires-high-profile-/

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

Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance

Executives at the Downtown San Diego Partnership will have to defend what some say is mismanagement and misuse of taxpayer funds in court.

On August 12, government watchdog group, San Diegans for Open Government, filed a lawsuit against the downtown non-profit corporation responsible for administering the Property and Business Improvement District, also known as the Clean and Safe Program.

The lawsuit alleges that the non-profit, run by former Chief of Staff for ex-mayor Jerry Sanders, Kris Michell, has used the the $5.5 million in annual assessments with little or no oversight, spending as it sees fit on high-priced consultants and non-permitted services.

Established in 2000, Clean and Safe is funded by assessments levied on downtown property owners. The assessments pay for a variety of enhanced services such as tree-trimming, sidewalk cleaning, security patrols, and maintenance of water fountains and neighborhood parks.

Over the course of the past decade however, the non-profit Downtown San Diego Partnership has expanded the list of services in an attempt to turn downtown into the economic engine that drives the City and County.

It has done so by funneling hundreds of thousands in assessments to programs meant to cut down on "street disorder." In other words, spending money to rid downtown of panhandlers, people sleeping in entrances and on city sidewalks, public intoxication and public urination; issues that "detract from the business being conducted" in downtown.

The problem: those services cannot be found anywhere in the state law that regulates assessment districts.

Nor does spending $130,000 on local consultants to help run the program.

And, neither does the law allow for executives to spend money on a new business model and website for the non-profit.

The lawsuit from San Diegans for Open Government hopes to put an end to the Downtown Partnership's extravagant spending habits.

"Any agreement between City and Partnership or anyone else that purports to authorize or ratify the expenditure of PBID monies in a manner that violates California Streets and Highways Code...is illegal and unenforceable."

The groups asks that a judge order the non-profit to refund residents for all illegal expenditures.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/apr/21/city-light-2/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/feb/08/citylights2-clean-and-safe-consultant/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/oct/10/downtown-pbid/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/may/28/downtown-san-diego-partnership-to-spend-110000-fro/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/aug/12/downtown-san-diego-partnership-hires-high-profile-/

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.