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City Attorney's one-eighty on Sunroad. Office calls Sunroad lawsuit a "sham"
Diogenes: Goldsmith is caught secretly encouraging the Briggs' Sunroad lawsuit, a case of an attorney acting against the best interests of his client. How would you like if your attorney encouraged somebody to sue you by disclosing your vulnerability to such a lawsuit? I would be interested to know the context in which Goldsmith told Briggs that "he wanted to reverse the Sunroad deal because he suspected extortion". Who called whom? On what business? Did Goldsmith just call an outside attorney, Briggs, to treacherously disclose a vulnerability and solicit a lawsuit against his client, the City? That is a disbarment offense. It is clear from Dorian's report that Goldsmith did not know about Briggs' intention to sue the City over Sunroad when he made that remark. Even if Goldsmith and Briggs had other business to discuss it does not excuse Goldsmith for disclosing this privileged attorney-client information and making this adverse solicitation so injurious to his client the City.— August 21, 2013 8:01 a.m.
City Attorney's one-eighty on Sunroad. Office calls Sunroad lawsuit a "sham"
This new information from Cory Briggs makes it clear that he was in personal contact with Jan Goldsmith before filing his lawsuit. If what you report is true then Goldsmith calling Briggs’ lawsuit a “complete sham” is accurate because Goldsmith himself participated with Briggs in setting it up: "About two weeks before Donna [Frye], Marco [Gonzalez], and I asked the mayor to resign, [Goldsmith] told me that he wanted to reverse the Sunroad deal because he suspected extortion". This sham lawsuit alleges that “CITY's mayor demanded a quid pro quo payment from SUNROAD in the amount of $100,000.00 in exchange for his agreement to ask CITY's city council to override his veto of the Project's approval, and SUNROAD complied with the demand.” It then goes on to quote the real reason why Mayor Filner vetoed the Council’s approval, as a mere secondary reason: “CITY failed to follow the procedures prescribed by law in approving the Project”. This was added for legal procedural cover. The City Council subsequently compounded its breach of proper legal procedures viz. the City’s Municipal Code, by overriding the mayoral veto. It appears that this sham lawsuit was concocted by Goldsmith and Briggs merely as a means of publishing the damaging accusation that Mayor Filner “demanded a quid pro quo payment” for removal of his Sunroad veto. Reason: they shared a common purpose to bring Filner down.— August 21, 2013 2:17 a.m.
Filner, Goldsmith met today: reports
Don: According to Pallamary on Ch 6 just now, Filner would save the City $5 million in election costs by not resigning requiring a cheaper Recall election. I wonder if that will come up in the negotiations.— August 20, 2013 9:04 a.m.
Filner, Goldsmith met today: reports
Allred knows she has no case. She was misled by Goldsmith into believing that Filner would fold and that there would be a quick cash settlement for her and McCormack. Not going to happen. Filner is just playing along to learn the worst they can do to him is or if there is anything he has not thought of. My guess is he will walk out of there with “See you all in El Centro”. And Don: if this “intergovernmental extra-legal plot” you speak of succeeds it will because, far from fighting it, Donna Frye threw open the city gates to the plotters in a screaming diatribe against the one man who could have won back our city from the despoilers. Let’s hope Bob can overcome the harm Donna Frye has done by throwing him and his program for good government to the carpet-bagging wolves. If he succeeds he will earn a shining place in San Diego’s history as the man who saved the city from the howling hordes of horribles.— August 20, 2013 4:25 a.m.
How Goldsmith tries the Filner case on TV
David: you have only been in town since 2009 and you are an expert on Filner and our local politics? Drivel is writing that Allred does not care about the money, that "she has done far more for civil rights than Filner ever did". Now that's drivel.— August 18, 2013 1:07 p.m.
How Goldsmith tries the Filner case on TV
Don: I see you are mindful of the well-known fact that Donna was micro-managed by Marco throughout her entire political career. He is her attorney and Skip's religious soul mate. You think Marco just used her? Don't forget that this whole sexual harassment plot needed a trusted motivated person on the inside. Any attorney would have told the plotters that the victim had to be a City employee. That person was Irene McCormack. Are you certain it was not Donna who recommended Irene to Don? I am surprised you have not asked her what she knows about that hiring because it is the key to this whole mystery. Donna was very involved with Bob in picking his initial staff. He trusted her. Perhaps she could come on here and tell us what she knows about the McCormack hiring. Clearly the plotters, whoever they are, needed to oust Filner because he was an obstacle to an inside deal made long before he took office. That could have been any one of a number of special interest groups doing business with the City. DeMaio would have implemented it, Filner did not. McCormack points to a deal with the Port. The closest of the Marco Trio to McCormack was Cory. Those two cut many deals together on the waterfront litigation. There are big players and big bucks involved there, particularly on the North Embarcadero. Whoever the real "corporate welfare gang" is they are no dummies and know how the city works better than (up until now) outsider, Bob Filner. Whoever they are, they are quaking in their boots about now. If Filner does not go they know they are going to be found out. "Facts are very stubborn things."— August 18, 2013 11:07 a.m.
How Goldsmith tries the Filner case on TV
Psycholizard, "Goldsmith seems to be openly conspiring with Gloria Allred to raid the City Treasury to pay her for forcing Filner to resign." I have reached exactly the same conclusion. In fact I would go further and suggest that it was Goldsmith and Tony Perry of the LA Times together who thought up bringing in Allred. Perry and Allred are LA people. It was probably Perry who first thought of it. Allred is a money hound and money can only be what enticed her to San Diego. Tony Perry probably made the initial approach (he is now feverishly shilling for Goldsmith in the LA Times) and as City Attorney Goldsmith probably assured Allred that he would "negotiate" a nice pot of City settlement money for her if she could use her notoriety to pile enough shame on Filner that he would resign. It was her notoriety that put Filner and San Diego on the national "shame" stage. Allred went for it. But can Goldsmith deliver? I doubt it. He and Perry are showing signs of strain already. Allred is probably shouting "where's my money?" and "you told me this guy was a woos and would cave in a week". Now, whether Goldsmith had this arrangement with Allred before Frye, Briggs and Marco attacked the castle is the $64 million question. I warned the trio at the time: "if you aim to take the castle you have to kill the king". In other words if a king still lives after you attack his castle you will lose and he will kill you. Filner still lives. I am inclined to believe that Perry, Goldsmith and Allred jumped on the coup bandwagon after the three castle-takers made their move. I believe it because Marco announced at the two press conferences that he would be representing the sexually harassed women. He saw the pot of money first. I don't think he saw the Allred thing coming. Which says a lot about Irene McCormack's character. After plotting with Marco she dumped him for more. Goldsmith and his fellow conspirators probably thought that the Marco-McCormack plan was so damn good that they upped it and brought in Gloria Ironbox herself. McCormack went with the big money. Marco must be pissed. And Donna must be devastated. Neither she nor Marco will get a damn thing now for their dirty work, either way. The good news is that Allred may not hang around very long. She has probably already taken the measure of Goldsmith and concluded what we already knew, that he is a bullshiter. Now she is looking for an exit strategy. Goldsmith has to figure out how to get her some big City money soon or she will surely turn on him. The old saying is: "if they'll do it with they'll do it to you". The one who may end up resigning is City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. Allred will eat him alive unless he can "negotiate" her money soon. I’m sure somebody as lethal as Ms. Gloria Ironbox has a Plan B that will make Judge Goldsmith’s hairpiece stand on end. Now won't that be a sight to see?— August 18, 2013 5:46 a.m.
Palace coup? Filner could be locked out
Diogenes: because she thought she could become mayor herself. She figured every woman in town would write her in. When Filner hired her she knew it could never be for more than 90 days. She knew (and everybody else knew too) that she did not have the votes on City Council to override the municipal code. And Steve Hadley had to come as an $80,000 extra, for reasons I won't go into. Knowing all that, why did she take the job? What recommendations did she make to Bob that proved disastrous for him? He trusted her completely. Yes, the palace coup started early on.— August 17, 2013 12:53 p.m.
Palace coup? Filner could be locked out
Don: you must have heard the same rumor I did - that Irene was sweet on him up until then.— August 17, 2013 12:22 p.m.
Palace coup? Filner could be locked out
historymatters; Everybody knows that Chief Lansdowne is a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. Filner's security detail works for him therefore Lansdowne has total access anyway. Goldsmith would have alleged that the Mayor's office had been tampered with during Filner's absence so Burdick changed the locks and gave Lansdowne the key. Therefore if anybody tampered with evidence it would have been Lansdowne. I have every confidence in Lee. She is a smart girl and will see us through this.— August 16, 2013 1:34 a.m.