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Health & Fitness

Coronado Bridgegate Continues

A local weekly paper published my article in response to the one-sided, biased article they had printed. 

Councilwoman Denny Provides Proof of Misappropriated Public Funds


by Barbara Denny, Esq., Coronado City Councilwoman

Background


Through the annual budget process over many years, city officials in our council-manager government misappropriated millions upon millions of public tax dollars from the Bridge Toll Revenue Fund (BTRF) by diverting them away from their mandated special use to unauthorized projects. Last year city officials doubled down by finagling a cheap administrative trick that failed to legitimize their misappropriation of funds — an “amendment to the RTIP at SANDAG.” Their attempted “amendment” to SANDAG’s 2012 Regional Transportation Improvement Plan is null and void because it violates the law. City officials corrupted the governmental process with their actions.

Facts


For a concise analysis of this complex legal matter, you can read my 21 February 2014 DailyCoronado.com article entitled Coronado Corruption: City Officials Misappropriated Bridge Toll Revenue Funds by clicking here.

In [a local weekly] paper on 12 March 2014, Dave Axelson reprinted parts of Councilmember Woiwode’s self-serving, false and misleading screed.

No, this isn’t a case of “narrow statutory interpretation” on my part. As an attorney, the reasonable application of the controlling law to the facts undeniably proves that city officials are wrong.

No, the District Attorney doesn’t have to “charge” city officials in order for them to be proved wrong in court. Through their attorney, Corridor residents will do that. Their representative stated at a past council meeting that they plan to sue the city a second time to compel city officials to use the BTRF as mandated — to help Corridor residents.

Bridge Toll Revenue Fund


There would be no BTRF if Corridor residents hadn’t sued the city. The BTRF is a result of the Settlement Agreement of 2000, which is a result of the first lawsuit brought by Corridor residents in the 1990s as a uniquely affected group faced with bridge toll removal at the time. The controlling Settlement Agreement mandated that the city put aside tens of millions of dollars of bridge tolls, a form of government tax as defined by law, for the special use of helping Corridor residents. In this way, the BTRF is a Special Use Fund.

As the only source of legal authority for the BTRF, the 2000 Settlement Agreement mandates in plain language that the BTRF shall be spent "in the Corridor” to “reduce negative impacts” that are “caused by bridge toll removal.” Some of those negative impacts are increased traffic, increased noise and increased vehicle emissions. For the past 14 years, Coronado officials have refused to help Corridor residents. Yet the BTRF has dwindled to around $6 million because city officials spent it on unauthorized projects that are outside of the Corridor, or increase negative impacts, or aren’t caused by bridge toll removal.

Settlement Agreement Violated 


City officials violated the controlling Settlement Agreement by misappropriating the BTRF to unauthorized projects through the annual budget process. By voting YES on city budget plans, they also rubber-stamped the included capital project plans that clearly describe in black and white the BTRF misappropriation to unauthorized projects. Some of those unauthorized projects are the Pomona roundabout, drainage projects on Sixth & Orange, and drainage problems on Third, Fourth & H.

Brown Act Violated


City officials violated California Government Code Sections 54950 et seq., called the Brown Act, last year when they sought an “amendment to the 2012 RTIP at SANDAG” because they conducted city business without the required agenda item and without the required opportunity for public input in Coronado. In further violation of the Brown Act city officials decided among themselves, behind closed doors, without full council deliberation, and without a council vote to divert the BTRF away from its mandated use through their “amendment.” On 19 July 2013 they voted YES for their “amendment” at a SANDAG transportation committee meeting outside Coronado, but those votes in San Diego city are null and void because they violated the Brown Act as well as the controlling Settlement Agreement.

Conclusion


City officials must fix the mess they created by replacing the millions upon millions of public dollars that they misappropriated from the BTRF with public money available in the General Fund because it’s the right thing to do. It’s also less of a burden on Coronado taxpayers than paying the city’s litigation defense costs plus financial restitution out of the General Fund when the city inevitably loses the next lawsuit because the facts and law are on the side of the Corridor residents.

The city attorney’s opinion that a form letter from SANDAG gives Coronado officials “legal permission” to misappropriate the BTRF is ridiculous because a form letter from a regional planning agency isn’t a source of legal authority. In reality, by stating that BTRF spending is within the “sole discretion” of Coronado city, the SANDAG form letter simply denies any SANDAG oversight responsibility and places all legal liability for misappropriating the BTRF entirely upon Coronado officials.

Copyright © 2014 Barbara Denny, Esq.

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