A San Diego Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied a temporary restraining order against Steve Miesen that would have limited his role as a councilman.
Chris Shilling, chairman of Chula Vista’s Board of Ethics, filed the temporary restraining order March 18 against the appointed councilman that would have prevented him from casting any tie-breaking votes or being considered part of a quorum.
Judge Katherine Bacal denied the request, saying she didn’t see any specific irreparable harm with Miesen on the dais.
Attorney Marco Gonzalez, who is one of a few attorneys representing Shilling in this matter, argued that the irreparable harm is done when an elected official, who was appointed illegally, counts as a quorum, and that he might cast a swing vote in a circumstance where if he is ultimately found illegally seated the city would have taken an action that can’t be unraveled.
“I’m concerned about the circumstance where there appears to be a split vote and, for instance, somebody gets a contract, not one of his contracts, but a totally unrelated contract,” Gonzalez said.
Charles Bird, outside counsel for the city of Chula Vista, said the plaintiffs not only want a restraining order issued, they want to unseat Miesen.
“What the plaintiffs allege is that he does not lawfully hold office,” he said.
Bird said unseating Miesen is not a matter that should be decided by a temporary restraining order or an injunction; he said the matter requires a trial.
The judge’s ruling also allows the city to continue using the same appointment process that got Miesen appointed and is used to fill vacancies on the city’s planning commission. The restraining order also sought to have the city stop using this process.
Shilling said his lawsuit has nothing to do with Miesen and everything to do with the actual appointment process, which he says violated the state’s open meetings law.
The restraining order request stems from a lawsuit filed by Shilling and San Diegans for Open Government, an open government advocacy group, alleging the city of Chula Vista violated the Ralph M. Brown Act in its appointment of Miesen.
Attorneys for the city of Chula Vista said the judge’s decision went the way they thought.
“The court denied Mr. Shilling’s request for a temporary restraining order as the city expected,” said Bart Miesfeld, senior assistant city attorney.
Shilling said he still holds out hope that a preliminary injunction will be granted at a June 26 hearing.
“I think that the judge’s ruling was expected but it’s very hopeful because the city had wanted to dismiss the item completely and the judge said that ‘the merits of the case show there should be a full hearing,’” he said.
“We believe that we’re right, we think that if you look at things on the surface, what the city did was clearly illegal, it was a violation of the Brown Act. And so I’m pretty confident that the court will see that as well.”
