JANUARY
The year started with an incomplete Chula Vista City Council. With the election of Mary Salas to mayor, a vacancy was left on the five-member council.
After two days of intense deliberations, the Chula Vista City Council finally came to a consensus and appointed Steve Miesen as its fifth council member on Jan 13.
Miesen, a division manager for Republic Services, is an executive officer with the company that has the largest vendor contract with the city.
There were concerns by council members that Miesen presented a conflict with the city because of the contracts his company has.
City Attorney Glen Googins said the city conducted a comprehensive analysis that dismissed any notions of a conflict.
“We did not think, again, based on our preliminary analysis, that his financial interest was the kind that created a 1090 problem,” Googins said. “It was a remote enough nature under the terms of 1090 that it would be OK.”
Miesen’s appointment would eventually prompt several legal challenges contending the way the city council appointed him violated the Brown Act, a law governing open meetings, and compliants filed with the city’s ethics committee and the state attorney general’s office.
Forty-four people had applied for the council appointment.
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Chula Vista John McCann’s election to a third term on the city council also was not without legal battle. McCann, who defeated former mayor Steve Padilla for an open seat on the council, found himself named as a codefendant in an action against the County Registrar of Voters challenging their refusal to count provisional ballots. Those ballots were not counted for several reasons, including that voters’ addresses on the ballot envelopes did not match the address on their registration.
McCann called the lawsuit “frivolous” and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
McCann defeated Padilla by two votes in November 2014.
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Sweetwater district board President Frank Tarantino announced that interim superintendent Dr. Tim Glover submitted his intent to resign.
Glover’s resignation from his $225,000 position was set for Feb. 18 though his contract was to expire in March.
“Dr. Glover’s resignation was submitted in the interest of ensuring that an open and transparent process is followed in the search for a permanent superintendent,” Tarantino said.
FEBRUARY
Glenn Loader, owner of Glenn’s Body Shop, wanted to provide National City’s police canine unit as much protection as its counterparts in other cities had.
Loader, a longtime member of the National City Rotary Club, became concerned that without a vest, National City canines could be harmed in the line of duty.
With the help of the Rotary Club and several other service clubs, Loader came up with the idea to host a pancake breakfast fundraiser on Feb. 22, at the American Legion Hall at 35 East 18th St.
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Attorney Brian Hildreth, representing Councilman John McCann in a legal contest to his November election, filed a peremptory challenge on Feb. 2 requesting a new judge for the case. The request was granted
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MARCH
Quin Murphy passed away of intussusception in January 2010 at the age of 16.
His unexpected death was a big blow to his family. They had many unanswered questions.
The Quin Murphy Scholarship Fund started about a week after his death, when his aunt Maria had a birthday party, but instead of asking for gifts, she sought monetary donations to be able to give scholarships in Quin’s name to two students at Hilltop High School — the school Quin had attended.
“We just gathered some money as a family,” said his aunt Susie Murphy, who is the fundraising chairperson for the foundation.
Any student with a minimum 2.0 grade point average who shows improvement qualifies for the scholarship.
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The Chula Vista Board of Ethics on March 19 dismissed two complaints filed against an appointed councilman and city officials.
With the Chula Vista City Attorney’s Office recusing itself from advising the board because they’re named in the complaints, special legal counsel James P. Lough recommended in a report that the ethics board dismiss both complaints because they don’t have the authority to pursue the issue.
“(Government Code) 1090 is a serious charge and is prosecuted by the district attorney and can be regulated by the Fair and Political Practices Commission or prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office,” Lough said.
Lough also said the complaints did not meet the 13 prohibitions listed under Chula Vista’s municipal codes.
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Jeff Phair, owner of the Phair Company, said he and business partner Austin Dias have made a proposal to the owners of the Chargers in hopes of not only keeping the National Football League franchise in San Diego County but also bringing them to a portion of Chula Vista.
The proposal includes building a dual-use stadium in the South Bay that would house the Chargers and a Major League Soccer team. Phair dubs the project as the South County Chargers and soccer stadium site.
Phair said if an NFL stadium doesn’t materialize he’ll turn his attention to another brand of football.
“If the Chargers were to decline to look at my site, I’ll probably then switch my plan to building only a soccer stadium,” he said.
APRIL
A San Diego Superior Court judge 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.
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Ana Teresa Fernández’s life has in many ways revolved around the border. The artist was born in Mexico but emigrated to the United States with her parents as a child and spent the rest of her childhood in San Diego. Today, Fernández’s family lives in Bonita and she lives in San Francisco, but periodically returns to Southern California and Mexico.
“I have been doing political actions around the border for about eight years now,” said Fernández, 34. On an April afternoon afeternoon she was spattered in paint because she had just returned from Playas de Tijuana where she had redone a piece of the border wall that she originally painted in 2011.
“I just got so frustrated that I wanted to do something that actually, physically addressed the wall itself, like getting rid of it. Erasing it. So the idea of erasing it by using one of my tools, which is paint, I decided to go there and do a peaceful protest, which is ‘Borrando la Frontera.’ ”
MAY
The Chula Vista High School Foundation was created in 2013 with the purpose of raising enough money to purchase a new digital marquee for the high school.
In May the foundation unveiled its new marquee in front of students, faculty, administrators and foundation members.
The new sign located at the corner of Fourth Avenue and K Street displays news, information and events electronically for the CVHS community.
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The Chula Vista City Council Tuesday afternoon voted to change the land use zoning for portions of the Otay Ranch Freeway Commercial Plan to a mixed use plan that will include residential properties and a hotel.
The vote was 3 to 1 in favor of the land use change with Councilwoman Pat Aguilar voting against the plan.
Councilman Steve Miesen recused himself because of potential conflicts of interests.
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Chula Vista’s Board of Ethics voted to refer two separate ethics complaints to three outside agencies.
The Board of Ethics planned to draft a referral letter to send to the state Attorney General’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office and the Fair Political Practice Commission asking them to review complaints filed against appointed Councilman Steve Miesen.
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The Chula Vista City Council adopted a special event sponsorship and endorsement policy that will affect funding for city and non-city events.
Under the policy, a request to have the city sponsor an event must fit within certain criteria.
That criteria includes a majority vote of the City Council on special events brought up by a council member who is taking responsibility for that specific event.
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Roman Granados, the Chula Vista police officer accused of roughing up his girlfriend’s teenage son in an off-duty incident pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Granados pled guilty to one count of cruelty to a child by inflicting injury and an infraction for disturbing the peace.
His guilty plea wiped out two counts of battery and one count of child cruelty, said Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny.
JUNE
A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled that EyeCandy Showgirls is violating the city of Chula Vista’s zoning ordinance and ordered that it shut down immediately.
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The Sweetwater Union High School District shut its revolving door of superintendents with the announcement of Karen Janney as its permanent superintendent.
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Lines were drawn and the city of Chula Vista officially moved toward district elections as the City Council unanimously approved a final districting plan.
For the first time in the city’s 103-year existence, council members will be elected by voters in separate voting districts, with the mayor and city attorney continuing to be elected citywide.
The first district elections will be this year.
AUGUST
Sweetwater Valley Little League qualified for the 2015 Little League World Series.
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The Buff-A-Block program is made up of volunteers like Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association President Tino Martinez.
Martinez tackled the graffiti issue in his Southwest Chula Vista neighborhood, forming his own removal team, Adopt-A-Block, consisting of his wife and occasionally his nephew.
Through Buff-A-Block, Martinez is provided with paint, rollers and other necessary material to cover up graffiti on businesses and homes. Martinez said he recently found Home Depot as a corporate donor and they will supply his association with $100 a month for painting supplies.
OCTOBER
Armando Leon on Oct. 10 was named one of five San Diego County Teachers of the Year by the San Diego County Office of Education and San Diego County Credit Union. Leon, who teaches at Mar Vista High School in the Sweetwater Union High School District, said he sets high standards for his studets and helps them reach those goals.
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The Chula Vista City Council approved an increase in salary for themselves, the mayor and city attorney.
The 2.4 percent raise is retroactive to July 1 and follows an increase they received in 2014.
In 2000 voters passed Prop. A, which stated salary increases for the council and city attorney are based on the increases appropriated to superior court judges.
Under the city charter, the mayor receives 66 percent of that salary when there is a raise and council members get 40 percent of what the mayor earns.
The city attorney will make the same amount as a superior court judge.
With the increase the mayor’s annual base salary goes up to $124,767 from $121,842.
Council members will see a salary bump from $48,737 to $49,907 annually.
City Attorney Glenn Googins will earn the same amount as a superior court judge and will have his salary go from $184,610 to $189,041 per year.
NOVEMBER
The city of Chula Vista’s request to have an open government lawsuit thrown out of court was denied.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal sided with Chula Vista resident Chris Shilling and San Diegans for Open Government when she denied the city’s request, saying that it was not the appropriate vehicle to challenge the complaint.
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Chula Vista Police Officer Roman Granados avoided jail time after a San Diego Superior Court judge in November sentenced him to four years probation for physically abusing his girlfriend’s then 16-year-old son in June 2014.
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Attorneys for the city of Chula Vista filed a protective order in the depositions of the city clerk and Mayor Mary Casillas Salas in a lawsuit challenging open government.
If Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal grants the order it will prevent the mayor and City Clerk Donna Norris from going under oath to answer any questions about the process used in appointing Councilman Steve Miesen to the City Council, a process currently in a legal battle over its legality.
A hearing is set for July 2016.
DECEMBER
A big player in Chula Vista commerce and politics is one of 25 defendants indicted on illegal gambling and money laundering charges contending that about $10 million was filtered through card rooms in Chula Vista and San Diego.
Seven Mile Casino owner Harvey Souza, 73, was one of 25 people named in a seven-count, 18-page indictment.
Chula Vista City Manager Gary Halbert said the city of Chula Vista makes about $520,000 annually in tax revenue from the casino.
Federal prosecutors believe this is the biggest gambling prosecution in San Diego County history.
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Crossing from the Tijuana International Airport to the U.S.-Mexico border is literally a few steps away with the addition of a new purple pedestrian bridge between two terminals linking the airport to the border.
The airport terminal opened Dec. 9.
