Civic San Diego Sued Over Board Member's Conflict of Interest (NBC Article)
Civic San Diego, the agency responsible for planning and development in downtown and southeastern San Diego, faces a lawsuit over allegations that its chairperson was paid by a developer whose project he later voted on.
“Affirmed Housing Group paid Rath’s public relations firm $122,000 in 2013 to help secure funding for a project in San Marcos”
San Diegans for Open Government filed the lawsuit against the City and Civic San Diego on August 14, less than a week after San Diego’s Ethics Commission fined Civic San Diego chairperson Phil Rath $11,000 for conflicts of interest violations when voting on a large development of city-owned land in San Diego’s Encanto neighborhood.
The Ethics Commission found, as reported by Voice of San Diego, that developer Affirmed Housing Group paid Rath’s public relations firm $122,000 in 2013 to help secure funding for a project in San Marcos.
But when it came time for Affirmed Housing to gain approval for a mixed-use project at the corner of Hilltop Drive and Euclid Avenue, and seek $5.8 million in affordable housing funds from Civic San Diego and the City, Rath failed to disclose his work with Affirmed.
Development of the 8.5-acre lot in Encanto…
Read the full article here https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/civic-san-diego-sued-over-boardmembers-conflict-of-interest/156098/