An attorney suing the city of Chula Vista for alleged Brown Act violations said he will depose Mayor Mary Casillas Salas and the city clerk in November as part of an effort to resolve an ongoing battle over open government.
“The message that we want to send to the city is that we’re not going away,” said Coast Law Group attorney Marco Gonzalez. “You’re not going to make this lawsuit go away with legal tricks and procedural challenges. It’s time to face the music.
“And that’s what these depositions are going to do, they’re going to put the officials who violated the law, in front of a camera, under oath, to essentially disclose the activities that they took.”
Chula Vista resident Chris Shilling and the open government advocacy group San Diegans for Open Government filed a lawsuit last February contending that council members and the mayor violated the Ralph M. Brown Act — the state’s opening meeting law — in appointing Steve Miesen to a vacant council seat on Jan. 23.
The seat was left vacant after Salas was elected mayor last November.
Shilling contends that council members allegedly held a serial meeting with the city clerk by emailing their votes for potential city council candidates to move into the interview round.
City Clerk Donna Norris said she’s been out of town on a conference and wasn’t aware of the deposition notice but said she will fully cooperate.
“It is what it is, and I (have) nothing to hide,” Norris said. “I’m happy to give them whatever they want.”
The city clerk said she stands by the fact that she wasn’t part of a serial meeting with the council.
Norris has a Nov. 10 deposition date.
Casillas Salas’ deposition is scheduled for Nov. 3.
Neither the mayor or the city attorney were available for comment.
The city has argued in court papers that a judge did not have the legal authority to remove Miesen from office because that belongs to the jurisdiction of the state attorney general.
However, the attorney general disagreed and wrote in an opinion that a local judge could remove Miesen.
Despite the legal opinion, the city is moving forward with a motion to dismiss the case.
Shilling said the city wanting to dismiss the case is meaningless.
“The city’s tactic is meant to stall and delay,” he said. “They don’t really have a good defense for what they’ve done and so they just continue to kick the can down the road.”
