A San Diego Superior Court judge last month signed a court order that granted Chula Vista Councilman John McCann more than $100,000 in legal fees for defending his 2014 election to the Chula Vista City Council.
Originally Judge Eddie C. Sturgeon awarded McCann $99,918 in legal fees but the order shows Sturgeon tacked on an addition $5,000 in attorney costs, bringing the total judgment to $105,000.
McCann’s attorney Brian Hildreth said interest accrues at 10 percent from the date the judgment was signed.
In the wake of that judgment, both parties agreed to a confidential settlement agreement, barring any details being made public.
Attorney Dick Semerdijian said the settlement was one that “satisfied all parties involved.”
Semerdijian took the case over from attorney John Moot shortly after the last court date because Moot was occupied with other cases.
Sturgeon said in his ruling that McCann should be entitled to attorney fees because his success in court resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest.
Poll worker Aurora Clark in January 2015 filed a lawsuit against the Registrar of Voters challenging at least 16 ineligible votes. McCann was named in the lawsuit because California law states that the winner of an election must also be listed as a defendant. Moot had said he took the case pro bono.
Clark had sued the Registrar of Voters because she contended every vote was not counted in McCann’s two-vote victory over Padilla.
A recount was conducted and later suspended by Padilla’s campaign, certifying the election win for McCann with 18,448 votes to Padilla’s 18,446.
McCann had called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
McCann said although he is granted $105,000 it still does not make up for the entire cost of paying for legal representation.
Moot told the judge at a March hearing that Clark she had no means of paying the fees because she is a divorced mother raising three children in college making $20,000 a year in rental property income.
“We wish John McCann well,” said Semerjidan. “He is an in important member of the Chula Vista City Council and we are glad everyone can move on from this case.”
Clarke declined to comment for this story.
