The Paper - October 23 2014

Page 1

Volume 44 - No. 41

October 23, 2014

by lyle e davis

It’s probably the last thing Escondio Mayor Sam Abed and his fellow council candidates needed with an election looming just weeks away. As a result of a cover story that The Paper broke on October 9th that featured publication of “a letter that didn’t exist,” there’s a lot of red faces and nervous conversations taking place at Escondido’s City Hall.

The story deals with the forced “retirement” of former Escondido Chief of Police, Jim Maher, which appears to have been manipulated by Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips, with the assistance and cooperation of City Attorney Jeff Epp, and, possibly, Mayor Sam Abed. The Paper published a copy of the letter the city had prepared for Jim Maher to sign, a condition necessary to pay Maher the 2nd $75,000 installment of a severance agreement. Maher refused to sign, knowing that to do so could make him a party to a criminal conspiracy; Clay Phillips, Escondido’s City Manager denied the existence of such a letter. We printed it.

Mayor Abed, when questioned by The Paper, was asked if he had knowledge of such a letter: “Absolutely not!” said the Mayor. “It would be a violation of the law to do that. I don’t know a lot about such a letter but both Clay and Jeff assured me this never happened.” The paper trail of the letter, a pdf file, clearly shows the letter was authored by Escondido Deputy City Attorney Jennifer McCain.

The Mayor was then asked, “if such a letter did exist and if we had it in our possession as evidence, and if we were to publish that letter, would that be cause for concern as to the level of honesty you are experiencing The Paper - 760.747.7119

website:www.thecommunitypaper.com

email: thepaper@cox.net

Above Left and Right, former Escondido Mayor Jerry Harmon outlines his concerns and plan of action for the news media, concerning the latest Escondido scandal. Photo by Pat Mues.

from Clay and Jeff?”

“Yes,” said the Mayor. “That would be cause for dismissal. If we have evidence of wrongdoing I will take the appropriate action. We hold our city employees, all city employees, to the highest legal and ethical standards. That would be a reason for dismissal for cause.” After The Paper published the letter “that didn’t exist” we followed up with more questions of Mayor Abed. Given the revelations, what action did he intend to take. The Mayor proceeded to try for the Olympic record in backpedalling from his previous comments by saying: “Well, we are concerned but the matter is in litigation and we can’t really take any action until the court decides.

We don’t have any real evidence. The letter may well have been an exchange of proposed correspondence between Jim Maher’s attorney and the city attorney’s office in an attempt to resolve the issue.

But, we asked, if Clay made the statement (to David Garrick, of the UT, ““That’s absolutely not true; the payment was withheld for breach of contract. No one sent him a letter like that. Can you imagine us even doing that?”

http://www.utsandiego.com/ne ws/2014/aug/23/tp-formerpolice-chief-sues-escondido/ . . .

is that not a flat out lie? If it is a lie, does he deserve to hold the position of City Manager? “Well, the letter purportedly came from the City Attorney’s office and not the City Manager’s office. Clay may not have known about the letter. We asked Sam if he truly believed that the move to oust Maher was not a close collaboration between the City Manager’s office and the City Attorney’s office and the left hand knew what the right hand was doing at all times? “That may be the case but we

can’t take any action until the court hears the matter. It is in litigation and is a personnel matter.” So you’re saying no action will be taken unless and until the court hears the pending litigation? Which comes after the election?

“Yes, the election has nothing to do with what action will or should be taken. We want to follow due process and have the court hear the matter and make a judgment. If the court determines Clay and Jeff were not truthful then I will be the first to take action.” We also spoke with Deputy Mayor Olga Diaz and asked her similar questions. What have you heard from the Mayor and the rest of the city council about the revelations published in The Paper: “Not a peep. I asked for a closed session meeting. It was ignored. I’m only one vote so I’m limited in what I can do.”

Scandal at City Hall Continued on Page 2


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