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CITY aTTOrNeY News
Mara w. elliott
—Mara W. Elliott was elected City Attorney of San Diego in 2016 after serving as the chief deputy attorney for the Office’s Public Services Section and legal adviser to the city’s Independent Audit Committee and Environment Committee. Elliott and the lawyers in her section held polluters accountable, reformed city contracting, cut administrative red tape, and strengthened the city’s living wage and non-discrimination in contracting ordinances.
For years the City of San Diego has been working to remove tangles of unsightly overhead power lines, with the goal of beautifying neighborhoods, increasing walkability, and protecting the public from exposed infrastructure.
These widely-supported efforts were nearly derailed by a recent lawsuit. That’s why I’ve dispatched my Office’s highly skilled litigators to defend San Diego’s undergrounding program and ensure uninterrupted continuation.
The party bringing the lawsuit is seeking a multimillion-dollar payout from a fund specifically set aside to pay for undergrounding overhead lines.
SDG&E ratepayers are likely unaware of the drama playing out in court. Yet it’s at times like this that I am most proud of the quiet work our Office does to protect San Diego taxpayers.
Most neighborhoods in San Diego were built when overhead power lines ran along the streets, often webbing through the trees.
image by shutterstock.com
The Center is here for you during COVID-19, offering Food Resources:
The Center knows that many community members have faced financial hardship and food insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of The Center’s Emergency Services, we are offering various food resources to those affected by COVID-19. Please share these resources with friends, family, and community members who may be in need.
For information on The Center’s food programs and resources, please contact Sarah MerkBenitez at 619.692.2077 x 214 or smerkbenitez@thecentersd.org.
NOURISHING THE COMMUNITY
The Center partners with a different restaurant every month to offer a free meal to those affected by COVID-19. Contact Sarah at info above for February’s restaurant and to sign up.
FOOD BANKS
The Center offers two food banks in our parking lot, using social distancing, safety protocols with walk-up and drive-thru options. Senior Food Bank: 4th Tuesday of each month, 12:00-3:00pm. Next Senior Food
Bank is Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
Neighborhood Food Distribution: 1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30am-10:30am.
Next Neighborhood Food Distribution is Tuesday, March 2, 2021.
NON-PERISHABLES HOME DELIVERY
Free pantry staples (rice, soup, macaroni, and more) with free delivery right to your door. In partnership with 2-1-1, CIE San Diego, DoorDash, and United Way, home deliveries take place on Tuesdays between 3pm-4pm.
The Center COVID-19 Emergency Services
• Emergency Resource & Referral Phone Line • Behavioral Health Services by Zoom Health Care • Individual Program Meetings & Check-Ins via Zoom • Virtual Support Groups • Critical Housing Needs • HIV Testing (by appointment only) • Food Resources
If you need Emergency Services, please call 619.800.4252 (9am-4pm) 619.800.4216 (4pm-9pm)
The San Diego LGBT Community Center 3909 Centre Street • 619-692-2077 www.thecentersd.org
It wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, and the frequent power poles made many of our sidewalks hard to navigate, especially for those using wheelchairs or pushing strollers.
Overhead power lines also create a significant public safety hazard, especially in wildfireprone areas of the city, where a power line detached by high winds can quickly lead to an out-of-control fire, resulting in terrible losses of lives and property. Even without the threat of fire, a downed power line can be extraordinarily dangerous to motorists and pedestrians.
For decades, we all have been paying a surcharge on our SDG&E bills to have these power lines moved underground.
But in 2015 a lawsuit was filed saying this charge was actually an illegal tax and needed to be approved by voters. That isn’t what the law says, however. Our attorneys proved to a San Diego Superior Court Judge that years of undergrounding in San Diego neighborhoods was done properly and legally and there was no reason to shut down the fund or give any of its money to the lawyers who filed the lawsuit.
An appeal was filed and in November the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the Superior Court’s ruling, and the City once again prevailed. The complainants have now petitioned the California Supreme Court to review their meritless case.
Our goal is to ensure the vital work to underground overhead utility lines throughout San Diego can continue, rather than spending years bogged down in costly litigation.
The City Attorney’s Office stands ready to protect our City from those who aim to stop progress in its tracks. I consider it our duty to defend taxpayers against baseless lawsuits that waste resources and interfere with important projects that enhance our quality of life.
The ability to go outside to take in the lovely views of our ocean, sunsets, mountains, and canyons has never been more important as we find ways to endure the challenges of this lengthy global pandemic. And now, more San Diegans can look forward to a future without the blight of power poles and overhead utility lines in the picture.
To learn about the utility undergrounding process in your neighborhood, visit: https://www.sandiego.gov/ undergrounding
POwerfUl blaCk wOMeN
angel Mason broadus
—Angel Mason Broadus is an avid civil rights activist, Navy Veteran, and President & Founder of Puzzle Pieces Marketing, an agency focusing on social good and providing services that benefit the San Diego community. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the North County Philanthropy Council, Moonlight Cultural Foundation, and Point Loma Nazarene Marketing Advisory Board.
As a business owner, I am convinced that people have the capacity to see past who we are as people, especially when they are keenly focused on what we (or our business) can do that benefits them. I am a Black female small business owner. My wife and I own a marketing and PR agency that works with mission-driven businesses and nonprofit organizations. Not only do we work with nonprofits, we also donate, volunteer, and sit on the board of directors for several San Diego nonprofits. I mention this because it gives context to why people often reach out to us and think we might have an interest in supporting their organization’s mission.
Recently, I had a “55%er” (I refer to her as 55%er because 55% of white women voted for Trump in the 2020 election and this individual falls within that demographic) reach out to me. 55%er first tried to connect with me via LinkedIn. Initially, I thought she intended to keep the communications within LinkedIn and I didn’t respond. I was wrong. The following week I received an email, then a text message the next day.
I’ll give you a little bit of history about my “relationship” with 55%er before I go any further. I’ve known 55%er for years. We had a longstanding professional relationship that goes back almost to when I founded the business in 2009. We’ve networked together and 55%er hired our company for a couple of projects at nonprofits that she worked at previously. I’ve volunteered my time to support her professionally, have recommended her, and been a reference for several positions when she was making career changes. I wouldn’t consider her a “friend,” but we definitely had what I would describe as a friendly and mutually beneficial professional relationship. For those reasons, I would go so far as to speculate that because of our history, she may think that I owe her. I believe that 55%er expects my continued and unconditional support.
For my mental health and because of my personal ethics, I made the decision to end the relationships I had with Trump supporters both personally and professionally. I had distanced myself from 55%er some time ago. I have a zero-tolerance policy with Trump supporters and she was fully aware of that. It should not have come as a surprise when her messages went unanswered. I thought I could leave it at a nonanswer and move along. Well, of course, I couldn’t do that. Clearly there was an urgent need if 55%er was determined to connect with me on multiple platforms. The nosey, do-gooder in me decided that I needed to learn more about this nonprofit organization that was the subject of her messages. Was it a cause that aligned with our values? Maybe the organization and its mission was worth me at least taking a peek. So, I did some research…. 55%er is a member of their leadership team. Actually, by the looks of their website, she appears to be second in command. The organization itself actually seems like you Can’t have our Gay money continued from page 1
image by shutterstock.com
a cause we could get behind. However, while snooping, I stumbled upon some public comments that 55%er recently made about Gay men that were so offensive, degrading, and just downright ignorant. The idea I had to just “leave it at a non-answer” and trying to figure out if the nonprofit was one that aligned with our values was gone with the wind. The audacity that it takes for someone to reach out to me as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and ask for my support after making such disparaging comments about members of my community, blew my mind. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut, or should I say, my keyboard finger still. Not only did I have to say something, I had to let it be known that they would never, not ever, receive a penny of funding or support from us.
Nonprofits and businesses need to understand that we will hold them accountable for the behavior of members of their organization. They must understand that having someone on their leadership team publicly degrade members of the LGBTQ+, or any other underrepresented community, is a direct reflection on them. So, I took it upon myself to reach out to their executive director. I sent her an email asking her to remove us from their distribution lists and informing her that we would not be supporting the organization. When they claim as part of their values to be committed to “diversity and inclusion,” they need to vet who’s representing their organization. People like 55%er need to know that if you don’t support all members of my community, if you can’t embrace all colors of our rainbow — do not expect me to support you, your cause, your organization, or your business. Again, I am convinced people see past who we are when it benefits them. Even though 55%er thinks so negatively about Gay men, she’s able to disassociate me being a member of the LGBTQ+ community because it benefitted her. Well, her bigoted self won’t receive a penny of our Gay money.
For far too long, so many of us have had to hide who we are out of fear of the consequences and backlash. Fear for not only our lives and safety, but also that people knowing who we are would limit our opportunities and negatively impact our professional growth, careers or business success. Like I said, I considered ignoring the multiple messages. Ultimately, I decided to say something. It felt good.
It felt good to be able to use my voice to let this person know that their bigotry and ignorance is what prevented them from getting our support. I used my voice, my dollar, and my power to prove that there are consequences. The consequence was not something I had to suffer because of who I am, but because of who I am, a consequence that 55%er’s bigotry brought on herself.
Angel Mason Broadus
President - Puzzle Pieces Marketing P: 858-848-6584 x101 / M: 760-707-4538 PuzzlePiecesMarketing.com
Board Member
- North County Philanthropy Council Board Member - Moonlight Cultural Foundation
Steering Committee Member, Women United
- United Way of San Diego County
Marketing Committee Chair
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego
Marketing Advisory Board Member
- Point Loma Nazarene University
