Instant Replay Demanded on Choice of New Coach
The San Diego State Aztecs won’t play their first football game of 1989 until September, but the faculty is already trying to drop new coach Al Luginbill for a loss.
The California Faculty Assn. has filed an affirmative action-discrimination grievance with President Thomas Day about the way he fired coach Denny Stolz near the end of a 3-8 season and immediately replaced him with Luginbill, who had been associate athletic director.
The CFA says Day broke the university system’s Executive Order 419 by employing a hidden-job trick to keep outside candidates from applying for the coaching job. Day has twice rejected the grievance, saying rules about posting vacancies don’t apply when a job is filled by someone already on the payroll.
Representing 2,300 faculty members at SDSU, the CFA insists that Day is guilty of illegal procedure and sent him a letter Thursday vowing to take “appropriate steps” to pursue the grievance. CFA staffer Jim Semelroth says the issue should be submitted to an outside arbiter, much like a referee reviewing an instant replay to settle a disputed call.
“We are not questioning Luginbill’s qualifications,” Semelroth said. “All we’re saying is that the administration agreed that coaches are in the bargaining unit and now should abide by the rules about vacancies.”
Luginbill, hard at work building a defensive line and dreaming of ways to thwart Wyoming and Texas-El Paso, says he’s never heard of the CFA or its grievance. But he holds no hard feelings if CFA thinks he got his job unfairly.
“As a football coach, I believe in America, and everybody has a right to their own opinion,” he said.
As a practical matter, the CFA is not seeking to have Luginbill removed. Rather, it is trying to establish a precedent for the next time the head coach’s job is vacant.
If the past is any indication, that shouldn’t be too long. Luginbill is the Aztecs’ fourth head football coach this decade.
Plugging In the Lawyers
Gentlemen, start your attorneys. If nothing else, the controversy over the proposed buyout of SDG&E; by Southern California Edison may prove to be a full employment act for attorneys with expertise in utility law.
Edison has hired the Washington firms of Newman & Holtzinger and Van Ness, Feldman, Sutcliffe & Curtis. (In the past, the company has also retained the law firm of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert Strauss.)
Not to be outdone, the San Diego City Council next week will formally vote to hire the Washington firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn to represent the city before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U. S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Wednesday, Asst. City Atty. Curtis Fitzpatrick and an attorney from Arent, Fox, et al. began meeting with Justice Department antitrust specialists. More legal muscle in Washington may be added as needed, City Atty. John Witt said.
In closed session next week, the council will discuss the firm’s retainer and possible legal strategies regarding the buyout. The council’s orders are expected to be simple: Block it!
War on City Hall Lost
Jim Sturm, the stubborn real estate salesman from Oceanside, has lost his 10-month legal fight to avoid paying a $14 parking ticket.
Sturm, 68, felt victimized by greedy Carlsbad officials who, he said, created a “parking trap” at the Plaza Camino Real shopping center. For months he pestered Carlsbad City Hall with subpoenas and demands for copies of documents about the number of tickets issued and the legal relationship among the center, the city and the Parking Authority.
On Wednesday, the case finally arrived at Vista Municipal Court. “I’ve seen lawyers that weren’t as well-prepared as Mr. Sturm,” said Judge Pro Tem Tony Brandenburg, who nevertheless ruled against Sturm and ordered him to forfeit his $30 bail.
To Sturm, the issue was always the principle, not the money. “The duplicating costs alone were more than the ticket,” he said.