San Diego

A Superior Court judge declined Thursday to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prohibited the city of San Diego from spending $1.5 million to pay private attorneys and consultants hired in connection with the proposed merger of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison.

Judge Philip Sharp ruled that a pro-merger organization, San Diegans for the Merger, had not proved that it would suffer immediate harm unless the payments were stopped.

The organization has sued the city, contending that an Aug. 8 session of the City Council at which the payments were debated was illegal because it was conducted behind closed doors.

In its suit, the group contends that the public should have been allowed to testify about the expenditure. At Thursday’s hearing, the organization’s attorney, David Lundin, expanded the argument to include a separate private decision in June, when the council added $2 million to City Atty. John Witt’s budget for merger-related legal activities.

The city argues that the private session was legal under an exception to the Brown Act that allows closed-door deliberations between the council and its attorneys if the city is involved in “pending litigation.” A city attorney has said that the exemption is allowed because of the city’s participation in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the state Public Utilities Commission.

Sharp scheduled an Oct. 30 hearing on a preliminary injunction sought by the organization for the purpose of stopping the payments and requiring similar future decisions to be made in public.