Council Votes Money for Added Staff and Fight Against Utility Merger

The San Diego City Council gave tentative approval Tuesday to spending about $4 million to increase its staff, remodel its City Hall offices and continue the city’s legal fight against the merger of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and SoCal Edison.

The council members took action after City Manager John Lockwood advised them that $3.5 million in expenses for acquiring land to build two new police substations could be deferred until the 1991 fiscal year, and that an additional $500,000 is still available from the city’s unallocated reserve fund.

His recommendations helped the council escape making the politically difficult decision of choosing between upgrading their staffs and City Hall offices or cutting either the police substations or the legal costs related to opposing the utility merger.

However, the council voted not to hire a $75,000 consultant to help it redraw boundaries of council districts.

The bulk of the $4 million will go to pay upcoming legal costs. About $2 million will be placed in the city’s general litigation fund to cover future lawsuits, and another $1.5 million will go for legal fees in the city’s fight against the proposed utility merger.

Asbestos removal at city-owned buildings will cost about $137,000, and $100,000 will be used to pay for growth-management consultants.

The rest, or about $331,500, will be used to remodel the council chambers and council suites, and to hire seven new staff aides for six council members.

Before voting, however, the council was chastised by John McClain, a council aide in the 1970s, who said the current City Council is spending too much money on itself and not enough on other city needs.

“None of you need additional staff,” he said, noting that in 1970, just one council assistant served the entire City Council. “If anything, you are overstaffed.”

City Council members now have four to six staff assistants each, and McClain contended that increasing those numbers reflects “bankrupt leadership.”

“Let me be blunt,” he said. “You are engaged in empire building, pure and simple.”

But several council members defended the move to increased the staff, pointing out that the city’s population and the city budget have grown dramatically in the last 20 years.

“Today, I don’t think one person can possibly answer the phone in my office,” said Councilman Bruce Henderson. “It’s ringing constantly because constituents demand service. There’s a tremendous amount of work to be done, and we’ve got to have the staff to do it.”

Added Councilman Wes Pratt: “I don’t apologize for the staff assistance I’m requesting. We need information. We need quality research. I need adequate preparation.”

In giving the temporary nod for the other projects, the council directed Lockwood to draft an ordinance by Feb. 20 incorporating the spending package.