Supervisor Questions El Toro Attorney Contract

Supervisor Todd Spitzer on Thursday urged hiring an independent counsel to determine whether county officials are violating state law by approving attorney contracts on the El Toro airport plan without informing the Board of Supervisors.

Michael Gatzke, who is a partner in the Carlsbad-based firm Gatzke, Dillon & Ballance, represented the county on lawsuits filed by airport opponents last year challenging the adequacy of the county’s draft environmental impact report.

Gatzke was authorized to work for the county in those lawsuits in a letter dated Jan. 23, 1997, by County Counsel Laurence M. Watson. The issue was never taken before the supervisors, Spitzer claims.

Two-thirds of the board must approve the hiring of outside attorneys for litigation, according to the state governing code.

*

Spitzer, who is opposed to building a commercial airport at the retiring El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, requested that supervisors discuss hiring an independent counsel to look into the matter on Tuesday.

“As a colleague, it is my responsibility to this board and to the public to discuss this matter openly and to protect this board and the public from potential law violations,” Spitzer stated in a letter to board members Thursday.

Neither Watson or Gatzke returned phone calls Thursday.

Watson notes in the letter authorizing Gatzke to represent the county on the environmental lawsuits that in 1994, the board approved hiring Gatzke to represent the county as special airport counsel.

In addition, in 1991 the board approved a policy that delegated hiring of outside attorneys to county counsel, according to Watson’s letter.

Spitzer maintains that each new or updated contract should come back for board review.

Gatzke, who charges $225 an hour, has represented the county on other airport-related matters since 1978, including the county’s settlement agreement with Newport Beach on the John Wayne Airport expansion plan.

Spitzer said Gatzke has not billed the county in several months, so it is unclear how much money the county has been paying.

*

In 1997, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority and Taxpayers for Responsible Planning filed lawsuits against the county questioning the validity of the environmental impact report.

Last October, San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell ruled that the county did not adequately address the noise, traffic and environmental impacts of the proposed airport.

The county has appealed the judge’s decision but expects to recirculate revised sections on noise and traffic for public review in the coming months.