City advisor returned over $9.4 million in hidden fees made from City lease deals.
101 Ash
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<p>The former highest-ranking City of San Diego staffer has come forward as the whistleblower who first exposed over $15 million in profits hidden within the controversial 101 Ash building lease deal.</p>
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<p><span><span><span>One of the principals of the City’s landlord company and the City’s pro bono real estate broker mislead the City’s then-Chief Operating Officer about $9.4 million in undisclosed payments made to the broker on two controversial building leases.</span></span></span></p>
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<p><span><span><span>The highest-ranking City staffer at the time the 101 Ash building was evacuated in January 2020 has now admitted she leaked documents to a reporter while investigations into the controversial lease were underway.</span></span></span></p>
The settlement includes a paragraph that declares that Elliott has given written and verbal advice to the Council to reject the agreement.
The City Attorney’s office has been part of the culture of downtown power deals at the expense of the taxpayers of San Diego.
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<p><br><em>Investigative Reporter</em></p>
<p>The legal team representing the City of San Diego in a group of lawsuits related to the failed 101 Ash Street building acquisition is brokering a global settlement that would include a deal not to charge the City’s private real estate broker with any crimes.</p>
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<p>San Diego’s City Attorney complained to the region’s largest newspaper and threatened to sue over its coverage of her complicity in the 101 Ash Street scandal in hopes of impacting their reporting, and when the paper’s lawyer rebuffed her threats, she sent a second letter bemoaning that her correspondence had become public. </p>
Maybe, just maybe, Elliott shouldn’t be anywhere near any of these investigations so that the truth can finally be revealed. Just sayin’.
The protections of the 1st Amendment are powerful, but not sacrosanct. We must stand up, together, to protect each other.