South County Report: Turmoil Continues at National City Hall 

National City’s year of non-stop City Hall drama is still non-stop. 

This week, it was City Attorney Barry Schultz’s turn in the spotlight. 

At the end of a marathon City Council meeting Tuesday, Schultz announced he would not be renewing his three-year contract with the city and would depart City Hall at the end of the month. 

“I have provided notice to the Council that I will not want to extend my term as city attorney,” Schultz said in his characteristic just-the-facts style. He did not give an explanation and did not respond to a follow-up request for comment. 

Schultz’s departure is the fifth major turnover in city leadership this year. The Council ousted previous City Manager Benjamin Martinez in April. Three senior department heads – the directors of human resources, community services and community development – later resigned. 

Mayor Ron Morrison acknowledged City Hall is in the midst of a protracted period of “disfunctionality.” 

But Morrison projected confidence city leaders can right the ship. He said the city has replaced the three department heads and has zeroed in on a finalist following a months-long search for a new city manager. 

Morrison said he expects the new city manager to be in place by next month. 

“It is a bit of a mess,” Morrison said. But “[we’ve done] a lot to get things steadied down.” 

Tumultuous Year 

Schultz’s departure caps a chaotic year in National City government – chaos which at least one Councilmember blamed partly on Schultz. 

The City Council has been gripped by a seemingly endless feud between the owners of a local cemetery and the mayor and his allies. 

There have been multiple investigations into matters ranging from sexual harrassment allegations to claims a Councilmember was leaking confidential city information. 

The city’s budget faces a grim long-term outlook and leaders have picked fights with powerful adversaries, in particular the Port of San Diego. 

Councilmember Marcus Bush said many of those problems stem in part from what he termed Schultz’s “multiple failures of performance.” 

Bush said Schultz unevenly enforced ethical standards in City Hall and failed to defend the city vigorously against legal opponents. 

Bush pointed to problems in the city’s marijuana licensing process and a recently adopted tobacco licensing program as examples of regulatory failures partly overseen by Schultz’s office. 

Earlier this year, Bush filed a formal complaint with the California Bar Association accusing Schultz of various professional lapses. The alleged failures “are becoming a recurring pattern,” Bush said at the time. 

Councilmember Jose Rodriguez defended Schultz this week, saying, “He’s been the only stable part of our city for four years…[He] has been run out of town” by councilmembers who dislike him. 

Acrimony Continues 

If this week’s Council meeting was any indication, chaos is likely to continue. 

It was after midnight Tuesday when councilmembers began debating who should be named the city’s next deputy mayor. 

It’s a mostly symbolic position that usually gets assigned by rotation based on vote totals from the most recent City Council election. 

This year, a divided Council voted 3-2 to pass over Rodriguez in favor of Councilmember Luz Molina. 

Morrison said the change in rotation was the result of last year’s Council censure of Rodriguez for various alleged forms of misconduct, which Morrison said barred Rodriguez from a leadership role this year. 

A bitter argument broke out. 

Rodriguez accused Morrison of engineering the move because Rodriguez is running to unseat Morrison in next year’s mayoral election. 

Bush assailed Rodriguez as a provocateur who has destabilized the city, committed multiple ethical lapses and leaked confidential informaton from closed session City Council meetings. 

Rodriguez shot back that Bush is a marijuana addict who shows up to city meetings high. 

One of the funeral home owners in the ongoing feud with Morrison strode to the podium and accused the mayor of being a corrupt failure and called Bush a psychopath. 

Molina kept her head down and said nothing. 

Tempers had not cooled the following day. 

“Jose is more afraid of me than I am of him,” Bush said of Rodriguez on Wednesday. Bush added that, though he smokes cannabis recreationally, he does not have a substance use problem and has never attended a city meeting intoxicated. 

“Jose is making that up,” he said. 

Rodriguez pointed the finger back at Bush and Morrison. “The constant instability and internal drama is dangerous and reckless,” he said. “Our community deserves better.” 

“Jose blames me for everything,” Morrison said. “It’s a lot of distractions.” 

Morrison said he wasn’t surprised Schultz had decided to call it quits. “I could see him just saying, ‘I can do something more peaceful in my life,’” he said. 

ARTS “Weathering the Storm” 

It’s not all “disfunctionality” in National City. 

Next door to City Hall, the youth arts organization A Reason to Survive (ARTS) had what Executive Director Lucy Eagleson described as a “pretty good” year. 

That’s an accomplishment at a time when non-profit organizations nationwide face financial headwinds and other challenges. 

“We’re not having to cut programs or staff,” Eagleson said. “We’re just trying to weather this storm.” 

Eagleson said a highlight of ARTS’ year was hosting an October conference of more than 200 regional philanthropists. Eagleson said the conference enabled donors to see not only the work ARTS does with disadvantaged youth but also the vibrancy of National City’s homegrown cultural scene. 

“It was a great exposure opportunity,” she said. 

Eagleson said students later celebrated Dia De Los Muertos with a combined program of Mexican and Filipino traditions and worked on a public art project that highlights a historic public water spigot that for generations has provided free water to National City residents. 

Eagleson said ARTS programs have provided an island of stability for students who tell teachers they fear their parents will be deported or lose their jobs in the current political climate. 

“That has been one of the challenges of this season for sure,” Eagleson said. “This is not a time for massive growth…but doing work in depth because needs are getting bigger and bigger.” 

ICYMI: For Voice’s annual Beef Week feature, I wrote about the never-ending feud between Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and City Councilmember Michael Inzunza. And I covered a San Ysidro School Board member who was surprised to discover this week she’s wanted for arrest. 

In Other News 

• Chula Vista is surveying residents and tobacco retailers in preparation for possible tightening of city rules governing tobacco sales, especially sales to young people. 

• The Chula Vista Fire Department was one of nine local first responder agencies to share in $4 million in workforce training grants awarded by the San Diego Workforce Partnership on Wednesday. The grants will fund expanded EMS and firefighter training programs. 

• Assemblymember David Alvarez will welcome constituents to his district office in Chula Vista for a Holiday Open House at 5 p.m. Tues. Dec. 16. Alvarez will share legislative updates and answer constituents’ questions. Hot drinks and holiday treats provided. 

• Chula Vista began enforcing its strictest-in-the-county youth e-bike regulations this week. The new rules tighten age and helmet requirements, set speed limits and restrict where youth can ride e-bikes. 

Send any feedback or ideas for the South County Report to jim.hinch@voiceofsandiego.org.

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