Hey SOC,
This writer, Jennifer McLain, is at it again. She states that Tran and Nunez have hired this attorney's law firm, a Bonafacio Garcia, who has charged the city almost $164K in five months, while the city's annual legal budget is $265K. It is not clear whether Garcia's firm is representing the Planning Commission and/or the city.
The citiy has paid another law firm $30K for six months of work, and yet another firm $5,612.00 for one month's legal fees in Sept. Some of the fees are for work done on behalf of the Redevelopment Agency, some for thePlanning Commission, and some fees covering the City and the Planning Commission.
Did this journalist do a "fair and balanced" story?
I admit, I was and remain "neutral" on the Walmart thing, but never un-sympathetic. I guess your neighbors would like the story set straight.
http://monterey.montereycountyweekly.com/services/
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Rosemead's Excessive
It is a little misleading because it implies that all of the legal fees are the fault of the current city council. It does not make clear that the fees to Wallin, et al, are coming out of Wal-Mart for litigation they triggered by not following all of the legal requirements in getting their store built and open before the recall election. And, of course, the health fees there are a result of the sweetheart deal the previous firm had with the previous city council majority.
Some of the current fees are higher than in the past, however. That's partially because there are several cases being litigated at the moment. Besides the mess with Nunez (which, bottom-line, is also related to Wal-Mart), there's also the lawsuit against Baldwin Park. And the city is trying to bring new development in, and is trying to negotiate with developers to make that happen. That's going to cost money, too.