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![[Part 3] Who Actually Approved 101 Ash Deal? | - Vimarsana News](https://vimarsana.com/images/vimarsana-bigimage.jpg)
The current San Diego City Attorney and her two immediate predecessors have differing views on who is responsible for the final approval of the 101 Ash St building deal, but the City Charter points to only one ultimate legal authority that was empowered to approve the deal: the current City Attorney, Mara Elliott.
Elliott has been criticized for not having reviewed the very lopsided deal that included language on its first page that completely shields the landlord from any liability for any known and unknown defects or problems. That language, which several real estate lawyers claim is not legal under state law, is the reason the City may be on the hook for more than $100 million in repairs needed to bring the building back to be operational, in addition to the $128 million in lease payments required by the agreement. Attorney Cory Briggs, who is challenging Elliott in the upcoming election, charges th...
Mayor Kevin Faulconer Mayor Kevin Faulconer made the decision in 2016 to waste at least $16 million more on the 101 Ash St. deal in an effort to shield himself from political criticism over “Papa” Doug Manchester, one of the owners of the 101 Ash St. building, and everyone else went along with the taxpayer boondoggle by agreeing to disguise the purchase of the building as a lease. Faulconer made the decision in a meeting in his office with top city staffers to pursue a lease-to-own deal instead of a direct purchase so that the windfall profits were not paid directly from the City to Doug ...
By Arturo Castañares Editor-at-Large Internal emails from key city staff and officials in 2016 document their efforts to raise the value of a building by the City signing a 20-year lease-to-own agreement to help the sellers secure financing they couldn’t otherwise obtain, and, in an exclusive interview with La Prensa San Diego, the former City Attorney focuses attention back on current City Attorney Mara Elliott as the final backstop for the now-crumbling deal. The lease deal has recently come under increased scrutiny and is being investigated by outside lawyers hired by Mayor Kevin Faulco...
Editor-at-Large A spokesperson for San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer denies the Mayor engaged in political maneuvers that led to the City leasing the 101 Ash St. building, but the Mayor has not directly disputed the allegations or demanded a retraction. Mayor Kevin Faulconer The statement was in response to a September 11, 2020, story in La Prensa San Diego that reported allegations that Mayor Faulconer made the decision to pursue a lease instead of a purchase of the now-vacated building in order to distance himself from then-owner “Papa” Doug Manchester, one of his biggest campaign donors ...