Coronado Common Sense

Coronado Swim Coach Gets One Year Sentence

On Monday, the San Diego Union-Tribune published an article written by staff writer Ray Huard. In "Swim coach sentenced to year in jail in molestation case," Mr. Huard writes:

"A Coronado swimming coach was sentenced to a year in jail and placed on probation for five years Monday for molesting a 12-year-old girl who was a member of his swim team.

Because of the time he has already spent in jail awaiting resolution of his case, the sentence imposed as part of a plea agreement means that Rogelio Gallardo has 41 days left to serve.

Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez also ordered Gallardo to register as a sex offender and to stay away from children and adult book stores. He said Gallardo can never again work as a coach, and, while on probation, can't own a camera and cannot use computers without the permission of probation officials "

Forty-one days and Mr. Gallardo will hit the streets again. The greater portion of his ordeal will be over. Too bad it won't be as easy a sentence on his young victim. 

The article goes on to quote the defense attorney:

"Defense attorney Nancee Schwartz said in court that a court-appointed psychologist determined that 'Mr. Gallardo isn't a pedophile.'

'This was an aberration in an otherwise stellar life,' Schwartz said." 

For the original story and news video, check out the San Diego Channel Six News from September 29, 2008. It discusses how Mr. Gallardo could have received up to twelve years in prison. I have displayed Mr. Gallardo's photograph so that you can know how normal evil can look. The article also states that he was arrested in June so I'm not sure how they came up with only 41 days left of a one-year sentence.

• • • • •

Editor's Opinion: I could have lived the rest of my life without hearing this fabrication from the defense attorney. Talk about adding further insult and injury to this child and her family. So the psychologist determined this coach was not a pedophile. A layman could give a better medical diagnosis on this man's obvious psychological disorder. If not a pedophile, then what IS wrong with this grown man that he feels he must prey on an innocent young girl trustingly left in his charge? An otherwise stellar life? These things don't just come out of left field. They're present —if not visible—for a long time prior to the episode.

Somewhere in time, the guilty have become the innocent and the innocent have become the guilty. Some people may not even see the injustice in all of this, until it happens to one of their loved ones. Beware of what lurks in the shadows of everyday existence . . . 

Coronado Residents Stand Their Ground

Yesterday,November 5th, I attended the Historic Resource Commission Meeting. The commissioners that sit on this board are Laura Crenshaw, Polly Jones, Gerry MacCartee, John O'Brien and Doug St. Denis. They were discussing among others, the following item:

HAP 10-06 Joe and Caylee Pinsonneault:  Request for Historic Alteration Permit for alterations and additions and exceptions to zoning standards for the historically designated property located in the R-1A (Single Family Residential) Zone addressed as 941 J Avenue, including the construction of a replacement dwelling and garage located on the rear of the property addressed as 937 J Avenue. 

The complete agenda for this meeting provided the history leading up (including a court case and a direct order from the presiding judge), the floor plans, photographs and many letters from Coronado residents opposing this project. These letters may be found on pages 129-143 of the agenda. One letter of objection was from Patty Schmidt, former City Council and RSIP committee member.

At the previous HRC meeting, the commission voted 3-2 against approving the project. The residents were confused when after the vote, they were told it would be postponed to the next meeting.

There were a lot of residents present who opposed this project. After the uncertainty of the last meeting, no one was quite sure what would transpire.

The public comment portion of the meeting was opened by Chairperson MacCartee and the first person to speak was the architect of the project, Kevin Rugee. Mr. Rugee asked "What if the three against the project abstained?" He said that eventually the project would go to the City Council if no action was taken and that voting against the previous commission's decision was doing them a disservice.

Jim Scott spoke next and said that the first time he ever heard about the project was on April 1st, 2007. Only 44 of 59 surrounding neighbors received notices about the project. All the property owners on the I Street side and 2 on the J Street side were excluded from the mailing lists. Twenty-five property owners were notified, but twenty-six were not. Mr. Scott showed a map of which houses were notified and which were not. Ms. MacCartee told him his three minutes were finished. Mr. Scott replied that he would then be using his wife's three minutes and continued on explaining which block of houses had been denied notification.

Joe Pinsonneault, owner of the dwelling in question, stated "Most ridiculous thing we have ever seen!" Mr. Swanson had a heart attack that week so maybe they didn't get notified. He has been "in this business" (development) for 30 years and he "will take it to the limit."

George Bruce from I Avenue said that he strongly objected to the project, that is was inconsistent with zoning laws and that he had not received notification.

Sara Wells of J Avenue complained that they had torn down a one-story small building and built a two-story, two-bedroom rental property. She asked for a  life-long covenant that they not use or rent as a rental. She asked for three things:

1. Stop listing the property as a "legal rental" in advertising
2. Execute the life-long covenant
3. Request them to eliminate the kitchen in good faith  

Mr. O'Brien challenged Ms. Wells several times about notification. He stated that he could not believe she had received not one of the four mailings. Ms. Wells told him to believe it.

The attorney representing Jim and Jo Scott spoke next. He stated that "the minutes showed the decision was voted down. The alley is for emergency/utility purposes. This would increase the impact on that alley. Mr. Pinsonneault told you at the last meeting that he was a developer. He knows the zoning laws." Chairperson MacCartee became very upset and berated the attorney. He apologized and sat down.

Jo Scott went to the podium to speak. She was denied. She asked for the two minutes that her husband left on her time. She was denied.

Joe Pinsonneault said something, he was denied time.

Denni Herron stated that she had sat on the previous HRC board and was offended by Mr. Scott, his attorney, and the people making the statements.

The public hearing was closed.

Chairperson MacCartee asked John O'Brien to speak first. He said the vote did not carry at the last meeting, did not disapprove so there needed to be a conclusion. He wanted to make a classification: We DO have precedent for granting zoning relief, making findings, and we do have the authority to act on this property.

She asked the others to speak. There was a very pregnant, very awkward pause as all the other commissioners sat without uttering a word. They obviously did not wish to make comments in support.

Polly Jones spoke first stating "The rear structure was a non-conforming structure. Once demolished, it cannot be rebuilt as a rental. Deals with a 1A zone and should remain so."

Doug St. Denis stated that she "would not have approved that back house at that site. If non-conforming is not used in 120 days, it is lost. Approve front house and back house with conditions that it cannot be rented."

Laura Crenshaw said "This decision we are making in hindsight. The previous commission had issues and difficulties with this project. Non-conforming says you cannot enlarge or extend. There was lots of relevant information and we looked at it all.This is not a carriage house, it is too large so it was called a dwelling, cannot be on a R-1 lot. 

Ms. St. Denis made a motion. Ms. Wells covenant was used, it was decided that a kitchen would be allowed, Mr. O'Brien wanted his statement included, and Ms. Jones wisely suggested that the second electric meter be removed since it would no longer need it as a rental. Ms. Crenshaw said she could not agree with the piece about inclusion of the front and back house. Chairperson MacCartee wanted closure and called the vote. It passed 4-1 with Ms. Crenshaw voting the one opposing vote.

The matter will go before the City Council on November 18th.

I was so very impressed with this meeting and especially Ms. Crenshaw, Ms. Jones, and Ms. St. Denis who spoke their minds, delivered their evidence, argued when necessary and above all, stuck to their guns in a very awkward forum. This is how I envision all meetings should be: individuals speaking their minds, supporting their cases, investigating all options, and then coming back together to make a fair and just decision for the benefit of all. This meeting rocked!

Behind Closed Doors

Recently I presented you with the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Voting Records of our City Council during those years in regard to Traffic and Tunnel Votes. While compiling those documents, it came to my attention that there were things going on behind closed doors. This is normal for city governments and protects the privacy of the individuals involved. These are known as Closed Sessions.

For example, one of the Closed Session topics is a Public Employee Performance Evaluation. You can understand the importance of discreetness when evaluating the performance of our City Manager and our City Attorney.

Another Closed Session topic is that of Negotiations. The City Negotiators (usually the City Manager or Assistant City Manager along with the Director of Administrative Services) negotiate with City Employee Organizations or sometimes a outside Negotiating Party. Some of the Negotiating Parties in the past four years have been the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad/Metropolitan Transit System; Coronado Yacht Club; Napolitano Family LTD Partnership and the Coronado Hospital Foundation.

Some of the Employee Organizations have been the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 127; Executive Positions; All Self-Represented Employees; the Coronado Firefighters' Association (CFA); and the Coronado Police Officers' Association (CPOA). The definition of negotiation is “the reaching of agreement through discussion and compromise.” From what I have read in the local paper, I would probably not use the word “negotiation” to describe these sessions. There were twelve in 2005, twenty one in 2006, thirteen in 2007, and up through September 16th, there have been fourteen thus far this year.

But now we come to the really interesting topic discussed in Closed Sessions, the Conferences with Legal Counsel regarding litigation. There are four types of litigation listed in these records from 2005-2008 and they are Potential Litigation, Anticipated Litigation, Pending Litigation and Existing Litigation. And let me say right here and now, that litigation tree is bearing a lot of fruit. So let's look at that fruit: twenty one conferences with legal counsel in 2005 Download 2005_closed_sessions; eighteen conferences with legal counsel in 2006 Download 2006_closed_sessions.doc; twenty six conferences with legal counsel in 2007 Download 2007_closed_sessions.doc; and seventeen conferences with legal counsel through September 16th, 2008 Download 2008_closed_sessions.doc.

The most interesting thing about these records are that litigation is alive and thriving in Coronado! What could be the cause? I have heard through the grapevine that it's the community's general dissatisfaction with the city's lethargy in enforcing its own laws. There's only one thing I find more fascinating than these records and those are the missing records. I, myself, have unfortunately been in litigation with the city since February 4, 2008 and I did not find my own name in the 2008 records . . . anywhere. But then, that's a story for another day.

Coronado legal bills for Foley case exceeded $6.6 million

According to the article written by Janine Zúñiga and appearing in the San Diego Union-Tribune yesterday, the legal bills for the case involving former Chargers lineback Steve Foley and Coronado officer Aaron Mansker exceeded $6.6 million. That's quite a hefty chunk of change. Download ut_foley_case.html This amount includes a settlement of $5.5 million to Mr. Foley and approximately $1.1 million in legal fees.

Coronado settles suit with woman run over by lifeguard truck

December 2007 (Archival post)
On August 14th of 2006, a 23 year-old girl was sunbathing on the beach as young girls so love to do. I imagine that she was lying there on her stomach in that sleepy, dreamy state of tranquility created by the seduction of the warm sun and the cool breeze off the ocean. You know that wonderful feeling, don't you? I picture the scene this way probably because I can’t understand any other reason why she would continue to calmly remain horizontal when she was about to be run over by a Coronado Lifeguard vehicle, a Subaru Baja truck.Download subaru_baja.webarchive But she was run over, first by the right front tire and then by the right rear tire. Her first thought was that her legs had been crushed and she might lose the use of them. She was admitted to the hospital and remained there for two days with injuries to her pelvic area, legs and ankles. Download signonsandiego.com-Woman run over by lifeguard truck.webarchive

Approximately a year later, I get a phone call from Janine Zúñiga of the San Diego Union Tribune. She just happened to be looking over some court records and came across this story. Janine wanted to know what I knew about it. And I knew nothing. This came as a surprise to both of us because I had been involved in a lengthy battle with the City of Coronado over two concerns: the preservation of a pristine Coronado Beach and the placement of a garage in the most populated area of this beach. Never once was this accident acknowledged by the mayor or council members. They had effectively hidden this unfortunate incident from the citizens of Coronado until Miss Bouvet filed her lawsuit.

Miss Bouvet deservingly won her lawsuit in December of 2007. The City of Coronado settled for $141,000.
Download signonsandiego.com-Coronado settles suit .webarchive