In a 7-1 vote, the San Diego City Council approved a proposal from San Diego’s mayor to pay for the city hall complex.
Councilwoman Marni Von Wilpert cast the only dissenting vote against Mayor Todd Gloria’s refinancing plan to pay for the 101 Ash St. and Civic Center Plaza purchase.
The bonds will cost the city up to $11.6 million a year for the next 30 years — roughly $348 million, or almost $32,000 a day until 2053. The additional borrowing plan comes as interest rates have jumped.
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The latest spending plan would add millions to the cost of the city’s troubled acquisition of 101 Ash St., which has been unsafe to occupy due to asbestos since the city approved a lease-to-own deal for the property five years ago.
Over the summer, city council approved the settlement in a 6-3 vote.
According to former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre, the approved plan is a bad deal for taxpayers. Aguirre has been against the settlement since it was first proposed. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, he warned the council that it was violating securities law by approving the bond sales.
“You should listen to someone that was here when the city was prosecuted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and negotiated a settlement with them in which we made promises not to do what you are about to do,” said Aguirre as he addressed the council.
NBC 7 reached out to the mayor's office for a response after the vote, but no one got back to NBC 7 before our deadline.
