A years-long housing battle between a fancy Southern California metropolis and a developer has now dragged state Lawyer Basic Rob Bonta into the fray — over marketing campaign contributions allegedly tied to the developer.
Del Mar Metropolis Council members voted this month to ask the San Diego County district lawyer and US Lawyer Adam Gordon to analyze Bonta and businessman Mark Arabo, who sits on the board of the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
The request facilities on marketing campaign contributions made by individuals linked to Arabo and the long-running dispute over a housing growth within the coastal metropolis north of San Diego.
The vote appeared to have been triggered by a letter submitted by resident Debrah Barnes, Voice of San Diego reported, which highlighted her concern with potential conflicts of curiosity round Seaside Ridge, a proposed housing challenge.
The 259-unit challenge was first proposed in 2022 however continues to be rejected by the town council, whilst not too long ago as this Could. The town stated the applying is lacking supplies, which proprietor Carol Lazier insists she doesn’t must file.
At present, Seaside and Del Mar are in a authorized battle over the difficulty.
The housing dispute has coincided with the state authorities’s push to hurry up the constructing of reasonably priced housing. Bonta stepped in and instructed Del Mar final December it needed to give Lazier an easy course of, after which in March, claimed the town was violating state housing legislation.
The letter by Barnes notes different components could also be in play behind Bonta’s push across the challenge. Actual property agent Brian Guiltinan, a part of Seaside’s workforce, donated to Bonta’s re-election marketing campaign 4 instances in June 2024, totaling $18,200.
“The problem will not be whether or not misconduct occurred,” Barnes wrote within the letter. “The problem is whether or not the general public can believe that choices relating to Seaside Ridge have been made freed from undisclosed affect and with out preferential entry.”
Arabo’s position within the dispute facilities on his opposition to an reasonably priced housing challenge on the Del Mar Fairgrounds — whereas concurrently expressing help for Seaside at board conferences.
Metropolis officers identified that Arabo, who donated the identical quantity to Bonta, employed Guiltinan as an agent when buying a house in 2024.
The fairgrounds challenge is tied to Seaside as a result of if the reasonably priced housing plan fails to materialize, the town must flip to the Seaside challenge as an alternative
“Merely put, Ms. Lazier’s Seaside Ridge challenge stands to profit if reasonably priced housing will not be well timed developed on the Fairgrounds,” metropolis officers claimed.
However Arabo denied the allegations in a letter to the town, saying he was unaware of Guiltinan’s connection to Seaside and by no means mentioned the challenge privately.
He additionally stated he has “zero curiosity” in no matter occurs to the challenge.
Attorneys for Seaside Ridge additionally blasted the letter by Barnes.
“The town’s obvious try and improperly use its official authority to threaten the challenge and state officers primarily based on misconstrued, incomplete and unsubstantiated assertions is nothing lower than outrageous,” wrote Brooke Miller, a consultant of Seaside Ridge’s authorized workforce.
“The town’s narrative appears to suggest that merely having relationships or speaking with public officers is someway suspicious.”
The California Publish reached out to Bonta’s workplace for remark.
A metropolis official clarified to the Voice of San Diego that it was not accusing anybody of wrongdoing however merely referring a resident criticism to the correct authority.
It’s unclear if the county DA or US Lawyer will choose up the matter. The Publish reached out to each workplaces relating to Del Mar’s request.
