In a defeat for lawyer Cory Briggs and the nonprofit San Diegans for Open Government, an appeals court Wednesday said the San Diego City Council legally approved the lease agreement for the Bahia Resort Hotel on Mission Bay.
The 4th state District Court of Appeal found no evidence to support the claims of Briggs that the City Council erred when it found that Bruce Goodwin, who established the fair market value of the property, was an independent fee appraiser, the city said in a news release Thursday.
“SDOG is disappointed,” Briggs told Times of San Diego. “It makes no sense that an expert selected exclusively and paid entirely by the Bahia would be considered ‘independent,’ but that is the unfortunate outcome of the appellate court’s ruling.”
Briggs said SDOG would decide in the next 30 days whether to ask for review by the California Supreme Court.
SDOG had argued that the City Council acted with “insufficient evidence” that Goodwin, a professional appraiser for 30 years and a Chairman Emeritus of the International Society of Hospital Consultants, had provided an independent fee appraisal.
The court reviewed the record and determined there was “substantial evidence” to support the council’s finding that Goodwin was not subject to the control or influence of the Bahia owners or anyone else, the city said of the case argued by Deputy City Attorney Glenn T. Spitzer.
The court cited, among other evidence, questioning of Goodwin by Councilmembers Todd Gloria and Lorie Zapf during a public hearing on the lease agreement.
In contrast, the court said, it was unpersuaded by SDOG’s argument that Goodwin could not be considered independent unless he belong to a particular organization, or that appraisers are not independent if they are paid for their work by an interested party.
“To the extent SDOG cites evidence and/or inferences from the evidence that would have supported a contrary finding by the city council, it misconstrues and/or misapplies the substantial standard of review,” the court wrote.
The lease extension was approved by the City Council on Feb. 26, 2013. SDOG sued the city in San Diego Superior Court, but lost. It then appealed that ruling, and now has lost a second time.
“It’s too bad we have to continue to defend these meritless lawsuits,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.
