The city of San Diego today released legal bills dating back to August 2006 for Council President Scott Peters and a handful of bills for Councilwoman Toni Atkins and former Mayor Dick Murphy.
While the legal bills for most council members have rolled in on a semi-regular basis, today’s release filled a sizable gap of legal bills for Peters.
The bills released today for Peters are as follows:
August 2006: $28,191.42
September 2006: $47,656.56
December 2006: $6,940.75
February 2007: $53,512.76
March 2007: $11,245.01
April 2007: $1,193.75
May 2007: $2,194
June 2007: $816
In total, Peters’ attorneys have billed the city for $290,415.88 through June 2007. The bills reveal little detail of attorneys’ actions, as they are heavily blacked out.
Council members, Murphy and a number of current and former city officials have employed taxpayer-financed attorneys in relation to the multiple legal issues that confounded the city in recent years: investigations by the Justice Department, district attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as numerous lawsuits related to the city’s pension system.
Council members Brian Maienschein and Jim Madaffer also have publicly financed attorneys. Councilwoman Donna Frye has chosen to pay her own legal bills.
While bills released in February showed that council members’ attorneys were active following last August’s release of the Kroll investigative report, recent bills show little action.
Atkins’ bill for May 2007 was only $345.62. In June, Murphy’s attorneys billed $690 and Peters’ billed $816.
The council president told my colleague Evan McLaughlin in April that he believes he and his council colleagues wouldn’t be sanctioned by the SEC it its securities investigation of the city. (Click here for a rundown of our coverage of the SEC and council legal bills up to that point.)
There are no indications at this point that the Justice Department has continued its investigation into City Hall following the indictment of five pension officials in January 2006.