Mayoral spokesman Fred Sainz just told me that Southeastern Economic Development Corp. President Carolyn Y. Smith will not be resigning.
Mayor Jerry Sanders and three City Council members today called on Smith to resign in the wake of a voiceofsandiego.org investigation that uncovered a clandestine system of bonuses for Smith and other SEDC employees. They demanded a response by 5 p.m.
Sainz said that the city’s chief financial officer, Jay Goldstone, just off the phone with SEDC board Chairman Artie M. “Chip” Owen, and Owen said Smith would not be stepping down. (Yesterday the City Attorney’s Office opined that Owen had violated the state’s conflict of interest law for maintaining a business relationship with a developer with a development agreement with SEDC.)
A personnel item has been added to the SEDC board’s closed session agenda for its regularly scheduled board meeting Wednesday, and Owen told Goldstone that the board will discuss Smith’s continued employment, Sainz said. The board controls Smith’s employment.