A motion to remove Artie M. “Chip” Owen as chairman of the board of the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. failed to muster the two-thirds majority this evening.
The SEDC board voted 5-4 to defeat the motion.
Owen has come under fire for his relationship to an SEDC-selected developer, Pacific Development Partners, which has been involved in the controversial Valencia Business Park development. A voiceofsandiego.org investigation has found that Owen has long-standing business ties to PDP, and the City Attorney’s Office last month opined that Owen violated conflict-of-interest laws because he served on the board at the same time PDP was receiving SEDC contracts.
The city attorney opinion said the Valencia Business Park agreement with PDP was therefore null and void.
Update: The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the vote was 5-4 in favor of the motion. We regret the error.