The nine-month investigation into the conduct of City Auditor Eduardo Luna and his top deputy Chris Constantin will extend into another month.
The city’s Audit Committee met for almost two hours behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to finish its inquiry into allegations of a hostile work environment and retaliation against Luna and Constantin, but tabled the item to its April 8 meeting. That breaks the timeline set by Audit Committee Chairman Kevin Faulconer, who had said he planned to wrap up the case in March.
Faulconer didn’t say why the situation is taking so long to resolve.
“I appreciate all the diligence of the committee and everything that’s been moving forward,” Faulconer said after the meeting.
Taxpayers spent more than $120,000 on two outside investigative reports to examine the allegations, the second of which was finished in November. The city has refused to release the reports because it says the matter is ongoing.
Luna attended the first half of the closed-door meeting, and declined to comment afterward. Luna’s lawyer, former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, has said the inquiry improperly tampered with the auditor’s independence and former Mayor Jerry Sanders began the investigation to retaliate against critical audits.
Liam Dillon is a news reporter for Voice of San Diego. He covers how regular people interact with local government. What should he write about next?
Please contact him directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663.
Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit that depends on you, our readers. Please donate to keep the service strong. Click here to find out more about our supporters and how we operate independently.
Like VOSD on Facebook.