nctimes.com
By EDWARD SIFUENTES esifuentes@nctimes.com North County Times
The city of Escondido paid $20,000 to settle a claim filed by a nonprofit that alleged city officials canceled its contract because the agency published remarks critical of the city's checkpoint policy.
The Center for Social Advocacy had a contract with the city to provide fair housing information to residents,but the contract was abruptly canceled last year when city officials learned of an opinion published in the group's Fall 2009 letter criticizing the Escondido Police Department's checkpoints, according to the American Civil Liberties of San Diego and Imperial Counties, which represented the nonprofit.
"The government can't punish contractors because it doesn't like what they say," said David Blair-Loy, legal director for the ACLU in San Diego. "The city had no complaints about the Center for Social Advocacy's services. It just didn't like seeing a critical opinion in the agency's letter."
In the settlement, the city did not admit any wrongdoing. Mayor Sam Abed said the city simply wanted to move on.
"We just wanted to put this behind us and move forward," Abed said.
The city has been criticized by various groups and individuals for its checkpoints. The Police Department conducts an average of two sobriety and driver's license checkpoints a month, which result in dozens of vehicles being impounded from unlicensed drivers each time.
Organizations, such as the North County-based human rights group El Grupo, have said the checkpoints disproportionately affect the city's large Latino population because some of them are illegal immigrants who are ineligible to obtain driver's licenses.
In March 2010, the City Council allocated the funds for the contract with the Center for Social Advocacy to provide fair housing counseling, mediation and education services. But officials later canceled the contract and awarded it to another agency.
According to the ACLU, the city's neighborhood services manager called the nonprofit's Director Estella De Los Rios in June 2010 and told her that the contract was not renewed because of the editorial that was "against the City Council."
Under the settlement, the city paid $16,760 to the Center for Social Advocacy and $3,240 to the ACLU for legal fees.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_a597768e-f42c-57e2-b70f-4cdff59e8322.html#ixzz1YtAsfFjV
The Center for Social Advocacy had a contract with the city to provide fair housing information to residents,but the contract was abruptly canceled last year when city officials learned of an opinion published in the group's Fall 2009 letter criticizing the Escondido Police Department's checkpoints, according to the American Civil Liberties of San Diego and Imperial Counties, which represented the nonprofit.
"The government can't punish contractors because it doesn't like what they say," said David Blair-Loy, legal director for the ACLU in San Diego. "The city had no complaints about the Center for Social Advocacy's services. It just didn't like seeing a critical opinion in the agency's letter."
In the settlement, the city did not admit any wrongdoing. Mayor Sam Abed said the city simply wanted to move on.
"We just wanted to put this behind us and move forward," Abed said.
The city has been criticized by various groups and individuals for its checkpoints. The Police Department conducts an average of two sobriety and driver's license checkpoints a month, which result in dozens of vehicles being impounded from unlicensed drivers each time.
Organizations, such as the North County-based human rights group El Grupo, have said the checkpoints disproportionately affect the city's large Latino population because some of them are illegal immigrants who are ineligible to obtain driver's licenses.
In March 2010, the City Council allocated the funds for the contract with the Center for Social Advocacy to provide fair housing counseling, mediation and education services. But officials later canceled the contract and awarded it to another agency.
According to the ACLU, the city's neighborhood services manager called the nonprofit's Director Estella De Los Rios in June 2010 and told her that the contract was not renewed because of the editorial that was "against the City Council."
Under the settlement, the city paid $16,760 to the Center for Social Advocacy and $3,240 to the ACLU for legal fees.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_a597768e-f42c-57e2-b70f-4cdff59e8322.html#ixzz1YtAsfFjV
