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The city of San Diego is threatening to terminate its contract with the Gaslamp Quarter Association after documents suggest its executive director may have unilaterally approved and accepted $10,000 for an illegal advertisement during this year’s Comic-Con.
Michael Trimble, executive director for the association, denies these allegations.
San Diego officials issued Elevue Inc., an advertising agency working for Marvel Studios, a $160,000 fine in July for installing an illegal display on the Gaslamp Quarter’s marquee promoting Marvel’s new Avengers movie. The sign remained in place for six days – racking up daily fines starting at $10,000 and topping out at $60,000 – despite warnings from city officials before and during the installation.
Building wraps during Comic-Con have proliferated for years despite being illegal, but this installation blew previous years’ fines out of the water. It was also tens of thousands of dollars more than the 11 other citations issued this year, all of which were under $10,000.
“The City wants Comic-Con to be a fun and safe event for all attendees, and has a responsibility to ensure temporary additions in the public right-of-way are installed safely,” the city wrote in a statement at the time.
“The contractor knowingly created a safety risk and refused to address it, and was cited and fined accordingly.”
The sign is owned by the city, but its maintenance falls under the authority of the Gaslamp Quarter Association, which is a nonprofit that contracts with the city to run Gaslamp’s Business Improvement District. These districts receive public funds to support and promote surrounding businesses, and are therefore subject to many of the same rules as government agencies.
In a Sept. 24 letter sent to Trimble, Chief Housing and Community Development Officer Casey Smith outlines three alleged breaches of contract along with seven pieces of evidence to back up the city’s claims.
Amongst the city’s evidence is a bank statement for a June 30 payment of $10,000 from a company called Big Outdoor. Meeting minutes from earlier in the month show the association’s Board of Directors directed Trimble to “finalize contract with Big Outdoor for Comic-Con activation.” If true, the city said this payment would be a violation of conflict of interest laws.
After this article was published, Trimble said: “Big Outdoor has a longstanding relationship with GQA as the advertising agency that sells advertising through the Gaslamp Quarter kiosk program. The $10,000 referenced by the City was a regular payment associated with that separate program.”
He also added that Big Outdoor brought the proposed activation to the association.
While Elevue Inc. was the company listed on the city’s citation, Trimble said in an email that Big Outdoor was responsible for “the design, engineering, installation and the contractors.”
The letter also said that the association, Big Outdoor and Elevue were told by the city multiple times between July 7 and 21 that the activation would not be permitted.
If the association did approve the contract unlawfully, the city said it would have then violated the same municipal code that Elevue Inc. was fined $160,000 for breaking. That citation did not mention Trimble, the association or Big Outdoor.
Lastly, the letter alleges that the association may have unlawfully misrepresented its authority to approve the sign.
Trimble disputes all of these claims, and said he at no point suggested to advertisers that he had the authority to approve the installment.
“Our agreement expressly made Big Outdoor responsible for obtaining all required City and governmental permits and approvals,” Trimble wrote in a Sept. 25 email to Voice of San Diego. “GQA’s commercial agreement with Big was not, and was never represented by me to be, a substitute for City authorization.”
Advertisers contradicted this version of events in conversations with city officials back in July, according to emails obtained via public records request.
“The contractor is pointing fingers back at GQA stating that they said they had authority,” wrote Director of Economic Development Christina Bibler on the morning of July 22. “It’s a mess.”
Trimble refutes this claim, and said he intends to address it in his pending response to the city.
If any of these allegations are true, Smith said the city would have grounds to terminate its contract with the association, effective immediately.
This contract allows the association to benefit from numerous public funding streams, including small business grants, a portion of taxes collected from surrounding businesses and some public parking revenue.
Last fiscal year, public funds made up $181,000 of the association’s $1.05 million budget, according to an annual report. Most of the association’s revenue comes from advertising and events.
The city gave Trimble until Oct. 9 to provide a full response.
“GQA strongly disputes the allegations contained in the City’s letter and believes the letter includes significant factual inaccuracies and mischaracterizations,” Trimble wrote in an email to Voice of San Diego. “We are currently preparing a formal response that will include the underlying agreements and documentation necessary to provide the full context and correct the record.”
Neither Big Outdoor nor Elevue Inc. responded in time for publication.
Update: After this article published, Michael Trimble provided Voice of San Diego with more details about the association’s relationship with Big Outdoor and another response to the city’s claims.
Bella Ross: I break down complicated civic concepts to help people better understand and engage with local news. Most of my work can be found on Voice's social media accounts, including short-form videos and graphics
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