The Del Mar Fairgrounds Board of Directors wants city officials to appear at the November fair board meeting to apologize for making conflict of interest allegations against board member Mark Arabo based on an email sent by someone whose existence no one has been able to verify.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one could verify the person exists, including the prosecutors,\u201d Arabo said during the Oct. 13 meeting. \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t the city check? And then why would they take the public route to do this? They wouldn\u2019t think before you damage someone\u2019s character, reputation, business?\u201d<\/p>\n
In July, the city received an email<\/a> signed by a Debrah Barnes. It does not describe any particular wrongdoing. But the letter implied that state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has urged the city to comply with state housing law and work with the property owner behind the 259-unit Seaside Ridge proposal in Del Mar, was acting at the behest of Arabo due to Arabo\u2019s campaign contributions.<\/p>\n It alleged that Arabo has an interest in Seaside Ridge because he bought a house in 2024 through a local real estate agent who happens to work with the Seaside Ridge applicant.<\/p>\n Arabo denied that he had any stake in Seaside Ridge or any influence in Bonta\u2019s enforcement of state housing laws.<\/p>\n In a 10-minute meeting on Aug. 3, with no discussion or consideration of Arabo\u2019s three-page rebuttal to the Barnes email, the Del Mar City Council voted 3-0 to send criminal referrals to District Attorney Summer Stephan and U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. Councilmember Dan Quirk was absent.<\/p>\n In an Oct. 1 letter, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan took the fairly unusual step of not only announcing that her office is not bringing charges<\/a>, but also calling Del Mar\u2019s publicity-seeking efforts \u201cvery irregular.\u201d<\/p>\n The DA\u2019s Public Integrity Unit wrote in the letter that they couldn\u2019t verify Barnes\u2019 identity or legitimacy as a complainant. It also said Bonta\u2019s communications with Del Mar on Seaside Ridge<\/a> were in line with his overall enforcement of housing law.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Gordon, whose federal court district includes San Diego, declined to say whether his office has made a decision on the referral.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine the chilling effect it has when we have to make tough decisions for the best interest of the fairgrounds and we worry that someone is going to unfairly, slanderously, defamatory attack us and our character,\u201d Arabo said.<\/p>\n The other board members called for an apology to Arabo and for more answers from city officials, including whether they might handle things differently in the future if receiving vague allegations about a public official from a pseudonymous sender.<\/p>\n Councilmembers Tracy Martinez and John Spelich, who joined Councilmember Terry Gaasterland in voting to send the referrals, have appeared during public comment urging the fair board to continue to negotiate with the city on a housing project on fairgrounds property.<\/p>\n