Instead of reappointing Padilla, the City Council appointed Ann Moore without following the same public process

Chula Vista Port moves at odds with past process
By Tanya Sierra
SDUT
January 18, 2011

The last time Chula Vista appointed someone to the port commission it accepted applications for a month, narrowed the field to three finalists and conducted public interviews.

Last week it allowed its commissioner to be sworn-in as vice chairman in front of key political players across the county at the annual Port luncheon and then hours later voted him off the commission without so much as a word of warning.

Although no city policy was violated, questions about open government have been raised.

Steve Padilla, who had been filling a vacancy for just over a year on the Port District’s board of directors, was expecting to be reappointed to a four-year term as were his Port colleagues. He said he had no indication from any members on the Chula Vista City Council, that he did not have support to continue representing the South Bay city.

Instead of reappointing Padilla, the City Council appointed Ann Moore without following the same public process they went through the year before when selecting Padilla...


Comparing the Port Commissioners

Steve Padilla

•Mayor of Chula Vista from 2002 to 2006
•Chula Vista City Councilman from 1994 to 2002
•California Coastal Commissioner from from 2005 to 2007

Ann Moore

•Chula Vista City Attorney from 1995 to 2008
•Experience in land-use, redevelopment and environmental law
•Senior partner in the law firm Norton Moore and Adams