Paying Former SD Mayor Filner's $98K in Legal Fees Is 'An Absolute Bargain'

On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council authorized a $98,000 payment to former Mayor Bob Filner's lawyers and $795,000 to a victim of ex-police Officer Anthony Arevalos, who demanded sexual favors from women he pulled over while on the job.

As part of the arrangement that led Filner to leave office Aug. 30, the city agreed to pay up to $98,000 of his legal fees.

Councilman Scott Sherman called the $98,000 "an absolute bargain," saying the city needed to move on from the "sorry, sorry chapter in our history."

"I'm glad that the stain of Bob Filner is away from the city," Sherman said.

Filner hired San Diego lawyer Harvey Berger after he was accused of sexual harassment in July. Later, when he and the city were sued by his former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson, he hired attorney James Payne of Irvine.

The McCormack Jackson lawsuit is pending. She alleges Filner told her she should work without her panties on, that he wanted to see her naked and that he could not wait to consummate their relationship.

Filner also allegedly demanded kisses from McCormack Jackson and put his arm around the former reporter and dragged her along in a headlock while making sexual remarks.

It's possible others among the nearly 20 alleged sexual harassment victims could sue.

The agreement that resulted in Filner's resignation also called for the City Attorney's Office to defend him in civil litigation.

In a criminal case, the ex-mayor pleaded guilty in October to one felony count of false imprisonment by violence and two misdemeanor counts of battery. He was sentenced Monday to three years probation and 90 days home confinement.

A much larger sum—$795,000—will go to a woman identified as "Jane Roe," who accused Arevalos of sexually assaulting her in the back of a car while she was being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in February 2010.

Her lawsuit was one of 10 against the city involving the ex-cop, who was sentenced to almost nine years in prison for demanding sexual favors from women he pulled over for DUI violations in the Gaslamp Quarter.

The woman's settlement, approved in September by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Gallo, is the largest payment in the $2.3 million the city has agreed to pay.

A lawsuit by a victim of Arevalos has not been resolved.

The council also approved a $535,000 settlement for Travelers Insurance. The company paid a claim to the owners of an architectural firm damaged by a water main break in August 2010 in the 5000 block of Santa Fe Street.

In a fourth settlement, the council authorized a $310,000 payment to a woman rear-ended by a San Diego police lieutenant who was found to have been traveling at an unsafe speed for the conditions in April 2012. The nature of the victim's injuries were not disclosed.

—City News Service