Morgan Hill taxpayers could be stuck paying the check if local
attorney Bruce Tichinin wins damages in a slander and libel suit he
filed against the city last week.
Morgan Hill taxpayers could be stuck paying the check if local attorney Bruce Tichinin wins damages in a slander and libel suit he filed against the city last week.
Tichinin was ostracized by the City Council last summer when it learned he had contracted a private investigator to follow City Manager Ed Tewes on an out-of-town trip in an attempt to prove an alleged affair between Tewes and former City Attorney Helen Leich-ter. Tichinin intimated that he believes the alleged affair caused Leichter to change her opinion on the El Toro Mountain open space boundary and stop a housing development in which he is a partner. Both Tewes and Leichter repeatedly denied the affair.
In the suit, Tichinin claims he was injured personally and professionally by the city when council members denounced him and threatened to call for a District Attorney and State Bar Association investigation. The council also called for Tichinin’s resignation from the Urban Limit Line Committee and stated they had lost faith in him.
Though the suit calls for a jury to decide the actual dollar amount, if Tichinin can prove his case, he’s indicated his losses are at least $2 million.
That’s a large chunk of change for a city struggling to overcome a budget deficit and dipping into reserves to pay operational costs for new redevelopment projects such as the Aquatics Center.
Tichinin says he only wants an apology from the council and to have his name cleared of wrongdoing in the scandal that shook City Hall last summer. If the city gives a public apology, Tichinin has promised to drop the suit.
Tichinin no doubt understands that his own actions harmed his reputation and status in the community. Regardless of what the council has or has not done, Tichinin contracted a bumbling private investigator to follow Tewes while he was in Santa Barbara on city business. The investigator planted two cups of hot chocolate outside Tewes’ hotel room as evidence of the alleged affair and could prove nothing. If it wasn’t such a serious matter, the whole sordid affair would be laughable. Tichinin claims the investigator was an independent contractor and he shouldn’t be held accountable for the investigator’s actions. But who contracted him? And shouldn’t the same logic apply to the city?
So, who’s going to be “the mature adult” here and put their ego aside in order to do the right thing for the taxpayers in Morgan Hill?
Tichinin is not the likely candidate since he has chosen to pursue the matter in court.
A public apology from the Council – with a deal worked out and signed off on beforehand – is the best course of action, considering the city has already spent at least $400,000 of taxpayer money in settlements with Leichter and legal fees. At the very least, the Council should follow through and contact the District Attorney and State Bar Association. If the higher powers are not interested in pursuing an investigation, it will give Tichinin the exoneration he seeks.
The quickest, cleanest and easiest resolution will come if the Council simply swallows hard, smiles and apologizes, leaving Tichinin’s reputation to stand on its own merits.
