OCEANSIDE PAYS OUT $150,000 IN CLAIMS FOR LOSSES

Settlements in 2021 range from harm to business to damage from falling trees

Oceanside paid out nearly $150,000 in settlements in 2021 to compensate people for things ranging from damaged fences and bicycles to business losses and job termination, according to information disclosed under a Public Records Act request.

The city’s financial awards ranged from a low of $28.76 for the owner of a bicycle damaged on city streets to a high of $80,000 plus about $5,000 in accounting expenses that went to a gas station owner after a road closure in front of his business dragged on months longer than expected, keeping customers away.

“They told me this work would be for two weeks,” said Waleid “Willy” Hanna, owner of an Arco station and AM/PM minimart on Douglas Drive. “Then it continued for four months or longer.”

As his fuel sales bottomed out, he called the city and asked what to do. He was advised to file a claim for the lost business.

City officials initially offered him a lower amount as compensation, Hanna said. So he had his accountants do additional work to show how much his business had dropped off during the street closures compared to the same months in earlier years. In the end, he settled for $80,000 paid on April 29, 2021, even though he believes his losses were probably greater.

“I lost more money, but the point is ... they tried to do their best to resolve the issue,” he said. “I cannot complain.” Oceanside City Council member Christopher Rodriguez took an interest in the case and went to the store to talk to him at length about it, Hanna said.

As a result of Rodriguez’s interest and the city’s response to his situation, said Hanna, an investor who lives in Murrieta, he intends to open more gas stations in Oceanside.

Hanna also took an apparent interest in Rodriguez’s political career.

Federal Election Commission records show that on June 14, 2021, he contributed nearly $6,000 to Rodriguez’s campaign for the 49th Congressional District represented by Democrat Mike Levin. Hanna donated $2,900 to the “Rodriguez for Congress” committee and $2,900 to Winred, the national Republican committee that supports Rodriguez and pays for many of his campaign ads.

Government agencies are generally protected from lawsuits by what’s called “sovereign immunity.” However, many agencies have procedures in place for people to file complaints for personal injury or damages caused by government employees or a hazardous condition they created.

Another favorable resolution of a complaint in Oceanside occurred last year after an unusual accident on North Clemente Street outside the residence of Maria Penaflor and her family.

“It was raining and a lamp post in front of the apartment fell on the car,” said Lupe Penaflor, Maria’s sister. “It was totaled.”

Her father called police, and the officers advised him to file a claim with the city. The city issued a check for $4,535, plus $165 for expenses, for a car she said was about 15 years old.

“My dad was grateful,” Penaflor said.

City records offer few details on any of the cases.

One of the smallest checks issued went to Wally Stevens, a retired Marine and longtime Oceanside resident. For many years Stevens was a regular observer and often a speaker at Oceanside City Council meetings, where he addressed issues from residential development to canine care.

Seated in a chair Tuesday in his yard on Maxson Street, Stevens said he told city officials time and again that the trees in the public right-of-way near his house needed to be trimmed, before a dead branch fell and hurt someone.

Then a tree limb plummeted onto his fence and crushed part of it. He filed a complaint for damages, and on Feb. 25, 2021, the city paid him $45.35.

“That was fair,” Stevens said.

Other settlements included $1,000 for unspecified damage to a roof, $1,000 for expenses caused by a sewer backup, $3,805.65 to San Diego Gas & Electric for damage to a gas line, $14,218.26 plus $75 in expenses for something that happened to a 2019 Tesla Model 3, and $19,500 for wrongful termination of a city employee in the accounting office.

Not all complaints result in financial awards. Some, such as a “trip and fall” allegedly resulting in injuries and one claiming excessive force by a police officer, were closed during the year with no monetary settlement. Other cases were unresolved and remain open.

One unresolved case, perhaps with the potential for a large award, was filed by the family of a 68-year-old transient woman who was killed early one morning in September 2020. A tractor drove over her while she was sleeping on the beach during sand replenishment work near the harbor.

Other open cases involve a pedestrian hit by a police vehicle in a crosswalk, someone hurt in a fall from an electric scooter, and damage to a sewer line caused by tree roots.

Cities everywhere have deep pockets and are often the target of financial claims, but a majority of the claims are denied.

More than 80 claims were filed in Oceanside in 2021, according to the city’s records. However, only 33 settlements were awarded during the year, and some of those were multiple awards to the same party.

In Carlsbad, a similar Public Records Act request showed that the city received 71 financial claims totaling more than $74 million in 2021. Of those claims, the city paid only $61,667.35.

The largest settlement by Carlsbad during the year was $7,500, and that went to a person who had filed an injury claim for $250,000.

PHIL DIEHL U-T The owner of this Arco station on Douglas Drive received an $80,000 settlement from the city for business lost because of a road closure.