News Scrapbook 1988

Los Angeles.CA (Los Angeles Co .) Times (San Diego Ed.) (Cir . D. 50,010) (Cir. S. 55,573) MAY 2 6 1988

Los Angeles.CA (Los Angeles Co.) Times (San Diego Ed.) (Cir. D. 50,010) (Cir. S. 55,573) MAY 2 6 1988

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P'. C. B f11 . I UI I Advise s Clash Over Exemptions in Pt,Ii lo Protect Sensitive Lands By Jff ~RMJ.MOLINO. Times Staff Writer EnVJronmentallsts and develop- rs on a $an Otego advisory panel full-strength proposal before vot- ers this year but failed to gather the necessary signatures on nomi- nating petitions.

Paso Robles , CA (San Luis Obispo Co.) Press (Cir. SxW. 4,173)

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San Diego CA (San Diego Co ) Sa!1 Diego Uni~n (C!r. D. 217,089) (Crr. S. 341,840) MAY 24 1988

"It's going to be obvious to the City Council and to the general j public, which will see this as a i developer's proposal," Navarro said. Peterson defended the changes he suggested. "The people who sponsored the sensitive-lands 1mtiative treat it as if it is the Bible."' he said. "Because they promulgated it, lhey feel it is gospel. ... They feel \they have the truth. "The fact is there are many of us on the committee who do not feel it is the truth," Peterson said. "There are pulls and tugs, and they are the property rights of homeowners and developers." At Peterson's urging, the com- mittee adopted language in the proposal that used the word vari- ance instead of ezemption for any project excused from a part of the provisions of the proposal. Choice of Word Challenged. · 1'. Environmentalists took issue , with that, saying the word variance 1s purposely softer than ezemption, which they used in the original initiative text. "I would much rather have the word e::emption," Kreitzer said during panel debate. "Variance sounds like a pat on the dernl!re. &emption sounds like you're being carved with something." Lynn Benn, a city Planning ii Commission member and local en - : vironmentalist, also moved to have , • words such as feaswle and substan • L tial removed from the proposal. She • and other environmentalists ar- gued those words provided the -; "wiggle room" for developers and I, land-use attorneys to get around 0 ' the intent of the measure. p But that move was voted down I ii as wen. During discussion. land- use attorney Jim Milch argued, "I don't believe these words are wig- gle words any more than sensitive." The committee is schedule to 1- meet June 1 and June 8 before t handing the blueprint over to the a City Council. , Another key battleground- ; whether development proJects in ' the so-called planning pipeline r should be excused from the sensi- tive-lands prov1sions-w1ll be dis- cussed at the next meeting of the panel. __I: I E i •

~an Diego Sports et Cetera Walters Is Free Agent After Charger Move ..:u:;:::;-:-- The tna,ger~ have terminated western Co11ege, were on the sec- club rights" to cornerback Danny and team. . Walters, making him a free agent, Brown (9-3 with a 2.53 earned- the team said Wednesdsay. run average) was named the con- By terminating the club rights, ference's newcomer of the year.

MAY 2 6 1988

clashed Tue day over key elements a! a proposal to protect sensitive land!! from w-ban growth. "rh point that aroused lhe most cruoUon dunng the meeting of lhe C!tiz ns' AdVlsory Comnuttce on Growth and Development was lhe recommendation as to how lhe City Council should grant exemptions apd vanances from the proposal, which was written to protect flood plains, wetlands, significant arche- ological ites and animal habitats from ncroachmg dev lopment. Envlronm ntalists and slow- growth advoc tes wanted to make 1t difficult for developers to obtain xcmpt1ons by asking lhe council to require a seven-vote maJonty for uch move. That number would constitute a "super vote" of the nine-member counctl. nsry Over Compromi e But land-use attorney Paul Pe- t rson counter d by asking the comm1tte • to con 1d r askmg the council to use a simple maJonty of five votes. Ev ntually. th commtttee struck a comprom1se-1t recom- m nd d that th council use a s1X-vot minimum to grant exemp- tions. But th, t middle ground stJII anger d th ardent slow-growth memb rs on the panel. and they I m nt d that the environmentally ens1t1ve I nds propo al was being rum d. "I hmk they [developers) are trying to hoid down. reduce the effects of this measw- ," . aid Dave Kreitzer. a committee memb r and cna1rman of San D1 gans for Man- ag d Growth. the group that came up with the ,iens1tive-lands mea- sure. "It is to their advantage to water 1t down s much as possible," Kreitzer sa,d. "What's happened so far 1s not v ry encouraging." The scns1t1ve-lands proposal would shap the way San Diego grows by restnctmg development of more than 40.335 acres of slopes and 7.653 acres of flood plams and c6astal wetlands that make up bQut 25% of the city's acreage. Ther are no figures for how much of that land remains undeveloped. San D1e~ans for Managed Growth ongmally hoped to put the

The group decided to forward its measw-e to the city's Growth and Development Committee, asking the panel to incorporate 1t as part of an updated bluepnnt on how San Diego should grow. The group, consisting of devel- opers, community representatives and slow-growth advocates, has been hashing over the details of lhe blueprint for more than a vear. It is 'It's going to be obvious to the City Council and to the general public, which will see thls as a developer's proposal.' Panel member Peter Navarro expected to fimsh its w·ork next month and send the results to the City Council for approval and a subsequent spot on the Nov. 8 ballot. City officials are hopmg the bluepnnt will be popular enough to defeat a much harsher rival mea- sure that will also be on the November ballot. Sponsored by Citizens for Limit- ed Growth, the nval measure calls for a tough limit on the number of new homes, apartments and condo- miniums that can be built in San Diego unless local government meets a number of environmental and slow-growth cnteria-such as construction of a $1.5-billion waste-water treatment plant. After Tuesday's committee meeting, however. environmental- ists warned that the changes sug- gested by land-use attorney Peter- son and backed by development interests on the c1t1zens panel could backfire. 'A Developer's Propoul' "I think Peterson's making a senous mistake," said Peter Na- varro, a panel member, slow- growth advocate and economics professor at the University of San Diego. _:..---

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Clean house JctsrGJ · After much pushing and pullmg, the Legislature appears to be serious about imposing a tougher discipline system on the State Bar of California. The reform is long overdue. Last week, the Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously approved two measures that would prod the lawyers to police themselves. AB 4391, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, 0-San Francisco, would increase annual State Bar membership dues by more than 50 percent to pay for the comprehensive reforms called for in SB 1498 by Sen. Robert Presley, D-Riverside. Most of these reforms were crafted by Robert Fellmeth, a professor of law at the University of San DieJW and director of the school's Center for Public Interest Law. Fellmeth was appointed by the state attorney general last year to study the State Bar's lax disciplinary system and to make recommendations to the Legis ature. His subsequent reports underscored the need, already well-known, to put the legal profession's discredited house in order. The Fellmeth criticisms predictably prompted howls from State Bar officials who would now have us believe their organization is actually going after the bad guys in their ranks. In truth, the discipline system is bogged down for want of adequate funds and personnel. For example, there is a backlog of more than 2,000 cases that warrant immediate attention. The office of trial counsel lacks the resources to handle special cases, such as referrals from prosecutors of attorneys convicted of crimes. A panel of salaried administrative judges is required to resolve cases against unscrupulous lawyers in a timely manner so they do not continue to prey on innocent victims. The proposed reforms would address these specific problems as well as expand the legal authority to discover attorney misconduct, enhance interim suspension power and increase monitoring of attorney malpractice. In short, the revamped discipline system goes far toward ensuring that unethical lawyers in this state are held strictly accountable for their misdeeds. Actually, most Califonia attorneys would benefit from a tougher discipline system. Besides improving the profession's tarnished image, higher standards could pare the malpractice insurance premiums, which have increased from $1,500 to $5,000 since 1985. All the more reAson that honest attorneys should welcome these reforms. The Legislature, which came close to establishing an independent commission last year to clean up the legal profession, has before it two bills that would achieve that objective. They should be approved and signed by the governor into law. /

the Chargers allow Walters to negotiate with other teams. The Chargers also may still negotiate with Walters, but Walters' agent, Jim Steiner of St. Louis, said he doubted that Walters would return to the Chargers. "It's probably best for Danny and best for the club that he moves on," Steiner said. "The last few years, 1t has become clear to Danny that the coaches did not believe he could play in San Diego." Walters, '2:7, was a fourth-round draft choice out of Arkansas in 1983 and played five seasons with the Chargers. He played in 12 games and started 5 last season but was replaced in m1dseason by Elvi Patterson. Walters underwent drug rehabilitation in 1984, and a cocaine possession charge again t him was suspended in October when he agreed to undergo cou:1- seling in a court-approved pro- gram. Walters could not be reached for comment. COLLEGE FOOTBALL San DiP.go State has signed a contract to play lllinois in a home- and- home series starting in 1996. said Athletic Director Fred Miller The Aztecs will play at Illinois m 1996. and the Illini will play in San Diego in 2000. '!'he schools have never met in football. COLLEGE BASEBALL Five San Diego State players were named to the All-Western Athletic Conference baseball team. Freshman outfielder Jeff Barry, senior shortstop Steve Montejano and junior pitcher Rob Brown were named to the first team. Sophomore outfielder Bill Miller, a Bonita Vista High School graduate, and junior third baseman Lance Pinnell, who went to Valhalla High and South-

D University of San Diego catcher Dave Rolls was named to the NCAA Academic All-American second team. Rolls, a senior, was recognized for having 3.22 grade- point average m business adminis- tration and for being named the West Coast Athletic Conference's player of the year. Rolls batted .374 and set school season records for home runs (18), RBIs (70) and walks (57) on a team that fim hed 28-28. ------------- Skip Redondo, men's coach al San Diego State, has resigned to accept a position as head pro and tennis manag r for Le Meridien • D The Point Loma Nazarene dou- bles team of Melinda Ainsley and Traci Reynolds was eliminated in the third round of the NAIA na• tional women's tenms champion- ships in Overland Park, Kan. Ain- sley and Reynolds were defeated by Radikha Krishnan and Xan Halog of the University of Texas- Permian Basm, 6-4, 6-3. WOMEN'S COLLEGE GOLF The United States Intemalional University golf team was 17th after the first of four rounds of the NCAA women's championships in Las Cruces, N.M. USIU's top player was Allison Shapcott, 47th after she shot 77 on the par-74, 6,084• yard New Mexico State golf course. Eva Dahllof shot a 6-under-par 68 to take the lead for Oklahoma State, which led the team competi- tion by 6 strokes at 291. USIU was at 317. HI''"' · <"' ., " , thletic Direc- tur Freu, uler ~aid. TENNIS

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Santa Maria CA (Santa Barbara Co) Santa Maria Times (Cir. D 18,683)

Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Co.) Los Angeles T imes (Orange County Ed .) (Cir. D. 181 ,789) (Cir. S. 2 19,295) 1

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Daily Transcrirt (Cir. D. 7,415 MAY 23 1988

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"'SurveyTells Inside Story Of S.D. Paraleg~s The n~i of paralegals_ still the University of San Diego and The _average salary is $25,900 ,

Part II /Tuesday, May 31, 1988 R

Long overdue cleanup of Bar

Mother Teresa to Be Honored by USD Be ore Tijuana Trip By H.G. REZA, Times Sta,!f Wfter TIJUANA-Churk J ff~ ial( "Mother says that we are only a here are busy making last-minute drop in the ocean.... We can preparations for a brief visit by only help a little bit, but the little Mother Teresa, who is expected to help we give is often a Jot to the arrive this afternoon and will ap- people who receive it," said Sister pear at a Mass on Wedne_s~ay to _be S~lm t, who, in addition to speaking celebra_ted by Bishop Em1ho Berhe. · Hmdu and English, also speaks _Officials from the Diocese of flawless Spanish. "In Tijuana, peo- T1Juana are expecting a standing- pie are poor, but they get more help room-only crowd at the Bullring than the poor in Mexico City." by the Sea when Bishop Berli~ In Mexico City, the M1ss1onaries celebrates Mass at 3 p.m. The of Charity work with the basureros diocese has given out thousands of (trash people), who live on the free tickets to local residents so edge of the city's garbage dumps they can attend Wednesday's Mass. and depend on the trash thrown b.i, Also today, an overflow crowd of others to eat and survive. Sister about 5,500 is expected to attend a Selma said U.S. groups bring food cerem,ony at the Un_1vers~ San and clothing to the order's house in Diego s Torero Stadium, where Colonia Postal on a regular basis. 78-year-old nun will receive an "We live on divine Providence," honorary degree for her work with Sister Selma said. "Jesus has been the poor throughout the world. very good to us. What we get, we Mother Teresa, the 1979 Nobel give to the poor." Peace Prize winner, is expected to Mother Teresa was born Agnes addre~s the crowds ' in San Diego Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Alba- and T1Juana. . nia, which is now part of Yugosla- After the San Diego ceremony, via. After Joining the Sisters of scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and Loretto in 1928 she worked in run for 90 minutes, Mother Teresa Ireland and the~ in India where will be driven to Tijuana, where she she founded the M1ssion~nes of will pend about 36 hours. She will Charity in 1950. There are now stay m one of Tiju;:,,-na's poorest more than 50 schools, orphanages neighborhoods with members of and houses for the poor in more her M1ss10nanes of Charity order, than 30 countries. She has received who work with the poor, sick and many awards for her work, includ- homeless. Mother Teresa was last ing the Pope John XXIII Peace 1n S'.3-n Diego m 1960. Prize in 1971 and the Presidential S1st~r Selma, one of four nuns Medal of Freedom in 1985. who mm1stcr lo local residents, said The order is building a shelter for th~y are .~.agerly awaiting ·•Moth- the sick and homeless in Colonia er s v1~1l. Sister Selma, a native of Murua, but Sister Selma said she India, Joined the order 13 years ago doesn't know when it will be and worked with Mexico City's completed. Meanwhile, the nuns poor_for fl~e years before arri ving try to meet the spiritual needs of m Tijuana m February. T_wo other the people who live in Tijuana's nuns a:e also from India and a poor areas and to distribute food third, ~ister Gabriel, 1s from Penn- and clothing that the order collects sylvama. from Americans. :2:J

with a high of over $48,000 and a low of less than $15,000. For 43 persons with less than two years experience the starting pay ranged • 40 got an annual bonus m the $50 to $500 range and four got them between $6,000 and $8,000. • Most (134) attend ell,ucational seminars, 80 want to work one to five years (77 more said perma- nently), and 128 don't want to get a • 103 beli~ve legal_ assistants should be certified, an issue which continues to generate controversy. f:om $18,000 to $21,999. . law degree.

UC-San Diego Extension.

heavily female - continues to grow in San Diego; average salary is $25,900; more and more are re- quired to produce a set amount of billable hours, the majority bill be- tween $45 and $70 an hour, and six have their law school tuition paid by the firm. These are just some of the statis- tics from the sixth annual survey on the status of legal assistants produced the San Diego Associa- tion of Legal Assistants. The survey, which didn't come out last year, was released last week. Questionnaires were sent to SDALA's 235 members as well as many non-members in the county. A total of 228 persons responded, including 211 fu11-time, 11 part- time and 6 freelance paralegals. SDALA secretary Marion Vomhof, who works in the legal department at the Hotel de! Coro- nado, chaired the survey commit- tee with help from Martha Nielsen of Circuit, McKellogg, Kinney & Ross. Nielsen was the architect of the project, which began with one to two pages of questions and has grown with the addition of ideas from around the state and country. Compensation and salary were of primary interest during the initial years, although benefits, billable hours and responsibilities have become increasingly important. The 1987-88 survey was broken down into five areas: personal data, employer data, working conditions, compensation and goals. Some highlights: • 215 respondents were female; 13male. • 160 were between 26 years of age and 40, with 62 of those be- tween 31 and 35. • 135 had a hachelor's degree; 13 had either a law degree or some l>tw school. "A bachelor's degree is the trend," said Nielsen. • 183 paralegals graduated from some paralegal program. The primary ones in San Diego are at l

• Only 21 had been paralegals for more than 10 years, while 103 had been employed up to three years. Personal contact (71), resume (54) and classified ad (42) were how most obtained their job. • The overwhelming number (142) were employed by a locally based law firm although 31 were in branch offices here; 29 were with corporations, 12 with banks. Paralegals are finding work in corporate legal department.<;, trust departments of banks and claims divisions of insurance companies, said Nielsen, signaling what may be a trend to go outside law offices. • All size firms use paralegals, from 25 in one- to two-attorney firms to 36 in firms with more than 60 lawyers. • As for an increase in the number of legal assistants, 123 said yes, 17 noted a decline and 74 indicated it stayed the same. • Litigation (143), corporate (45) and real estate (32) were the most popular areas, although tradi- tionally, said Nielsen, estate plan- ning (9)/probate (22) was in the top three. • The majority (137) have their own office; 91 share a secretary with an attorney; 155 have busi- ness cards; 103 attend attorney staff meetings; 123 are required to produce a set number of billable hours; 80 are expected to bi11 be- tween 1,400 and 1,700 hours an- nually, and 138 bill between $45 and $80 an hour. "I'm surprised that 105 have no billable hours," said Nielsen, noting that the rule of thumb for law fi.rm associates and paralegals is to bill three times the base sala- ry to be considered profitable for a fi rm.

overdue. fter ~ cf pushing and pulling, the Legislature appears to be ser1ous about imposing a tougher discipline system on the State Bar of California. The reform is long Last week, the Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously approved two measures that would prod the lawyers to police themselves. AB 4391, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, D-San Francisco, would increase annual State Bar membership dues by more than 50 percent to pay for the comprehensi~e reforms called for in SB 1498 by Sen. Robert Presley, D-R1verside. Most of these reforms were crafted by Robert Fellmeth, a professor of law at the University of San Diego and director of the school's Center for Public In~St Law. f'ellmeth was appointed by th~ s~at_e attorney general last year to study the State Bar's lax d1sc1plmary system and to make recommendations to the Legislature. His subsequent reports underscored the need, al- ready well-known, to put the legal profession's discredited house in order. The Fellmeth criticisms predictably prompted howls from State . Ba_r ~fficials who would now have us believe their organizat10~ is_ a~tually going after the bad guys in their ranks. In truth, the d1sc1phne system is bogged down for want of adequate funds and personnel. For ~xampl~, there is _a backlog of more than 2,000 cases that • warrant immediate attention. The office of trial counsel lacks the resources to handle special cases, such as referrals from prosec~tors.of a~torneys _convicted of crimes. A panel of salaried administrative Judges 1s required to resolve cases against unscrupulo~s lawyer~ i~ a timely manner so they do not continue to prey on innocent victims. The proposed reforms would address these specific problems as_ well as expand t~e legal authority to discover attorney , m1sc_on~uct, enhance interim suspension power and increase ~on_1to_rmg of attorney malpractice. In short, the revamped d1sc1plme system goes far toward ensuring that unethical lawyers , in this state are held strictly accountable for their misdeeds Actual_ly,. ~ost California attorneys would benefit f;om a toug~er d1_sc1plme ~ystem. Besides improving the profession's : ~rnished 1mag~, higher. standards could pare the malpractice , insurance premiums, which have increased from $1 500 to $5 ooo since 1985. All the more reason that honest atto;neys sh~uld welcome these reforms. The Legislature, which came close to establishing an inde- penden! commi,ssion last year to clean up the legal profession, has before 1t two bills _that would achieve that objective. They should ), be approved and signed by the governor into law. (

LawBriefs by Martin Kruming

The survey is free to SDALA members; $5 for non-members. Make a check payable to SDALA and send it to Marion Vomhof, 8387 University Ave., La Mesa, 92041. For more information call Vomhoff at 522-8105. * * *

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