The city of Del Mar sent a cease and desist letter to Councilmember Dan Quirk over “harassing, derogatory, and otherwise inappropriate remarks” about the city manager and city staff.
The city’s independent counsel sent the letter April 28 following a 2-0 closed session vote the week prior by council Tracy Martinez and John Spelich, with Mayor Terry Gaasterland abstaining. The city attorney announced May 19 that the letter had been sent.
“This letter, approved by just 2 Council , is full of misinformation and is a partisan attack on both my free speech rights and my fiduciary responsibilities as an elected official to ensure that the City is spending millions of dollars in public funds prudently and transparently,” Quirk said via email. “As such, I am considering legal action against the City.”
Quirk was censured last year after an independent counsel investigation concluded that he made “disparaging comments” about city officials, and communicated with city employees in a sometimes “aggressive” way. It also concluded that he sometimes provided his own direction to city staff, undermining the city manager. The censure included a provision that prohibited Quirk from communicating one-on-one with City Manager Ashley Jones or the city attorney.
It was Quirk’s second censure by his council colleagues. The first one was in December 2023 after the council concluded that Quirk repeatedly misrepresented the city’s views on rail policy in the media and other public forums, particularly related to the project to move a stretch of rail off the Del Mar bluffs.
More recently, Quirk has frequently voiced his concerns about city spending on public works projects such as utility undergrounding.
The council has held multiple closed session meetings this year regarding the public statements Quirk has made to the community through his personal newsletter and via email to city employees.
The cease and desist letter cited a March 3 newsletter Quirk emailed about a particular option for financing part of the citywide utility undergrounding project, as the city works to piece together funding with rapidly escalating costs. He wanted more information on why city staff would not a plan to potentially finance one segment of the project without committing to financing a subsequent section. City staff had concluded there would be a relatively small short-term savings, but it would also cause delays that negate the savings due to inflation.
“It was factually wrong for staff to frame it this way and manipulate a policy decision for the (Undergrounding Program Advisory) and Finance Committees, and ultimately the City Council,” Quirk wrote. “The City Council decides policy, not staff.”
The letter also cited a March 5 email with the subject “Del Mar City Manager Calls My Legitimate Complaint about Staff’s Undergrounding Project ‘Uncivil.’”
“What is ‘uncivil’ are the City Manager’s efforts to silence me and influence other Council against me in the discussion on public works projects where we have seen major problems including delays, enormous increases in costs by tens of millions of dollars, and a lack of common sense transparency,” Quirk wrote. “This is much to legitimately criticize.
The cease and desist letter continued, “These remarks involve objectively personal critiques or grievances as to City Manager Jones as well as City staff, which involves harassing, unprofessional, and/or derogatory language.
“While free speech standards may extend to qualifying matters of public concern, these protections have clear limitations,” the letter added. “Public officials do not have the right to engage in conduct that violates California or federal law and/or creates a hostile work environment for City management or staff.”
