Claiming that La Jolla Town Council President Mary Soriano’s actions “have caused irreparable damage to the … council’s mission, reputation and functionality,” former Vice President Peter Wulff, whom Soriano abruptly removed from the board last month over what she called bylaws violations, officially resigned this week.
After the council’s contentious April 10 meeting, Wulff characterized his termination as “invalid” and “illegal” and stated his intention to attend the May 8 meeting in his belief that he remained the group’s vice president and interim treasurer.
Wulff stuck to his vow to attend the May meeting. But three hours before it, he announced his resignation through his personal email to all of the current trustees, as well as other community leaders and “others that may not be d that are long-standing citizens.”
In the email, which he also sent to the La Jolla Light, Wulff stated that Soriano’s actions are “emblematic of her unilateral and authoritarian leadership.”
He also outlined what he believes are three key areas of concern regarding the Town Council: breaches of business norms, an erosion of the council’s viability and a lack of confidence in its ability to survive.
“It’s sad to see on the 75th anniversary that this entity, in my view, is collapsing,” Wulff told the Light after the meeting. “And my communication was really an outreach to all the other community leaders to facilitate an overall fresh leadership change in order to give this entity a chance to continue on.”
Soriano addressed the situation in the final moments of the meeting, though by that time, Wulff and several others in attendance had left.
“As you all know, we’ve been going through a lot as a La Jolla Town Council in these past intense months,” Soriano said. “And there’s been a lot said.”
Soriano claimed Wulff’s resignation email contained “unfounded allegations” and that “it appears to have been sent or forwarded to an undisclosed distribution list.”
Her dismissal of Wulff in April was done without a board vote. Because the board’s total number of trustees has been less than the minimum of 13 described in the bylaws, there can be no votes on items, according to several sources.
Soriano alleged that Wulff, who was elected in 2023 to return to the board after having served years earlier, violated several bylaws — the first of which she claimed allowed her to immediately terminate him as a trustee and an executive.
• Not properly fulfilling his duties and responsibilities. Soriano said she believes those requirements were “not fulfilled, simultaneously and technically,” because of a lack of governance committee meetings of which he was a chair. Though Wulff was elected to the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board, Soriano noted that did not take place until January.
• Offering his opinion as a representative of the Town Council in a Fox-TV/5 interview about the controversial proposed 239-foot “Turquoise Tower” residential/commercial building in north Pacific Beach. Wulff contended he was not out of line in the interview.
• Requesting that a Feb. 5 meeting in which he expressed a lack of confidence in Soriano’s leadership not be recorded
Wulff previously told the Light that the online meeting was private, while Soriano said it was not.
In a clip of the recording that Soriano showed during the May 8 meeting, Wulff at different points referred to the February gathering as a “private meeting” and “an executive meeting,” though not everyone on the Zoom call was on the executive team.
Board member Ted Holmquist, the group’s parliamentarian, also said in the video that “I don’t think there’s any reason we need to record it. … I don’t think any of our meetings need to be recorded.”
“This is … not all of the infractions, but just one,” Soriano said of Wulff after showing the video. “And this is just kind of the stuff we’ve been dealing with behind the scenes.”
In addition to the bylaws allegations, Soriano has accused Wulff of bullying and condescension.
“We’re hoping this just puts an end to [it] and we can move forward with a new group, with a new spirit,” Soriano said.
“We’re going to leave it to that, and hopefully you can understand,” she added. “Twists and turns and what people say is unfortunate, but please trust in [the] council and know that we are here for the community and we’re going to continue to become stronger from this.”
Soriano reiterated her desire to amend the bylaws, including lowering the minimum number of trustees from 13 to seven.
The Town Council website now lists seven trustees following Wulff’s departure and the recent resignations of Chas. Dye, Charmaine Haworth, Obed Brefo and Seth Cohen.
Dye and Haworth both resigned shortly after the April 10 meeting, with Dye saying “trustees have little or no input into the [council’s] priorities and activities” and Haworth saying it lacked “team-centered leadership.”
Soriano said four candidates for the next board election have emerged thus far, and she hopes for four more by August. To be eligible for a seat, candidates must attend at least three Town Council meetings in the 12 months before the election and have a principal place of residence or business in the 92037 ZIP code.
Other Town Council news
Trash fee presentation: Jeremy Bauer, assistant director of the San Diego Environmental Services Department, gave a presentation at the May 8 meeting about the city’s plans to start charging a fee for trash collection at single-family homes.
The City Council voted 6-3 last month to advance the trash fee proposal to a hearing on Monday, June 9. The latest projected cost for full-service customers is $47.59 per month.
An initial proposal of $53 announced in February triggered sticker shock and anger among many residents, especially in light of preliminary projections of $23-$29 per month before city voters approved Measure B in 2022, paving the way for a fee.
Some City Council have expressed reservations about the city’s trash plans, and “nothing is final until that vote on June 9,” Bauer said.
Local residents give their on trash collection services and a new fee
In addition, state law will not allow the new fee to be imposed if more than half of the estimated 233,000 affected households submit protest cards before the June 9 hearing. The city mailed out the cards last month.
Next meeting: The La Jolla Town Council next meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at the La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. Learn more at lajollatowncouncil.org. ♦
