A radio interview and Facebook post may cost Imperial Beach $50,000.

Earlier this week, Mayor Serge Dedina publicly criticized Coronado for not joining a federal lawsuit to stop cross-border sewage spills during an interview on KPBS’s Midday Edition. The interview happened after a three-day weekend in which Imperial Beach was forced to close its shoreline because of water pollution.

“The city of Coronado, one of the wealthiest cities in the world that has been impacted by this issue, is not doing enough,” Dedina said during the May 28 interview. “They need to join the lawsuit.”

Dedina, who also publicly went after the County of San Diego for not doing enough to stop the spills, went on to say that Coronado has not done enough to help stop the sewage spills that routinely shut down Imperial Beach’s coastline.


“Coronado, again, a city laden with millionaires, with millions of dollars in the bank, tons of money, has done almost nothing to help us and their beaches are almost as polluted as ours,” he said. “It’s not fair that Imperial Beach is left holding the bag.”

Imperial Beach Councilwoman Paloma Aguirre piled it on Tuesday after the mayor’s radio appearance with a Facebook post that said, “We need the City of Coronado and the County of San Diego to stop turning a blind eye to the working-class communities of south San Diego. We need their help to stop the toxic sludge from fouling our beaches, waterways, and parks.”

Those two public comments could violate a $50,000 reimbursement agreement between Coronado and Imperial Beach.

In September 2017, Coronado approved the agreement to cover some of the litigation costs of Imperial Beach’s lawsuit against the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, an international agency that oversees water quality in the Tijuana River Valley.


According to the reimbursement agreement, that money is only distributed when Imperial Beach reaches certain milestones.

For example, Imperial Beach receives $5,000 for filing the complaint, another $5,000 to defend any motion for procedural challenge, and $5,000 to prepare for a settlement conference. However, Imperial Beach has to wait until the completion of the case to get the $25,000 meant to assist with trial costs.

The agreement contains a “No Disparagement” clause that explicitly prohibits Imperial Beach city officials from criticizing Coronado’s approach to the cross-border sewage issue.

“Due to the cooperative nature of this agreement, both the City of Imperial Beach and the City of Coronado, and each of its elected officials, key employees, attorneys, or agents, shall refrain from written or oral comments that in any way publicly disparage, call into disrepute, defame, slander or otherwise criticize the other with regard to its dealings, strategies of dealing with the USIBWC or cross-border sewage issues before, during and after the City of Imperial Beach’s court action against the USIBWC.”


It’s not immediately clear whether Dedina’s interview or Aguirre’s post violate that part of the agreement.

Coronado City Manager Blair King called Imperial Beach City Manager Andy Hall Tuesday night to say he was “very disappointed” in the comments and that members of Coronado’s City Council “were also disappointed,” Hall said.

However, King did not mention the reimbursement agreement, Hall added.

Coronado’s city manager declined to comment Wednesday.


Lifeguards patrol a nearly empty Imperial Beach on Thursday. Recent rains have contaminated the water and closed many of the beaches in the region. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“Thank you for the question,” King wrote in response to an email. “As you might expect, I have no comment in response to Mayor Dedina’s or IB Councilmember Aguirre’s remarks or postings.”

Dedina said he spoke with Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey over the phone Wednesday and they discussed the reimbursement agreement. Dedina declined to disclose details of his conversation with Bailey.

In a written statement, Bailey said he does not plan to join Imperial Beach’s lawsuit.


“While we do not intend to join a lawsuit at this time, we remain focused on our current strategy which has contributed to increased funding from Congress for environmental projects along the U.S.-Mexico border,” he wrote. “The two strategies, legal and diplomatic, both have a role in addressing this issue and we applaud all agencies that are making this a priority.”

Coronado’s mayor declined to answer questions about Dedina’s comments or whether they impact the reimbursement agreement.

City officials in Coronado have previously stated they are pursuing a diplomatic solution to the sewage spills and do not want to risk severing diplomatic ties with Washington, D.C. by joining the lawsuit.

Cross-border sewage pollution forced Imperial Beach to close its coastline during the holiday weekend and Dedina fears the sewage will persist throughout the summer. The comments he made on KPBS reflect his level of concern over the issue.


“I was sharing my frustration about what is now a problem that is out of control and is literally killing our city,” he said. “The frustration that what we are collectively doing is not working.”

“It’s very clear that neither the Mexican nor U.S. governments have any concern about helping us,” he added.

Dedina plans to pressure the Mexican government to invest in infrastructure repairs during an upcoming conference in Los Cabos where he will speak with Mexico’s Foreign Secretary and, possibly, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

