Chula Vista Metropolis Council to take subsequent step in changing ex-Councilwoman Andrea Cardenas
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (CNS) – The Chula Vista Metropolis Council will Monday take the following step in changing former Councilwoman Andrea Cardenas, who resigned final week amid prices of fraud.
The council should first declare Cardenas’ seat vacant. They’ve 45 days — ranging from the date she resigned, Feb. 19 — to nominate somebody to switch her. Cardenas represented town’s 4th Council District, which covers San Diego County’s second-largest metropolis’s Southwestern quadrant.
Cardenas despatched a memo to colleagues final week saying her choice.
“In an effort to prioritize my psychological well being, and the well being of my neighborhood, I’ve made the very troublesome option to formally resign efficient instantly from my place as Councilmember for our Metropolis’s 4th District,” she wrote. “It has been an honor and privilege to serve my neighborhood and work alongside all of you.”
Cardenas and her brother, Jesus Cardenas, are actually every going through a further cost of grand theft in reference to allegedly taking funds unlawfully from the state’s Employment Growth Division someday between April and December of 2020, in the course of the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Concerning the brand new grand theft rely, Andrea Cardenas’ protection lawyer, Pedro Bernal, mentioned his shopper is accused of making use of for unemployment insurance coverage with out a legitimate cause.
“Like tens of millions of Individuals, she utilized for unemployment insurance coverage throughout that time period and we nonetheless must overview the proof to see if errors had been made,” he mentioned.
The preliminary prices filed final yr stem from allegations that the siblings fraudulently obtained a $176,227 Paycheck Safety Program mortgage in early 2021 supposed for his or her agency, Grassroots Assets, then used the funds on private bills, together with a $33,500 examine to Andrea Cardenas’ Chula Vista Metropolis Council marketing campaign account.
The siblings have pleaded not responsible to all prices.
Cardenas stays on the poll for Chula Vista’s District 4 council seat. Bernal mentioned it was too late to take away her from the poll, however Cardenas is just not actively campaigning.
If the council is unable to make an appointment in the course of the prescribed 45 day time interval, the seat shall stay vacant for the rest of the time period — by December 2024.
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