"...stopping non-essential spending." Mayor Todd Gloria 1/15/2025
by Bob Levis, homunculus.us
I am writing today as a proposed principal in a memorandum of understanding (MOU), regarding the Johnson Family Properties centered on the acknowledged Kumeyaay Tribal land.
I was present at the San Diego Court proceeding on January 8, 2025. I witnessed a huge sigh of relief after Mr. Jimmie W. Johnson and Taisha Hernandez, his daughter and POA (Power of Attorney), were granted a continuance until April 11th. This continuance will give Taisha ample time to file an agreed-upon conservatorship for her father and his estate. The tension in the courtroom was palpable as Judge Marcella O. Mclaughlin silenced all parties while she reviewed the court filings. These filings included a request to change receivers, the power of attorney paperwork, and documentation regarding her father Jimmy Johnson's mental state. It must have finally been clear to the judge that the family has been under duress for over a decade. Mr. Johnson's wife, Ernestine, rapidly declined after retiring from many years of teaching at Lincoln High School and finishing at Clairemont High. She found it increasingly difficult to handle the pressure of maintaining the properties and the family's finances, particularly after having been forced to pay $40,000 for the first abatement levied against their property. The vacant land in Council District 9 attracted homeless veterans and their band of brothers/sisters. Mr. Johnson, an elderly disabled Vietnam veteran, was sympathetic to their plight.
Mr. Johnson lacked adequate legal counsel, which allowed the city to attach more abatements and a permanent injunction using the accumulation of debris as justification. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's health continued to decline. Their doctors insisted they try and reduce the stress of their living conditions, but the constant harassment took a toll.
Ernestine Johnson passed away in 2019 after battling Alzheimer's disease. The city aggressively applied pressure to pay property taxes and liens and, in some cases, unconstitutional infractions were forced upon Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's properties without any concern for their noted mental conditions. Jimmy W. Johnson was admitted into a senior nursing facility where he resides today. He signed over his power of attorney to his eldest daughter Taisha who attempted to work peacefully with the city. She diligently kept letters of agency (LOAs) and made an official Request for Extra Patrol. Despite these good faith efforts, the city has been slow, seemingly even reluctant, to work with her. Subsequently, real estate agents began circling, looking to acquire the prime San Diego acreage at a low price. One such individual, knowing Taisha held her father’s power of attorney, even went to the post-acute senior nursing facility where Mr. Johnson resides and attempted to get him to sign over the deed to his property without Taisha's presence. This has made her wary, and she questions paying a receiver $9,000 dollars a month for securing her own property. She smells a scam. So do I.
Over the next few months, we will see who will be chosen to develop the properties, which comprise three lots and several parcels, many of which have a pleasant view overlooking downtown San Diego and the Coronado Bridge. I will provide regular updates on this situation.
