By Scott Sherman

In a unanimous 8-0 vote, the San Diego City Council voted to amend a settlement between former disgraced Mayor Bob Filner and the CentrePoint apartment complex, now named Blvd63 Apartments located in Rolando.

In 2013, Filner halted ongoing construction of the CentrePoint apartment buildings, a development that was already approved for construction and had all necessary permits.

Filner stopped construction at the Centrepoint project by instructing the city’s Development Services staff to stop conducting inspections on completed phases, which kept the builders from moving to the next steps.

Filner used the power of the mayor’s office to strong-arm the developer into paying $150,000 for neighborhood improvements and agreeing to rental restrictions in what former City Attorney Jan Goldsmith deemed illegal.

This action by Filner was the first of the many controversies that eventually forced him to resign from office.

While it is unfortunate that the city continues to clean up Filner’s mess, the City Council’s recent action restored property rights to the owner and puts the corrupt practices of the Filner era behind us.

I applaud my council colleagues for correcting these mistakes of the past and moving forward from Filner’s blatant misuse of power.

This is a good reminder that big problems happen when elected officials abuse the power of their office. I hope everyone in elected office, local, state or federal will keep this in mind as they continue serving taxpayers.

—San Diego City Councilmember Scott Sherman represents the District 7 neighborhoods of Mission Valley, Grantville, Allied Gardens, Del Cerro and San Carlos.