In Sharing City Attorney Memo, Cate Was Doing His Job

Councilman Chris Cate’s disclosure of a memo written by the city attorney was neither illegal nor improper. It is not a crime to do your job, to request and gather additional information in order to make an informed decision.

By Tony Manolatos ​

Councilman Chris Cate was a policy adviser to then-Councilman Kevin Faulconer when I met him. He was the wonkiest guy in the room then and few at City Hall can match his grasp of public policy today. I recently heard him preface his questions at a City Council hearing by saying, “I’m going to get in the weeds here.”

Cate gets in the weeds because he cares. He believes in what the city is doing. He has a freakish affinity for protecting taxpayers, so you won’t be surprised to learn he reads everything. He studies all sides of an issue before making a decision. He did so as an executive with the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. He did so as a Council representative, and he does so as a City Council member. He has earned the respect of people on both sides of the political aisle because he’s smart and because he’s one of the nicest guys in any room.

​So people were surprised when this affable wonk stepped forward to say he was the one who shared a memorandum from the city attorney that was marked confidential.

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