City questions Gaslamp Quarter Association leader amid Comic Con ad controversy

The Gaslamp Quarter Marquee is iconic to the heart of San Diego.

Right now, it’s also at the center of controversy that’s not only threatening to end the contract between the city of San Diego and the Gaslamp Association, but it also questions whether the head of the Gaslamp Quarter Association accepted money he shouldn’t have.

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A copy of the letter the city sent to the Executive Director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association, Michael Trimble was posted by Voice of San Diego, who first broke the story.

The letter lays out claims related to breach of contract and illegal ad installations placed on the Gaslamp Marquee like the avengers advertisement during Comic-Con.

If the allegations are found true, the city writes it would give them grounds to terminate their contract with the Gaslamp Quarter Association, also known as the GQA.

Attached to the letter are what the city claims are pieces of evidence.

They include a bank statement for a June 30 payment of $10,000 from a company called “Big Outdoor”.

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There are also meeting minutes from earlier in the month, showing what appears to be the Association’s Board of Directors directing Trimble to finalize the contract with Big Outdoor for the Comic-Con activation.

NBC 7 reached out to Trimble who denied the city’s allegations.

In a statement he said in part, “GQA did not give big outdoor unilateral authority to install the Comic-Con activation, nor did GQA ever represent that it had authority to substitute its approval for a city permit.”

As to the payment allegation, Trimble said it had nothing to do with the Comic-Con activation saying in part, “The 10,000 was a regular payment associated with the separate advertising program.”

The letter asks Trimble to submit agreements the Gaslamp Quarter Association made with the ad companies involved in the installation.

It also gives him until October 9^th, roughly two weeks, to submit a formal response to the city.

Trimble also stated he was disappointed with the response time he’s been giving stating the city presented the allegations to media before he had an opportunity to review the record with counsel and respond.

A spokesperson for the City told NBC 7 they, “told this contractor weeks before the event that they were not allowed to install anything on the Gaslamp Quarter sign… and when they started to install they directed them to safely remove it.”