Defamation case involving former Solana Beach council candidate, current mayor settled after almost six years

A year ago, Solana Beach resident Ed Siegel signed an agreement to pay $775,000 to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by three plaintiffs, including the current Solana Beach mayor, stemming from Siegel’s failed 2016 City Council campaign.

Siegel, a psychiatrist, tried to back out of the settlement months later. He claimed his attorney at the time didn’t fully explain to him that the terms included a $75,000 cash payment and a $700,000 lien on his Solana Beach residence. But a judge ruled in February that Siegel’s signature on the preliminary term sheet required him to follow through.

Still, Siegel refused to sign the longform agreement and other necessary documents.

On April 16, San Diego Super Court Judge Robert Longstreth appointed an “elisor” to intervene. The elisor will act on Siegel’s behalf in signing off on the paperwork to secure the $700,000 portion of the settlement through a lien on his residence. A separate, confidential settlement was also reached with the other defendant in the case, Siegel’s former campaign manager Brian Hall, bringing the nearly six-year-old lawsuit to an end.

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The conflict dates back to 2016, when Siegel was running for an at-large seat on the Solana Beach City Council in the November election. Then-Councilmember Lesa Heebner was not seeking another term. (She returned as mayor in an uncontested 2020 election.) Mike Nichols was in his final term on the council before resigning in 2018 and relocating to North Carolina.

Siegel and Hall, of Brian Hall Properties in Solana Beach, publicly alleged on social media and other forums – even though they presented no evidence – that Heebner and Nichols conspired to give a North County Transit District train station contract to local developer Joseph Balla in exchange for design jobs for both of them on the project.

NCTD had been talking to a group that included Balla about a project at the Solana Beach train station. Solana Beach’s representative on the NCTD board was Jewel Edson, who recused herself from the vote to enter into those negotiations. NCTD and the Balla group ultimately never agreed to a contract.

According to a text message by Hall cited in court documents, Siegel and Hall were seeking “retaliation” against Heebner, who said Siegel was “not electable” during an August 2016 Democratic Party Central Committee meeting.

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Siegel’s campaign ended that November in a last place finish with about 8% of the vote.

Heebner, Nichols and Balla sued Siegel and Hall for defamation in 2017.

Shortly after that, Hall filed anti-SLAPP motions, asking the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that his free speech was being infringed upon, but was denied. The Court of Appeal largely upheld that decision in 2021, siding with Hall only in striking a relatively minor cause of action related to a newspaper ad that made it seem like Heebner supported Siegel’s council campaign.

In April 2021, the California Supreme Court rejected a petition for review that Hall filed.

He and Siegel have maintained separate legal counsel and defenses throughout the case.

In May 2023, Siegel signed a preliminary agreement to pay a $775,000 settlement after mediation sessions led by Steven R. Denton, a former Superior Court judge.

Months later, after parting ways with his attorney, Siegel began representing himself. He refused to sign the longform settlement agreement, prompting the plaintiffs to file a motion for the court to enforce it. The terms were supposed to be confidential, but they became publicly available in court records after the plaintiffs’ attorneys included them with their motion.

Judge Longstreth sided with the plaintiffs following a February hearing.

“Defendant was represented by counsel at mediation, and mediation was conducted by an experienced mediator who is also a former judge,” Longstreth wrote. “Defendant’s later-formed regrets regarding the settlement do not render the Term Sheet unenforceable.”

Siegel still refused to sign the necessary documents, prompting the plaintiffs to petition the court for an elisor to sign them on Siegel’s behalf.

“Dr. Siegel refuses to cooperate and instead of executing the necessary paperwork, he asserts that he is going to continue fighting the matter in court,” the plaintiff’s attorneys wrote in court records.

Siegel argued in an April court filing that he “was manipulated into accepting settlement after an all-day-long mediation and was never involved or included in the drafting of the final settlement document.”

He also tried to argue that the settlement was unenforceable because the plaintiffs did not honor his request to send a joint press release that announced the settlement and promoted a song about Solana Beach that he co-wrote.

But Judge Longstreth again sided with the plaintiffs. Following the ruling to appoint the elisor and the confidential settlement with Hall, the plaintiffs asked the court in mid April to dismiss the case.

Siegel did not respond to requests for comment. Hall said he was traveling and unable to comment until later in May. Heebner and an attorney representing Nichols also declined comment.

“Mr. Balla is pleased that Judge Longstreth has ordered the Elisor so that this matter can finally be resolved after nearly 5 years of litigation,” Dick Semerdjian, an attorney representing Balla, said in an email.

Semerdjian said Siegel is still required to pay the $75,000.