A controversial development project proposed for southeast National City never broke ground but left a lasting mark on the city, sparking a public records lawsuit and accusations of financial favors among city leaders. 

The project, proposed in April 2024, planned to occupy five vacant lots on the corner of Sweetwater Road and Orange Street, and include a 12-pump gas station, car wash, 24-hour convenience store, drive-through restaurant and five residences. Opponents said the project would be a public nuisance, citing concerns over congested traffic, noise, air pollution and increased alcohol sales. 

The backlash over the proposal has resulted in some accusing National City Mayor Ron Morrison and his assistant, Josie Flores-Clark, of having undue influence in the project’s planning process, given their previous connections with the project’s developer, Adeeb “Eddy” Brikho.

While the project has since been abandoned, it has landed the city in civil court over allegations that Morrison and city staff failed to turn over public documents detailing the development’s communications and plans. 

Over the last few months, the controversy has boiled over at city council meetings.

Micaela Polanco, who filed the lawsuit in January, is one of many people who have spoken out about the project. Polanco co-owns La Vista Memorial Park and Cemetery in Lincoln Acres, just a block from where the development would have been. 

“I’m really appalled [at] how disrespectful and how you minimized and dismissed our concerns and the concerns of the community,” Polanco said during the March 4, 2025, city council meeting. “We have been put through a turmoil, a burden, both emotionally and financially, to enforce public transparency.” 

Developer Eddy Brikho proposed the project on April 29, 2024. Over the following months, he exchanged emails and held meetings with city staff to address requirements and move the process forward. Eventually, the city staff recommended the project for approval, but the Planning Commission denied it on Dec. 2 after dozens of National City residents spoke out in opposition and declared the project a public nuisance. 

Although the Planning Commission had rejected the proposal, city staff — with Morrison’s oversight — placed the item on the Dec. 10 city council consent agenda. Morrison explained in an interview with the Daily Aztec that this was a standard practice to notify the public of the commission’s decision and the staff’s prior recommendation for approval.

However, just a few hours before the vote was set to take place, the developers pulled out.

Attorney Maria Severson, who represents Polanco in the public records lawsuit, said she doesn’t think this last-minute withdrawal was a coincidence. On the morning of Dec. 10, after seeing that the project had been put on the meeting agenda, Severson and her colleagues began making calls to inquire about what happened. 

“It was like it was frantically dropped that day because they didn’t want us looking into it,” Severson said. 

Severson explained that Polanco had spent weeks trying to get records from the city, but the staff kept delaying the release of the records, even after threats of legal action. On Jan. 24, Polanco filed a lawsuit alleging that the city was withholding documents that could reveal possible misconduct by Mayor Morison and city staff. 

“Transparency is essential to uncover potential corruption that may have prioritized financial gain for the proponents and a staff member of the Mayor at the expense of the community’s welfare,” the lawsuit claimed.

Severson also raised concerns about alleged personal relationships between Morrison, Flores-Clark and the Brikho family, and how those connections might have influenced the planning process of the project.

The Brikho family regularly donates turkeys to Morrison and Flores-Clark’s annual Thanksgiving turkey drive in National City. The Brikho family also partnered with Morrison and Flores-Clark to donate hams to Naval Base San Diego.

After the lawsuit was filed, the documents began to trickle in, but Severson said that they still are withholding certain information. 

During the April 1 city council meeting, Morrison denied any wrongdoing and said the search for documents showing otherwise was fruitless. 

“We did not approach this project any different than we have dozens and dozens and dozens of other projects,” Morrison said in the April 1 city council meeting. “I’ve been asked by people all over this county, how do you explain this? And I tell them, I am not qualified to explain it. I’m not a psychiatrist – because this is, this is lunacy.”

Morrison and Flores-Clark did not respond to request for comment before the story was published. However, following the publication, Morrison called the Daily Aztec to provide additional information, including responses to criticisms about his role in the proposed project.

“This whole thing is just ridiculous,” Morrison said. “I never took any financial favors, it was Mika and Luisa (the cemetery’s co-owners) that were demanding favors.”

Councilmember Jose Rodriguez questioned Morrison and his staff on the transparency regarding the project and unsuccessfully tried to create a committee during the April 1 meeting to investigate the issue. Public commenters were divided on whether Rodriguez’s accusations were genuine or a political move to tarnish Morrison, who defeated him in the 2022 mayoral election.

“I think it reeks of lack of accountability within your office,” Rodriguez said to Morrison during the April 1 city council meeting. “It’s an embarrassment for the city.”

During the meeting, Rodriguez brought up the fact that Flores-Clark set up and attended a meeting between the cemetery’s co-owners and the project’s developers, where the cemetery co-owners were offered discounted gas and alcohol in exchange for their support of the project. Polanco said she didn’t accept the deal.

“I don’t believe any other assistant would get the benefit of the doubt from all of these issues continuing to come up, especially from business owners that were friends for two decades. This is not normal,” Rodriguez said.

The records released by the city show that Flores-Clark helped to set up meetings between Morrison, Brikho, and former City Manager Ben Martinez. However, the records do not show specific instances of Brikho proposing financial favors to city officials, nor do they show any city officials accepting favors. 

“Jose will take any opportunity to point fingers at my assistant, but it’s just to get the public’s attention off his own situation with his assistants,” Morrison said in the interview.

Meanwhile, Polanco’s fight for public records continues in state court. A mediation hearing was held on April 29.

This story has been updated with additional information from National City Mayor Ron Morrison.