Originally posted at the San Diego Free Press.
By Doug Porter.

Leaders of the local LGBT community will call for the resignation of County Clerk Earnest Dronenburg on Tuesday, presenting documentation they say proves he overstepped his legal authority, violated his oath of office and imposed his religious views on marriage into his non-partisan office.

Following the US Supreme Court decision that effectively overturned California Proposition 8 (banning same sex marriages) last summer, Dronenburg petitioned the state supreme court to issue a a writ of mandate requesting that the state hold off on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Dronenburg said he wanted remove “uncertainty,” telling a reporter from UT-San Diego “I still have a reservation about what happens if in the final decision, the court decides that gay marriages aren’t legal,” he said. “Then we’ve set up all these people to having to tell them that their marriages aren’t legal. I just wanted a time-out.”

Except that wasn’t what was really happening.

After the County of San Diego declined his request for legal backing, Dronenburg reached out to attorney Charles LiMandri, who offered to file the writ at no cost, instead donating $11,240 in legal work in exchange for an agreement awarding him legal fees should their case prevail. Two weeks after filing, the case was withdrawn, supposed because other challenges had been filed.

LiMandri’s name has been synonymous with efforts to oppose same sex marriage over the years. From City Beat:

LiMandri considers himself an expert on “countering the gay agenda,” having served as an attorney for the National Organization of Marriage in the Prop. 8 battles and for the San Diego firefighters who sued the city after being required to march in a Pride parade. More recently, LiMandri launched an attack on University of San Diego for hosting a drag show; he’s currently demanding that the Catholic university forbid its students from doing internships at organizations that support same-sex marriage.

Tomorrow’s mid-day press conference, to be held on the steps of the County Administration Building, comes in the wake of activist Sean Salas public records requests for Dronenburg’s schedule and other communications related to the case.

“This press conference is not being held to make the case that Dronenburg abused his office, we already know he did,” said Salas, “This conference is being held to reveal new revelations of abuse and to call for him to either resign or not seek reelection at all. New content on his involvement has been uncovered.”

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The above is an excerpt from Doug Porter’s daily column.