Sweetwater Attorney Warns Critic in Dispute With School Board Member

A letter to a South Bay publication has led an attorney for the Sweetwater Union High School District to accuse a board critic of defaming a school board member.

Attorney Daniel Shinoff warned Kevin O'Neill regarding his July 5 letter to TheStarNews.com, which covers Chula Vista and National City. The message concerned O'Neill's criticism of board member John McCann, a Navy reservist.

In the letter, according to The Star News, O'Neill, who helps oversee bond spending in the district, compared McCann's service in the Navy with his duties on the board.

“The ready abandonment by a Reserve Naval officer of his duty station (the Board meeting of 17 June) to pursue a bogus agenda — ‘theft’ of a $2.50 three-year-old campaign sign is repugnant,” O'Neill wrote, the report said.

McCann accused O'Neill of libel, while O'Neill said district resources shouldn't be used to defend McCann.

The latest dispute is part of an escalating war of words between McCann and O'Neill, who the board member accused last month of stealing a campaign sign from him.

Chula Vista police were called to take a report after O'Neill waved the sign at a Sweetwater board meeting.

In addition, O'Neill, through an attorney, the report said, has called on the school board to censure McCann, a request the board member dismissed as frivolous.