Accusation of impropriety made by Hawaiian Gardens councilman

Councilman Bruce attempts to censure Mayor Farfan and Mayor pro tem Oyama-Canada for releasing "closed packets", vote fails 3-2.


By Jerry Bernstein

Accusations of impropriety by Hawaiian Gardens Mayor Victor Farfan and Mayor Pro Tem Michiko Oyama-Canada for giving “closed packets” to the City Administrator and City Attorney were issued by Councilman Barry Bruce at the Feb. 23 meeting of the city council.
Bruce said the council should have discussed it before the packets were given to anyone else. He and Councilman Reynaldo Rodriguez were not consulted. Canada said neither was Councilman Mike Gomez. She didn’t believe the action was out of order. If there is possible legal action to be taken, the City Administrator and City Attorney need to know about it, she said. Despite this, Bruce moved that they be censured. The motion failed in a 3-2 vote.
The packets were given to the council members at their Dec. 8 meeting by former City Attorney John Cavanaugh at which time he stated it included concerns that led to his resignation. He recommended the council review the information and take appropriate action.
The Council met in closed session and agreed to put it on the council’s agenda for its next meeting. However the Mayor pro tem, after reading the material, turned her packet over to the city administrator. She said if there was the possibility there might be legal action taken, he should know about it. Mayor Victor Farfan gave his copy to City Attorney Omar Sandoval for the same reason.
On Jan. 12, the council had waived the attorney-client privilege and instructed the City Attorney to forward the packet to District Attorney Steve Cooley. In a letter to the City Council dated Feb. 8, and after reviewing the contents of the packet and charges, Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said that Assistant Building Official did not commit perjury. This was related to a August 20, 2009 declaration and whether a “conflict of interest” existed.
Huntsman said the accused who served as Assistant Building Official for the city performed the function of a public official in all ways except for being paid through a third party firm which contracts with public agencies to provide staff.
The Deputy District Attorney said on Aug. 20, 2009 the accused declared under penalty of perjury, “I am an Assistant Building Official for the City of Hawaiian Gardens” and, “I began working for the city in the Building and Safety Department as an Assistant Building Official on or about November 2006.” Huntsman said the statements were valid and at no time did he deny being paid through an agency.
He said from the facts no perjury was committed by the accused calling himself an “Assistant Building Officer. The same holds true for the former city attorney, John Cavanaugh, to call himself “City Attorney”. Each serves as a pubic official and is bound to lawfully discharge the functions of their office even if their paycheck does not bear the city seal. He concluded by stating the District Attorney’s office sees no reason to inquire further as to any allegations of perjury by the accused in his August declaration.
Cavanaugh also raised the question of there being a “conflict of interest” by the accused who is a paid member of ICC, a non-profit trade organization for public building inspectors that also sells reports regarding building materials. In his letter, the Deputy District Attorney said membership is common among public officials and the accused does not receive any income from the organization or serve in any decision-making capacity. ICC has one major competitor for the production of such reports, also a non-profit trade organization, IAPMO.
In his capacity as Assistant Building Officer, the accused promulgated a policy providing that the city would not accept reports regarding the suitability of building materials from IAPMO. On Oct. 19, 2009, lawyers from IAPMO sent a letter to Cavanaugh stating that because of the accused membership in ICC, it caused his decision to be “tainted by a conflict of interest.” However, under state code a conflict of interest occurs when there is proof of a financial interest in the outcome of the matter in the form of a source of income to the public official and requires a government contract that is absent here.
The D.A. said the accused did not appear to receive any income from ICC and pays ICC for the privilege of being a member, which provides him specified fixed benefits primarily the right to cite his membership among his qualifications and certain small discounts. The District Attorney’s office could find no conflict of interest and sees no reason to inquire further as to allegation of criminal conflict of interest in his decision to exclude IAPMO reports.
Bilingual Service
In other business the council acting on a proposal by Councilman Bruce unanimously agreed to set up an English-Spanish bilingual interpreting service for city council meetings at an annual cost of $33,700.
The program will include two professional interpreters who will be on duty during the council meetings, which will be recorded and within three days; the meeting will be on the web sight and cable and be televised in Spanish. For those residents attending the council meetings headsets will be provided upon request with an interpreter providing the translation simultaneously.
The council also voted to limit the council meetings, which begin at 6 p.m., to a maximum of three hours with no new business after 9 p.m. Items on the agenda that cannot be addressed would be carried over to the next council meeting or considered at a special meeting if urgent. The council hopes to begin the new program at the second meeting in March, depending on the time it takes to purchase and install the necessary equipment.
Survey
The council voted 3-2 to solicit proposals for a police customer service survey. Voting for the survey was Mayor Victor Farfan, and Councilmembers Barry Bruce and Reynaldo Rodriguez. Mayor pro tem Michiko Oyama- Canada and Councilman Mike Gomez voted against it.
Gomez said a report had already been done and there was no need for a second report. However Bruce said the report did not survey the residents, which he said was needed. He said the report was limited to the Sheriff Department. The City Administrator and the former Assistant City Administrator authorized the report. Bruce said if the results showed the residents were satisfied with the present law enforcement in the city he would be satisfied. However, if it showed the majority was not satisfied, then the city had a problem.
City Clerk Sue Underwood pointed out not every resident in Hawaiian Gardens would be approached. Such surveys are usually done on a random basis.
In other business the council voted to donate $5,000 to the Hawaiian Gardens Little League.