Roth’s Free Loan, Trips Subject of FBI Inquiry : Probe: Bureau trying to learn if O.C. supervisor repaid gifts from business family with political favors.

SANTA ANA —  The FBI disclosed Wednesday that Supervisor Don R. Roth’s relationship with a local business family is the primary target of an inquiry aimed at determining whether Roth traded political favors for gifts.

“We need to find out if there’s a quid pro quo here,” said Gary Morley, special agent and spokesman for the FBI’s Santa Ana office.

The Times reported last week that Roth received three free trips to Santa Catalina Island since late 1990 and what amounted to an $8,500 interest-free loan through an unusual rental agreement with the Dougher family of Laguna Beach.

A search of county records by The Times on Wednesday revealed that Roth joined the other supervisors in voting four months ago in favor of a condominium project on land owned by that same family.

Roth never listed the trips or the rental arrangement with the Dougher family in his state-required economic disclosure statement. Political finance experts say he was required by law to do so.

Roth declined to discuss the matter Wednesday.

Last week, the supervisor argued emphatically that he saw no need to report the arrangement, in part, he said, because the Doughers had no recent business before the county that he knew of. “All of my years here, they’ve never had anything to do with county government,” he asserted in an interview last Thursday.

But records show that a Dougher-owned company, D & GJ Investments, was one of two firms appealing a land-use question in which the Board of Supervisors overruled its Planning Commission on Dec. 10.

The board voted to approve a 42-unit condominium project on a two-acre site in Midway City. The Doughers have agreed to sell the land to a developer for about $1 million, according to D & GJ co-partner Donald J. Dougher, although it is unclear if the family would retain any interest in the new development. Newport Pacific Development Corp. is to build the project, and was the other appellant.

Roth aide Dan Wooldridge said Wednesday that the supervisor was not aware of the Doughers’ involvement in the appeal, in part because the project is not in his district.

“He has no knowledge of it--no knowledge,” Wooldridge said.

Wooldridge also said the supervisor would have no comment on any inquiry by the FBI into Roth’s contacts with the Dougher family.

In a story last weekend, the Times reported that Roth’s failure to report either the trips or the rental arrangement appeared to violate state law.

During a period of financial difficulties after the breakup of his marriage in mid-1990, Roth moved into a Dougher-owned trailer park in Anaheim but was allowed to defer his rent until after he moved out at the end of 1991, he said. The family owns 10 trailer parks scattered throughout the county.

Roth paid the family $8,500 three months ago for 17 months’ back rent.

Under the state’s 1974 Political Reform Act, elected leaders are required to report all gifts, travel, loans, meals and other amenities provided by constituents above set amounts.

The FBI had previously acknowledged to The Times that the Doughers’ political connections are under investigation, but FBI officials refused to discuss whether Roth was involved in the investigation.

On Wednesday, however, Agent Morley said that the FBI is probing Roth’s political and financial connections to the Doughers. “The focus is that relationship,” he said.

Morley said that questions about alleged non-disclosure of political gifts would be left to local authorities.

Of greater concern to the FBI, he said, are any potential federal violations concerning the exchange of gifts “in return for something by a political official that he can provide because of his position.”

“Why is it that the Doughers are willing to provide trips and things to Mr. Roth?” Morley asked. “Is there an arrangement--a quid pro quo--here?”

The FBI is known to have interviewed at least two people with knowledge of the Dougher companies’ dealings. If the preliminary probe turns up evidence of wrongdoing, Morley said, a full investigation will be launched. He did not know when a decision will be reached.

Morley said he could not comment on which Dougher company projects the FBI is looking at, or whether Roth was involved.

In the Midway City condominium project that came before the supervisors Dec. 10, several county officials, including several supervisors, said they do not recall Roth contacting them about it or exerting influence in the supervisors’ favorable vote.

“I don’t recall any discussion (that Roth had) with me,” said Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who voted for the project. “That would be a great shock, for Don Roth to do something that was wrong on the board--it would startle me.”

The Doughers are still in escrow with Newport Pacific Development Corp. for the Midway City property, which sits next to one of the Doughers’ trailer parks. Newport Pacific plans to reserve nine of the 42 condominiums for affordable housing.

A county planner told the Planning Commission last year that D & GJ Investment would retain control of the built condominiums “until each unit is sold.” But Donald Dougher denied this arrangement Wednesday, saying that “it would have been the greatest deal in the world” had it been true.

The development plan hit a hurdle last Nov. 5 when the Planning Commission rejected the condominium project by a vote of 2-2. Approval required three votes.

D & GJ co-partner Gerard Dougher, who declined to discuss the issue Wednesday, spoke at the November hearing on behalf of the project, records show.

Commissioners Stephen A. Nordeck and Thomas Moody rebuffed him and stalled the project, citing concerns about traffic, noise and neighborhood density.

Recalling the issue Wednesday, former commissioner Nordeck--who was then chairman of the panel--said he opposed the proposal because he wanted to take a broader look at how it would fit into the neighborhood’s development. “What we were saying was, ‘Hey, look, let’s not do this piecemeal,’ ” he said.

But the Doughers and the project developer found a more receptive audience a month later when they appealed the commission’s decision to the Board of Supervisors.

According to minutes of the meeting, Supervisors Roth, Harriett M. Wieder, and Roger R. Stanton--whose district includes the site--all made comments that appeared generally supportive of the project during a hearing.

Several residents spoke against it and local officials also raised “areas of concern” about the project.

“Supervisor Roth spoke of the need for entry-level housing in Orange County,” the minutes show. The Doughers’ appeal won a 5-0 vote from the board, on a motion from Stanton and a second from Wieder.

Times staff writer Jeffrey A. Perlman also contributed to this story.