Who’s investigating Garofalo

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- With all the investigations centering on Mayor

Dave Garofalo, you need a scorecard to keep them straight. Last week, the

Orange County district attorney’s office and the Orange County Grand Jury

started looking into the mayor’s alleged conflicts of interest, pushing

the number of agencies involved up to three.

The mayor’s votes on business involving advertisers in the Huntington

Beach Conference & Visitor’s Bureau visitors guide, the Chamber of

Commerce Business Directory and the Local News -- each of which he has

been known to publish -- is among the avenues of investigation. Plus,

there’s his 1998 purchase and quick resale of a home in the St. Augustine

development of Holly Seacliff.

FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION

Officials at the Fair Political Practices Commission will not confirm

or deny whether an investigation is underway into Garofalo’s alleged

conflicts of interest. The commission is the state agency that

investigates violations of the Political Reform Act, the state’s

regulations governing conduct in office.

However, the Orange County district attorney’s office said it is

sharing information on Garofalo with the commission.

In addition, a packet asking the state agency to investigate

Garofalo’s voting record on business relating to advertisers in his

publications has been filed by local environmental attorney Debbie Cook.

Cook said she has received confirmation that the agency is looking into

the matter.

City Atty. Gail Hutton said Wednesday that she forwarded information

on the mayor to the state agency and the district attorney’s office.

Hutton said last month that her office would request a formal opinion

from the commission on the following matters:

* whether Garofalo may take part in decisions before the City Council

regarding advertisers who have made payments to Garofalo’s company, David

P. Garofalo & Associates;

* if Garofalo may vote on planning matters related to projects that

are located within 2,500 feet of Garofalo’s house in the 600 block of

Main Street, such as Commercial Investment Management Group’s hotel

project Downtown;

* if the purchase of a home on Poppy Hill Circle in the St. Augustine

development could affect his ability to vote;

* whether Garofalo broke another conflict-of-interest law when his

company received CIM’s $2,995 advertising check and then he voted four

months later to push forward its $46-million Downtown project.

Each violation of the Political Reform Act can carry a minimum $2,000

fine.

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

The district attorney’s office began its own investigation last week,

looking into whether Garofalo violated state conflict-of-interest laws by

voting on behalf of companies with which he had financial relationships.

The district attorney’s investigation was prompted by a complaint

letter and reports in the Independent of the mayor’s involvement with

advertisers doing business with the city, said Tori Richards, spokeswoman

for Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckus.

The severity of the matter will not be known until investigators look

at everything they have, she said. The district attorney’s office can

file criminal charges. Richards said her office is working quickly to

“resolve” the matter as soon as possible.

ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY

The grand jury will not disclose any information on investigations.

All grand jury information is confidential.

However, the Independent has learned that a criminal subcommittee of

the grand jury has launched an investigation into Garofalo’s business

dealings.

An indictment found by the grand jury or information filed by the

district attorney can lead to a felony trial in Superior Court.

According to a document outlining the grand jury’s responsibilities,

if the grand jury determines that Garofalo is guilty of willful or

corrupt misconduct in office, it may present a written accusation against

him, initiating legal proceedings to remove him from office -- even if

the evidence is not sufficient to warrant a criminal indictment.