Grand jury, district attorney’s office launch Garofalo probes

Theresa Moreau

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange County Grand Jury and the district

attorney’s office join the Fair Political Practices Commission in

conducting separate probes into alleged conflicts of interest involving

Mayor Dave Garofalo.

The agencies are looking into Garofalo’s votes involving advertisers

in his publications and also the purchase and quick sale of a home.

Garofalo has denied any wrongdoing.

The grand jury investigation was prompted by letters from locals Susan

Newman and Debbie Cook, longtime Garofalo critics.

Newman sent her letter to the panel July 12 to request an investigation of Garofalo and the former grand jury headed by Garofalo

friend Phil Inglee. Newman had asked the former grand jury in October to

review possible conflicts of interest involving the mayor, but the panel

refused.

Then on July 14, Cook sent a letter to the panel asking for an

investigation. Both women received a memo last week from jury foreman

Joseph Gatlin stating that their concerns will be “carefully reviewed and

considered.”

Cook sent a copy of her letter to the district attorney’s office,

which spurred that agency’s investigation.

The district attorney’s office is now looking at public documents that

show Garofalo voted favorably on projects involving advertisers in

materials he has published, which could be a violation of state law, said

Tori Richards, the agency’s spokeswoman.

“It appears there are minutes to show which way Mr. Garofalo voted....

So there is a way to track this if indeed this is what happened,”

Richards said.

At one time or another, the mayor has published the twice-monthy Local

News newspaper, the city’s annual visitors guide and the Chamber of

Commerce Business Directory, snaring as advertisers such heavy-hitters in

town as the Waterfront Hilton, which is in the middle of an expansion

project; Hearthside Homes, which has plans for a housing development on

the Bolsa Chica mesa; and Commercial Investment Management Group, which

has proposed a $46-million hotel, retail and restaurant project Downtown.

Records from the city clerk’s office show Garofalo has voted at least

87 times in the last 5 1/2 years on matters affecting major advertisers

in the visitors guide alone.

So far, the district attorney’s office investigation has focused

primarily on public documents, but Richards said the office holds the

power to subpoena any paperwork that could be considered evidence.

“We will get all the documents that we need, whether it’s by subpoena

or by any other means,” Richards said.

And, Richards said, Garofalo’s St. Augustine home purchase “could be

part of the investigation.”

County records show Garofalo bought a coveted home in the St.

Augustine tract after voting many times on the project. County records

show he paid $565,000 for the home on Poppy Hill Circle. Garofalo said a

friend gave him cash for the purchase. The mayor then sold the home to

that same friend a day later for $625,000.

Garofalo has said the $60,000 difference paid for upgrades to the home

and that he made only $1 on the sale.

An executive from builder Christopher Homes has said the cost of

upgrades is included in the purchase price of the home.

Richards said the office has not yet questioned Garofalo on the

matters and would not speculate on the type of charges Garofalo could

face. But she said the office is working to quickly “resolve” the matter.

Richards said her office knows nothing about the grand jury

investigation, but that the district attorney’s office is “sharing”

information with the FPPC and the city attorney’s office is

“cooperating.”

Councilman Dave Sullivan, who has urged Garofalo to open his books to

the public, said he is concerned the investigation by the district

attorney’s office will go nowhere.

“[Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony] Rackauckus and Garofalo are

political allies, so I hope that this will be a strong investigation and

not a whitewash,” Sullivan said. “There’s literally hundreds of people

watching.”

Richards accused Sullivan of sour grapes.

“Mr. Sullivan ran for supervisor against Jim Silva, and Tony

Rackauckus backed Silva in that race,” Richards said. “So you can draw

your own conclusions as to Sullivan’s motives as to saying what he was

saying.”

Sullivan denies the claim

“The people of Huntington Beach just want a fair and thorough

investigation to clear up these Garofalo matters, and the fact that

politics is brought into it is exactly what concerns me,” he said.

Councilman Tom Harman also urged Garofalo to make his business

dealings public.

“I’m concerned about the investigations, of course,” Harman said. “I

don’t believe in trying someone in the newspaper, but it seems that there

might be some credibility to these charges, and I would call on him to

make full public disclosure.”

Meanwhile, residents say they hope to hear some answers from the

agencies before too long.

“Why did they delay investigating the conflict of interest?” asked

resident Jim Melville, 52. “They need to look and see what’s going on and

ensure that it doesn’t happen in the future.”

Doreen Baumann, a 20-year resident, said she wonders why it took so

long for Hutton to investigate.

“I just don’t understand why the city attorney didn’t do something

sooner,” Baumann said. “She’s known about this a long time.”

Garofalo business associate Ed Laird vehemently defends his friend of

37 years.

“You guys are not interested in the truth,” Laird said. “You’re

interested in hanging Dave Garofalo. I’m really angry.”

Garofalo has retained former FPPC general counsel Steven Churchwell,

who once handled a potential conflict-of-interest matter regarding

Garofalo for the commission, to pore through his case file and deliver a

recommended plan of action.

Hutton has not returned telephone calls placed by the Independent.

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Eva Scholtz contributed to this story.