Bulletin Redux

This was also in today's Bulletin:

Ethical tin ears in Claremont

Article Launched:02/20/2007 01:00:00 AM PST

Wednesday's City Council forum in Claremont was helpful in allowing the seven candidates to make her or his case before potential voters.

Unfortunately, it revealed that two of the candidates have an ethical tin ear. Linda Elderkin has an apparent conflict of interest involving any issue such as mining or proposed residential development on 560 acres in northeast Claremont. In just the past week, Michael Maglio has given three different answers on the extent to which he supports development on this property. Further, he has repeatedly misrepresented the facts of his position on the biggest open space issue of the past year in Claremont: funding for purchase of the Johnson's Pasture open space.
Linda Elderkin continued to fail to disclose a conflict of interest in her answer to a question about development on open space. The open space in question is owned by the Pomona Valley Protective Association (PVPA), which holds lands for water spreading purposes. Elderkin hinted darkly at the forum about the suspect form and structure of PVPA, and of its intentions for the property.

What she failed to explain was that if elected she could not participate in any discussion or action involving the PVPA property. The reason is simple. Her husband's employer, Pomona College, is one of the six owners of PVPA. There is ample precedent in Claremont, in situations involving Lew Miller when he was on council and with Mayor Pro Tem McHenry in the past year, where similar conflicts required them to recuse themselves.

When I discussed this with Elderkin after the forum, she clearly knew the facts. She told me that even if there were a conflict, she could participate in discussion but merely could not vote: her words were that "she could not take any action." I don't believe she is right, nor that her position meets the spirit of the ethical guidelines. The purpose of recusal - it comes from the Latin recusare, to refuse - means that the person tainted with the conflict neither participates in the deliberations nor the action.

The conflict of interest rules protect all parties. They protect the citizens who have an expectation that decisions will be made on the merits and not on extrinsic factors; they protect applicants who may then be assured that their applications are considered fairly, and they protect the city from potential litigation alleging an unfair process. As a self-described "process person," Elderkin should know this without the need to consult her advisers or the city attorney.

With the apparent conflict, Elderkin, if elected, cannot participate in any discussion or decision relating to the property owned by PVPA because of the ownership interest of Pomona College, her husband's employer. She has not disclosed this conflict in three candidate forums - deception or a tin ear?

Mike Maglio has shown that he will say anything in this campaign. I attended his ice cream social on Feb. 10 to hear his views on Claremont issues. He was in favor of housing to keep away the mining on the PVPA property. I asked him pointedly if that meant that as a council member he would vote to rezone the area from "open space" to "residential." He answered, "Yes."

After the Chamber forum on Tuesday morning, he elaborated on this by saying that he thought the residential housing would be a good thing because the developer fees from such a large project would be a boon to the city.

At the League forum the very next day, however, Maglio stood for the proposition of open space now and forever on the property.

At the social in the park, I asked him also about his positions on two recent open space issues in Claremont, the failed assessment district of last summer, and Measure S which passed by a 71 percent to 29 percent margin. He said he had opposed Measure S because he didn't think people should be taxed for something that benefited just a few people in town, and he had supported and voted for the assessment because it provided money for parks all over Claremont. He gestured over to the nearby restrooms at Blaisdell Park and said they would have been improved had the assessment passed. He reiterated his vote for the assessment once more at the forum on Wednesday.

His problem is that he voted no on the assessment. The City Clerk has the assessment ballots on file and they are disclosable public records. It was simple to get a copy of Maglio's ballot with his signature, not his wife's, on the NO ballot. I gave him a copy and urged that he view the original at City Hall.

Maglio's ethical tin ear is that he has a hard time with the truth. If he won't tell the truth about small things such as his vote on the assessment, can we believe anything he says?

There is more than a little irony in the fact that a local organization opposed to mining has endorsed both of these candidates. On the one hand, its board has endorsed a candidate who will be unable to participate in the mining issue. On the other hand, it has endorsed a candidate who doesn't tell the truth. No one can take such endorsements seriously.

- Ludd A. Trozpek is a resident of Claremont.

The author, who has been a thorn in the side of the "400" for many years, is a bit of a crank, but he's also been obsessive in his fact-finding. He lives in Padua Hills, which is in unincorporated L.A. County land, surrounded by Claremont. Look for the "400" to tell you to ignore the piece because the person is a non-resident. If you listen to their screeching, you'll notice they never address the substance of the claims, which maybe says something about the facts of the matter.

Claremont 400 Rule #1: Always attack the person, attack their credibility, never engage on the issues--avoid, avoid, avoid getting involved with facts. This much is pretty predictable: You don't have to listen to him/her because he/she is ....

FYI, Googling "Trozpek Claremont" shows the author has a Claremont address--the U.S. Postal Service seems to think this is Claremont. And, J. Michael Fay, another 400er, lives in the same unincorporated area, but he's OK--as is evident from his position as Honorary Chair of Sam Pedroza's campaign. What's a little hypocrisy between friends?