The Xavier Alvarez saga continued today in the Daily Bulletin. Will Bigham's article, posted last last night on the Bulletin's website, noted that Alvarez's latest faux pas includes possible felony charges.
Alvarez was censured yesterday in a special meeting by the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, where he is Pomona's representative. As readers will recall, Alvarez is already facing a federal misdemeanor charge for falsely claiming that he is a Medal of Honor winner.
Alvarez has also made false claims that he served in the military in Vietnam and other exotic locales (he has admitted he was never in the military), that he is married to a starlet (he is not married), and that he graduated as an engineer from Cal Poly Pomona (there is no record of him having attended Cal Poly).
Bigham's article noted that Alvarez also obtained health benefits for his ex-wife, Juanita Diana Ruiz. The two have been divorced since 2002, but after he was elected in November, 2006, Alvarez listed Ruiz as his wife and Three Valleys paid $4,873.76 in benefits for Ruiz. The health benefits were what led to the board censuring Alvarez.
Bigham reported that Alvarez has promised to repay the benefit money. However, since the amount is over $500, Alvarez could be charged with a felony for misuse of public funds, according to Three Valley's president Bob Kuhn.
It struck us that there might also be fraud and grand theft charges in there, and Three Valley's board member Dan Horan said as much, accusing Alvarez of fraud.
For his part, Alvarez was keeping quiet, a refreshing change for him. He isn't talking to reporters, other than Bulletin columnist Dave Allen, who caught up with Alvarez after yesterday's meeting:
Alvarez may be down, but he's not out - yet. For him to actually be removed from office, he'd have to be convicted of a felony. Since the federal charge against him is a misdemeanor, that wouldn't suffice. Alternatively, if Alvarez had to go to jail for more than six months, the seat could be vacated.I followed Alvarez out, and as always we had a friendly chat.
"I've told you my story. Do you have a story?" he cracked. "I'm out of stories."
"You're a creative guy," I reassured him. "You'll come up with more stories."
"No, no more of that," Alvarez promised.
The thinking here at the Insider is that if Alvarez does not show the good form to step down voluntarily, then Three Valleys should make a felony complaint for the health benefits. We also believe that Pomona officials, in particular Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, who as Alvarez's political patron provided the political backing that helped get Alvarez elected, should publicly campaign for his resignation.
Sooner or later Alvarez will be gone, he could help himself and the public by ending things as quickly as possible.
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