FPPC Slaps Planning Commissioner with $3,000 fine.
(This link was sent to me from a reader in San Francisco, Ca.) In a story reported by Nelsy Rodriquez of The Californian, the Fair Political Practices Commission found the Murrieta Planning Commissioner and Developer,Glen Daigle, to be in Conflict of Interest on Two Counts:
“Failure to report all required information … deprives the public of important information about a public official’s economic interests and it has the potential to conceal conflicts of interest,” the FPPC investigators stated in the recommendation.
“Also, attempting to influence a governmental decision in which an official has a financial interest is one of the more serious violations of the act because it may create the appearance that a governmental decision was made on the basis of a public official’s financial interest.”
Additionally, FPPC’s staff found it was “reasonably foreseeable,” that any decision the Murrietta Planning Commission would have a material affect on Daigle’s property.
The fines could have resulted in as much as $10,000, the report stated. The investigation, prompted by a complaint filed in May 2010 by a citizen, found that Daigle’s original filing in March of his financial interests was incomplete.
Daigle was appointed as a Planning Commissioner in July 2009 with only three Council members voting to put him on the commission, saying his perspective as a local developer could be useful. The other two Council members voted against him because they saw the potential for conflicts of interest. His short appointment expired and he reapplied for the position receiving the same three votes for and the same two votes against his reappointment.
Rodriquez reports Daigle was under the impression the city attorney had given him advice on this matter. City Attorney Prescilla Dugard said she “did not and would not have advised the commission that he could speak as a member of the general public.”
Attorney Dugard also explained: “Consistent with our standard advice and training for public officials on ethics issues … the city attorney does not serve as the legal advisor to individual board commissioners,” Dugard stated in an email response to the reporter from The Californian. “Any guidance the city attorney provides is on behalf of the client, the city. Individual board members are advised to consult the FPPC or their own legal counsel in matters of potential conflict of interest.”
Planning Commissioner Glen Daigle resigned in August 2010.
As I see it, when you place your trust in somebody, you expect them to have your best interests and concern for the citizens in mind. A conflict of interest can collapse trust and confidence
For the full story:
http://m.nctimes.com/news/local/murrieta/article_524d9642-51bb-59b7-9a99-a2445abe6bea.html
FPPC Slaps Planning Commissioner with $3,000 fine,
Margo, thanks for the FPPC information. What’s important too (as indicated in your post) is that “the city attorney does not serve as the legal advisory to individual board commissioners”. We have one Y.V. planning commissioner who needs to heedful of FPPC regulations because of his many competing interests and real properties investments. That is Planning Commissioner Timothy Humphreville. Note that Humphreville is in good standing with the FPPC.
Another water Commissioner — who, without doubt — needs to be watched like a fox in a hen house is HDWD Commissioner Bob Stadum. He’s been dirty once and ought to have been recalled. Bob Stadum shamed himself as he broke the public trust in getting fined $3,000 for benefiting himself in a clear conflict of interest.
