Commerce Appoints Former Member to Vacated Council Seat

G. R. Lawrence Maese, who was ousted as a city councilman 24 years ago in a controversy over his pardon from a prison sentence, has been appointed to the council.

At a packed meeting Monday, the council, by a 3-1 vote, approved Maese’s appointment to the post vacated by Councilman Ricardo Vasquez. Vasquez resigned last month after pleading guilty to federal charges of mail fraud in an alleged conspiracy to license a poker club here.

Mayor Michael Guerra, who dissented in the vote, said he favored a special election to fill the post because another council position was filled by appointment in October. The city named Arturo Marquez to fill the vacancy created when Mayor Robert Eula resigned. Eula later pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting hidden shares in the California Commerce Club.

Guerra said an election would have given his constituents an opportunity to choose the next council member. But Councilman Robert Cornejo said calling a special election would take three months, giving the council member a short term because the next election is scheduled for April, 1986.

‘Settle the Dust’ In addition, Cornejo said in an interview Tuesday a speedy appointment “would help settle the dust and get things started again.”

In November, two former city officials and two who were still in office were indicted on charges of a conspiracy to license the poker club in exchange for hidden ownership shares.

Phil Jacks, former director of economic development, pleaded guilty to federal charges of fraud in November. In addition to Eula, former Councilman Arthur Loya pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting hidden shares in the poker club.

Jacks had been fired before the charges were filed. Loya had lost his bid for reelection in April. Vasquez pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in December.

Cornejo said Maese was chosen to fill Vasquez’ seat because the city “needed an individual who had a long record of community service. Given the time that he has given to this community, we felt it would be appropriate to appoint him. He is well-known, well respected.”

Maese, 75, was elected to the council in 1960. In 1961, some council members raised the issue of his having served time in an Arizona prison before being pardoned. Maese had been convicted of being an accessory to rape and received a three- to five-year sentence.

He served 10 months before the Arizona Board of Pardons and Paroles, reacting to a petition submitted by the citizens in his hometown of Morenci, issued a proclamation declaring his sentence “completely discharged.”

Pardon at Issue Later, when Maese was on the Commerce council, members claimed he was ineligible to vote as a citizen or serve in public office because he had not received a California pardon.

During the ensuing controversy, Maese tried to resign from the council to shield his family from publicity, he said. But the council voted to remove him, according to City Clerk Ruth Aldaco.

In 1962, a Superior Court ruling reinstated Maese’s voting rights, declaring that the Arizona proclamation discharging the sentence was the legal equivalent of a California pardon.

At Monday night’s council meeting, the specter of Maese’s past seemed to return, with some people in the audience booing when his appointment was announced.

He accepted the council post, despite the possibility of renewed publicity, because “I’ve been civic minded all my life and the welfare of the community has always been my priority,” Maese said Tuesday.

However, he said, “I feel very upset because this thing that went by so many years ago has come to haunt me again.”

Details of Case In an interview Maese recalled the details of the 52-year-old case.

One night in 1933 in Morenci, a drunken friend knocked on his door, and Maese took him in. Unbeknown to Maese, his friend had been accused of rape, he said.

When Maese returned from work the next day, he said, “There was a revolution in the town. People had guns, rifles and a noose, saying they were going to hang him.”

Within three days, in a move he said “turned the world around” for him, Maese, then 22, was arrested, tried and sent to prison for the crime that he said neither his friend nor he committed. “It was a nightmare,” Maese said.

His friend served 11 years of a life sentence. Maese and eight others were convicted on a charge of being accessories to rape.

After his pardon, Maese later moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in a machine shop.

He became active in civic life and helped push for Commerce’s incorporation. Maese also helped organize the American G.I. Forum, an organization for Latino veterans, and has been active in the Democratic party.

Mayor Guerra said he didn’t feel Maese’s history posed any problem to the city or the council.

“He is well qualified,” Guerra said, adding that Maese was the best and only candidate the council had considered.

Said Maese: “I have served well and should have some sort of an appointment.”