Martinez’s Lawyer to Prepare Explanation : Councilman Refuses to Discuss Case as More Say They Did Not Dine With Him

San Diego City Councilman Uvaldo Martinez on Thursday hired an attorney to prepare a report on his city credit card spending and said he will not provide a public response to questions about his spending until next month at the earliest.

Martinez declined any comment about allegations that he used his city credit card to pay for expensive meals where no city business was discussed. Martinez had said his office would have a full explanation of his expense reports by today, after other elected officials and civic leaders said they did not eat meals with Martinez on dates he listed on city records.

Apparently feeling the pressure of daily revelations about the $6,370 bill he ran up in city credit card charges over an 18-month period, Martinez decided to retain William Grauer, a former San Diego assistant U.S. attorney now employed by the law firm Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye.

In a prepared statement, Martinez said Thursday that he initially rejected advice from friends to seek legal help because such a move “could be misconstrued.” He added, “But I now realize, as my friends have been telling me, that when someone is faced with potential legal action against him, that person should look for the best legal advice possible.”

The San Diego County district attorney’s office is expected to receive documents from the city auditor’s office today and begin reviewing Martinez’s records to determine whether to launch a criminal investigation, said Steve Casey, spokesman for the district attorney. Falsification of accounts by public officers is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of four years in prison and automatically disqualifies a person from holding any public office for life.

Out of 67 meals for which Martinez used his city credit card reportedly to entertain a list of San Diego public officials, civic leaders and prominent developers, 24 people have told The Times they were not present at 19 meals that appear in city records. (Guests listed on city records as being at 20 of the meals were either unavailable for comment or refused to talk to reporters.)

In one case, Martinez’s office admitted the councilman erred when developer Ray Carpenter was listed for a $45.75 meal on Nov. 14, 1984, at Dobson’s Bar & Restaurant. A spokesman explained that when Martinez put “Ray” on his credit card receipt, he meant Ray Blair, the former San Diego city manager. But Blair later said, “As far as I can remember I’ve never had dinner with Uvaldo anyplace, anywhere. Period.”

Four restaurateurs on the list said they saw Martinez in their establishments on or about the dates listed in city records, but they did not eat meals with him. City expense account records show that Martinez listed John Cox of Cafe del Rey Moro, Sue Cox (twice) of Cafe del Ray Moro, Bud Alessio of Mister A’s Restaurant and Tom Fat of Fat City as being his guests.

Alessio said he did not eat a $162.46 meal with Martinez and Carpenter on Jan. 30 as Martinez listed in city records. Martinez wrote in city records that the purpose of the meal was to talk about “tuna boat repair contracts,” an issue Alessio said he would not be likely to discuss because he is not involved in the fishing industry.

Five other people confirmed their attendance at meals charged by Martinez, but said no city business was discussed.

On Oct. 8, 1984, Martinez arranged a lunch at Frenchy Marseilles to introduce an old friend, Joe Fos, to a San Diego Gas & Electric official to discuss a private business deal. According to city records filed by Martinez, he scheduled that lunch to “discuss a city welcome to an oil dignitary.” Martinez earlier this week described the dignitary as an “Indonesian oil sheik” whom Fos represented. But Fos told The Times he did not know of any oil dignitaries or sheiks and that he worked for a Texas-based oil company.

In another case, Kathy Aunan, a nighttime disc jockey for rock radio station KFMB (B-100), said Martinez called her at home and asked her to lunch without stating any particular reason. Aunan said she told Martinez that she was going on vacation to San Francisco that night, but the councilman suggested they go to lunch that day so he could see her before she left.

Aunan confirmed that the $18.13 lunch took place on May 13 at John Tarantino’s Restaurant, as Martinez indicated on city records. But she said that she and Martinez did not discuss a “pre-interview on charity event” as Martinez wrote on his expense forms.

Aunan described the meal as a “social lunch” set up by Martinez so he could get to know her better. She said she had been introduced to Martinez a couple of weeks earlier.

“In talking to him, he likes his job . . . the whole power thing . . . so much,” Aunan said. “It’s hard to believe he would do anything wrong to jeopardize it.”

After the allegations against Martinez began surfacing, opponents of Proposition A asked him to remove himself from the campaign while questions remain about his city expenditures, said David Lewis, one of the consultants managing the anti-A drive. Martinez had been one of the leaders and chief spokesman for the campaign. Proposition A is the anti-growth measure slated for the November ballot.

“He’s very interested in seeing Proposition A defeated, and he agreed it’s best he step aside temporarily until things are resolved here,” Lewis said Thursday.

Martinez has declined to comment to reporters since he hired a public relations spokesman on Tuesday. “I will be happy to answer any questions you ask about me personally, philosophically or on any city issue, but if it is anything to do with the issue at hand, I will not comment on it,” Martinez said Thursday in an interview.

But Martinez addressed the political consequences of the recent events in the statement prepared Thursday: “I believe the people are fair-minded and will reserve judgment until they have heard all the facts, not just those that to date have been presented in the media.”

It is unclear how Martinez will pay for the services provided by the public relations specialist and the attorney. Don Harrison, a former San Diego Union reporter who has been hired as Martinez’s spokesman, said the money would come from a legal defense fund, campaign funds or out of Martinez’s pocket. He said no public funds would be used.

Grauer, who specialized in bank fraud cases for five years as an assistant U.S. attorney until he joined a private practice in April, said he met with Martinez Thursday to discuss the case and legal fees. Grauer is planning to conduct an investigation that will include interviews with guests listed in the expense forms.

“Of necessity, this process is going to take some time,” Grauer said in a prepared statement. “I ask the media’s and public’s patience as we work as quickly, thoroughly and accurately as possible to document the record of Mr. Martinez’s expenditures. We hope that the investigation can be completed by October.”

Some of the people who supposedly dined with Martinez at public expense could not be reached by The Times because the organizations Martinez claimed his guests represented had never heard of them. For instance, “Bob Kevane” is listed as a San Diego Symphony representative who discussed a “summer symphony downtown” with three other guests on Oct. 18, 1984, during a $316.55 meal at Avanti Restaurant. Symphony officials said they had never heard of Kevane.

And a “Mr. Montez” of Bear Stearns & Co. is listed as having an $84.30 meal with Martinez at Mister A’s on May 22. A company spokesman said that no one by the name Montez was recently employed by the firm.

According to reports by Martinez and his aide Rudy Murillo, they had 14 meals worth a total of $1,180 with developers Richard Kipperman and Ray Carpenter of Staite Engineering Inc. Both Kipperman and Carpenter declined to confirm or deny any meals with Martinez.

In addition, two longtime supporters and friends of Martinez, Rudy Martinez of Gourmet Services & Products Inc. and Gil Contreras of Contreras Bros. Development Corp., and one other guest were treated to a total of eight meals worth $474 by the councilman. Together Rudy Martinez and Contreras, who failed to return numerous phone calls, donated $750 to Martinez’s campaign.

In all, 16 contributors, who gave a total of $5,075 to Martinez’s campaign, were among guests treated to $1,791 worth of meals in the last two years, according to Martinez’s accounting.

As questions about Martinez’s use of a city credit card continued to mount, three city councilmen requested reviews of the guidelines governing council expenses.

Councilman Bill Cleator reissued a 3-year-old memo recommending that the city eliminate the use of credit cards and tightly limit circumstances when it will reimburse officials for meals. He first urged the clampdown when credit-card use became an issue in the 1982 council elections.

“Using a ‘city business discussion’ as a reason for picking up a tab is overdone,” he said in the 1982 memo. “I feel it’s an individual’s responsibility to provide his own food, and I don’t accept a ‘luncheon discussion’ as a legitimate excuse to charge the city.”

City administrative rules bar the use of credit cards by city employees for personal expenses but do not delineate when use of the cards is appropriate.

Councilmen Mike Gotch and Bill Mitchell called on City Manager Sylvester Murray to survey other cities and determine if San Diego’s credit card policies match their practices.

Martinez has said that criticism of the bills he and Murillo ran up on their city Visa cards would prompt him to establish more prudent standards for using the cards. They spent $9,500 in one year--more than the combined credit-card spending of all the other councilmen and aides who carry cards.

Councilmen Gotch and Ed Struiksma and former Councilman Dick Murphy were Martinez’s guests at a $41.85 lunch on June 12, 1984, at the Golden Lion Tavern. All three said they do not use city credit cards to pay for their own lunches and did not know that Martinez had used his.

“I would have paid (Martinez) if I was aware of it,” said Gotch, who only uses his card for out-of-town expenses. “It’s no more justifiable in my mind to have my luncheons charged to another member’s credit card than if I charged it on my own. It’s still the same taxpayer money that would be used.”

Times staff writer Ralph Frammolino contributed to this story.