Buena Park City Council Candidate Faces Charges

A candidate for the Buena Park City Council is scheduled to appear in court today on felony charges that he lied about where he lived when he filed papers for Tuesday’s election.

The district attorney’s office Thursday filed the charges accusing Steve A. Grasha, 26, of perjury and filing false nomination papers. The charges allege that he gave false information about where he lives on both his voter registration filed in July and his candidacy documents filed in September.

But Grasha said Thursday night that the charges are “a last-minute attempt to try to keep me from getting elected.”

“This is an attempt to slur my candidacy, to slur my name that I worked so hard over the years to build,” Grasha said.

Grasha said he has lived in Buena Park for the last eight years with the exception of two months. During May and June, he lived in Fullerton while waiting to find another home in Buena Park. He said he now lives at the Sunshine Garden Apartments on 4th Street.

Also on Thursday, Buena Park Mayor James Jarrell, whose son is running for election to the City Council, issued a press release disavowing any support for Grasha. In his release, the mayor pointed to Grasha’s campaign brochures, which include a picture of himself, Grasha, and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), and wrote “ . . . the mayor of the City of Buena Park does not in any way endorse Mr. Grasha’s candidacy for City Council.”

Grasha said the picture was taken during a mayor’s prayer breakfast last year with Jarrell’s consent and knowledge that it would be used for campaign literature the following year.

The mayor also wrote in his release that Grasha violated a city code in using the city seal in his brochure, which “could give the misleading impression that the city endorses his . . . candidacy.”

Grasha, who works for the Grasha Chemical Co. in Buena Park, ran for City Council in 1982 when two seats were up for election. He said he was one of 11 candidates and came in third.

This year, Grasha is running against 13 candidates for the seats left open by the retirement of the mayor, the death of Councilman Jesse Davis and the expiration of Kenneth B. Jones’ term. Jones is running for reelection.