Foes of Oil Drilling Link Cunningham to Conflict of Interest

Members of a Pacific Palisades community group contend that Los Angeles City Councilman David Cunningham should not vote on the sensitive Occidental Petroleum drilling plan because of a $50,000 loan his campaign committee made to another firm that wants to drill for oil elsewhere along the coast.

Cunningham is chairman of the city’s Board of Referred Powers, an administrative body that met Monday to consider whether to uphold or overturn a zoning ruling last December that blocked Occidental’s plans.

The board delayed any decision for at least a week.

The Pacific Palisades Residents Assn., which opposes Occidental’s plan to drill along Pacific Coast Highway there, charged in a letter made public Monday that Cunningham should excuse himself from deliberations because the loan represents a financial interest in the future of coastal oil exploration.

Loan Made in 1984

Campaign disclosure reports filed by Cunningham show a $50,000 loan in 1984 from his campaign committee to Bentley International Trading Co., a Liberian gold-mining firm with political connections in California. No terms or reason for the loan were included in the reports, and there was no indication it had been repaid.

A major figure behind Bentley, Kenneth A. Ross Jr., is the leading partner in Ross Petroleum, a Santa Monica company seeking a state permit to drill for oil in the Malibu hills. The two firms also share local offices.

John Murdock, an attorney representing Palisades residents, said the loan’s connection to Ross Petroleum poses a potential conflict of interest because the pending city decision on Occidental’s plan could influence the state Coastal Commission as it evaluates future drilling proposals.

However, Deputy City Atty. Anthony Alperin said Monday he saw no conflict of interest.

The complaint Monday was the latest of several conflict issues to emerge since the Board of Referred Powers was called on to decide Occidental’s appeal of zoning administrators’ ruling last December that the oil drilling plan would seriously harm the beach environment.

Ordinarily, such appeals are heard by the Board of Zoning Appeals. But the board was disqualified on a conflict-of-interest point, so the issue went to the Board of Referred Powers. This “backup” board, composed of five council members, decides on city matters in cases when the normal agency is disqualified--such as by a potential conflict of interest.

Residents opposed to drilling have complained that four of the five council members had earlier voted to back Occidental in the City Council and had also accepted campaign contributions from the company.