Developers’ Gifts to Herman Again Under Investigation

A deputy district attorney said Saturday that his staff will investigate whether Peter F. Herman, former aide to county Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, improperly accepted gifts from developers.

Maurice L. Evans, in charge of special assignments for the Orange County district attorney’s office, said an attorney from his unit will look into a free, four-day stay of Herman and his wife, Bonnie, in April, 1986, at a home co-owned by developers David Stein and Barry Brief on the island of Maui, Hawaii.

Herman listed $2,135 in gifts last year in his statement of economic interest, which public officials must file annually. The list did not mention the vacation.

At the time of the stay in Hawaii, Stein-Brief Group Inc. had several developments pending before the county.

“All I will say is that we are looking into him again,” Evans said. “At this point, I don’t want to make any more comment.”

This will be the second investigation into Herman’s activities by the district attorney’s office in as many years.

Herman, who resigned last month after serving as Riley’s top aide for 11 years, could not be reached for comment Saturday. His salary was $63,000 a year at the time of his resignation.

Last month he told The Times that he resigned because of criticism of his activities “over the years” that recently had become “especially ugly.”

Herman had become known as “the sixth supervisor” because of his power.

Last year, the Orange County Grand Jury and the district attorney’s office looked into Herman’s activities but cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Herman was the recipient of thousands of dollars of gifts and meals paid for by developers over the years. State law requires that gifts in excess of $50 per year be reported by the following April 1.

Herman’s report of gifts for 1986 was less than half the amount for 1985, when he reported receiving $5,853 from lobbyists, engineering companies, consultants and developers having business with the county.