Ferguson Admits 2nd Fee-Disclosure Error

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) failed to properly disclose at least $10,000 in income his public relations and political consulting firm received during 1986 from Arnel Development Co., a prominent Orange County building firm, Ferguson acknowledged Monday.

The income was included in an amended statement of economic interests filed by Ferguson with the clerk of the Assembly. The disclosure followed by less than two weeks Ferguson’s confirmation that he had failed to disclose about $20,000 his firm was paid last year by C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, another prominent developer, based in Costa Mesa.

Ferguson said Monday that both companies hired his firm, Corporate Communications, to do public relations work related to development projects.

Ferguson’s amended statement, dated May 29, also showed that his firm was paid at least $10,000 by the Free Market Political Action Committee (Freepac), a group controlled by Ferguson that raises money on behalf of candidates who support private property rights. The Freepac payments were reported earlier on several campaign expenditure statements the committee was required to file with the secretary of state.

In those reports, Freepac disclosed paying Corporate Communications $17,964 in 1986, mostly to reimburse the company for expenses it incurred while helping the committee raise campaign funds.

In a written statement released by his office Monday, Ferguson termed his failure to report the income of at least $40,000 “a nickel-and-dime honest omission” blown out of proportion by his political opponents, including Assemblyman Tom Hayden, a Santa Monica Democrat and former anti-Vietnam War activist. But Ferguson acknowledged that his own reports were in error.

“These campaign and economic interest reports are an important source of information for the general public, and I certainly want to provide the pertinent details according to the procedures established by the (Fair Political Practices) Commission,” Ferguson said.

Although Ferguson properly reported in his original statement of economic interests, filed in March, that Corporate Communications earned at least $10,000 during 1986, he failed to disclose that Segerstrom, Arnel and Freepac were the source of at least $10,000 each to the firm. Such a disclosure is required under the state Political Reform Act of 1974.

Sole Owner of Firm

Ferguson has said he was not aware that he was required to report the sources of income to his firm on his personal statement of economic interests until he was told of the law by a reporter. The firm is wholly owned by Ferguson and is not incorporated.

Ferguson declined to return calls to his office by The Times on Monday. Officials of Arnel Development could not be reached for comment on the details of their arrangement with the assemblyman.

In his prepared statement, Ferguson said Segerstrom and Arnel hired him “for consulting work researching and analyzing the public and community image of these firms and their developments and proposing a positive community relations program.”

In an earlier interview, Ferguson said Segerstrom hired his firm from December, 1985, until June, 1986, to help establish an image for South Coast Metro, the name developers have given to an area of Costa Mesa near the South Coast Plaza shopping center.

Ferguson told The Times in May that Segerstrom paid him about $20,000 for the work. By law, he is required to disclose the name of any individual or firm that is the source of at least $10,000 in payments to his firm, but he is not required to disclose exact amounts.

Activist’s Allegation

Ferguson has denied Newport Beach slow-growth activist John Gardner’s allegation that he was paid by developers to perform political services for Peter Buffa and Orville Amburgey, who were candidates for City Council in Costa Mesa’s last municipal election. Buffa and Amburgey were elected in November, and last month they voted in favor of a scaled-down version of a Segerstrom plan for an office complex near South Coast Plaza, which the council had rejected a year before.

Corporate Communications did do consulting work for Citizens for a Better Costa Mesa, a political action committee that supported Buffa and Amburgey. That committee owed Ferguson’s firm more than $6,800 at the time of its last campaign expense disclosure in January.

Gardner filed a complaint in March with the Orange County district attorney alleging that Ferguson did secret work for the two council candidates. The complaint was forwarded to the Fair Political Practices Commission in Sacramento, which is reviewing it, according to commission spokeswoman Sandy Michioku.

Michioku said commission attorneys also would examine Ferguson’s failure to report income from Segerstrom and Arnel before deciding whether to recommend any action on the matter.

Ferguson could be fined up to $2,000 for each violation of the political reform act, she said.