Holden Accuses 2 of Destroying District Files

Newly elected Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden Wednesday accused two members of his predecessor’s staff of destroying and absconding with “a major portion” of computer records and file documents that were the property of the 10th District office.

But the people whom Holden accused of “felony” actions scoffed at the charges, saying the actions were easily explained and attributing the controversy to poor communications in the transition of council staffs.

“Shades of Oliver North and Fawn Hall,” joked Gregg Irish, who was chief of staff for former Councilman David Cunningham, when asked about allegations he had carried away district files.

“You’re kidding!” said Joyce Gibbs, Cunningham’s former executive secretary, when told she had been accused by Holden of destroying computer records.

Investigation Sought

“We’re trying to find out what happened,” said the city’s chief legislative analyst, William McCarley, who was asked by Holden to investigate the matter.

In a press conference in his City Hall office, Holden and an aide, Nancy Laine, alleged that Irish and Gibbs were committing their deeds as he was taking the oath of office in council chambers Tuesday morning. Holden, the winner in a 10th District runoff election last week, was appointed to fulfill the final three weeks of the unexpired term of Cunningham, who resigned nine months ago to enter private business.

Holden said a quick inventory indicated that information such as constituent complaints, voter indexes and documents pertaining to planning, zoning and building and safety matters were missing. Scores of file jackets in one large, four-drawer cabinet had been emptied.

But Irish and Gibbs asserted that all district files were left intact. Irish said the empty file cabinet included his personal files and memorabilia, including copies of reports he worked on for Cunningham and his previous employers such as the late Councilman Howard Finn.

“It’s not part of Cunningham’s filing system. Those were the same files I brought with me when I left Finn’s office” in 1984, he said.

Information in Central Files

Irish said that duplicates of reports he prepared for Cunningham can be found in a central file in the district office.

Gibbs said she had merely erased from computer files personal materials such as resumes and letters that had been written by Cunningham staff members searching for new jobs--and only after receiving permission from Herb Wesson, Holden’s chief of staff.

Irish and Gibbs attributed the controversy to misunderstandings in the transition of the two staffs. Cunningham’s staff, operating under the chief legislative analyst’s office, had served in a caretaker role since the former councilman resigned to enter private business nine months ago.

Work had slowed so much, Gibbs said, that 13 staff members routinely used the office’s six computer terminals to write resumes and letters.

“They came in and did not ask us anything about the files,” Gibbs said of Holden’s staff. “I asked if we could take personal letters out of computers. . . . There are hardly any (city) files in (the computer system). . . . They asked us to clean our desks and take our personal belongings and leave by the end of the day. And that’s what we did.”

All of the records that Holden claims were destroyed, Irish and Gibbs said, can be retrieved from computer floppy disks and physical files at the City Hall office and at the 10th District field office.

Holden said that when staff members noticed Gibbs deleting computer information, his chief of staff, Wesson, called him in council chambers and asked him for instructions. “I told him to escort her out of the office,” he said.

Told of Gibbs’ denial that records were destroyed, Holden said, “We don’t know that, do we?” He said it was difficult to assess what files may have been deleted. He also stressed that it would have been improper for Gibbs and others to use city-owned computers to write resumes and personal letters.

Holden acknowledged that while one cabinet was emptied of files, several other file cabinets were apparently left intact. Irish said those cabinets contain the central files. The new councilman said, “The net effect is to make it very difficult for me to hit the ground running.”

“They don’t even know how to use the computers, so how can they know what is missing?” Irish said. “I frankly resent this. You get in office and the first thing you do is hold a press conference to say files are missing. It’s unfounded and I don’t appreciate it.

“And now the next six months of inactivity you can blame it on the fact you didn’t have the records.”