Firing Shakes Contreras’ Faith in System

To Gilbert R. Contreras, his appointment in 1986 to the state’s Coastal Commission was more than a personal triumph for a dropout-turned-millionaire.

It was also a significant day in the Latino community’s quest for economic power.

“I felt that it was an important position and that we needed Hispanic representation, especially on the southern end of the state where so much development was taking place,” said Contreras, 48, a Democrat and one of San Diego’s prominent Latino businessmen. “Little access was being provided to minority entrepreneurs.”

The appointment underscored something that Contreras has been preaching for years to his friends and associates in the Latino community: Government can be a path to success and prosperity.

Many were willing to listen, especially since the story of Contreras’ rise to local prominence has almost become legend.

His term was abruptly ended Wednesday when he was removed in the middle of a meeting by the Senate Rules Committee because of fears that he was preparing to vote in favor of a controversial oil drilling request by Occidental Petroleum. (The commission approved the request without Contreras’ vote.)

The sting and humiliation of his dismissal, Contreras said Wednesday, is forcing him to rethink his position about local and state politics.

“I’m certainly going to take some time off from it,” he said.

Born into poverty in Barrio Logan, Contreras quit high school two credits shy of graduation and began his work life pushing a wheelbarrow in a construction crew.

Eventually, he and his brother, Sal, formed their own firm and begin remodeling homes, eventually forming Contreras Brothers Development Co., which employs 50 people. Contreras’ development business also takes in a considerable amount of government business, including rehabilitation projects for the San Diego Housing Commission.

Other successes followed. There were television stations--Contreras and partners are starting up a bilingual station in Ventura County--and a Toyota dealership. He serves on a bank board and is the president of the San Diego Certified Development Corp., which is licensed by the federal Small Business Assn. to parcel out federal loans to small firms.

In addition, Contreras is well known for his volunteer work and donations to local Latino organizations, such as the Chicano Federation and Alba 80, a nonprofit group that gives thousands of dollars in scholarships to college-bound Latino students.

“He goes out of his way to get people connected, to find the sources (of money) that will help them with the businesses,” said Delia Talamentez, an affirmative action officer with UC San Diego.

His contacts have allowed him to emerge as one of the more politically prominent Latinos in San Diego, and his forte has been his ability to use a network of friends and associates to deliver donations to local politicians, a strategy that he said is calculated to increase the Latino community’s clout.

Sensitive to Issues

“If I can’t sit and talk with the politicians, how can I make them sensitive to the issues and concerns of the Hispanic community?” Contreras said about his fund-raising activities.

His contacts with politicians landed him positions on several local panels, such as the Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Committee.

But his clout paid off most handsomely in February, 1986, when he was chosen to serve on the state Coastal Commission, where he could vote directly on projects.

During his first meeting, he angered environmentalists by voting for a pipeline project through the Los Angeles Harbor. His insistence on concentrating on economic development has earned him the enmity of environmentalists ever since, although Contreras argues that he takes an independent position on Coastal Commission matters.

Contreras’ position paid off handsomely for the San Diego Latino community when, during a recent meeting, he persuaded his commission colleagues to approve a 3.2-acre bayfront park in San Diego’s barrio. Some people wanted to use the land for industrial development.

Contreras was involved in controversy in San Diego earlier this year when a business deal by Contreras and his partners led to the ouster of the director of the San Diego Housing Commission.

Favorable Treatment

The agency in 1985 gave Contreras and his partners highly favorable treatment that allowed them to renovate an apartment complex in the city’s predominantly black area. Part of the special treatment involved the commission buying and holding onto 122 low-income designated units to allow the Contreras brothers to find financing for the project. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development warned later that the arrangement smacked of “favoritism.”

When the San Diego agency refused in January to release records on the deal--which included a $700,000 loan--HUD opened a formal investigation into the transaction and a federal grand jury followed suit. The investigations are still pending. The San Diego City Council later fired Ben Montijo as executive director of the housing commission.