Lawndale Suspends 2 in Building Supply Probe

Two Lawndale maintenance employees were suspended from their jobs Wednesday, while the city investigates allegations they charged the city for building supplies used for private remodeling projects.

City Manager Daniel P. Joseph said that Floyd (Bud) Marez, a supervisor in the city’s Municipal Services Department, and Thomas Gomez, a maintenance worker, will continue to be paid during the suspensions.

When reached at their homes Wednesday afternoon, both Marez, 47, and Gomez, 26, said they do not wish to comment without consulting their attorneys.

Joseph would not elaborate on the allegations, which were disclosed to the City Council during a two-hour, closed-door session Tuesday night. He called it a confidential personnel matter and said that the allegations have not been proven. Sheriff’s Capt. Walt Lanier attended the closed session but said he could not comment on the allegations.

No Details Provided

Council members declined to provide details but verified that the city is investigating allegations brought to the council’s attention by Gary McDonald, chairman of the Planning Commission.

In an interview Wednesday, McDonald said he heard about the alleged problems in the maintenance department from a source he refused to identify. He said that he and Councilman Larry Rudolph went to City Hall on Monday to check records there.

McDonald said that records show that Marez and Gomez improperly charged to the city building supplies, including two skylights and a large quantity of wire mesh, which is used in stucco work.

Such supplies are not needed by the city but were used on private building projects--including one for Gomez’s neighbor in Norwalk and others for two city officials, McDonald said.

Remodeling Job

In an interview Wednesday, Gomez’s neighbor, Yolanda Candelaria, said she and her husband, Ray, last year hired Marez and Gomez to do a $30,000 remodeling job on their three-bedroom home in Norwalk. She said the men were paid $20,000 as a deposit for the work and to purchase supplies.

She said the two men, driving a city truck and wearing city uniforms--”orange shirts and brown pants”--made several deliveries of building materials to her home in the late-morning hours, when presumably they were on duty for the city. Candelaria said her house was left torn up and the work incomplete, with a large amount of lumber, cement and dry wall left behind in the garage.

“If you would see my house . . . it’s terrible,” said Candelaria, who has since hired others to finish the job.

McDonald also has asked the city to investigate whether city materials were used by the two city maintenance employees on remodeling projects at the homes of Grace-Marie Johnston, city personnel analyst, and Paula Burrier, city housing director.

Burrier said she hired Marez to do about $9,000 worth of work, including installation of a bay window, re-roofing and stucco work, and said she had no reason to believe he used city materials. She hired Marez “because he was someone I knew, someone I trusted,” she said.

Johnston could not be reached for comment Wednesday.