San Gabriel Mayor Breaks With Group

Mayor John Tapp has dealt another blow to this city’s frazzled slow-growth movement, angrily distancing himself from the grass-roots group that helped elect him and charging its leaders with “abuse of power.”

In a cutting letter to Greg O’Sullivan, chairman of Citizens for Responsible Development, Tapp declined to meet with the group. The organization helped sweep Tapp and two other slow-growth councilmen into office last April and spearheaded a successful campaign to put a one-year lid on virtually all development in the city.

The slate, which placed a slow-growth majority on the council, included Tapp, Vice Mayor Frank Blaszcak and Councilman James Castaneda. Councilman Ted Anderson, another group member, was subsequently appointed to fill a vacancy.

Act of Protest

“The decision not to come to your meeting is made out of protest on my part for the path down which you are taking CFRD. . . “ wrote Tapp in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

Tapp said he believed that O’Sullivan “no longer (speaks) for the over 3,000 voters that supported me in the election, or many others that live and work in the city.”

O’Sullivan declined to comment on the letter. But another CFRD member who asked that his name be withheld said the group’s leaders hoped that by “taking a low profile and letting it blow over,” they could persuade Tapp to return to the fold.

In the letter Tapp cited--among other alleged abuses of power--accusations made by O’Sullivan at a council meeting last month about possible “corruptness” by city employees because of failure to enforce city building codes. In doing so, Tapp said, O’Sullivan had subjected city employees to “public ridicule” before the city “had an opportunity to investigate alleged law violation.”

At Tuesday’s council meeting, City Administrator Robert Clute reported that a four-week investigation of O’Sullivan’s charges had found them to be largely unfounded.

Examples Given

O’Sullivan, a city firefighter, at the earlier council meeting cited seven examples of the city’s alleged failure to enforce the building code and said “it seems like there’s a little bit of corruptness going on.”

Clute said he found no evidence of corruption among city employees but suggested that O’Sullivan could take his charges to the district attorney. Clute added: “If no other evidence can be submitted, I believe Mr. O’Sullivan has acted in bad faith and done a great disservice to himself and to his personal reputation.”

O’Sullivan, who was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, could not be reached for comment.

Car Phone, Keys at Issue

Tapp’s letter also attacked O’Sullivan for supporting a $2,100 city expenditure to obtain a car telephone for Vice Mayor Blaszcak and for “publicly justifying” Blaszcak’s possession of what Tapp referred to as “secret” keys to City Hall.

Blaszcak, a public affairs director for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, bought the telephone at city expense in May, saying he needed it to make city business calls. After the telephone became a major council issue--with Tapp openly opposing the expenditure while the city faced a $640,000 deficit--Blaszcak returned it to the city. Blaszcak said he will leave his Sanitation Districts job in September to start his own business, so he will not need the telephone.

Blaszcak was given a key to City Hall by Clute’s staff so that he could pick up his mail after business hours. Tapp has suggested that with the keys, Blaszcak has improperly crossed the line from the council’s normal “policy setting” role into “operations.”

The vice mayor has disagreed, but he declined further comment.

Charges of Racism

In his letter, Tapp also alleged that O’Sullivan had not taken action after “physical threats” were made against Tapp’s wife, Lynda, by “a CFRD leadership member.” He charged that the group’s leaders had made “racist” comments about San Gabriel’s Taiwanese sister city of Changhua.

The CFRD member who requested anonymity said the group’s leaders had criticized the practice of flying the Taiwanese flag in front of City Hall during visits by delegations from Changhua.

Public Accusation Criticized

Tapp would not comment further on his letter, except to say that he strongly opposed O’Sullivan’s public accusation regarding city employees.

“Just say that in the future I hope that any complaints will be made in writing and submitted to (Planning Director) Dennis Mackay or to Clute’s office, the way most complaints are handled,” he said.