Wider Probe of State Appointee Sought
Problems appeared to mount Thursday for Eminiano (Jun) Reodica, the Glendale auto dealer appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to the board that oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Two officials of the board sought to widen the scope of investigations into Reodica’s activities.
At a news conference, Sam W. Jennings, executive secretary of the New Motor Vehicle Board, questioned whether Reodica had disclosed all his automobile-related interests on his economic disclosure statement and said he had asked the state’s political watchdog agency to launch an investigation.
At the press conference, Jack Vandenberg, another auto dealer who also is a member of the nine-member board, called on Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, the state Board of Equalization and the state Franchise Tax Board to investigate the activities of dealerships and affiliated companies headed by Reodica.
In his 14 years on the board, Vandenberg, a Sacramento-area auto dealer, said he has “never seen anything like this” case with so many potential violations.
Last December, the DMV fined firms headed by Reodica $100,000 for selling used cars as if they were new and for failing to submit car registration information to the state in time. In February, Deukmejian reappointed Reodica.
The governor said earlier this week that he made the reappointment because he was satisfied that the problems had been corrected. Reodica had purchased Grand Chevrolet of Glendora in 1978 from the governor’s late cousin, also named George Deukmejian.
More recently, the DMV suspended the sales license of Grand Chevrolet and Grand Motors, another of Reodica’s Glendora companies, which also maintains a dealership in El Monte. Two weeks ago, the two companies filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code.
However, on his most recent economic disclosure statement filed with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Reodica listed only his interests in Grand Chevrolet.
Jennings of the New Motor Vehicle Board said that “even if Grand Chevrolet is an umbrella corporation” for Reodica’s other interests, Reodica should have spelled out all his automobile-related interests.
Said Jennings: “I know that he has at least two other entities . . . associated with the auto business. That has led me to have some concerns about the completeness of these disclosure statements.”
Sandra Michioku, a spokeswoman for the FPPC, said the commission is asking Jennings for details. She said the maximum administrative penalty for failure to disclose an interest is $2,000 per violation.
Reodica is believed to be in the Philippines. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
At the press conference, officials of the New Motor Vehicle Board also disclosed that last April the DMV sought to remove Reodica from hearing an appeal by a dealer because of a potential conflict of interest.
Nancy Rasmussen, a DMV attorney, said the department sought to disqualify Reodica in a matter involving a Northern California Ford dealership that was represented by the same attorney who had been hired by Reodica’s firms. Rasmussen said that Reodica “might be biased against the department.”
However, the board declined to follow the DMV’s recommendation, refusing to disqualify Reodica.
In an interview, board member Frank N. Ricchiazzi recalled that the feeling among board members was that Reodica was putting “the board in a position where it felt uncomfortable. . . .”
“The sentiment was, why are you putting the board through this?” he said.
But Reodica maintained he could be impartial.
Staff writer Michael Milstein in Monrovia contributed to this story.
