State Request for Meeting With Vincent Unanswered

The state attorney general’s office has requested a meeting with Inglewood Mayor Edward Vincent as part of an investigation of possible misuse of campaign funds and, more than two weeks later, is still waiting for a response.

Chris Foley, the deputy attorney general conducting the investigation, said he told Vincent in a Nov. 28 letter that he wanted to make a recommendation to his superiors by Dec. 15 and requested the meeting “as soon as possible.”

Vincent said in a phone interview Thursday that he has not had time to respond to the request, but he said he has nothing to hide and does not object to an interview.

“I just haven’t had time to do it,” he said. “If I made mistakes, I want to put them behind me. I’ll talk with them. Whatever they ask me, I’m going to answer.”

The attorney general’s office began the investigation after The Times reported Sept. 15 that Vincent apparently billed a 1987 tour of farmers’ markets in the Morro Bay area to both the city and his campaign fund. The apparent double billing was found by comparing Vincent’s campaign reports and city reimbursement records. If Vincent was reimbursed by the city for a trip that also was charged to his campaign fund, it could be a violation of laws barring personal use of campaign contributions, officials have said.

Records also show that Vincent spent about $1,078 in campaign funds to repair a truck he owns, which also could be a violation of state law prohibiting personal use of campaign funds. And the records show that Vincent has not itemized or explained about $50,000 in campaign travel spending since 1983, as required by state law.

The attorney general’s office requested the meeting to question Vincent on the Morro Bay trip and the use of campaign funds to repair the truck, Foley said. The letter also asked Vincent to amend his campaign statements to itemize campaign payments exceeding $100 to American Express and an Inglewood travel agency and to list recipients, Foley said.

During Thursday’s interview, three months after he was first asked about the matter, Vincent offered an explanation for the apparent double billing of the Morro Bay trip, which he has described as a tour of farmers markets to gain information on how to revive Inglewood’s troubled market.

Vincent said it is possible that he had inadvertently billed both the city and his campaign fund for the trip. But he said he has documentation that shows he did not pocket the city reimbursement he obtained for the trip. He said he used the city money to pay people who gathered information about farmers markets for him, an expenditure he said was justified.

He added that on Monday he will identify those people and provide proof that he paid them.

As for the request that he itemize campaign travel spending, Vincent said that a consultant he hired in October is still going over his records and eventually will file amended statements. Previous campaign statements reported only large payments to American Express and a travel agency, but did not itemize the expenses to show the ultimate recipients of payments of more than $100, as required by state law.

The mayor has defended charging the truck repair to his campaign fund as a legitimate campaign expense, saying he uses the truck only for political purposes.

The attorney general’s investigation has involved a review of Vincent’s city travel records and campaign disclosure statements, officials said. During the same 5-year period that Vincent has spent $50,000 in campaign money on travel, the city has paid for about $39,000 in travel by the mayor, records show.

Because Vincent did not itemize travel expenses on his campaign statements, it is impossible to verify that expenses have not been billed to both the city and the campaign fund, attorney general’s officials say.

“We hope he will cooperate,” said Eugene Hill, head of the attorney general’s government law division. He said the letter to Vincent requesting a meeting is a normal initial step in such cases.

The Times also reported last month that some of Vincent’s city-paid travel expenses have no apparent connection to city business. But Foley said the focus of the attorney general’s investigation is into the use of campaign funds. City Manager Paul Eckles has said that the city is satisfied that Vincent’s spending on trips has been appropriate.