Report Alleges Corruption on Oceanside City Council

A private investigator’s summary of accusations made against three Oceanside City Council members by an unidentified informer contains allegations of “corruption, conflict of interest and improper conduct,” according to documents released Friday.

The accusations against council members Melba Bishop, Sam Williamson and Ben Ramsey, many of which involve the award of a trash-hauling contract, initially were investigated by John Gier of Newport Beach, a private investigator hired by the city, then turned over to the San Diego County district attorney’s office.

Allegations against Ramsey and Williamson ranged from bribes paid by trash-collection companies to using public funds to pay for friends’ parking tickets.

Bishop vehemently denied the accusations. Ramsey and Willamson could not be reached for comment.

The two councilmen also allegedly directed the unidentified informer to solicit $5,000 contributions for local civic projects from one of the bidders for a city trash-collection contract, but the informer, a city official, refused, according to the documents.

Laundered Contributions Alleged

The summary, released Friday by Oceanside City Atty. Charles Revlett, contained allegations that both Williamson and Ramsey received laundered campaign contributions. Ramsey, the informer said, received contributions that originally came from trash companies and Williamson received contributions of $500 from a Moorpark, Calif., source that allegedly has interests in four or five Oceanside mobile-home parks and is suing the city over its rent-control ordinance.

Both councilmen received the campaign donations from third parties so the original donor would not be identified on reporting statements, according to the investigator’s report.

Bishop, who was reelected in November after a five-year absence, said Friday that she was “shocked and surprised” at the allegations but relieved that the information had been made public.

“There has been a regular feeding frenzy around here,” Bishop said, referring to news reports of the investigation. “They were bringing up all sorts of things, mainly about me. It’s better now that it is out in the open.”

Consultant Fees Reportedly Paid

According to the summary, Bishop is accused of being a paid consultant to two of the garbage companies involved in bidding for a city contract and of being a consultant to the owner of a landfill site under consideration.

She also was accused, along with Ramsey and Williamson, of conflict of interest in the transfer of 40 to 50 public parking spaces at Oceanside Harbor to the Marina Towers condominiums after receiving campaign contributions from the condo homeowners’ association.

Bishop denied both accusations, calling them “garbage.” She received no pay or contributions from disposal firms, Bishop said. As for the harbor parking spaces, she said, they remain public parking although the condominium owners pay taxes on the lot and have done so since the building was built in the mid 1970s.

Secrecy Charged

Two allegations lodged against the entire council by the informer include a violation of the Brown Act “by giving themselves a $900 per month car allowance in their capacity as City Council members and redevelopment commission members” and improper use of public funds. Revlett was unavailable to explain how that action violates the Brown Act.

The allegations were delivered to Oceanside City Manager Ron Bradley in a confidential memo from the informer dated May 22, but council members were not told until a closed meeting Aug. 8, Bishop said.

The names of the informer and private citizens listed in the summary were obscured in copies of the four-page document made public Friday.

Informer’s Name Withheld

Bishop said she and other council members were told the name of the city official who made the accusations against her but she declined to identify him.

Linda Miller, spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller, confirmed that the informer’s allegations and Gier’s investigation of the allegations had been received and were being reviewed by Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger Overholser to determine whether an investigation was warranted. Additional information is expected to be submitted by the city, she added.

Miller said the district attorney “was not pleased” that the summary of the accusations was made public.

“Information of this sort could be compromising in a possible criminal investigation,” she said. “The last thing we need is to alert everybody to what we are looking at.”

Specific allegations listed in the investigator’s memorandum included:

* That Williamson had a private road constructed “against prior City Council action, without the knowledge of the other four council members and in violation of environmental laws and city ordinances.”

* That the council improperly gave $100,000 of city funds and $2,000 to $5,000 in in-kind city services to the Oceanside Centennial Foundation, and that no accounting of the private and public funds was made.

* That Bishop was to receive a “finder’s fee” if a certain landfill site was picked by the city and that she is a paid consultant to an unidentified individual and two trash-collection firms.

* That Williamson asked the informer to solicit a $5,000 contribution from a trash firm for the Centennial Foundation and another $5,000 to the city for its Rose Parade float, while city negotiations with the firm for a trash-hauling contract were under way.

* That Ramsey asked the informer to solicit $5,000 from the same firm for the Oceanside Boys Club during the trash contract negotiations.

* That both Ramsey and Williamson were paid bribes by trash firm officials based on their ability to reopen the bidding on the city contract. A higher bribe was to be paid, according to the informer, if one of two of the competing firms ultimately received the contract.

* That Ramsey and Williamson were given free trips to Las Vegas sponsored by one of the trash firms.

* That there was “a giveaway of public land” to the benefit of two unidentified persons or firms and “a public roadway was provided” for the benefit of an unidentified property.

* That Ramsey voted on a shopping center development by an unidentified developer, who was saved $60,000 in costs because of the type of crosswalk he was allowed to build.

* That Ramsey received laundered campaign money from disposal companies and also received bribes from an unidentified developer concerned with a possible hotel project in the city redevelopment district.

* That Ramsey and Williamson used public funds to pay for about 20 parking tickets received by their personal friends.

* That Williamson had a conflict of interest in voting exclusive hotel development rights in the Oceanside Harbor to an unidentified person who owns Williamson’s insurance agency offices.

* That Bishop, Ramsey and Williamson received campaign contributions from the Marina Towers Homeowners Assn. and gave the condominium owners about 50 public parking spaces that cost the city between $5,000 and $10,000 per space.

* That council members violated the Brown Act by “giving themselves a $900 per month car allowance.”

* That Williamson received $500 in campaign contributions from an unidentified source and the money was passed on to other unidentified persons who made the contribution.

Most of the unidentified persons and firms were named in the investigator’s report but later blacked out on copies of the information given to the news media.