P.V. School Official Says ‘Dirty Politics’ Sparked Complaint

Palos Verdes school board member Marlys Kinnel has labeled “dirty politics” a conflict-of-interest complaint about her vote to ratify a $274,500 exemption from developer fees for a part-owner of the mall where she does promotion work.

Information from the complaint--filed with the state Fair Political Practices Commission two weeks ago--has been widely circulated by opponents of Kinnel, who is running for reelection to the Palos Verdes Unified School District board on Nov. 7.

“It may cost me the election,” Kinnel said last week. “That would be a real tragedy for the district.”

The school board’s unanimous vote--in June, 1988--was a retroactive ratification of exemptions from the school district’s development fee, which already had been granted by the district staff. The largest exemption went to the Wallace Ranch development in Rancho Palos Verdes, which was being developed by Ron Florance. Kinnel works for the firm that manages The Shops at Palos Verdes; Florance is part-owner of the mall in Rolling Hills Estates.

Neither Florance nor Kinnel could be reached for comment the week the complaint was filed.

In an interview last week, Florance said the accusation that Kinnel had a conflict of interest in connection with the exemption is “a blatant misrepresentation of the facts” and is “strictly politically motivated.”

Florance added that he never spoke with Kinnel about the exemption and that he had nothing to do with hiring Kinnel to work as “community representative” for a firm that manages the mall.

Kinnel said the “bottom line” is that the complaint against her is a stale accusation voiced by “angry people.”

The complaint was filed by Rolling Hills Estates resident Joanne Petow, a supporter of east-side candidates Barry Hildebrand, Marianne Kipper and Peter Gardiner.

Petow acknowledged that the complaint was based on information provided by Jan McAuley, a Palos Verdes Estates resident who is suing school board members alleging waste in the sale of school property and favoritism in the granting of exemptions.

In October, 1987, Florance sought to exempt his 80-home Wallace Ranch development from the district’s $1.50-a-square-foot developer fees, which took effect in June, 1987. On April 29, 1988, David Capelouto, assistant superintendent for business, granted the exemption for $274,500.

In June, 1988, the school board unanimously approved the retroactive policy for developers who could show that they would have begun building ahead of the deadline but had been delayed because of events beyond their control. The policy had the effect of ratifying the Wallace Ranch exemption.

At the time Kinnel voted for the policy, she was working for Hahn Property Management Corp., which manages The Shops at Palos Verdes. The complaint says Kinnel was hired in June, 1987, when Florance was planning the Wallace Ranch project.

Kinnel said in a March 16 deposition, cited in the complaint, that Florance participated as partner in the Hahn Property Management Corp. However, she added in the deposition that she had never spoken with him about the exemption or any other business matter. At a school board meeting Oct. 16, Kinnel said Florance “is not my boss.”

In the interview, Kinnel acknowledged knowing that Florance was an ownership partner in The Shops at Palos Verdes but said that she was hired without his intervention and that he had nothing to do with running the mall.

She said she knew “in passing” that “Ron Florance received an exemption” at the time of her vote.

“Big deal,” she said. “. . . Because there was no association with my job, there was no possible conflict of interest. . . . When that came to the board--that we were to pass a resolution--for me to have abstained would have said to the community that there was an association” with Florance.

Florance also said he is not involved in management of The Shops at Palos Verdes.

“I have nothing to do with the management of that center,” Florance said. “I am a partner in name only. I have no authority as to the hiring or firing of people. I had nothing to do with the hiring of Marlys Kinnel. They didn’t talk to me about it.”