‘Smoking Gun’ Paper 3 Months Old : Conflict: Why did a San Diego councilman wait since September to release a contract he claims shows that an environmentalist was secretly soliciting business from a developer? The controversy swirls.

San Diego City Councilman Bruce Henderson kept silent for three months about a controversial document he claims is the “smoking gun” that proves that a leading city environmentalist was secretly soliciting payments from a developer.

Henderson has had the draft contract he released Thursday in his possession since September, when Michael Gelfand, senior vice president for the De Anza Group Inc., gave him the confidential three-page document, Gelfand said Friday.

Henderson on Thursday released the proposed contract between Bob Glaser, co-chairman of San Diegans for Managed Growth, and De Anza, claiming that Glaser was soliciting payments from the developer to help De Anza win city approval for a 1,400-room resort hotel on the shores of Mission Bay.

Henderson claims that the contract shows that Glaser was motivated by greed when he joined a group of environmentalists who lobbied to have Henderson removed as chairman of the council’s Public Facilities and Recreation Committee, a post he said he was using to oppose De Anza’s development. The council replaced Henderson Dec. 4 with Councilman Bob Filner, a favorite of the environmental movement.

Asked Friday why Henderson waited until Thursday to hold his press conference, Henderson’s spokesman said “it was not until the first week of December that it became apparent that Glaser was able to fool a substantial number of people” about his motives for seeking Henderson’s ouster.

Glaser, who has vehemently denied Henderson’s charges, says that he purposely worded the contract vaguely so that Gelfand would have to pay him for his idea.

“The guy is a complete liar,” he said of Henderson. “He has prefabricated a story that he knows to be false. He got the document months ago. He held it, now he’s sitting there trying to fabricate this story.”

Glaser claims that Henderson, fearing the results of the city’s new district elections system that resulted in victories for three environmentalists this fall, is attempting to smear Glaser, a potential opponent in the 1991 elections. Glaser lost the 1987 6th District primary to Henderson.

“I think that now the heat should be turned up on Mr. Henderson, on his decision-making process, on why he sits on this information if he thought it was so outrageous,” Glaser said.

Glaser claims that he wrote up the three-page contract on behalf of his consulting firm, The La Jolla Group, to solicit Gelfand’s interest in an alternate proposal that would move the resort east of I-5 and return the company’s 70 acres on De Anza Point to parkland.

Glaser sought $250,000 from De Anza if the City Council approved Glaser’s project.

Gelfand said Friday that he gave the contract to Henderson when he asked the councilman for advice about whether to continue negotiations with Glaser and considered the document confidential. Gelfand said that Henderson advised against working with Glaser, adding that he rejected Glaser’s offer largely because Glaser was asking too much money.

“I’ve never hired him. He’s never worked for us. There’s never been any exchange of funds or anything,” Gelfand said.

Gelfand said could not verify Henderson or Glaser’s story because Glaser never told him anything about the alternate hotel project.