Carlsbad Councilman Under State Review

The state Fair Political Practices Commission said Tuesday it is reviewing an allegation of conflict of interest involving Carlsbad City Councilman John Mamaux’s efforts to secure nearly $500,000 for a road improvement project.

Attorney Thomas W. Smith complained to the commission that Mamaux urged the council to spend the money to upgrade Palomar Airport Road, a project Smith claims would benefit Mamaux’s employer.

Mamaux is president of Centre Mortgage Co., which has offices near the road. Centre Mortgage is owned by Dean Greenberg, who also owns Centre Development, which has land around the airport.

On Jan. 2, before Mamaux disclosed that he had gone to work for Centre Mortgage the previous November, the city staff asked for the council’s direction on how to spend $488,000 from the assessment district formed around the airport.

Mamaux acknowledged Tuesday he pushed the council to earmark the funds for landscaped medians on Palomar Airport Road. The staff then was ordered to research the matter and return to the council for a vote.

However, Smith says that Mamaux’s push to upgrade the road constitutes improper lobbying that would benefit the councilman’s employer and, therefore, himself.

“That is a classic conflict of interest,” Smith said. “He didn’t even disclose who he was working for.”

Smith maintains that improving the road would increase the value of Centre Mortgage offices and lands held by Centre Development, which he said “owns all the land around the airport.”

Sandra Michioku, a spokeswoman for the Fair Political Practices Commission, confirmed Tuesday that the agency is reviewing Smith’s complaint. She said it could take from two weeks to several months for the commission to decide whether or not to launch an investigation.

State law, she said, prohibits an elected official from making a governmental decision that would affect a personal financial interest, “including any source of income” such as a salary.

Meanwhile, Mamaux said Smith’s action “is just political harassment.” Both men acknowledge clashing over the Carlsbad growth control issue.

“I go way back with Mr. Mamaux,” Smith said. “We’ve battled for years and years over development.”

The councilman, who served for a time as Carlsbad’s city manager in the 1960s, said there was no conflict of interest in trying to sway the council into allocating the money for Palomar Airport Road.

“Centre Mortgage doesn’t own any property. We rent office space in a building” and thus wouldn’t monetarily benefit from upgrading the road, Mamaux said.

Further, although Greenberg owns both Centre Mortgage and Centre Development, Mamaux denied Smith’s claim that the mortgage firm is a subsidiary. Instead, “we’re a separate profit center within the holdings of Dean Greenberg,” Mamaux said.

City Attorney Vincent Biondo Jr. said Tuesday that the council will receive advice concerning any conflict of interest before a vote is taken on how to spend the funds.

Since there has been no vote, Biondo doesn’t believes Mamaux has done anything wrong. “I have no concerns about the discussion of the item when it was with the council before,” Biondo said, calling Smith’s complaint “premature.”

Smith also asked the San Diego County district attorney’s office to look into Mamaux’s purported conflict. But Deputy District Atty. Rodger Overholser told Smith last week that his office wouldn’t get involved because a potential witness, Carlsbad City Councilman Mark Pettine, is a deputy district attorney.

In response, Smith is preparing to ask state Atty. Gen. John Van De Kamp’s office to explore the alleged conflict of interest.