Sheridan Says She’s Handled House Sales for City Staff : Government: Critics question what other clients she has represented and whether they have interests before the council.

Councilwoman and real estate agent Sally Anne Sheridan, under fire for her role in the sale of the city attorney’s house, has also acknowledged being involved in the sale of homes for 14 city employees and eight executives of the Irvine Co. over the last six years.

A city-ordered investigation of Sheridan’s votes on issues involving the city attorney found no wrongdoing, but Sheridan’s opponents in a hotly contested race for mayor have continued to question what other clients she has represented and whether they have interests before the council.

Frustrated by continued scrutiny, Sheridan and her husband, Donald, also a real estate agent, have opened to public inspection their income tax returns and records of real estate sales dating back to 1984, when she began serving on the council.

Among city employees, records show, the Sheridans have been involved in selling or buying property on behalf of not only the city attorney but the Irvine city manager, the city clerk and the police chief. The Sheridans have also assisted in a property deal for the vice chairman of the Irvine Co., the city’s largest landholder and master developer.

The Sheridans say that these deals are a normal part of doing business, that they have not actively sought clients at city hall or at the Irvine Co., and that they have scrupulously tried to avoid any conflict of interest. They say they have each carefully studied the rules and regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission and sought the advice of the city attorney when there were any questions.

“I have voluntarily offered the information so that I can stop this witch hunt and get on with the issues in this campaign,” Councilwoman Sheridan said. “As my husband says: ‘When loving a woman and making a living in this city are against the law, it’s time to leave.’ ”

City Atty. Roger Grable, whose home sale prompted the controversy, said that Sally Anne Sheridan has repeatedly asked him over the years about her votes involving the Irvine Co. and that he has advised her that her votes would be proper.

City officials who have also used the Sheridans for help in their real estate transactions say they did so because they know her, trust her and found it convenient to do business with her.

“Irvine city employees--past or present--having had real estate transactions with the Sheridans have nothing to hide or be ashamed of,” said City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr., who used the Sheridans in three real estate transactions since 1984. “All of us, including spouses, resent any implication or arousal of suspicion that we did anything wrong.”

At the council’s request, Brady compiled a list of 20 real estate transactions between the Sheridans and a total of 14 current and former city employees, all occurring since Sheridan took office in 1984. Commissions from the sales totaled at least $79,500, according to records released by the Sheridans.

Executives at the Irvine Co. expressed similar sentiments. “I had gotten to know Don over the last 10 years and he was the only real estate person I knew well in the city of Irvine,” said Irvine Co. Vice Chairman Thomas H. Nielsen who listed and sold a home he owned in Irvine through the Sheridans. “I thought he had a good understanding of the market.

“No one ever asked me or ever suggested to me that I use them, nor did Sally or Don ever come to me. Certainly that was never the case.”

The Sheridans disclosed that together they made commissions totaling $50,163 on deals that involved Irvine Co. personnel. In all, commissions from city employees and Irvine Co. executives totaled about $130,000, roughly 16% of the couple’s gross combined earnings of $815,000 for six years.

The Sheridans have been business partners in Orange County working as realtor-associates for an Irvine realty firm and have split most of their commissions since 1979, Donald Sheridan said. They were married in November, 1988.

Sally Anne Sheridan blames much of the uproar over the property transactions on her political nemesis and opponent in the June 5 election, Mayor Larry Agran.

“No question, Agran is trying to destroy me personally, professionally and politically,” Sheridan said. “I am not going to give up and hide behind some bush. This is the worst I have faced in my three runs for office.”

The controversy began last month when Councilman Edward A. Dornan, an Agran backer, asked the city manager whether Sheridan had a conflict of interest in her December vote to renew the contract of the Rutan & Tucker law firm for city attorney services. In April, she and her husband earned $8,640 in commission by selling the home of City Atty. Grable, who works for the law firm.

In response to Dornan’s inquiry, City Manager Brady hired San Francisco attorney Joe Remcho, an expert in conflict-of-interest law, to investigate the matter.

Remcho’s report, made public on May 8, said Sheridan’s December vote was proper because she hadn’t earned any money from the transaction at the time of the vote. However, the report said she should abstain from all votes involving Grable or Rutan & Tucker for 12 months from the date of the home sale.

Sheridan subsequently complied with the request at the April 24 council meeting, abstaining from a routine agenda item involving Grable’s law firm. Under state law, elected officials must not vote on matters involving a personal financial gain of $250 or $500 for a spouse.

Remcho also warned that city employees or elected officials who do business with each other or anyone with an interest pending before the council should consult the Fair Political Practices Commission, a state watchdog agency that monitors the conduct of elected officials.

Dornan and Agran questioned Sheridan’s role in convincing her council colleagues to hire Brady as the city manager in March, 1989, rather than conducting a national search. Sheridan’s vote on Brady’s contract came only nine months after Donald Sheridan had acted as the selling and buying agent on homes for then-Assistant City Manager Brady, records show.

“When Sally Anne Sheridan is cheerleading for us to hire Paul Brady and a couple of years later I find out she made money in real estate transactions with him, I don’t think that’s very ethical,” Dornan said.

According to the Sheridan’s records, she and her husband split $16,038 in commission when Brady purchased a home through Donald Sheridan on June 1, 1988, and sold a home on June 29 of that year.

“I have a legal opinion that says I’ve done nothing wrong,” Sally Anne Sheridan said, referring to a private attorney she asked to review the Brady matter.

In seven of the eight transactions involving Irvine Co. executives, Donald Sheridan said, he and his wife acted as agents. In the other, he said, they represented a client who did not work for the company and bought a house that turned out to be owned by an Irvine Co. manager.

In addition, Donald Sheridan said he helped Gary H. Hunt, a senior vice president, find a mobile home in El Morro Beach Mobile Home Park south of Crystal Cove. Donald Sheridan said he handled some the sales paper work for Hunt free.

Hunt acknowledged that Donald Sheridan helped him find the mobile home but rejected any notion that it even remotely influenced Sally Anne Sheridan’s votes on Irvine Co. matters.

“There is absolutely no validity to all those accusations. They are patently absurd,” Hunt said. “To assert that there could be undue influence exerted in the normal course of business is a political smoke screen.”