Legislator Floyd Asks for a Probe of Racing Board

Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), chairman of the state committee that oversees horse racing, has asked the district attorney in Sacramento to conduct a criminal investigation of the California Horse Racing Board for conducting secret meetings.

Floyd, in a letter to district attorney Steve White, said the CHRB conducted serial telephone meetings in violation of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. In the letter, Floyd says that Sue Ross, the legislative liaison for the CHRB, routinely polls board members on particular bills or issues until a majority is reached, then composes a formal position letter under the signature of the CHRB chairman Henry Chavez. All this is done before a public meeting is held.

“The horse racing board has been operating in clear violation of the Open Meeting Act,” Floyd said. “The board members and staff involved should have the decency to resign.

“A comparison of the board’s official correspondence and their meeting agendas show that the CHRB has done much of their business over the telephone. The board must give the public a chance to comment before the adoption of official positions.”

Chavez, according to his office, was out of the state and could not be reached.

The incident to which Floyd makes reference in his letter deals with AB 3026, Floyd’s bill asking for a reduction in license fees for harness racing at Pomona. The board sent a letter of objection to Gov. George Deukmejian about the bill without a public meeting to discuss it. Deukmejian vetoed the bill on Sunday.

The alleged illegal polling took place on Sept. 17. Two members of the board, Rosemary Ferraro and Phoebe Cooke, said they were not polled and were surprised when the board had already written a letter on the issue. The third member of the seven-member board, according to Cooke, who was not polled was William Landsdale. Landsdale could not be reached Tuesday night.

The board on Friday also refused to accept a bill signed by the governor that would allow harness racing at Pomona fewer than five days a week. According the Lloyd Arnold and Chris Bardis, who run harness racing at Los Alamitos, the sudden reversal in position will seriously threaten harness racing.

“I’ve been very concerned that the board has not been doing its duties as far as administering the (open meeting) laws of the government,” Cooke said. “I’m very pleased that Assemblyman Floyd is very concerned that some of us who have been left out of the loop.

“I was concerned after our meeting on Friday about quite a few pieces of legislation that had all of a sudden popped up and become immediate law. A few bills have been rushed through without anyone knowing about them.”

The CHRB has a special meeting scheduled next Monday in Los Angeles.