Conflict Between Mayor, Irvine Co. Is Alleged

Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan should not vote on a proposed 3,626-home Westpark II project because she has a conflict-of-interest with the developer, an Irvine attorney alleged Tuesday.

Christopher B. Mears said that because Sheridan, a real-estate agent, earned commissions by helping with home sales or purchases for top Irvine Co. officials, she has a conflict of interest and should abstain from voting.

But Sheridan said she has no conflict of interest with the Irvine Co. and has participated in discussion of the project during the council’s consideration of the plan.

Mears raised the conflict-of-interest issue in a letter he sent to City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. on Monday, in which he also asked for an investigation into the matter. During the Sept. 25 council meeting, when the Westpark II plan was introduced, Mears also told Sheridan that she should abstain from voting because of the home sales.

“It just looks bad,” Mears said. “It conveys to many the appearance of impropriety.”

Sheridan dismissed the allegation during the meeting as politically motivated because Mears had supported her opponent in the June mayoral election.

Under state law, an elected official cannot vote on matters involving a personal financial gain of $250 or more, or if his or her spouse had a financial gain of $500 or more. The restriction lasts for one year after the transaction.

During the campaign for the June 5 election for mayor, Sheridan acknowledged that she and her husband have acted as real estate agents for about seven Irvine Co. employees. The couple earned $50,163 in commissions from Irvine Co. employees, including top executives over the past six years, according to documents the Sheridans released in the spring.

Dealings with Irvine Co. employees, though, create no conflict for Sheridan with the Irvine Co. itself, City Atty. John L. Fellows said Tuesday.

Any of Sheridan’s dealings with Irvine Co. employees merely would restrict her from voting on matters that might be requested by the employees themselves.

Mears, however, contends that the Irvine Co. situation is similar to another situation in which Sheridan has acknowledged a conflict.

Sheridan declared a conflict of interest involving the city attorney and his law firm because she and her husband worked as real estate agents in April on the sale of his home. A lawyer hired by the city to look into the matter said in May that the $8,640 commission earned on the sale created a conflict with the city attorney--as well as his law firm--because Sheridan’s vote would help decide matters involving the law firm’s contract with the city.