CAMARILLO : Conflict-of-Interest Suit Won’t Be Filed

A Camarillo tax attorney and community activist said Monday that he will not file a lawsuit to determine if an Oxnard harbor commissioner creates a conflict of interest by remaining on the commission after being elected to the Camarillo City Council.

Kevin Staker had raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest when Commissioner Stanley J. Daily sought reelection to the harbor board, which governs the Port of Hueneme, and a seat on the Camarillo City Council. Daily won election to both positions Nov. 6.

In his review of the legal issues, Staker said he found that California law is murky on conflicts arising from one person holding two offices with overlapping jurisdictions. He was concerned that a conflict could arise if harbor commissioners were to enter negotiations with Camarillo in the hypothetical event that trucks from the port damage city roads.

But last month, the Ventura County counsel’s office said the only way Staker could press the issue would be to file a lawsuit. And Staker said the law on the books leaves him with a weak case.

“In my opinion, I think I have a 1-in-5 chance of getting him bounced from one position or another,” Staker said. “Although it is a possibility, in essence, to force him to choose between the two positions, it isn’t worth my time and trouble to pursue it.”

Daily said he was not surprised that Staker dropped the matter. Before seeking election to the two offices, he confirmed with attorneys for both Camarillo and the Oxnard Harbor District that there was no legal conflict of interest.

“I’ve always been very comfortable with this,” said Daily, a longtime harbor commissioner and former mayor of Camarillo.