FPPC Clears National City Council Member

Jess E. Van Deventer, National City city councilman, has been cleared by a state agency of allegations that he willfully failed to disclose properties that he owns in the city’s redevelopment area.

Sandra Michioku, a spokeswoman for the Fair Political Practices Commission, said Tuesday that the agency’s eight-month investigation showed that Van Deventer complied with the law by filing amended economic disclosure statements showing ownership of the lots.

The new filings also disclosed 14 sources of income that Van Deventer had previously failed to report.

“We decided not to open a case. He presented a lot of amendments (to previous disclosure statements), and there was nothing to suggest anything was amiss. The disclosures were provided voluntarily,” Michioku said.

Van Deventer amended his filings with the FPPC in March, after he became aware that private investigator John Gier was probing the councilman’s financial and property interests. Gier, who is from Orange County, said he was hired by a National City businessman to investigate Van Deventer.

On Wednesday, Van Deventer said he was not surprised by the FPPC’s ruling.

“I feel very comfortable. I did all the corrections required by law that we had to do. You just can’t leave it in the hands of someone else. You’ve got to take care of it yourself, and that’s what I did,” Van Deventer said.

Van Deventer acknowledged all along that he had violated state law by failing to report all of his properties and sources of income. But he blamed a former business adviser, who Van Deventer said advised him to transfer the properties and the income they generated to a corporation.

Although the properties were listed as being owned by the corporation, Van Deventer admitted that he and his wife were still the real owners.

He blamed the business adviser for giving him faulty advice and subsequently fired him.

The FPPC’s finding only clears one hurdle for Van Deventer. The district attorney’s office is investigating possible conflict-of-interest violations by Van Deventer for purchasing property in the redevelopment area while on the City Council.

At issue are eight properties he purchased from 1981, when Van Deventer was in his first council term, to 1988. Van Deventer failed to report them and 14 other sources of income in the economic disclosure statements he filed with the FPPC between 1981 and 1988.

Seven of the eight properties that were not previously disclosed lie in the redevelopment zones.

Van Deventer and the other City Council members also serve as the Community Development Commission, the city’s redevelopment agency.

District attorney spokeswoman Linda Miller said Wednesday that the local investigation of Van Deventer is continuing. She refused to comment further.

Earlier this year, National City City Atty. George Eiser said Van Deventer committed a misdemeanor violation of redevelopment laws that prohibit councilmen from buying property in redevelopment areas once the boundaries are drawn. The National City redevelopment boundaries were first drawn in 1981.

Eiser told The Times that he advised Van Deventer in 1986 that he was in “technical violation” of state conflict-of-interest laws and urged him to dispose of the properties.

Van Deventer said he acted on Eiser’s recommendation by transferring the properties to the corporation set up by his former business adviser.

Eiser could not be reached for comment on the FPPC’s ruling.

Van Deventer declined to comment on the district attorney’s probe, but said, “I’ve got nothing to hide.”