Liegler Quits as Convention Center Chief : Management: Allegations that he held private parties at taxpayer expense ‘have affected my ability to manage the center effectively,’ Liegler says in a prepared statement.

Tom Liegler, the top executive of the San Diego Convention Center, abruptly resigned his $117,000-a-year job Wednesday after allegations that he held half a dozen private parties at the center at taxpayer expense that included his family and friends.

Liegler, 63, the general manager of the Convention Center since 1985, submitted his resignation, effective in 30 days, because “recent events have affected my ability to manage the center effectively,” he said in a prepared statement.

“Development of the center has been a focal point of my life for six years, and I do not want its continued progress toward becoming a nationally recognized convention facility in any way impeded by the current situation,” he said. “May the San Diego spirit prevail.”

Liegler came under scrutiny last week for four parties he arranged this year and last whose guest list included members of his family, his golfing club, colleagues from the Anaheim Convention Center where he worked for 20 years and a social club he belonged to whose members all share the first name Tom. All four events cost the center more than $12,000.

In announcing Liegler’s resignation, Convention Center Corp. Board Chairman Morgan Dene Oliver disclosed two other “troublesome” events that he said should not have been paid for by the Convention Center.

Both were held late last year and are believed to have included Liegler’s family and friends, Oliver said.

One event, listed on Convention Center records as “TFL (Tom F. Liegler) Progressive Dinner/Republican Local Committee Dinner as Wrap-up,” was supposedly related to the Republican National Committee’s visit last year to decide whether San Diego should host the 1992 Republic National Convention. The committee eventually chose Houston as the site last January.

Oliver, who was part of the welcoming committee for the RNC, said he was not part of the dinner, to which eight people were invited and which cost $327.28.

Last December, Liegler invited nine people to the Convention Center for a dinner, which cost $336.33. Convention Center officials said they cannot find a guest list or an official purpose for either party in their records.

Last week, Oliver strongly defended Liegler in a press conference with San Diego media. He said two of the original group of four parties in question--one for members of an auditorium manager’s association and another for a social group of San Diego businessmen and civic leaders named Tom--were legitimate Convention Center expenses because they helped promote the center. Cost of the two events totaled $10,559.

Liegler said he planned to pay the $1,411 cost of a third party, to which he invited 32 members of his golfing club, called the Dana Group. A food service manager said the dinner bill was to have been borne by the Convention Center until the allegations surfaced. Liegler then asked that he be sent the bill.

Oliver, who defended Liegler’s actions concerning that event, said new information caused him to suggest to Liegler on Sunday that he resign.

“When I first spoke last week, the facts I had led me to believe that the problems were not as deep as they are,” he said. “As the investigation continued, there were more facts that led me to change my mind and my opinion.”

Even last week, Oliver had trouble excusing Liegler for a party he arranged last February, when he invited a dozen physicians, including his Orange County cousin, a neurologist, to the center because they were interested in holding a workers compensation seminar there.

All of the physicians except Liegler’s cousin found it impossible to attend, but Liegler suggested he come down anyway and invite members of his family. In all, 12 members of the Liegler family enjoyed $745 worth of food, a sum Liegler said he reimbursed the center after the expenditure was questioned.

Paul Downey, Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s spokesman, said the mayor phoned Oliver and let him know that “we need to do everything we can to keep San Diego’s reputation intact” and to “move quickly on this.”

O’Connor believes Liegler’s decision “was the correct option, given the allegations,” Downey said. “This allows the Convention Center to move on.”

San Diego’s city attorney and city manager are both investigating the expenditures. It is unclear if any criminal charges will be filed, but Liegler retained criminal defense attorney Peter Hughes late Tuesday.

Hughes said he is representing Liegler against any possible criminal charges and to work out any problems related to Liegler’s contract.

“Our position is that Tom did nothing wrong,” Hughes said.

The Convention Center’s board of directors is meeting today to decide how to strengthen the center’s policies and procedures regarding use of the center while beginning its search for a new general manager. In the meantime, administrative manager Joe Davis is in charge.

The board had no way of knowing whether Liegler was holding private parties, Oliver said, because Liegler himself approves all Convention Center events.

“The board does not micromanage this facility,” he said.

As part of its effort to bolster regulations about how the center is used, the board will check with other convention facilities throughout the country, Oliver said.

“With respect to spending Convention Center dollars for private use, that is unacceptable here as I’m sure it is at all other convention centers,” he said. “There is a distinction between promoting the Convention Center and using funds for personal use, and that distinction is very important.”

Sources close to Liegler said he had been contemplating retirement anyway this year and has offers outstanding.