IRVINE : City Studies Role of Consultant/Lobbyist

City officials are considering whether a traffic and engineering consultant hired by the city has a conflict of interest because he is also lobbying city officials on behalf of developers.

The consultant, Les Card of LSA Associates in Irvine, said Friday that he does not believe he has a conflict. He said the work he does for a group of developers and landowners--known as the IBC Consortium--is unrelated to his work for Irvine.

Card, president of LSA Associates and a longtime consultant to the city, has been lobbying members of the Planning Commission and City Council on behalf of the IBC Consortium. The consortium is urging the commission and council to relax building restrictions in the Irvine Business Complex that were proposed the city’s planning staff.

The Irvine Business Complex, an area stretching roughly from John Wayne Airport to the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, has been under strict building limits since 1989. City planners have been considering how much development should be allowed in the area.

After Card began lobbying city officials to support the developers’ plan, City Councilwoman Paula Werner asked the city attorney if Card’s lobbying conflicted with his status as a city consultant. “It sounds as though he’s working both sides of the fence,” Werner said.

City Atty. John L. Fellows III said that even though Card is not elected or a full-time city employee, he is probably considered a public official under state law. If so, the law would regulate his outside lobbying.

The city is trying to get legal experts to determine whether Card’s lobbying work falls under those restrictions, Fellows said.

In Card’s city consultant role, his company has been preparing and updating a street improvement plan for the Irvine Business Complex, said Arya Rohani, the city’s manager of transportation services. Card’s company keeps track of five street improvement projects, estimates costs and tries to identify and resolve snags before they become problems, Rohani said.

That is the only transportation-related work LSA is doing for the city in the business complex, he said.

City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. met with Card on Friday afternoon to try to sort out Card’s involvement with the city as consultant and expert for the developers. Brady could not be reached Friday to discuss that meeting.

Earlier this week, Brady said he was concerned because Card’s work for the IBC Consortium might conflict with his work for the city. When Card gives testimony before city commissions and lobbies city officials, the well-known Card might be viewed as a city consultant, Brady said.

“The question is, can one man serve two masters?” Brady said.

Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan was critical of Card’s dual role as consultant and lobbyist when the City Council discussed the issue Tuesday.

“If it’s not a conflict of interest clear cut, it’s still inappropriate,” Sheridan said.