LAGUNA BEACH : Candidate Alleges a Conflict of Interest

A City Council candidate said Wednesday that he has filed a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission against Councilwoman Lida Lenney for alleged conflict of interest.

Mel Owens, who has announced he will run for a council seat in November, said Lenney violated the state Political Reform Act by owning stock in the parent company of the city’s waste hauler, and then voting on a residential trash-rate increase last year.

Lenney has acknowledged that she and her husband own 1,000 shares of Waste Management Inc., valued at about $36,000. But she maintains that she was not aware that the corporate giant owns Dewey’s Rubbish Inc., which holds the city’s trash contract.

“I have no personal vendetta against Lenney,” he said in a press release Wednesday. “We both share a love for the environment. However, each of us lives by a code of ethics that says if you break the rules, you must pay the penalty--even if you make the rules.”

Following agency policy, FPPC spokeswoman Carol Thorpe would not confirm or deny that the group had received Owens’ complaint.

Owens is also calling for the city to break its 10-year contract with Dewey’s because of conflicts between Waste Management and national environmental groups over the firm’s environmental record.

Lenney’s seat will not be at stake in the November city elections. The seats of council members Neil G. Fitzpatrick and Martha Collison will be up for reelection. However, both have said they do not plan to run again.