D.A. Investigates Roth’s Alleged Airline Upgrades

Widening its probe into alleged influence peddling by Supervisor Don R. Roth, the Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating whether Roth may have violated a ban in the state Constitution by allegedly taking free upgrades that allowed him to travel in first class on flights to Hawaii and Europe.

At least one upgrade involved an airline company whose operations at John Wayne Airport are overseen by the Board of Supervisors.

George A. Rebella, a former manager of John Wayne Airport, said in a recent interview with The Times that Roth used county airport staff to get himself and his wife upgraded en route to a vacation in Honolulu in 1987.

Roth “told me he was going to Hawaii, and was there anything we could do to get him a first-class seat?” Rebella recounted.

Rebella said he then called a contact at American Airlines, a major carrier at John Wayne Airport that relies on county supervisors for gate allotments. He said the airline took care of the request and got Roth the upgrade.

A Times investigation has also found that when Rebella resigned under pressure as airport chief in September, 1990, county officials yielded to his request for what amounted to more than $28,000 in disputed sick pay after he threatened, in the words of one knowledgeable official, to “blow the whistle” on alleged upgrades taken by unnamed county officials.

Roth declined to discuss the upgrade issue with a reporter. His attorney, Dana Reed, said: “The supervisor completely denies that Mr. Rebella upgraded him on a personal trip, and he has no recollection of that ever happening on a business trip. He doesn’t know what (Rebella) is talking about, and he’s really quite perplexed.”

While Roth acknowledged that he got free upgrades to a first-class seat on the way back from the Hawaii trip, and during a trip to Europe in 1990, he maintained that he never used his position as a county supervisor to secure these perks, Reed said.

This was disputed by Roth’s ex-wife, however, who said that during their recently ended marriage she and Don often flew first class, but “we never paid for first class.”

She confirmed Rebella’s account that they got their first-class upgrades with his help, and recounted how she once thanked the airport chief for the favor.

The issue of free airline upgrades threatens to deepen the existing legal and political problems for Roth, 70, a two-term supervisor who is now under investigation by both the district attorney and the FBI over whether he traded political favors for gifts in his dealings with several local business people.

Airline upgrades pose potential legal problems for public officials on two fronts.

The difference between a first-class and an economy- or business-class seat can total hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and state officials say that accepting such an upgrade could constitute a gift that would have to be included on an official’s state-mandated financial disclosure reports. Roth did not report any of his upgrades.

For instance, a first-class upgrade that Roth acknowledges he got during an official trip he led to Europe in 1990 was worth $2,236.

In addition, a 113-year-old provision of the state Constitution bans governments officials in California from accepting “free passes or discounts” from transportation companies, and violators can be thrown out of office. State officials say this ban generally includes free upgrades.

One airline executive said upgrades for government officials in California are “a known taboo.” Others in the industry and in government said upgrades create a potential conflict of interest for legislators in their regular dealings with airlines on a host of regulatory issues.

The issue became a particularly sensitive one when Rebella left his post as airport manager in the fall of 1990, amid widespread dissatisfaction among top county officials over his handling of the $310-million airport expansion project, completed millions over budget and months behind schedule.

Unhappy with the terms the county offered him in exchange for his resignation, Rebella insisted he be given nearly four months of sick pay, amounting to about $28,350, that he said he deserved and was owed, sources said.

County administrative officials initially balked at his demand, but Rebella then threatened to raise allegations about flight upgrades by unnamed county supervisors in a “messy lawsuit,” warning that “this is going to come out,” according to a source familiar with those discussions.

A second source who demanded anonymity confirmed this account of Rebella’s resignation, saying the outgoing airport chief warned he would “blow the whistle” over the alleged upgrades if he did not get the disputed sick pay.

Rebella got the additional four months of sick pay, county records show.

Rebella refused to discuss the terms of his departure, and Roth also declined to talk about the issue. But the other four supervisors said they never took part in, or were aware of, any such arrangement with Rebella.

In an interview, Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder--for whom Rebella once worked as an aide--called his allegations “absolutely shocking” and said they “must have been made of whole cloth.” Wieder said she was never told of any threats by Rebella to expose alleged upgrades by any supervisors. If she had been, “I would have kicked his rear right out of here,” she added.

Sources say Rebella never mentioned Roth or any county officials by name during the sick-pay dispute. But in an interview, Rebella maintained that Roth was the one county official whom he remembered having personally helped get an upgrade to Hawaii in 1987 through contacts at American Airlines.

Rebella said Roth was so appreciative that he sent American Airlines a thank-you note for the Hawaii upgrade. Rebella said he saw the note.

The Board of Supervisors has direct authority over planning and facilities at John Wayne Airport, and American Airlines has been one of the main tenants since American bought AirCal in 1987.

A key decision affecting American came in November, 1989, when the board approved a plan that determined the number of flights each airline was given at the expanded John Wayne Airport, which opened 10 months later. American Airlines got 21 flights per day, nearly double its nearest competitor.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley made the motion to approve the plan, seconded by Roth. It passed 4-0.

Questioned about their seating arrangements when they took American Airlines to Honolulu in 1987, Jackie Roth said she and Don were upgraded to first-class seats for both legs of that trip, as well as for a trip to New York City in June, 1987. Roth’s office appointment books confirm that he was in New York at that time.

Jackie Roth said she also believed she and her ex-husband might have upgraded to first class free of charge for round-trip flights to Montreal in 1988 for a business meeting, and on another trip to Washington several years ago.

One trip under scrutiny by the district attorney’s office was an official trip that Roth led to Europe in March, 1990, to review high-speed rail technology there.

Jim Ort, a longtime Roth friend who owns All-Travel Service in Anaheim and booked the trip, said he was questioned by a district attorney’s investigator recently about the trip arrangements.

Ort had said in an earlier interview that both Don and Jackie Roth were upgraded from business to first-class seats for the flight. Ort said there was nothing unusual about the upgrade and Lufthansa Airlines “just bumped him” to first class because Roth had booked a large traveling delegation.

Many of the delegation members traveling with Roth, as well as a Times reporter, were also upgraded, Ort said. But unlike Roth, most were upgraded only from economy to business class--not first class--and none were public officials subject to regulations about accepting gifts and travel passes.

The state Constitution reads: “A transportation company may not grant free passes or discounts to anyone holding an office in this state; and the acceptance of a pass or discount by a public officer, other than a Public Utilities Commissioner, shall work a forfeiture of that office.”

The ban was put in place in 1879 in an effort to control the railroad barons’ influence over state legislators. A state commission recommended in 1970 that the provision be repealed, but voters rejected the idea.

Because the flight upgrade issue has apparently never been tested in court, some ambiguity remains over its application. Some lawyers believe the constitutional provision does not govern upgrades, while others take the extreme opposite position.

The state attorney general’s office has indicated that upgrades do fall under the Constitution’s ban--but with some provisos.

For instance, in a 1990 opinion involving a honeymoon flight by Santa Ana City Councilman Richards L. Norton, the attorney general’s office said that an upgrade taken by Norton and his newlywed wife was legally acceptable because the airline regularly gave out upgrades to all honeymooners.

Based on that opinion, Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Rodney Lilyquist said in a statement to The Times that the provision generally appears to ban state officials from taking free upgrades not also available to the flying public. “That (upgrade issue) is covered by the provision,” he said.

Orange County officials say the risk is widely known, with at least one legal opinion on upgrades given to supervisors from the county lawyers about four years ago. Under county policy, supervisors fly economy class on official business.

“It’s a no-no,” Wieder said. “You don’t take upgrades, any more than you take free flights.”

Wieder said she took free upgrades on two occasions--once to Washington several years ago, and again to Sacramento a few weeks ago. Both trips were for business, and both times, Wieder said, the flight was overbooked and she was left “standing in the aisle” because her seat was taken. Flight attendants moved her to first class as a result, she said.

“I didn’t ask for it,” she said. “I was given an upgrade because there was no seat. But when I’ve asked (county lawyers) about that, I was told it has to be something the public doesn’t get” to cause legal problems.

When asked about the issue recently, all county officials contacted by The Times except Wieder said they had never accepted a flight upgrade while serving in government. But many were quick to point to other top officials who they alleged had done so.

Indeed, rumors have circulated for years about certain county officials using aides and airport staff to get upgrades for themselves and family members. So intense was this speculation when Murry Cable became airport manager in 1980 that he decided to call a meeting of supervisors’ aides to address the issue.

“It’s a common practice in the airline business to upgrade people,” Cable, now head of the county’s waste management division, said in a recent interview. “So I wanted to make sure people were aware of the law (against discounts). When I was at the airport, none of that went on.”

But former County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish said that during his tenure as the county’s top non-elected official from 1985 through 1989, he was aware of supervisors and staff members who took free upgrades regularly, often at the airlines’ initiative. He said he could not provide specifics.

“If there was room, the airlines would often just say, ‘Why don’t you sit here today’ ” in first class, Parrish said. “That happened. That was the policy, almost, of the airlines in those days.”

Rebella gave a similar account, saying that upgrades were a “county tradition” during his time at the airport from 1985 to 1990.

Like Parrish, Rebella said he could not provide specific examples, other than the one instance involving Roth.

But he maintained that as airport manager, he heard from staff and airline sources “every two or three months” about a supervisor or a top county official getting upgraded on a flight.

Sometimes, Rebella alleged, airline officials would simply get supervisors a first-class seat after they had arrived at the airport.

At other times, he said, the upgrading would be arranged in advance--either by a supervisor or staff member calling the airline directly, or going through an airport staff member to contact the airline for the supervisor.

“The staff at John Wayne Airport viewed that as accepted practice when I came aboard,” he said.

One former airline manager at John Wayne Airport also acknowledged having given a free upgrade to an unnamed Orange County supervisor several years ago.

“The airline took the initiative after we were notified a VIP was traveling,” said the official, who demanded anonymity.

However, officials at more than a half-dozen airlines operating out of John Wayne Airport said in interviews that while they give upgrades regularly to “VIPs,” they are careful to avoid offering them for government officials.

Doing so might represent a conflict of interest, since the county supervisors control operations of the airport and determine how many gate slots each airline gets, these managers said.

“Maybe somebody at the airport--an employee--recognized somebody traveling (as a supervisor) and put them up in first class. I can’t say that’s not done,” said Douglas Sherff, general manager for American Airlines at John Wayne Airport.

But the airline tries to avoid such perks for county officials, he said. “It might look like favoritism, and this is something the county has always been sensitive to,” Sherff said.

County airport officials agreed.

Despite Rebella’s allegations, current Airport Manager Jan Mittermeier and aides said they have never known about or helped county officials get upgrades--either when they worked under Rebella, or since he left.

“We have to deal with the airlines,” said Courtney Wiercioch, airport spokeswoman. “We want to be on an even playing field. We don’t want to owe them, and we don’t want them to owe us.”