Ventura Council Split Over Fate of Port Official

Members of the Ventura City Council split sharply Thursday on whether to push for the resignation of a Port District commissioner who had failed to disclose his involvement in a 24-year-old bribery case.

Commissioner Robert (Nick) Starr, whose bribery conviction stemming from his work as a Los Angeles harbor commissioner in 1968 was overturned on appeal, should quit graciously to preserve harmony in the Ventura Port District, Councilwoman Cathy Bean said.

“If that doesn’t occur, I’m strongly considering asking for reconsideration” of Starr’s appointment by the City Council, Bean said. “What bothers me is he didn’t let us know.”

But Councilman Tom Buford took an adamant stand that Starr should stay.

“He’s in place,” Buford said. “I haven’t had anything brought to my attention to indicate there’s cause to remove him from the position.”

Starr, a 59-year-old property manager who has served on several government commissions, refused to comment Thursday on calls for his resignation.

“I think I gave you my statement yesterday,” Starr said Thursday. When asked if he had more to say on the issue, he replied, “Not a word, thanks.”

Starr said Wednesday that he felt no need to mention the bribery case when council members interviewed him because it was resolved and no one asked him about it.

In addition to Buford, council members Jim Monahan and Jack Tingstrom have expressed support for Starr, while Gary Tuttle has expressed reservations. Council member Todd Collart is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Gregory L. Carson said Thursday that he expects the issue will be resolved before the council’s next meeting on Sept. 14.

“I’m waiting to see just what transpires,” Carson said. “I would like to get a feel for where everybody is on this. I think if the heat comes down, it’ll come down next week.”

The council could have withdrawn Starr’s appointment through a 4-3 vote within a week of naming him to the post, City Atty. Peter D. Bulens said.

Now that the window has passed, the council would need cause and at least a 5-2 vote to remove Starr, Bulens said.

There is no official definition of cause in state codes governing the Ventura Port District, he said.

“It usually means some kind of affirmative action or inaction that the person did that causes damage to the agency,” Bulens said. “The real question is whether or not an action that occurred 24 years ago and that is, on the books, not a conviction means anything legally.”

Ventura Harbor officials learned last week that a jury found Starr and a fellow Los Angeles harbor commissioner guilty of bribery in 1968 for accepting $6,500 worth of furniture from a developer who sought their help in getting a $12-million contract.

An appeals court overturned the conviction on grounds that the jury was improperly instructed. Prosecutors did not retry the case, in part because Starr’s co-defendant, who would have been a witness, died.

Starr has had other encounters with the law. They ranged from a conflict of interest declared in the mid-1970s when he and his then-wife Diane rented space to the San Fernando Valley Fair while working as fair officials, to investigation of a nursing home the couple owned.

Starr said Thursday that he was merely the landlord of the North Hollywood Lodge and Sanitarium. He said he had nothing to do with operation of the facility, which eventually led the state Department of Health Services to revoke its license in 1976 for improper handling of prescriptions.

Starr said Wednesday that Port District board Chairman Richard Hambleton had leaked old newspaper clippings on his bribery trial to the City Council. He said Hambleton leaked the clippings because he was upset that Starr objected to a board proposal to let the financially troubled Harbortown Resort hotel operate rent-free at the harbor for three years.

Hambleton, however, denied the accusation and said he is considering quitting because of tension with Starr over the matter.

At least one other commissioner has discussed resigning over the incident, harbor Manager Richard Parsons said.

Parsons declined to offer his opinion on whether Starr should stay or go.

But he said, “It would certainly solve the problem. The issue would certainly then go away, and that would certainly, I think, be good.”

Lawrence Matheney, who served as a Port District commissioner for 10 years before Starr replaced him June 29, said Thursday that he believes Starr should quit.

“I think the guy ought to pack his bags and leave,” he said. “He is not going to help the Port District as long as he’s on the board with this hanging over his head.”