San Fernando Council Weighs Allegations Against Parks Chief : Investigation: Jess Margarito is accused of misappropriating more than $2,000 and falsifying official documents. He says he is the target of a vendetta.

The San Fernando City Council on Monday night considered in secret what steps to take in the case of parks Director Jess Margarito, a popular former mayor accused of falsifying official documents and misappropriating more than $2,000 in city funds.

The move came just hours after Margarito--also the target of a separate criminal investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office--lambasted the council for engaging in what he called a political vendetta.

The council, meeting in a confidential executive session, heard a report by San Fernando Police Lt. Ernie Halcon, according to members of the council. The meeting continued late into the night.

Last week, Halcon and an investigator from the district attorney’s office seized a computer and records from Margarito’s office.

Margarito has been the subject of a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office since April and has been under scrutiny by the council since October. The council inquiry was limited to administrative matters, although Halcon has said he found evidence of alleged criminal wrongdoing.

The investigations are based on allegations that Margarito falsified work cards for convicts assigned by courts to work in the city’s parks, and submitted bogus work orders that resulted in the payment of $2,250 for tasks not done.

The district attorney’s office has been investigating Margarito since April, while the San Fernando City Council directed the city’s Police Department to look into the charges in October.

Earlier Monday, Margarito told a gathering in front of the San Fernando police station that the inquiries were politically motivated.

“What they’re doing to us is unjust,” he said. “We’re not going to be intimidated or cowed down by people who don’t want change to take place.”

The small rally attracted about 35 residents, many of whom have known Margarito since he began his rise from U.S. Census Bureau worker to councilman in 1984 and mayor in 1986.

Margarito did not contradict allegations outlined last week in a search warrant affidavit, but said the investigations are an excessive reaction to what he believes are merely record-keeping irregularities.

He promised to produce evidence in the coming weeks and called for a public City Council meeting to air the allegations. The council has met several times in closed session to discuss the case on the grounds that it is a personnel matter.