D.A. Calls Watchdog Unit Effective, Critics Call It Needless

Promoters of an Oxnard card club. Managers of a giant construction firm operating in Thousand Oaks. Some Inglewood police officers living in Simi Valley. And organized-crime figures trying to do business in the county.

A year after formation of a small but highly publicized political corruption unit in the county prosecutor’s office, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury lists those groups as some of the targets.

Bradbury said he believes the unit has deterred local officials who might otherwise be tempted to peddle their influence.

“When you know there is a watchdog, honest people tend to remain honest,” Bradbury said.

Some critics, however, call the unit unnecessary.

They say public officials in Ventura County adhere to a high code of personal ethics and that time spent looking for corruption against them is not well spent.

“My experience in this county has been that I have not run into any evidence or instances of political corruption,” said county Supervisor Maggie Kildee, adding political corruption should be investigated only when there is sufficient evidence that it exists.

“I personally have never been approached by someone with that as a politician,” she said. “I’m simply not aware of that happening in this county.”

Nonetheless, Bradbury said he is glad he established the unit.

“The nice thing about this unit is it helps keep political figures out of trouble, and it smacks them when they step across the line,” he said.

Bradbury announced the formation of the political corruption unit last June. At the time, he said the unit had been formed four months earlier and started its work by conducting an inquiry into possible laundering of contributions by card club promoters to the Oxnard City Council.

He said the new two-investigator unit would routinely analyze campaign and personal-finance documents filed by city officials and by holders of county and statewide offices.

And he added that the specially trained investigators would undertake a broad range of investigations, looking for corruption not only among politicians but in government-related transactions involving large amounts of money.

But--after almost a year of operations--there is evidence that the unit has had difficulty finding anyone to charge with political corruption crimes.

Charges have been filed in only one case since the unit was created--six misdemeanor counts of money laundering and one felony count of grand theft against two former promoters of a card-club casino in Oxnard.

They broke state law by making small contributions indirectly to two Oxnard councilmen, one former councilwoman and an assemblyman, prosecutors said.

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In addition to the shortage of cases actually leading to charges, the unit has also been scaled back in size. Bradbury said he now has only one investigator--not two--assigned to political corruption investigations. And that investigator spends no more than “25% to 30%” of his time on such matters, he said.

“I don’t think it would be wise or appropriate to devote a great deal of resources to something like this,” Bradbury said. “On the other hand, it wouldn’t be wise to ignore it.”

Some public officials, especially those who consider the unit a luxury, said they are pleased to learn that the unit is not being touted as highly as in the past.

“I would agree that we always need to be aware and look at any allegations that are raised,” Kildee said. “But it would seem that in a time of limited resources, it wouldn’t be my highest priority at this point.”

Other politicians agreed.

“All I know is that those people who I’ve associated with in the political arena in my short term in office I’ve found to be of great integrity,” said Oxnard Councilman Andres Herrera, who was elected in November, 1992.

Others say Bradbury should not let up on political corruption investigations.

“Politics can and often does lead to corruption,” Oxnard Councilman Michael Plisky said. “And I think the best prevention is just this kind of department. The presence of such a department may go a long way toward preventing any problems with political corruption.”

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Preventing problems before they occur is what the political corruption unit has been doing, its architect said.

“When unsavory individuals are courting public officials, we will let them know” about the person’s background, Bradbury said.

The prosecutor said there have been several instances since formation of the unit that his office has persuaded local officials against dealing with organized crime figures. He would not say which local governments received the advice.

He also said his office was the first to alert Oxnard city officials that several people involved in last year’s card-club proposal were convicted felons.

But the political corruption probe into the card-club promoters yielded charges against two promoters who had no criminal records--Michael E. Wooten, 45, of Camarillo and Frank Marasco, 48, of Ventura.

Each is charged with six misdemeanor counts of violating state law by making small contributions--all less than $99--indirectly to two Oxnard councilmen, including Michael Plisky, who authorities say was unaware of the true source of the donations.

But the level of the charges against Wooten and Marasco--misdemeanors instead of felonies-- has caused the defendants’ supporters to claim Bradbury is prosecuting them to justify the resources used during the probe.

“He put a lot of time, energy and money into it, and didn’t find anything,” argued Richard C. Loy, Wooten’s attorney.

“What did he uncover?” Loy asked. “Perhaps some technical violations of reporting. In any other jurisdiction in the land, this would have been handled civilly.”

The defense has filed a motion in court, accusing the district attorney’s office of prosecutorial indiscretion, Loy said.

“It means, ‘Mr. Prosecutor, use some common sense here,’ ” he said of the motion.

Louis B. Samonsky Jr., Marasco’s lawyer, was also incensed.

“If that’s the political corruption that exists in this county, then I don’t know that there is a necessity to have a political corruption unit,” he said.

“I can’t believe how clean the politics are in this county, compared to the east coast--where if you are stopped for a traffic ticket you hand the officer a $20 bill with your driver’s license,” said Samonsky, a native Pennsylvanian.

Bradbury agreed that Ventura County government officials generally are above suspicion. But he stands behind his prosecution of Wooten and Marasco, who are also charged with a felony count of grand theft unrelated to the contributions in Oxnard.

In the felony case, prosecutors allege Wooten and Marasco--co-owners of the defunct Darrik Marten Co. in Ventura--submitted a false $10,000 construction voucher to a consortium of Ventura County investors in 1992, then used the money personally without telling the lender.

And Bradbury said the work of his political corruption unit goes beyond the charges filed against Wooten and Marasco.

Ventura County prosecutors initiated an ongoing FBI investigation into suspected double-billing by Lehrer McGovern Bovis, the nation’s second-largest construction management firm, on projects including the $64-million performing arts center in Thousand Oaks, Bradbury said.

Bradbury also said that his political corruption investigators were involved in obtaining search warrants in a bookmaking investigation that led last week to the suspension of some Inglewood police officers residing in Simi Valley. But Bradbury would not disclose details of that case.

Bradbury said the political corruption unit is important because Ventura County is a fast-growing community and the site of major development projects. He said even honest public officials can be tempted by the lure of making a fast buck.

Ventura County’s political corruption unit is modeled after one in Orange County--which has had a string of major political corruption cases during the last 10 years.

Orange County has four district attorney’s investigators who devote about 50% of their time probing political corruption, said Chief Assistant Orange County Dist. Atty. Maurice Evans.

Evans said those investigators also routinely check campaign and personal finance records of public officials. But most of their cases are referred to them, he said.

In Ventura County, the public probably will never see the benefits of the new unit, Bradbury said. Most of its work is designed to head off problems before they occur, he said.

Bradbury said investigating political corruption is not like investigating more routine crimes such as burglaries.

“We’re blessed in this county with pretty honest political figures, so you are not going to see indictments charging mayors. . .and other political officials with crimes,” he said.