Councilman Solicited Trash Firm for Contract : Moorpark: Scott Montgomery also sought a $50,000 investment to develop computer software. He says nothing became of the private proposals and denies any wrongdoing. Inquiry continues.

Moorpark City Councilman Scott Montgomery solicited the owner of the east county’s largest trash company for a $50,000 investment and an additional $120,000 business contract while voting on city trash contracts and serving as a top official of the county’s waste commission, The Times has learned.

Investigators with the district attorney’s office have questioned him about the two proposals in connection with an ongoing public corruption probe, Montgomery confirmed in an interview last week.

Montgomery said he was asked by investigators about a letter he sent in 1992 to Manuel Asadurian Sr., the former chief executive officer of a Simi Valley trash hauling company--G.I. Industries--asking for a $50,000 investment to develop computer software that Montgomery was working on.

He was also asked by investigators about a written proposal he made to G.I. Industries in 1993 to overhaul the company’s computer system for about $120,000, Montgomery said.

“Nothing ever came of those proposals,” he said. “I never was paid for anything.”

County prosecutors would not discuss the continuing probe or why they approached Montgomery about the two business proposals. Although the investigation has focused on possible violations of state election law and conflict of interest, Gary Huckaby, a spokesman for the Fair Political Practices Commission in Sacramento, said the two solicitations do not appear to be illegal.

“That would probably only come under the appearance of impropriety,” Huckaby said.

State conflict of interest laws prohibit elected officials from voting on issues affecting individuals or business from which they have received financial benefit within a year before a vote or three months after a vote is taken, Huckaby said.

Montgomery, who was elected to the Moorpark City Council in 1988 and won reelection in 1992, has been under scrutiny by county prosecutors for almost 10 months. The investigation focuses on the councilman’s dealings with G.I. Industries, which is run by members of the Asadurian family.

With exclusive contracts in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, G.I. Industries picks up trash for about 40,000 Ventura County residents, grossing between $16 million and $19 million each year.

On Wednesday, the Moorpark City Council has scheduled a crucial vote on a new eight-year franchise agreement renewing the city’s exclusive trash hauling contract with G.I. Industries and Anderson Disposal Co. of Simi Valley.

Although Montgomery emphasized last week that he has done nothing wrong, he said he is considering abstaining from the vote because of the controversy.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “With all this brouhaha and everything, I have to sit down and think very hard. Even though there is no conflict for me in voting on this franchise agreement, can I, in all good conscience, sit there and have the same focus that I did last time?

“In the past I voted only with the interest of the public in mind,” he said. “I don’t want anything to cloud my judgment. If I feel I can block this out, I’ll vote on it. If not, I won’t.”

Moorpark City Atty. Cheryl Kane would not comment on the matter, but Assistant City Manager Richard Hare said Kane will very likely review the conflict of interest laws with Montgomery before the vote and leave it up to the councilman to make up his mind about voting.

“I can say this, that just because there is an investigation does not mean that the duties of a councilman suddenly stop,” Hare said. “It might be different if there was an outcome to an investigation.”

Despite the probe, city officials and representatives from both G.I. Industries and the Anderson Disposal Co. have continued their contract negotiations on hauling trash in the city. Earlier this month, a tentative contract was reached. The agreement now must receive approval by the full council.

With at least three council members other than Montgomery already solidly behind the contract, all indications are that the franchise agreement will be approved even if Montgomery does not vote on the measure.

But city officials have said that the district attorney’s probe into Montgomery’s dealings with G.I. Industries and the Asadurians has clouded what will prove to be a good deal for the city.

The probe began last November and originally centered on a $3,500 payment Montgomery received in 1993 from G.I. Sweeping--a company owned by Manuel Asadurian Sr., which uses heavy equipment to clean shopping center parking lots and remove graffiti.

*

At the time, Montgomery operated Eagle Systems, a computer and financial consulting firm out of his Moorpark home, and he delivered newspapers for the Ventura County Star-Free Press.

While Montgomery insists that the $3,500 was a payment for a computer and software he sold to the company, Asadurian continues to insist that the payment was a short-term loan, which he is waiting for Montgomery to pay back.

“I got a phone call--heard he was in trouble delivering newspapers or something like that,” Asadurian said in a recent interview, adding that the call came from Michael Smith, a company executive. “Mike says, ‘He’s really in trouble. He’s gonna lose his house,’ and this and that. So I loaned him the money.”

Asadurian said he was upset that his effort to help Montgomery had created such a controversy, but he added that he would like to be paid back.

Since giving Montgomery the money, Asadurian said, he has sent Montgomery two letters asking for its return, but Montgomery denies receiving any such letters.

Asadurian says he does not appreciate being called a liar. He also said he does not think there was anything improper in trying to help Montgomery, and that he has helped a lot of people that were down on their luck.

District attorney’s investigators have also questioned Montgomery and company officials about a $12,000 payment the councilman received in 1992 from G.I. Equipment Leasing--a former subsidiary of G.I. Industries run by Asadurian’s son, Manuel Jr., that leases trash trucks and heavy equipment.

Both payments--which were unreported on any campaign financial disclosure documents--were made during a three-year period during which Montgomery was voting on franchise waste hauling contracts with G.I. Industries.

*

Repeating previous statements he has made on the issue, Montgomery, an unsuccessful candidate for county supervisor last year, said the sums were not reported because he believed that the two companies that made the payments to him were not related to G.I. Industries, and did not do business in Moorpark.

During the period in which he received the payments and made his other business proposals to G.I. Industries, Montgomery also served as chairman and vice chairman of the Ventura County Waste Commission and also staged his unsuccessful bid for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

Failure to report large loans or the source of income of more than $10,000 on campaign statements can be a violation of election law, according to state election officials. But Montgomery and his attorneys both contend there is no conflict of interest and that there has been no violation of campaign law.

Along with questioning Montgomery, investigators have also interviewed several officials at G.I. Industries.

Company sources said they were told by investigators that if Montgomery’s account of the event and Asadurian’s account cannot be reconciled, the district attorney’s office will issue subpoenas for all the individuals involved and have the grand jury investigate the matter.

“Well, if I’m asked to go somewhere and tell someone something, I’ll go in there and tell the truth,” Montgomery said last week. “Honestly there’s nothing there.”

*

Montgomery said that even though he disputes Asadurian’s story, he harbors no resentment toward him.

“I really don’t have time to engage in recriminations or try and find out who might be out there to get me,” he said. “I have a very challenging job right now that I am enjoying and that’s very demanding.”

Since the investigation began, Montgomery has taken a job as a sales manager for a computer printer supply company in Chatsworth.

“I feel I’m doing a better job of providing for my family than I was, and that’s very satisfying to me,” he said. “I’ve gone through some very difficult times, but throughout all of it I’ve made myself available to literally anybody in the city who needed my help. Many times that was at a sacrifice to my own financial stability, but I chose to do that. I don’t regret it. I really don’t know why this all is coming down.”