Critics Say FPPC Chairman Faces Conflict

As chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, Ravi Mehta enforces state political ethics laws. But consumer groups and at least two other FPPC commissioners are questioning whether the former Orange County prosecutor and county official has ethical conflicts of his own.

The concerns are over Mehta’s personal and financial ties to Gov. Pete Wilson’s chief of staff, Bob White. Specifically, White paid Mehta for doing personal legal work last year while the FPPC was investigating a member of Wilson’s Cabinet, former Agriculture Secretary Henry Voss.

“If he was doing work for someone in the governor’s office, that raises concerns about his impartiality in any case involving the governor’s office or any member of the governor’s staff,” Commissioner Deborah Seiler said.

“It sets up the appearance of a very cozy relationship there,” Commissioner James Rushford said, adding that he has heard Mehta refer to the governor’s staff as “the Wilson family.”

“I have a general concern that he hasn’t adapted well to his role as chairman,” said Rushford, who, like Mehta, is a Republican.

Mehta was an executive assistant for former Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez between 1989 and 1991. Previously, he was a prosecutor in the Orange County district attorney’s gang unit.

Applauded by friends for his high energy and enthusiasm, he also had worked in an Orange County civil law firm.

Mehta denied any impropriety, saying that he has come under attack because his efforts to make the agency more aggressive have upset the status quo. Wilson appointed Mehta to the post last year.

“Since I’ve been here, I have done everything completely aboveboard,” Mehta said in an article Thursday in the Sacramento Bee. “I take my job extremely seriously.”

A longtime friend of White’s, Mehta agreed to do some legal work to assist him in the purchase of a $475,000 home without a real estate agent, according to public records and interviews.

White paid Mehta between $250 and $1,000, according to a financial disclosure statement filed by Mehta. About the same time as the deal, White gave Mehta a crystal sculpture worth about $200, which Mehta did not disclose as a gift. Mehta said an exemption applied.

At the FPPC meeting in April, Mehta resisted efforts to increase a proposed $21,000 fine against Voss, who failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm income from the industry he regulated.

The FPPC has postponed a decision until May 2.