Left in Dark, Teasley Will Keep Leaving

For the past two months, Debbie Teasley stood up from her City Council seat and left the room every time discussions of the Hidden Creek Ranch project came up.

It’s not that she was being rude. Teasley did not want to make any decisions on the project until she received a letter from the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, letting her know if she would be in a conflict of interest.

For some time, the project’s opponents have raised the question of whether Teasley, district manager for the city’s largest real estate firm, would financially benefit if she voted on the housing project, which would build up to 3,200 homes north of Moorpark College.

The letter arrived earlier this week. The problem is, Teasley said, it didn’t settle anything. She still doesn’t know whether she can vote on the largest project ever considered in Moorpark.

So she will recuse herself when the council decides Wednesday whether to approve the environmental report.

“What that means is that I am not going to vote on Wednesday and I am going to get clarification,” Teasley said from her Moorpark office.

That leaves only four council members voting on the environmental report and the potential for a 2-2 split. In that scenario the report, which must be voted on by the end of this week, could fail.

The issue also raises questions about whether Teasley’s occupation puts her in an automatic conflict of interest on housing development projects--a particular problem in Moorpark, where several key projects are on the drawing board.

Foes of development see the answer as obvious.

“To say that her firm would not benefit from having a whole new set of homes, I don’t see it,” said Roseann Mikos, president of the local Environmental Coalition fighting against the project.

Some go so far as to say Teasley’s occupation should rule her out of sitting on the council.

“I think that having a Realtor on our City Council at a time when we’re making so many critical land use decisions is not the best thing for the city because I don’t think she can make an unbiased decision,” said Moorpark resident and homemaker Susan Ulmer, who also opposes the Hidden Ranch project.

“She is going to be toward development. What she does for a living, her occupation, is to promote growth. She has to encourage growth to keep her business profitable.”

But the same could be said for all businesses, argued June Barlow, the vice president of the California Assn. of Realtors, who has been following the case.

Lumber companies, restaurants or convenience stores benefit from increased business as much as Realtors do, Barlow said.

“They aren’t going to benefit any more than the community at all. . . .” she said. “The only way to have no conflict of interest is for nobody in the community with a business to be involved in politics. Otherwise no one can get involved at all.”

In fact, she said, her group encourages Realtors throughout the state to enter local politics. Of those who hold political positions in the state, few have had problems with conflict-of-interest laws and if there is a problem, they usually resolve it by recusing themselves, Barlow said.

Councilman Chris Evans praised Teasley for taking a conservative approach. He said she did the right thing by stepping down each time the project was discussed and for contacting the state commission for advice on conflict-of-interest laws.

“In this particular case, Ms. Teasley did the appropriate thing by asking for the ruling. . . ,” Evans said. “She will ask for additional clarification because their ruling is as clear as mud and when she gets their decision, she’ll decide.”

County Planning Commissioner Mike Wesner added that it’s typical for those opposed to a development project to bring up potential conflicts because it could postpone decisions, making it more difficult for the developers, who must spend more time and money during the delay.

Several months ago, Teasley sent the state commission a letter presenting several hypothetical situations a real estate agent could face and asked for advice.

The commission sent her back a letter, dated Dec. 9, which Teasley said she received this week. Under all but one of the hypothetical situations Teasley presented, the commission said she would find herself with a potential conflict if she votes on the Hidden Creek Ranch housing project.

“Because of Ms. Teasley’s public role as a City Council member and also as a real estate licensed agent, the FPPC advice was that there would be grounds for a conflict of interest,” said Gary Huckaby, spokesman for the commission.

The letter served as advice, not as part of a formal investigation, the commission added.

With hindsight, Teasley said asking the commission about hypothetical situations was probably not the right approach.

“The problem with the scenarios is that they were all hypothetical,” she said. “Out of those scenarios, none of those are currently existing.”

The scenarios include:

* Becoming a listing or buyer’s agent for the homes or development in the project.

* Becoming a listing agent for homeowners who want to sell their home and buy a new home in the project.

* Becoming a source for resale listings for a developer.

* Making a presentation to a developer to be a source of referrals for resale listings.

* Competing with other real estate firms to become the new sales agent for a builder.

* Providing a builder or potential builder with a market analysis of homes or land values in Hidden Creek Ranch. No fee or other form of compensation is charged for this common real estate practice.

* Listing or selling any of the parcels owned by the seven separate owners of property there.

Teasley said she was expecting the letter to say, “Since all of this does not exist, therefore you’re free and clear.” Instead the letter said all the options, except for providing market analysis reports, would constitute conflicts.

She plans to draft another letter to the commission, asking more specific questions and saying she won’t vote on any aspect of the project until she receives an answer about whether she can vote.

Teasley is the district manager of Coldwell Banker Town & Banker in Moorpark. She began working at the office about five years ago, when it was Bob Ely Realty.

A year ago, she also became district manager for the Simi Valley Coldwell Banker Town & Banker.

She became a real estate agent in 1987 at Westlake’s now-defunct Better Home & Garden franchise, after becoming tired of the traveling required for her position as regional trainer for United California Bank.

“I thought real estate would allow me flexibility with hours, having two small children,” Teasley said.

In November 1996, Teasley was elected to the City Council and became mayor pro tem at the beginning of this year.