Rudat Wants City to Pay Legal Bills

Orange City Manager David L. Rudat has paid a $2,000 fine to settle a civil charge with the Orange County district attorney’s office, but he wants the city to pick up nearly $10,000 of his legal bills related to the case.

Earlier this month, the district attorney’s office found that Rudat broke state law by indirectly earning money from former recycling executive Jeffery Hambarian and then intervening in a dispute between Hambarian and the city over a real estate deal involving Rudat’s wife.

Hambarian later was indicted on 65 felony counts that he bilked the city out of $4 million through his recycling company. His arrest in December capped a long-running investigation that bitterly divided the City Council and brought on the firing of the police chief.

Rudat agreed to pay the fine but would not admit guilt, saying he was unaware at the time of the complexities of conflict-of-interest laws.

In a memo to the City Council, Rudat compared himself to Orange County supervisors who had the county pay for their personal legal fees related to the 1994 county bankruptcy.

“I acted within the scope and authority of my position as city manager and did so with the best interest of the city in mind,” Rudat wrote in the March 9 memo. “I never abused or misused my position in any way.”

But some council members, who will decide the matter in a closed session Tuesday, said they are not inclined to pay the fees.

“It is my strong hope that Mr. Rudat will withdraw his request between now and Tuesday,” Councilman Dan Slater said. “Since there was not complete exoneration by the D.A., I feel the fine was appropriate. I cannot support having the taxpayers pay for the legal defense of what were definite conflict-of-interest issues.”

Councilman Michael Alvarez agreed, saying that he would not consider voting for the payments unless he is given full access to a report on the investigation, something the district attorney has said is not in the public domain.

“There may not have been enough evidence to show criminal intent,” Alvarez said of Rudat’s actions. “But that doesn’t excuse an employee’s behavior. . . . He could have violated a lot of trust.”

A memo from City Atty. David A. De Berry told council members that payment of the fees was not legally required because Rudat failed to request an attorney from the city when the investigation began 18 months ago.

Rudat said he refrained from doing so because the council was already deep in controversy over the embezzlement scandal.

“I did not wish to add to your burden of issues that you were forced to deal with,” Rudat wrote in his memo.