A Credibility Gap? The Record’s Unclear

Yorba Linda, the city that proudly boasts of being former President Richard Nixon’s birthplace, has just experienced a creepy case of Watergate deja vu.

The audiotapes of a closed-door Yorba Linda City Council meeting on Sept. 7 have significant gaps. Those tapes are critical to the legal case of fired City Manager Arthur C. Simonian, who is suing Yorba Linda for wrongful dismissal.

A quarter century ago, Nixon’s downfall was foreshadowed by a mysterious gap of 18 1/2 minutes in his secret White House tapes that were critical evidence in the Watergate investigation.

Nixon’s executive secretary, Rose Mary Woods, claimed that she accidentally erased some, but not all, of the missing material on a tape subpoenaed by Watergate prosecutors, a story that has always been called into question.

Yorba Linda officials insist the ghost of Watergate has not been roaming City Hall.

“There was a mechanical problem with the tape recorder, or someone held down the wrong button,” said Henry Kraft, the city’s special counsel investigating Simonian. “That’s all. My name is not Rose Mary Woods.”

Kraft said the tapes were of the City Council’s legal discussions on how to handle the Simonian case. During the meeting, council members were briefed on an investigative audit that alleges Simonian collected more than $300,000 in unapproved bonuses and benefits over 15 years. He was fired just hours later.

Kraft said most of the five-hour meeting was recorded, and that only a few portions are missing. Simonian’s attorney claims the tapes may prove his client’s right to due process was violated. Kraft has argued the tapes are inadmissible, since they contain attorney-client discussions.