Mayor Forced to Abstain in 10 of 30 Council Votes

Mayor Dave Garofalo abstained on 10 out of 30 votes Wednesday night at his first full City Council meeting since being advised by the city attorney that his relationship with two local publications could create a conflict of interest with advertisers.

The business portion of the meeting had barely begun when Garofalo announced he was recusing himself from the first action item on the agenda--annexing 2.7 acres of land where PLC Land Co. has proposed building 10 estate homes on an ecologically sensitive bluff top.

PLC Land Co. is an advertiser in the 2000 Huntington Beach Visitors Guide, which is published by David P. Garofalo & Associates.

Last month, City Atty. Gail Hutton asked the state Fair Political Practices Commission to issue a ruling on Garofalo’s votes involving more than four dozen advertisers in the Visitors Guide. The mayor has said he didn’t keep the advertising proceeds, which he said were collected by another publication he founded, the Local News. He said he sold his “publishing rights” in late 1997 but county paperwork shows him as the owner.

State law bars elected officials from voting for 12 months on matters that would financially benefit anyone who has given them more than $290. The Political Reform Act also bars officials from being involved in votes or deliberations if it is likely that the outcome would have an “important impact” on the official’s financial interest.