Councilman Resigns Amid Conflict Probes

With his resignation Friday, beleaguered Huntington Beach City Councilman Dave Garofalo ended a City Hall career that was overshadowed by an 18-month investigation into allegations that he violated state conflict-of-interest laws.

In a letter to City Clerk Connie Brockway, Garofalo said he was resigning because he wanted to devote more attention to “personal issues and get on with my personal life. I can best do this as a private citizen.”

Since June 2000, Garofalo, 56, has been the target of investigations by the Orange County district attorney’s office, a grand jury and the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Garofalo, the former publisher of the Huntington Beach visitors guide who was elected to the City Council in 1994, has not been charged with any crimes. He denied any wrongdoing.

He could not be reached for comment Saturday. In previous interviews, however, Garofalo has claimed that he is the victim of political enemies who oppose his pro-development views.

Court documents filed in July suggest that between 1997 and 2000, Garofalo voted as many as 200 times on matters involving advertisers in his publications--a community paper called the Local News, the city’s annual visitors guide and the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce business directory.

The documents also show that during the same period, Garofalo deposited into his bank account $61,046 in payments from seven advertisers. Under state law, an elected official who has received $250 or more from a person or company must abstain from voting on matters involving these individuals for one year.

District attorney’s office investigators raided Garofalo’s home and office in April and seized his banking and other records in hopes of determining whether he still held ownership in the publishing business. Garofalo had said that he sold his interests in the business to longtime friend Ed Laird several years ago. Investigators later determined that Garofalo kept control of all aspects of the publishing business until June 2000.

The court documents also allege that Garofalo used advertising income to put his 80-year-old mother and other family members on the payroll of his publishing business, and that he failed to report the source of the income on conflict-of-interest forms. Failure to do so is a felony.

Garofalo makes no mention of the allegations in his resignation letter, saying only that he hopes to “resolve lingering matters.” Neither does he mention his November filing to run for a seat on the state Board of Equalization, the agency that manages the state tax system.

Garofalo did, however, reflect on the council’s accomplishments during his time in office: doubling the city’s sales tax revenue, tackling a billion-dollar infrastructure repair program and landing a spot on a list of the nation’s safest cities.

“I’ve been pleased to have been a big part of some of that and at least some part of all the above,” he states in the letter, signed “David P. Garofalo, 60th Mayor, City of Huntington Beach.”

The resignation, effective Wednesday, came as no surprise to many of his council colleagues.

“It’s long overdue,” said Mayor Debbie Cook, who had been a vocal critic of Garofalo before her election last year. “We’ve asked that the investigation either conclude or that the district attorney’s office file some type of charges. To drag it on the way it has dragged on, it’s just a failure of the whole process.”

Some council members learned of Garofalo’s resignation from City Manager Ray Silver. Others received a personal call from Garofalo. Councilman Ralph Bauer said he offered his “friend and colleague” some advice.

“My suggestion to him was to take care of his own health . . . talk to his priest and get the help and support he needs there, and then take care of his family,” Bauer said.

A few of Garofalo’s council colleagues said they were glad the city could now put the matter behind them. “Unfortunately, we all end up getting painted by same brush in a way,” Bauer said.

Huntington Beach resident Susie Newman, who first alerted authorities to Garofalo’s possible conflicts of interest, said she felt “sad for Dave Garofalo and the city.”

“From a personal standpoint, I feel sad that at this stage in his life, this is the legacy he leaves behind,” Newman said. “On the other hand, this is the way he has conducted himself. If you’re a private citizen, you can do certain things. But when you get to elected office, the scrutiny is more intense, and there are laws you must abide by.”