Officials Fear Wider Ontario Corruption

When police caught a city building planner allegedly accepting bribes from a construction company, then arrested him at his desk in City Hall, investigators initially believed that they had merely rooted out a rogue employee bent on making a quick buck.

Now they suspect--or fear--that they may have stumbled on a more pervasive pattern of corruption. Although they have little direct evidence, detectives have learned that, according to some in the region’s thriving development community, bribery and kickbacks are considered a part of doing business in Ontario.

Monday, a gaggle of teenage police explorers, encouraged by promises of pizza, stuffed nearly 4,000 envelopes with letters that were sent Tuesday to every developer and contractor who has done business with City Hall in three years.

The letters, asking for the names of government employees who have demanded money or gifts “beyond the scope of normal business,” are effectively an invitation to blow the whistle on corruption--and no one knows what to expect in return.

“We’ve had a few people tell us this is the price of doing business, that you just pay it,” Police Det. Mike Macias said. “Another segment says they have never been approached [about a bribe]. We’re not really sure what the extent is of this type of activity within the building industry.”

The case of the city planner--and the seed of investigators’ suspicions of more widespread wrongdoing--began early last year.

Senior Planner Albert Cruse, 41, allegedly told Newport Beach-based Simac Construction Inc. that it needed to add Italian marble molding to its plans for a Rite Aid drugstore in Ontario. The molding, police estimate, would have meant $45,000 in costs and delays for the company.

Prosecutors charge that Cruse had a better idea: Pay him a $7,000 bribe, he allegedly told Simac superintendent George Hoenig, and he would drop the “required” molding from the plans.

Hoenig called Ontario police, who supplied him with the $7,000, then tape-recorded him giving Cruse a check. Investigators say they recorded a second transaction in February 2000, this time when Cruse allegedly demanded $5,000 in cash from Simac to expedite the approval of a fast-food restaurant.

In late December, police arrested Cruse at his desk and charged him with four counts of soliciting bribes. Cruse, whose attorney could not be reached Tuesday, has denied the charges and is awaiting a court hearing while free on $60,000 bond. He was recently fired from his $66,180-a-year job.

Meanwhile, police developed contacts in the development community and did not like what they heard.

Though he later said his comments were exaggerated, Hoenig told police in an affidavit that “extra money is required” when developers are seeking approval for a new building.

Detectives late last year interviewed a second planner alleged to have an improper relationship with another development company. Though investigators later concluded that he did not break the law by working as a consultant for the company, he subsequently resigned, Macias said.

Cruse is the fourth city employee--out of 1,200--charged with financial misdeeds in the last five years.

That was enough for police to mail the letters, and Macias said investigators are prepared to work with other agencies if there are allegations that the problems extend beyond Ontario.

“If this happens in Ontario, there is nothing to say it’s not happening in another city or county,” he said.

Louis Parker, executive vice president of the Cypress-based Southern California Builders Assn., said he has not heard complaints about Ontario from the contractors in his organization.

City Manager Greg Devereaux said that although he applauds the police efforts, he fears that Cruse’s arrest will stigmatize City Hall.

“A number of city employees throughout the city do feel betrayed” by suggestions that some are corrupt, he said. “Everybody deserves to work in a stigma-free environment.”

The letters, meanwhile, present a dilemma for developers. While it is illegal for city planners to take bribes from builders, it is also illegal for builders to pay. And the district attorney’s office has refused to grant blanket immunity to builders or contractors who report bribes or kickbacks.