Official to Review Councilman’s List Request

The Mission Viejo city manager will conduct a detailed review of a councilman’s request for a list of firms with major city contracts--a list he later used to solicit donations for a political fund-raiser.

Councilman John Paul Ledesma drew criticism last month for asking staff to compile the list of 103 firms--a project city officials say took three employees about eight hours to complete.

Ledesma has acknowledged using the list for his mailer but said he requested the information for official city business. He said he wanted to familiarize himself with city contractors and also used it to review the city’s bidding process.

This week, Councilwoman Sherri M. Butterfield asked the city manager to draft a report on what occurred.

“I’m just going to explain [what] we went through to fill the request, the different sources that we had to tap to collect that data,” said City Manager Dan Joseph. “People are questioning the amount of time that was involved in compiling this list.”

The report is expected to be completed by the May 21 council meeting.