Candidate’s Next Real Address May Be Jail

A former candidate for the South Gate City Council was found guilty Tuesday of lying about where he lived in order to qualify for the ballot.

The conviction of Richard Mayer on seven felony counts, including three of perjury, marks the first court victory for Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s public integrity squad. Prosecutors viewed it as a strong indicator of the public’s willingness to convict officials--or would-be officials--charged with wrongdoing.

“We were concerned that although the district attorney has made [pursuing political] corruption a priority, we weren’t sure how jurors would feel,” said David Demerjian, the unit’s chief prosecutor.

Mayer, who faces a possible seven-year prison term, was ordered to return to court for his sentencing in January. His attorney, Harland Braun, said he would appeal.

Mayer admitted he didn’t live at the South Gate address he provided on election forms, but argued that he didn’t knowingly lie because he believed he had the right to a “political address.”

That argument was dismissed as preposterous by many in the working-class community in Southeast Los Angeles County, where Mayer’s true residence in Boyle Heights was a long-known open secret.

“‘The system does work,” said Joseph Ruiz, a resident and former council candidate. “It works slowly, but it does work, and it gives the residents of South Gate hope.”

Word of Mayer’s conviction spread rapidly through South Gate, but the reading of the verdict Tuesday afternoon took place in an almost empty courtroom and with little drama. Mayer betrayed no emotion when the court clerk read the verdict, and the whole session was over in about 10 minutes.

Mayer was arrested earlier this year after a South Gate police probe determined that he had given a false home address to qualify for the city election in November 2000. He came in third in a field of four candidates.

Mayer, 49, who has described himself as a health care consultant, admitted that he claimed a three-bedroom apartment on Southern Avenue as his home address. The home’s occupant, Willebaldo Morales Arroyo, testified that Mayer told him he would never have to worry about work if he let Mayer list the home as his residence.

Arroyo, who was not charged in the case, also testified that Mayer had never slept at the apartment.

Braun, in his defense of Mayer, referred to national politicians who didn’t live full time in the states where they later ran for office. One of his examples was Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was accused of being a carpetbagger when she ran for office in New York.

Braun also tried to argue that a law allowing state and congressional leaders to list their voter registration addresses as their main place of residence should apply in Mayer’s case.

But prosecutors dismissed that argument, saying the law is needed for state and congressional politicians because they maintain residences in Sacramento or Washington.

Besides, prosecutors said, Mayer never tried to establish any residence in the city.

“What does it say to the citizens of South Gate if he didn’t even want to live there?” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia Daniel, the lead prosecutor on the case.

The Mayer case was one of the first brought by the public integrity division, formed this year. Since then, prosecutors have alleged that Huntington Park Councilwoman Linda Luz Guevara lied about her place of residence.

Guevara surrendered to authorities in September after being charged with perjury for signing council nomination papers stating she lived in Huntington Park when, authorities say, she lived in Downey.

Guevara, a two-time councilwoman, has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors have launched a similar probe against West Covina school board member Peter Sabatino Jr., whose home and truck were searched last month by investigators.

Sabatino Jr. has denied allegations that he lives at the Downey house he bought in 1996. Sabatino, a 13-year school board member reelected this month, said he lives in a home owned by his mother in the West Covina school district.