Carson Mayor Plans to Remain in Office

Carson Mayor Daryl Sweeney, indicted last month on corruption charges, said Tuesday he will stay in office while defending himself in court.

“After much thought and many prayers, I have come to the conclusion that I can continue to effectively govern this city with the help of God and my many supporters, and with my attorneys here beside me working to clear my good name,” Sweeney said at a brief news conference in the town’s community center.

It was Sweeney’s first public comment since he and several others, including one current and two former members of the Carson City Council, were charged in connection with a bribery and extortion probe.

Sweeney, 45, the part-time mayor who serves as chief of staff for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, was portrayed in a grand jury indictment as the ringleader of the alleged corruption. Prosecutors say that he saw the award of a multiyear garbage contract as a “long-term opportunity” for council members to collect six-figure supplements to their incomes.

On Tuesday, the mayor, flanked by two of his attorneys, his pastor and several other supporters, read a short statement and did not answer questions. Attorneys John E. Sweeney (a distant relation) and Richard M. Steingard said they had urged Sweeney to hold the news conference in hopes that reporters would stop camping out on his doorstep.

The mayor said many supporters had asked him to remain in office. “I’ve had to give consideration to whether the effort needed to clear my good name will distract me,” he said. But because he took a leave of absence from his job with Perry when the indictments were issued, and because his attorneys will handle the details of his defense preparation, Sweeney said, he plans to devote most of his time to his mayoral job.

He also asked people to “please reserve judgment until all of the facts are revealed. I am confident that I will be exonerated of these charges.”

His attorneys said he will plead not guilty at his arraignment on Monday.

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Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.