Garofalo Fallout? Not in Surf City

Former Councilman Dave Garofalo’s guilty pleas to conflict-of-interest charges last week may one day take a prominent place in the Huntington Beach history books. But on the streets of Surf City this weekend, many residents took a “chilled out” attitude about the affair.

“People have a short memory as far as politicians go,” said Gerald Chapman, a local dentist. “For the short term this is probably bad, but for the long term, no.”

Although Garofalo’s case generated much media attention, Chapman and others doubted the city would suffer a lasting black eye and that its reputation will continue to rest on its beaches and surfing rather than allegations of political corruption.

Garofalo, who resigned from office last month, pleaded guilty Thursday to one felony and 15 misdemeanors for numerous votes on matters involving companies that bought advertising from his publishing business.

He was given a suspended sentence and placed on three years’ unsupervised probation. He must pay $49,700 in fines and complete 200 hours of community service by April 1, 2003. He also is barred from running for public office unless he can persuade a judge to clear his record after three years.

“I think what he did was crummy,” said a 43-year resident of the city who asked that her name not be used. “I think he hurt the city’s image, but I don’t think that he damaged the city.”

Others said they still strongly believe in Garofalo, saying he provided years of service to the community.

“I like Dave a lot,” said Mary Jo Jeffs, 79, who organizes dances at the Michael E. Rodgers Senior Center. “The good he did for the city outweighs the bad.”

Overall, however, there was relief that the shadow cast on the city by the lengthy investigation is gone.

The Garofalo affair was just the latest in a series of setbacks the city has suffered.

In 1999, the beach was closed for most of the summer after extremely high bacteria readings, which health officials suspected were caused by raw human sewage hitting the beach. The closure wreaked havoc on the coastal economy and tarnished Surf City’s reputation.

In March the city pleaded guilty to felony charges for allowing millions of gallons of raw sewage to leak from aging pipes.

To many, the environmental problems--and the criminal charges related to the aging sewer system--are more troubling than the Garofalo matter because they relate to the beaches and surf for which the city is best known.

Still, they said Garofalo’s fall has prompted them to more closely scrutinize the behavior of elected officials.

“The city definitely will recover from this,” said Robert Bailey, 47, manager of Rockin’ Fig Surf shop. “We’ve just got to look at our elected representatives closer than we have.”

Chapman, the dentist, agreed.

“This probably reinforces some of the citizens’ feelings about city government,” he said. “But shoot, we need to pick up the pieces and go on.”