Officials at Odds in San Bernardino County Lawsuit

San Bernardino County’s former top administrator, Harry Mays, testified in civil court Thursday that, while working as a waste management consultant, his successor at the county asked him for illicit payoffs -- and that he handed over nearly $100,000.

Mays’ testimony contradicts testimony by former county administrative officer James Hlawek, who said it was Mays who offered to pay him bribes. Hlawek said Mays was trying to influence a lucrative trash contract being considered by the county.

Mays’ testimony focused on a crucial question in a corruption scandal in the 1990s that eventually led to indictments of more than a dozen county officials and executives doing business with the county: Who initiated the payoffs?

Mays said he paid Hlawek nearly $100,000 in 1996 and 1997 because he wanted to maintain a good relationship with him and the county. He added that he feared Hlawek could “screw up or block” Mays’ future business relationship with the county.

At the time he was making payments to Hlawek, Mays was a waste management consultant working to help Norcal Solid Waste Systems win a contract to operate all of the county’s landfills. The county approved the contract in September 1995. A Norcal employee has testified that the county contract was worth at least $200 million.

Mays testified that Norcal paid his company more than $4 million for his consulting services.

The testimony came in a civil lawsuit filed by San Bernardino County, which is trying to collect restitution for the damages that lawyers said the county suffered in a series of corruption schemes involving several high-ranking officials, including Hlawek.

The county has argued that it is entitled to the profits made in those deals, as well as the bribes and salaries collected by those officials. The trial was moved to Ventura County Superior Court because the defendants feared that the publicity about the scandal prevented them from getting a fair trial in San Bernardino County.

Mays and Hlawek have pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Mays served two years in prison; Hlawek has yet to be sen- tenced.

Kenneth James Walsh, a former vice president of Norcal, also pleaded guilty to corruption charges involving the landfill deal. He served 16 months in prison.

In testimony two weeks ago, Hlawek said the bribery scheme began soon after he took over as county administrative officer in 1994. He said Mays met him in the county government center’s cafeteria and in a hushed voice told him that both men could get hefty bribes if Hlawek could help get the county landfill contract for Norcal.

“What I’m about to tell you could get us both indicted,” Hlawek quoted Mays as saying.

But on Thursday, Mays said the conversation at the cafeteria never took place.

Throughout his testimony, Mays also rejected the county attorneys’ use of the terms “bribery” and “schemes” to describe his payments to Hlawek. Instead, he described his payments as “gratuities.”

Mays’ attorney, Randall Waier, has argued that it was Hlawek who asked for payoffs, saying Hlawek “had his hand out to everybody.” Still, Mays conceded he knew the payments were illegal.

Once he learned the FBI was investigating Hlawek, Mays testified that he flew to the Cayman Islands to visit a bank to create an “asset protection trust.” He did not say whether he succeeded in creating the trust.

Mays also testified that three months after the board approved the county landfill contract with Norcal, Mays hired Chris Turoci, son of Supervisor Marsha Turoci, to work for his company. Supervisor Turoci voted for the Norcal contract.