Inquiry to Delay O.C. Tower Vote

The state attorney general Tuesday asked the Santa Ana City Council to postpone a vote on a 37-story office tower project while it investigates whether a council member who took a campaign contribution from the developer can vote on the project.

Following conversations with the state office, Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez sought the delay, saying the investigation will determine whether she can vote on One Broadway Plaza, which, if built, would become the tallest building in Orange County.

Opponents of the $86-million project complained to the county district attorney and the Santa Ana city attorney Friday, saying Alvarez should not be able to vote because she received a $3,200 donation from developer Michael Harrah in June 2003 during her unsuccessful bid for the Assembly.

The district attorney referred the matter to the state attorney general to avoid any appearance of a conflict because Alvarez is also a deputy district attorney.

“I want to do the right thing. We are not here to do anything illegal,” Alvarez said in seeking to postpone the vote until July 19. The council did so on a 4-0 vote, with Alvarez abstaining.

Alvarez isn’t the only council member to have received contributions from Harrah. Councilman Brett Franklin received $1,000 for his failed bid for county supervisor, and has recused himself from all votes related to the project.

Mayor Miguel Pulido, who was absent from Tuesday’s meeting, has also recused himself, saying a former business partner has a stake in the project -- which Harrah denies.

According to city code, four of the seven council members must approve the project for it to go forward.

Because one council member, Alberta Christy, has publicly opposed the tower and two others have recused themselves, if Alvarez cannot vote, the project appears headed for failure.

City Atty. Joseph Fletcher said he told Alvarez and Franklin they could vote because the campaign donations they received from Harrah were not related to races for city office.

“We only have the right to regulate local municipal affairs. Nothing else,” Fletcher has said.

But Santa Ana’s municipal code doesn’t specify that a campaign contribution must be for a city office to disqualify a council member from voting on a matter relating to the donor.

It states only that council members must wait a year before voting on such matters. Alvarez voted on matters related to the tower in March 2004, less than a year after receiving the Harrah donation.

Resident Kim Gerda, who opposes the 37-story tower, said the delay showed that “there is a check and balance going on. There is accountability. I’m thrilled.”

Harrah attributed the brouhaha to a small group of opponents who he said do not represent the majority of Santa Ana. But he added that the investigation by the attorney general could only help.

The council “needs to clear the air,” he said. “I think no one has done anything wrong. That will come out and then we can move forward.”

When the tower was proposed five years ago, city officials expected it to restore Santa Ana’s role as the county’s business seat by transforming the face of its historic downtown with a distinctive and decidedly modern office tower.

Critics, however, complain that construction of the 493-foot-tall building, which would house 2,000 workers, would cause traffic congestion, endanger students at a nearby high school and change the complexion of the historic downtown district.

The Planning Commission approved the project in February, with one commissioner expressing doubts.

But as Tuesday’s vote approached, a growing number of critics, including residents of nearby neighborhoods, complained that the tower would be grossly out of proportion with the buildings around it.

The tower would include nearly 500,000 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of retail space and 18,000 square feet of restaurant space, and be accompanied by a nine-level parking structure.

Traffic mitigation will cost $12.6 million, including new right-hand turn lanes on 17th Street at Broadway and at Main Street, and six new traffic lights on Broadway and other streets.

If the council approves the project, it will require the developer to show proof that 50% of the building is leased before construction begins, a condition Harrah accepted.