Maywood City Council rebuffs ex-colleague Calderon

Maywood City Councilman Sergio Calderon, who resigned his seat last month only to ask for it back days later, was admonished by his council colleagues for failing to be honest with them about his reasons for initially stepping down.

The council rejected his request to reclaim his seat.

Calderon had initially said he was resigning because of a council dispute over Maywood’s police contract with the city of Cudahy. Maywood provides police services to Cudahy, but the contract is set to expire in two years. But at a special council meeting last week, a copy of a complaint brought by residents revealed that Calderon had seemingly stepped down in an effort to avoid a conflict-of-interest lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Meeting last week, Calderon’s former colleagues expressed exasperation with what they saw as his behind-the-scenes maneuverings. “Shame on him,” said Mayor Veronica Guardado.

A complaint was filed with the district attorney’s office in January 2007, stating that Calderon was improperly serving both on Maywood’s council and as a board member of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.

Calderon, according to the district’s website, oversees a division that includes southeast L.A. County cities such as Maywood. “There is a possibility of a significant clash of duties or loyalties between them, based on the powers and jurisdictions of each office,” the complaint read.

But at the special meeting, Calderon said there is no conflict because water agencies stand as the middleman between the district and the city.

“Our position is, if you raise rates as a [water board member] that get passed down to municipal water companies and they’re going to have to raise their rates, you as a customer, as a city, will have to pay higher rates. You can’t be both the customer and the seller,” said David Demerjian of the district attorney’s office.

Calderon announced his resignation Nov. 24, a week before his first term as councilman was to expire and a few days before his trial was set to begin. Calderon had already won reelection to the council earlier in the month.

At a Nov. 30 court hearing, Calderon’s attorney, Albert Robles, asked that the case be dismissed because Calderon was no longer serving as a councilman. But prosecutors countered that Calderon would probably attempt to reclaim his seat because he had been reelected to a second council term, and the swearing-in ceremony had not yet taken place. The case was continued.

Last week, at the special council meeting where officials were sworn into office, Calderon showed up and asked for his seat back. “The people of Maywood made it very clear in this last election that they want me to serve,” Calderon told the council.

But he was rebuffed by council members and skewered by residents.

“You don’t do this stuff,” Guardado said. “You don’t use Maywood.”

Councilman Felipe Aguirre agreed. “He was playing a poker game, and we as the council called his bluff.”

ruben.vives@latimes.com