A land deal goes bad, and Mojave suffers

For a while, it appeared that the economy around Mojave was going to get a badly needed boost.

Rival developers were battling to grab a patch of state-owned scrubland on the outskirts of town, planning to transform it into a bustling travel plaza that would employ 100 local residents in its restaurants, store and filling station.

But five years later, the truck stop still has not materialized. And a jury has ruled that the state’s sale of the 20-acre property, intended to generate cash for the government while helping the local economy, was bungled so badly that it will instead cost taxpayers about $1 million.

The dispute is rooted in a decision by the state Department of Transportation to back out of a deal to sell the land cheaply to Flying J Inc.

A gubernatorial appointee who used his position to stop the sale was a close friend and business associate of the developer whose family later snatched up the parcel.

Courts dismissed conflict-of-interest allegations against former Transportation Commissioner John R. Lawson, who had left the commission by the time final action was taken, but found that Caltrans had breached its contract. The state has been ordered to pay Flying J a $991,800 judgment as a result. Flying J. is seeking tens of millions more.

The project the company wanted to build “would have provided jobs in an area that’s been hard-hit by the recession. It would have provided an ongoing stream of tax revenue,” said Ronald Katz, an attorney for Flying J. “Instead, the land sits empty. Caltrans’ political favor has cost the taxpayers a million dollars and possibly much more.”

Flying J had planned to use property it owned next to California Highway 14 to build the travel plaza. But the state, needing some of the land to widen the roadway, forcibly bought it in 2001. Flying J challenged the action, and the state agreed in a settlement to sell the nearby 20 acres to the company for a low $40,000 as part of the deal. The parcel, a slice of sand and greasewood shrubs, sits in an area of the state known to many motorists as the parking place for hundreds of mothballed commercial jets.

But soon things fell apart. Lawson, an appointee of then-Gov. Gray Davis, told Caltrans it should get more money for the land than Flying J would pay under its settlement. He demanded that the 20 acres be put up for public auction, and the commission obliged.

The property was snatched up by Delores Pistacchio, whose husband, Thomas, is a close friend of Lawson’s. Thomas Pistacchio, a trucking company owner and developer who was leasing office space from Lawson at the time, acknowledged his decades-old friendship with Lawson in a court deposition.

Pistacchio said in the deposition that he and Lawson met monthly, and the two had discussed Pistacchio’s interest in buying the state land before Lawson moved to block its transfer to Flying J. Pistacchio declined to comment, and Lawson did not return The Times’ calls.

“What it comes down to is Flying J got caught trying to make a sweetheart deal with Caltrans,” said Daniel Leonard, an attorney for Pistacchio.

Lawson, who later left the commission, “believes he acted appropriately,” said his attorney, Timothy Jones.

A Kern County Superior Court jury, however, ruled on Oct. 22 that Caltrans violated its contract with Flying J. The land may remain tied up in court if appeals are filed, as expected. Flying J wants $60 million more from Caltrans for lost business.

“It’s quite frustrating,” said Rheta Scott, president of the Mojave Chamber of Commerce. “We could have used the jobs.”

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com