Steel says he’ll continue his fight

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Councilman Chris Steel, charged with perjury in

connection with falsifying election nomination papers, said Friday that

he is torn between taking a plea bargain and going ahead with a trial

that could convict him of a felony.

Steel is facing two criminal felony charges for alleged perjury in

allowing a citizen to sign nomination papers for his wife and, in another

instance, in allowing himself to sign for a legally blind woman.

A Superior Court judge last month threw out a motion made by Steel’s

attorney, Ron Cordova, to reduce the charges from felony to misdemeanor.

The councilman is scheduled to be arraigned on the felony charges

Tuesday.

Steel said Friday that he is not sure which path he should take.

“Taking the misdemeanor plea is probably the sensible thing to do,” he

said.

“If I were to advise somebody in my position, that’s what I’d tell him

-- ‘take the plea.’ But I’m different. I want to go forward with this on

principle. It may be a foolish thing to do, but I have to do it.”

The District Attorney, during the preliminary hearing, presented

several tapes with recorded interviews and voice mail messages from Steel

in which the councilman admitted to an investigator that he “made a

mistake” and that he “was sloppy” with regard to completing the

nomination papers.

If convicted, Steel could face up to three years in prison, lose his

council seat and be forbidden from ever running for public office again.

But if he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors and gave up his council seat

-- an offer from the district attorney’s office that he has twice

declined so far -- he could run for office again.

Steel also faces a civil lawsuit filed by resident Michael Szkaradek

who, in his May 29 complaint, alleged that Steel committed five separate

felony crimes against the elective franchise.

If found liable on even one of those counts, Steel could be removed

from office and replaced with runner-up Heather Somers.

Steel says he fears the civil trial could be more problematic for him

because there would be no jury.

“I’m more optimistic about the criminal trial,” he said. “I know it’s

risky, but I’ll take my chances.”

One way or the other, Steel said he felt “hopeless, disappointed and

disillusioned.”

“It’s like I’m on a moving train or a plane,” he said, “and I know

it’s going to crash, but I can’t do a thing about it.”

Steel’s arraignment is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. Tuesday in

Superior Court in Santa Ana. The civil case will be heard July 16.