Residents: Bureau didn’t file forms

Residents’ researching the Downtown Specific Plan’s possible cultural center uncovered the Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitors Bureau’s almost five-month delay in conforming with the city’s Conflict of Interest Code.

The bureau’s 14 board members and president are required by the city’s Conflict of Interest Code to complete a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest and file it with the City Clerk. The forms are to disclose any financial interests, and are due April 1. The code is also imposed on other city officials by the state.

City officials said they made several attempts to contact the bureau, but did not receive any forms until recently. As of late Wednesday, four board members had completed the form.

Bureau President and Chief Executive Steve Bone said the delay was “purely unintentional.” “Now that it’s been called to our attention, we’re all going to comply,” Bone said.

The problem was brought up by residents and the Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Assn.

“The [Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Assn.] is concerned that financial disclosure forms have not been submitted despite numerous requests from the City Clerk’s office to the Marketing and Visitor’s Bureau,” Kim Kramer, association spokesman, said in an e-mail.

The association has been looking into the issue, along with resident Richardson Gray. Gray said he discovered no one from the bureau had updated their forms in early July, when he was trying to obtain a copy of a draft study for a possible cultural center in Triangle Park.

Gray said he wanted to see the bureau’s forms to check if Bone had any significant financial interests in the hotels — something Gray claimed would be a conflict of interest.

Bone said his financial interest in the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in downtown Huntington Beach doesn’t create a conflict of interest for him.