Let the record show

In the two months since the Independent began reporting on potential

conflicts of interest involving Huntington Beach Mayor Dave Garofalo, he

has offered -- in interviews, memos and public documents -- differing

accounts on a variety of issues that have popped up. Here are some

examples.

ON WHY HE BOUGHT A ST. AUGUSTINE HOME

* In a May 8 memo to City Atty. Gail Hutton, Garofalo said he placed

his “name on the waiting list at St. Augustine,” and he bought and sold a

single family home that was “meant to be my primary residence, and later

was not.”

* In a May 5 article in the O.C. Weekly, Garofalo was quoted as saying

he doesn’t have “those kinds of assets” to buy such an expensive home.

The St. Augustine home was originally priced at $564,900. He sold it to

friend George Pearson for $625,596 and said the difference covered the

cost of upgrades.

* In a June 21 memo, Garofalo told the Independent: “As soon as the

plans were made public, I decided that I would like to live there.”

* At a July 27 press conference, Garofalo said it was always his

intention to purchase the home using Pearson’s money and then turn the

home over to Pearson after the close of escrow. “That house was bought

from the beginning to the end for another person,” Garofalo said. “It was

always the case. It’s always been my statement.”

* During that same press conference, Garofalo said when he saw the

plans for the development, he thought it would be a nice place to live.

“From the first day, I wanted to live there,” Garofalo said. “I wanted to

live in that tract.”

ON HOW HE GOT THE MOST COVETED ST. AUGUSTINE HOME

* Garofalo in a June 9: “I’ve never been told I was No. 1 on the list.

We all went to an open house Saturday morning. Everybody waited in line

with their cars, and we all went in, and if the house you wanted was

available, then that was the house you got. If it wasn’t, you picked

another house .... You know it’s crazy. I get so lucky getting this

house.”

* Garofalo said June 21 that when St. Augustine’s plans first became

public, he contacted the developer monthly and when it was “his turn,” he

selected the home wanted on Poppy Hill Circle.

* Other would-be homebuyers contend Garofalo -- recognizable to

several of the buyers -- was not present when they waited in line for an

opportunity to buy the homes. One homeowner was told by the developer

that Garofalo had already secured the most expensive lot.

* Duane Dishno, superintendent of the Huntington Beach City School

District, said he also landed on the VIP list for preferred buyers and

was told that Garofalo also was on the list.

* George Pearson, who ultimately purchased the house, said he asked

Garofalo about being on the VIP list, and his friend replied: “What’s the

big deal?”

ON WHO OWNS THE LOCAL NEWS

* In July 1998, Garofalo told the Independent that he sold the Local

News newspaper, which also published the city visitors guide, in December

1997 to longtime friend Ed Laird, who owns Coatings Resource, Corp.

Garofalo’s statement came after questions were raised in the Independent

regarding potential conflicts of interest involving advertisers in the

Local News who had business before the council.

* In a June 19 memo to the City Council, Garofalo said: “The Local

News was sold, as all records properly show, to Coatings Resource in

December 1997. The transaction was concluded on Jan. 14, 1998.”

* County records show that on Feb. 18, 1998, Garofalo filed a

fictitious business name statement for the Local News, naming David P.

Garofalo & Associates as the owner and himself aspresident. The

publications themselves continue to show Garofalo’s company as publisher.

* County records show that on Dec. 28, 1999, Jeff Laird -- Ed Laird’s

son -- filed a fictitious business name statement for the Local News,

naming Air Quality Consultants Inc. as the owner and himself as president

as of Jan. 1, 1999.

* County records indicate that on April 25, Garofalo filed another

fictitious business name statement for the Local News, again naming David

P. Garofalo & Associates the owner and himself president. On that form,

he states he began doing business as the Local News in February 1993.

ON ADVERTISERS WHO HAVE APPEARED IN LOCAL NEWS PUBLICATIONS

* Garofalo voted at least 87 times on advertisers who appeared in his

publications since he got on the council in 1995. He also voted at least

35 times on advertisers who appeared in the visitor’s guide during the

one year after he said he sold the Local News publishing business.

* During a July 5 City Council meeting, Garofalo announced: “The

allegation that I have received any amount of money over $250 or

benefited from advertising is completely false.”

* In 1998, Garofalo told the city attorney -- who forwarded the

information to the Fair Political Practices Commission -- that he was now

a consultant to the Local News, advising on the “technical” or

“mechanical” aspects of publishing. He said he wasn’t involved in sales

issues.

* In May, John Given, vice president for Commercial Investment

Management Group, told the Independent that his company purchased a

$2,995 ad in the visitor’s guide and was instructed to make the check

payable to David P. Garofalo & Associates. Four months after the ad was

purchased, Garofalo voted to move forward with the developer’s Downtown

project.

* In a June 13, 2000 fax to the Independent, Garofalo stated: “There

is no doubt you have two advertisers who say that I arranged for them to

have an ad in various publications. That number would be low. I helped

several accomplish that goal.”

ON POTENTIAL VOTING CONFLICTS

* In a Sept. 4, 1998 memo, Hutton advised Garofalo to abstain from

voting on business involving former advertisers for three months, until

the anniversary date of the sale of his publishing business.

* During a July 5, 2000 City Council meeting, Garofalo maintained: “I

have voted on every issue that I’ve been told I could so far, or have not

voted based on the city’ attorney’s advice.”

* In a June 21, 2000 fax to the Independent, Garofalo said: “I will,

as I have been for my entire public career, be taking the advise of the

city attorney.”

* Minutes from council meetings held between Sept. 4 and Dec. 15, 1998

show Garofalo voted at least five times in favor of advertisers after

being warned not to vote in a memo by the city attorney.

* Minutes from council meetings held between October 1998 and Dec. 15,

1998, showed that Garofalo voted in favor of his advertisers three times

after receiving an October 1998 Fair Political Practices Commission

letter warning him not to do so.