HUNTINGTON BEACH : Memberships OK, City Attorney Says

Free country club memberships received by some Huntington Beach officials do not create a conflict of interest when voting on projects affecting the club’s owner, the city attorney said Monday.

VIP memberships at Seacliff Country Club were worth less than $250, which is the ceiling above which City Council and Planning Commission members would have had to disqualify themselves from voting on actions affecting the Huntington Beach Co., the country club’s owner, City Atty. Gail Hutton said.

The council had delayed amending the city’s general plan because such action could have increased or decreased the value of Huntington Beach Co. land.

A ruling last week from the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission and a later check into how much each council and Planning Commission member spent at the country club show all members can vote on matters affecting the company, Hutton said.

The VIP membership cards allowed city officials to only use the country club’s dining room, Hutton said. All meals would still need to be paid for. But a regular member would have had to pay a membership fee and a $30 minimum charge each month, she said, which accounts for the membership’s value.

The company had given out 153 VIP memberships to city officials, business leaders and prominent residents after the club was remodeled in 1985, Huntington Beach Co. project leader William D. Holman said.

A resident questioned the free memberships earlier this year, Hutton said.