SANTA ANA : Swap Meet Inquiry Pressed by College

Rancho Santiago College officials are conducting an investigation into charges that the college has not been getting its full share of profits from El Mercado, the privately run swap meet held on the campus each Sunday.

Board of Trustees President Shirley Ralston said this week that the investigation will continue even if the city follows through with plans to shut down the popular swap meet on the ground that it violates city zoning laws.

“None of these decisions affect our responsibility and determination to investigate certain allegations which have been made about the Mercado receipts,” Ralston said. “We have instructed our staff to look into these allegations.”

Ralston said that based upon the results of the investigation, “the board will proceed in whatever way is appropriate.”

Operators of the swap meet deny that there have been any improprieties.

Although the swap meet is held in the parking lot of the college, it is operated by the Santiago Club, a nonprofit organization that contracts with Norton Western Ltd. to manage the event.

This arrangement calls for the college to receive 24% of the gross revenues generated from admission fees and space rentals. Norton Western, a company owned by Santa Ana City Councilman Richards L. Norton, gets two-thirds of the money while the Santiago Club receives 10%.

On Dec. 11, Alex Vega, a former swap meet employee, told the board that vendors were being overcharged for spaces, which he said were being auctioned off for as much as $400 a day. Vega also charged that Norton Western was not reporting this extra income to the college.

Norton has publicly denied that the college is not getting its fair share and described Vega as a disgruntled former employee who was fired.

Last month, Trustees Charles W. (Pete) Maddox and Brian Conley asked the Orange County district attorney’s office to investigate the allegations. Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace Wade said Wednesday that the request was still being reviewed by his office.

Board members, upset that Maddox and Conley asked for an investigation without their approval, stripped the two of their positions on various county committees.

Ralston said the two may have created legal liability in a letter to Wade, which she said contained untrue statements regarding the board’s position on a swap meet investigation. In the letter, Maddox and Conley alleged that the board “has already indicated its unwillingness to address this issue.”

Maddox said the college’s decision to conduct an investigation is “a face-saving tactic.” He said the contractual relationships between the college, the Santiago Club and Norton Western make an investigation by college officials “nearly impossible.”