Ojai Survey Questions the Votes of 4 Officials : Conflict of interest: The city attorney says the commissioners might have participated in decisions that could have benefited their businesses.

At least three members of the Ojai Redevelopment Commission and one Ojai planning commissioner may have broken conflict-of-interest laws by participating in decisions that could benefit their private businesses, Ojai City Atty. Monte Widders said.

Widders discovered the potential violations during a review of all city commissions and agencies to determine if public officials are complying with the complex state and local laws governing conflicts.

All of the commissioners said they were unaware of their potential conflicts until Widders informed them last week. Yet the disclosures could result in at least one resignation of a citizen commissioner who helps determine the fate of building projects in Ojai’s designated redevelopment area that makes up most of downtown.

Alan Rains, chairman of the Ojai Redevelopment Commission, said he is considering resigning after being informed that he might have been voting illegally for years on redevelopment building applications, sign permits and other projects within 300 feet of Rains Department Store.

Rains, a central figure in downtown renovation, said he will decide this week whether to step down from the panel that he has served on since it formed in 1972.

“All of us on the commission have concerns that we follow regulations put forward by the state,” Rains said. “But I feel very comfortable there has not been one decision made by any of us where we voted for a selfish interest.”

Widders said Rains’ department store also profits from city business because city employees purchase tools and other hardware from his store.

Rains said he now sees the potential conflict involving his role as a public official and city purchases from his store. “I do have a definite conflict of interest with the city buying things from my store. The city has been a customer for years.”

Widders said redevelopment commissioners Clifford North, a mortgage broker, and Richard Hultgen, owner of an Ojai real estate company, might have broken the law by recently voting on a controversial proposal to build a two-story building because they do business with the developer and his clients.

Also, Widders said the architect for that project, Marc Whitman, should not have appeared before the redevelopment and planning commissions to pitch the two-story building project because he is a city planning commissioner.

Although Whitman pitched the proposal, he did the proper thing by not voting on his own project when it went before the Planning Commission, Widders said.

Neither Whitman nor North could be reached for comment. But Hultgen said he was surprised to learn of his potential conflicts.

“It was news to me,” said Hultgen, a redevelopment commissioner for five years. “It would have been nice if we were schooled in this when we were appointed.

“It was the first time I had even considered the fact that because we were in the same business I might have a conflict of interest,” he said.

Widders, Ojai’s contract attorney since 1985, said the officials’ questionable actions came to light during his routine review of a city ordinance to incorporate changes in the state’s Political Reform Act.

Don Coleman, a Ventura County assistant district attorney, said the constantly changing conflict-of-interest laws are cumbersome and often difficult to interpret. “But if, in fact, they are voting on projects which benefit an organization that has given them income or gifts of up to $250 a year, that is a conflict,” Coleman said.

Jeanette Turvill, spokeswoman for the state Fair Political Practices Commission in Sacramento, said her office only investigates violations of the Political Reform Act if someone files a complaint. Turvill said an investigation could lead to penalties of up to $2,000 for each violation.

But Ojai officials said they are not interested in triggering a state investigation into any potential illegal activity. Instead, the city is undertaking what some say is a much-needed education process for its public officials.

At the direction of the Ojai City Council, Widders is holding sessions with each city commission and department to explain the responsibilities of municipal officials and employees. He has also drafted a new city ordinance to require more city officials to file financial disclosure statements.

“We’re not putting effort into reviewing past practices,” City Manager Andrew S. Belknap said. “We’re looking forward and relaying the guidelines to our commissioners. The feedback we’re getting is that they are grateful and it’s been very constructive.”

Belknap said no one has registered any complaints about the commissioners’ actions nor has anyone demanded that they resign.

“They are all volunteers and they have to earn their living somehow,” he said. “We’re trying to review and set conditions upon which they can serve.”

Ojai redevelopment commissioners are appointed by the City Council. Redevelopment commissioners and city planning commissioners receive no stipend for their service.

Widders said officials can avoid conflicts by declaring when they have a financial interest or business dealings with an applicant and then abstaining from all discussions or votes on the issue at hand.