3 Officials Are Cleared of Conflict Allegations : Exoneration: The state Fair Political Practices Commission said it had found no evidence that the officials had gained from their ties to a Huntington Beach bank linked to downtown redevelopment.

After more than two years of investigation, the state Fair Political Practices Commission announced Monday that it has found no evidence of conflicts of interest by three city officials who had ties with a bank linked to downtown redevelopment.

The three, who stood accused in a citizen’s complaint filed in May, 1989, are then-city Planning Commissioner Roger Slates, City Councilman Don MacAllister and City Atty. Gail C. Hutton. Dean Albright, a Huntington Beach resident and slow-growth activist, had accused them of having conflicts of interest because of their governmental actions dealing with Huntington National Bank.

At the time of the complaint, MacAllister and Slates were on the bank’s board of directors and Hutton owned about $2,000 worth of bank stock. But the FPPC, a watchdog agency, concluded that many of the accusations were “unfounded.”

FPPC officials did not indicate in their report why the investigation took more than two years to finish, prompting Hutton on Monday to criticize the length of the inquiry and the media attention it attracted.

“These kinds of complaints are allowed to hang like swords of Damocles over one’s head,” Hutton said. “I had done nothing wrong, so I never expected the FPPC to find any violation of the law. But here is a situation where for two years people refer to an investigation. It is very unfair because it’s a situation that casts such a pall on political officers--accusing them of things that turn out to be untrue.”

Albright charged that Slates, who is now a county planning commissioner, had voted on a downtown redevelopment matter that financially benefited Huntington National Bank. He made a similar accusation against MacAllister, alleging that MacAllister had voted on a Huntington National Bank-related issue before the City Council.

Albright alleged that Hutton erred by giving MacAllister legal advice to vote on the redevelopment-related matter. Hutton has denied that she ever gave MacAllister such legal advice. The investigation against Hutton also dealt with a Seacliff Country Club pass she was allegedly given by the Huntington Beach Co., the city’s largest landholder. The complaint charged that she “provided legal advice on votes affecting the Huntington Beach Co. after receiving (a) gift pass.” FPPC officials concluded that the allegation was “unfounded.”

According to the FPPC, Slates, while a city planning commissioner, did not vote on any issue dealing with city finances connected to Huntington National Bank. The “Planning Commission does not vote on financing decisions,” the agency’s report tersely noted.

The investigation further absolved the planning commissioner of accusations that he did not fully disclose to the public a financial interest in the bank and that he had failed to disclose income from the financial institution.

Slates could not be reached for comment Monday.

Similarly, the FPPC report concluded that MacAllister did not vote for any city measure in which he had a financial interest. The report also listed as unfounded the accusation that MacAllister had received a cable television hookup free of charge as “a gift” and did not report it on state-mandated financial disclosure statements.

“This is probably not a gift,” the FPPC report stated. “Even it were a gift, the public harm from non-disclosure is minimal.”

MacAllister also was accused of voting on Huntington Beach Co. matters after accepting a gift pass to Seacliff Country Club. But the FPPC noted that its regulations determining the value of gifts is being changed and that “enforcement action is not deemed appropriate in this matter.”

MacAllister said Monday that the report exonerating him “comes as no surprise” because he said he knew he had not violated any law.

“I’m very happy to see the report turn out exactly as it should have turned out,” MacAllister said. “In today’s political world, we all live in a fishbowl, and we’re aware of it. I’m happy it came out this way.”

Albright also lodged a complaint in May, 1989, against then-City Councilman John Erskine, alleging that Erskine voted on downtown redevelopment measures while having a financial interest in a condominium in the area. FPPC officials said Monday that the complaint against Erskine, who completed his four-year term on the council last November, remains under investigation.