Do Out-of-Towners Sit on Bell Gardens City Council? : Investigation: Councilman George T. Deitch says his family lives in Downey but that he only visits there. And Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia insists he moved here before he was elected.

An investigation is under way in Bell Gardens to determine if some members of the City Council live outside of town.

Spurred by allegations that Councilmen George T. Deitch and Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia do not live in the city, the Bell Gardens council unanimously decided to hire a private investigator. Gadfly Victor Vaillette said at a council meeting last month that on many occasions he has followed Deitch to a house in Downey, and that the councilman is only pretending to live in an apartment complex he owns on Florence Avenue in Bell Gardens.

Deitch said that his family has moved to Downey, but in an interview he insisted that he continues to live in Bell Gardens and visits his family in Downey “as often as I feel like it.” He gave no reason for the move to Downey and would not say which members of his family live there besides his wife, Vivian.

City officials said the residency investigation will cost about $500. After a records search, the investigator will interview each council member and try to determine where he or she intends to live.

City Atty. Mike Estrada said the city or an individual would have to file a lawsuit and the state attorney general would have to rule that the legal action is viable before the residency issue can be heard in court. “It’s a long, arduous process,” Estrada said. “And there are no guarantees.”

Mayor Frank B. Duran suggested the city investigate Deitch’s residency, but the inquiry was broadened after Councilwoman Josefina (Josie) Macias said she had similar concerns about where Garcia lives.

Garcia moved to a Bell Gardens apartment from Bell shortly before filing for candidacy in 1991. But during the election campaign, Garcia’s opponents accused him of continuing to live in Bell. Garcia denied the accusation and invited skeptics to visit his home on Jaboneria Road, where he kept an old guitar and a photograph of his mother. “These are the two things I always take with me wherever I live,” he said at the time.

Although state law requires council members to maintain a legal domicile in the city they serve, it does not prohibit them from sleeping elsewhere--even seven nights a week, the city attorney said.

“Under the law, (Deitch) can have several residences . . . a condo somewhere and an apartment somewhere else,” Estrada said. Deitch “can also sleep wherever he wants,” as long as his permanent residence is in Bell Gardens.

Deitch owns several pieces of property in Bell Gardens and elsewhere. His real estate office is on Eastern Avenue in Bell Gardens.

When he ran for council in 1991, Deitch listed as his residence a one-bedroom apartment in a complex he owns on Shull Street in the city. Deitch said he moved there because of marital problems; he said at the time that his wife was living in the Downey home. After Deitch was elected in March, 1991, he moved his family to a two-story home on Agra Street in Bell Gardens, where they lived until the recent move back to Downey.

Under the law, several factors are considered in determining legal residency, Estrada said, including where a person is registered to vote, where his or her car is registered and where tax returns are sent.

Deitch is registered to vote at the Florence Avenue address. The vehicle registration for his auto lists his Eastern Avenue business address. He said his tax forms bear the Downey address because he files jointly with his wife.

Another residency factor, Estrada said, is more difficult to prove: where a councilman says he or she intends to live and keep a permanent residence.

Deitch said he plans to live in Bell Gardens. He accused Vaillette of harassment and filed a police report about Vaillette’s actions. “I don’t want him near my house,” Deitch said. According to the report, Vaillette approached Deitch’s Florence Avenue apartment twice on a Saturday night and copied down the license plate numbers of the vehicles parked in the driveway.

Deitch called the investigation an attempt to discredit him.

“Even if I lived underneath a tree in Bell Gardens, I could still be a councilman,” he said. “This is just another example of a racist council trying to get rid of the only white boy up there.”

The council’s other four members are Latino.

Duran denied the allegation. “I don’t have any reason to want him off the council because he’s an Anglo,” the mayor said. “If he is breaking the law, he should answer to it.”

Duran said he will push to have Deitch removed from office if the investigation finds that the councilman does not live in Bell Gardens.

“What is the purpose of being a councilman if he doesn’t live in the city?” Duran asked. “If he wants to run for office, he should run in Downey.”