EDITORIAL
Being mayor is more than just ribbon cuttings and riding down Main
Street in the annual Fourth of July parade.
Huntington Beach Mayor Dave Garofalo can attest to that. Garofalo, in
recent months, has been the stuff of headlines -- his actions questioned,
his motives pondered, his business dealings inspected.
He feels attacked and blames a “hateful” media for the onslaught.
But -- hard feelings and emotions aside -- Garofalo could come to his
own rescue easy enough if he would provide some answers to some basic
questions.
The mayor is a publisher by trade and, among other things, sells ads
for the city’s annual visitors guide. Of note this year was a $2,995 ad
he sold to a developer. The ad was of interest because Garofalo later
voted in favor of a study necessary to move forward with the developer’s
pending Downtown building project.
The law on this is clear: A council member cannot vote on matters in
which they have a financial interest. If, the law goes, a city politician
has received as little as $250 in the past 12 months from a company or
business interest, he must abstain from voting on all issues involving
that company.
But this is where things get fuzzy.
Garofalo claims that he no longer owns the company -- The Local News
-- that publishes the visitors guide. But Garofalo does say he owns 100%
of David P. Garofalo & Associates, a namesake company that the developer
made out his $2,995 check to.
Garofalo, in a faxed reply to a series of Independent questions, said
he didn’t know who told the developer to make the check out to David P.
Garofalo & Associates, but that “any income made out to that corporation
goes to the proper accounts.”
We’re not sure what that means, and the matter is serious enough to
merit a thorough investigation by the city attorney. It is her obligation
-- especially in a city where citizens independently elected the city
attorney to stand free of City Hall politics -- to make sure our
citizen-politicians conduct city business with no conflicts of interest.
In the meantime, Garofalo would serve his constituents and himself
well by answering some fundamental questions:
Who owns what? There’s a touch of haze surrounding what David P.
Garofalo & Associates’ relationship is with the Local News, the newspaper
that Garofalo still publishes but sold to Air Quality Consultants Inc., a
Huntington Beach-based firm with ties to former Planning Commissioner Ed
Laird.
Ownership aside, since Garofalo is listed as the publisher for both
the Local News and David P. Garofalo & Associates -- and is certainly the
frontman for both companies -- he should also tell citizens how he is
compensated.
For instance, does the mayor stand financial benefit if he sells an ad
for the visitors guide? How do citizens know if he is steadfastly on this
side of conflict of interest laws?
And along those lines, how is it that the mayor makes part of his
living from the city’s visitors guide? The Conference and Visitor’s
Bureau is funded completely by the city -- and the mayor heads the city.
Is that in itself a possible gray area, the mayor making money off the
city he has been elected to represent?
Finally, how do we rationalize a Downtown developer writing a fairly
hefty check to a company the mayor owns?
If Garofalo wants these questions to go away, he needs to provide some
definitive answers, and he needs to provide some proof.
No, he doesn’t need to do this to make us happy. Nor does he need to
do this to validate this line of inquiry. He needs to do this for the
sake of his constituents, for the sake of the integrity of the office he
holds. He needs to do this because it would be the right and the
honorable thing to do.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.