More advertisers pose conflicts for Garofalo

Theresa Moreau

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The circle of advertisers that Mayor Dave Garofalo

is advised against voting on has been widened with the inclusion of any

business that placed ads in the 1999-2000 Huntington Beach Chamber of

Commerce Business Directory.

The chamber directory, like the Huntington Beach Conference &

Visitor’s Bureau visitors guide, is published through a contract with

David P. Garofalo & Associates, which makes its money through the sale of

advertising.

Advertisers include:

* Rainbow Disposal Co. Inc., which has an exclusive contract with the

city for trash collecting;

* New Urban West Inc., a developer that is building 53 homes adjacent

to the Bolsa Chica wetlands;

* Huntington Beach Community Clinic, which gets funding from the city;

* Pacific Liberty Bank, in which Garofalo is an investor;

* Time Warner Communications, which has the city’s exclusive cable

franchise.

A number of advertisers, such as the Waterfront Hilton and Hearthside

Homes, have ads in both the visitors guide and the chamber directory.

Though City Atty. Gail Hutton did not mention the directory by name in

her June 19 memo advising Garofalo to abstain from voting on advertisers,

she did say he could not vote on any advertiser connected with his

publishing business.

In her July 5 memo, she advised Garofalo to abstain from specific

items on the July 5 City Council agenda because they “may have a material

financial effect on an advertiser in the visitors guide or Chamber of

Commerce Directory.”

At that meeting, Garofalo abstained on five of the 24 votes, City

Clerk Connie Brockway said. It is not known how many votes, if any, he

will need to abstain from at Monday’s City Council meeting.

The current ownership of the business directory franchise is as murky

as the ownership of the visitors guide contract. Chamber President Joyce

Riddell has said there is some confusion over the topic.

Garofalo first signed a three-year contract for the business directory

in 1996, Riddell said. Garofalo had been on the City Council for at least

a year, having started his first term in 1995.

Riddell said the contract has been renewed by verbal agreement for the

2000 edition because the chamber has been happy with the results.

However, Riddell said she did not have a clear understanding of who

now owns the rights to publish the directory.

After Garofalo announced at a City Council meeting last month that he

would divest himself of all publishing properties, Riddell said Garofalo

told her he had sold the contract for the directory to Coatings Resource

Co., which is owned by Ed Laird.

But in the same interview, Riddell also said she thought the contract

had been sold to Air Quality Consultants Co., which is owned by Jeff

Laird, Ed Laird’s son.

“It’s confusing,” Riddell said, looking at the 1999-2000 directory’s

masthead, which lists David P. Garofalo & Associates as publisher, but

also says it’s an AQC Co., with Ed Laird as president. The Local News is

also listed, with “offices” at the mayor’s home address.

Riddell said the chamber, a private nonprofit organization, does not

pay Garofalo to publish the directory. The mayor pays for the rights and

keeps any profits generated by the advertising revenue. Only chamber

members can bid for the directory.

“He sells all the ads,” Riddell said. “He’s responsible for producing

the whole book.”

The directory has two pullout parts -- one is a community overview,

which the city buys copies of from the chamber, and the other is a

pullout with the chamber’s annual report and a program detailing its

plans for the coming year. The extra copies of the overview are printed.

Riddell said she provides the editorial copy and black and white

photos for the directory, and Garofalo provides “maybe 7,000 copies” of

the directory to the chamber.