Mansoor writes $100 check

Deirdre Newman

Acknowledging that he was guilty of an oversight of the city’s

conflict of interest code, Councilman Allan Mansoor gave Planning

Commissioner Joel Faris a check for $100 on Tuesday.

Mansoor said he intended the exchange of money to retroactively

reduce Faris’ fall campaign contribution from $300 to $200 so it

falls below the threshold that constitutes a conflict of interest.

On Monday, Acting City Atty. Tom Wood said his office couldn’t

rule on past decisions that may have involved a conflict of interest,

but laid out guidelines that showed that a similar situation would be

construed as a conflict in the future.

Mansoor’s gesture appeased former mayor Sandra Genis, who first

brought the matter to the council’s attention on April 7.

“My concern all along was that I believe it was an innocent

mistake, but if we allowed it to stand, then that meant that the next

time when someone wasn’t making an innocent mistake, it would be OK,”

Genis said. “To me, it’s an acknowledgment that the rule does apply

and it’s a precedent.”

One tenet of the city’s conflict of interest law, which Genis

helped craft, constitutes a conflict any campaign contribution of

$250 or more during the year before a council decision involving the

contributor.

Mansoor appointed Joel Faris as his planning commissioner on Feb.

18, after Faris had contributed $300 to Mansoor’s 2002 election

campaign.

On Tuesday, Mansoor apologized for the oversight and tried to

direct attention back to city matters.

“This has been a distraction and hopefully now I can get back to

focusing on other city issues,” Mansoor said.

Faris said that he too is anxious to concentrate wholly on city

topics.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.