Baglin seeks public support
Barbara Diamond
Councilman Wayne Baglin asked on Tuesday for public support in his
time of trial.
Baglin, charged with six counts of felony conflict of interest, is
scheduled to stand trial on June 30.
“I am encouraging as many [people] as possible to attend,” Baglin
announced at the televised City Council meeting. “I think it will be
about one week of trial.
“There are 62 seats in the courtroom,” he said. “I would love to
see them full.”
Baglin pleaded not guilty on Dec. 6 of violating state government
code 1090 that prohibits elected officials or members of their
families from financially benefiting from contracts with the agency
the official represents.
The councilman, a real estate broker, accepted a $36,000
commission from the sale to the city of two lots on Third Street he
brokered for clients while sitting on the council. The clients paid
the commission. The city was not a party to the commission agreement.
Baglin never tried to hide his representation. He abstained from
votes taken on acquisition. Voting would have been a violation of the
Political Reform Act, a separate action.
Voting on the purchase would have been reviewed by the Fair
Political Practices Commission, as was the case several years ago
with then-Councilwoman Lida Lenney. Lenney’ s late husband, George
Lenney, owned stock in Waste Management, which she claimed she didn’t
know about, at the time she voted for a new city contract with the
trash hauler. She was fined by the commission.
Baglin was indicted Oct. 31 by the grand jury after a closed
hearing a day earlier, at which Baglin’s clients, Dorothy and Edgar
Hatfield; City Council members Cheryl Kinsman, Steven Dicterow and
Paul Freeman; City Manager Ken Frank; and investigator Timothy Craig
testified. Baglin was mayor at the time.
If Baglin is found guilty of violating the state government code,
he could be fined $1,000 or jailed and possibly barred for life from
holding political office in California.
“This is important to me,” Baglin said Tuesday. “I heard a
district attorney tell a reporter that [conviction] could mean seven
years for me.”
He said before his arraignment that he would welcome a trial as a
means to vindicate himself. His attorney said the charges were
politically motivated.
“I am talking to friends, family and supporters and asking them to
attend,” Baglin said. “I want them there for support.”
Even critics will be welcome, he said.
“Quite honestly, I do not think newspapers have done an adequate
job of providing the facts to the public,” Baglin said Wednesday.
He declined further comment.
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