Housing, political conversions

Dave Brooks

For Pam Julien Houchen, 2004 was a year that began and ended with

fireworks.

In February, the former Huntington Beach mayor successfully fought

to bring the Fourth of July celebration back to the beach. By

December, she was fighting to stay out of prison.

Houchen’s involvement in the condo conversion scandal has made

headlines and revived memories of former Huntington Beach mayor Dave

Garofalo, who pleaded guilty to 15 misdemeanor counts and one felony

count of conflict of interest charges in 2002.

Both instances have brought up a resurgence of questions about

corruption at City Hall, but most city officials say Houchen’s story

and that of her predecessor are tales of individual greed, and

ultimately, individual demise.

“If you look at the rest of us, that wouldn’t happen in a million

years,” said former Huntington Beach mayor Cathy Green, who argued

that the entire council shouldn’t be judged on the behavior of one

person.

Houchen is one of eight indicted for selling the illegal condos,

but her name is most associated with the controversy.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges the defendants created phony

companies, forged signatures on fake documents and even paid off an

insider at a title insurance company to sell dozens of condos that

had been converted from apartments without the proper city permits.

While any damage to the city’s reputation remains to be seen, the

potential damage to Houchen’s personal life is very clear.

For her participation in the controversy, Houchen faces a lengthy

sentence in a federal prison and possible separation from her

2-year-old triplets.

In September, she resigned from her eight-year post on the City

Council, an almost definite conclusion to her political career

following allegations that she illegally purchased and resold

property in a redevelopment zone and tried to cover it up.

Court records also show that her husband Bryan Houchen filed for

divorce earlier this year after four years of marriage, citing

irreconcilable differences.

City permits show that Bryan Houchen had done construction work

for some of the apartments that had been illegally sold as condos.

Her professional career has taken a hit, too. Records with the

California Department of Real Estate show she no longer works with

realty firm RE/MAX and temporarily cannot sell real estate.

Department spokesperson Tom Pool said a felony conviction could

result in the complete revocation of her Realtors license.

Councilman Keith Bohr said he thinks Houchen would have likely

faced the same possible punishment, but not the same public scrutiny,

if she hadn’t been a prominent politician.

“The reason this has drawn so much attention is because she is a

public official,” he said. “If she was just a real estate person, you

wouldn’t have all the headlines and photographs.”

Her involvement in the condo conversions has also made her the

scorn of the people who bought the illegal condos, although victim

Aaron Frankel said he feels that isn’t necessarily fair.

“I don’t see her as the poster child for this,” he said. “I see an

individual who is an example of what happened.”

Regardless of the outcome of Houchen’s case, Huntington Beach

Assemblyman Tom Harman said, the general public has made up its mind

about Houchen and Garofalo, and that could take years to reverse.

“I’m just disappointed and embarrassed at the black mark the city

has gotten from its past mayors,” said Harman. “I’m worried that our

credibility has been damaged. People are scratching their heads and

wondering what’s going on with Huntington Beach.”

Green said she remains optimistic that the image problem will

slowly correct itself if Surf City officials can avoid future

scandals.

“Hopefully it will never happen again,” she said. “Most of us

never put ourselves in that position. Most of us simply don’t have

these kinds of conflicts.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

966-4609 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.