Conflict claim is garbage, candidate says

The political hit missed.

Newport Beach City Council candidate Barbara Venezia is fielding questions about her eligibility to hold a council seat after a Tustin attorney this week alleged a possible conflict with Venezia’s business interests.

Venezia said no conflict exists, and she sees the issue as a political hit. A closer look seems to bear that out.

Venezia is running against appointed incumbent Leslie Daigle for the District 4 seat, which includes Santa Ana Heights and Eastbluff.

The issue was raised last week, when attorney Mark Bucher sent a letter asking Newport Beach City Atty. Robin Clauson to investigate whether Venezia’s interest in Rainbow Disposal — a waste hauler that operates in Newport — makes her ineligible under the city charter to hold a council seat.

As Bucher described it, the charter says “you cannot sit on the council if you have interest in a company that’s doing business with the council.”

Bucher said that as he understands it, Venezia and her husband, Stan Tkaczyk, have “a substantial ownership” interest in Rainbow Disposal. He pointed to a state-required filing on which Venezia listed a “vested beneficial interest” of more than $1 million in the company.

But Venezia said she’s never been an employee and has no ownership interest in Rainbow — it was her husband’s company, which he sold two years ago, and the money is part of a stock-option package for his retirement.

Venezia, therefore, says she will have no conflict of interest if she takes office.

She attributes the issue to political opponents digging in her background for anything that could hurt her campaign.

“It’s the hint of impropriety, and that’s what they’re going for,” she said. “They know there’s no impropriety, but they want to cast a shadow of a doubt.”

That’s where it gets tough for Venezia. She won’t be “cleared” by the city attorney before Nov. 7 because Clauson said she won’t investigate the issue unless Venezia wins the election.

Clauson pointed out that the city’s contract with Rainbow Disposal is a franchise agreement, one of 24 agreements the city has with waste haulers that pay for the privilege of using Newport’s streets.

Also, the contract was formed before Venezia was ever a candidate.

“It’s not clear what happens when you might have a financial interest in a contract that occurred before you were a council member,” she said.

Another question is why Bucher was interested. He said in an interview that he raised the question on behalf of a client, whose name he refused to disclose.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss anything about my client except my client is a resident of Newport Beach and therefore has a very clear interest in this,” Bucher said.

The financial form Bucher cited was filed with the city clerk in August. City Clerk LaVonne Harkless confirmed that before Monday, only one request for a copy of that form was made to the city — by political consultant Dave Ellis.

Ellis has helped elect many Newport council members, among them incumbents Mayor Don Webb and Councilman Steve Rosansky. He has also been criticized for what some call dirty campaign tactics.

Ellis did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

Daigle — Venezia’s opponent — said Ellis is one of a number of “people that provide me with comments and counsel” on her campaign, though she doesn’t have a contract with any consultant.

She denied having anything to do with the inquiry into Venezia’s eligibility.

“I can tell you that everything that comes out of the Leslie Daigle campaign, every mailer I send, will be positive,” she said. “As you can appreciate, people are going to do things on my behalf, but I don’t sanction or control it…. It makes me nervous because there’s people out there who could trip me up too.”