Group calls for investigation of Bohr

A group of residents is asking county and state officials to investigate Huntington Beach Mayor Keith Bohr for what it considers a possible conflict of interest.

The Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Assn.’s executive administrator, John Acampora, sent a letter today to the Orange County district attorney and the Fair Political Practices Commission requesting an investigation into Bohr’s decision to vote on the Downtown Specific Plan.

The Downtown Specific Plan is a long-range planning document that dictates building and parking specifications and design guidelines. The City Council directed the plan to be updated to increase development over the next 20 years and approved it with some changes Nov. 2.

The association believes Bohr should have recused himself from the vote because of a conflict of interest.

“All that we really want is for them to investigate what we believe is an ongoing conflict of interest,” said Kim Kramer, the spokesman for the association.

Bohr said the claims have no validity and that he received assurance from the Fair Political Practices Commission that he could vote on the plan.

“No, I have never had an economic interest in property in the downtown since selling my primary residence in 2005. Further, I have quite purposefully not conducted any business in [Huntington Beach] since being elected to the City Council,” Bohr said in an e-mail.

In the letter, the association asserts Bohr would benefit from the plan because he is a principal partner in the real estate development and construction company Team Companies, Inc, which has an office in the downtown and, according to the letter, an interest in three restaurants.

“We contend that a favorable vote on the [Downtown Specific Plan] will facilitate future development in downtown Huntington Beach that will financially benefit Team Companies, Inc. and therefore personally benefit Mayor Keith Bohr,” said Acampora in the letter. “We assert that this presents a specific conflict of interest.”

Bohr said he has no interests or connections with the three projects, but did have a month-to-month lease on an office downtown. Bohr said the office was allowed, but he vacated it Oct. 31 to “put the issue to rest.”

“The same erroneous allegations pop up periodically when somebody disagrees with my views and/or votes,” Bohr said in the e-mail.

The commission couldn’t be immediately reached for comment. The district attorney’s office has not yet received a copy of Acampora’s letter but reviews all complaints submitted, said spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

City Attorney Jennifer McGrath said she doesn’t give conflict-of-interest advice to the City Council, but she will now be looking into whether Bohr was on both sides of the deal and whether or not it hurt the vote.

“It’s a very serious allegation,” McGrath said. “If he does have a conflict of interest, it will impact more than the Downtown Specific Plan.”