Opinion: Council’s Weak Response To Alleged Misconduct Points To Need for Ethics Commission
As reported by the Voice of OC yesterday, “an investigation into $70,000 in Irvine tax dollars spent on city mailers by City Councilman Mike Carroll appears to be stalling at the local level despite clear evidence he violated at least one city policy”. Like the Voice of OC, Irvine Watchdog (Watchdog) is having a difficult time getting City Hall to answer requests concerning Council spending. What follows is an accounting of our efforts, followed by some reflections.
September 8, Email Request from Watchdog to City
After Councilmember Fox raised concerns earlier this month over Councilmember Carroll’s use of taxpayer funds on campaign mailers, Watchdog reached out to the City via email, dated September 8th:
“When will the internal investigation of the possible abuse by Mr. Carroll of the centralized mailroom and associated services be completed, and the findings shared with the public? Also, can you please provide us with the start date of the city internal investigation.”
After 10 days, Watchdog received the following response from the City:
“The City is not conducting an internal investigation of Councilmember Carroll. That type of action – an investigation of a Councilmember – could only be started at the direction of the City Council, or through some other means that is authorized by a law (an ordinance) or adopted City Council policy. Neither of those events have occurred, and so City staff does not have the authorization to conduct an investigation.”
Despite Mayor Shea stating publicly that she thought an investigation was warranted, she has not formally requested one. Likewise, none of Carroll’s fellow councilmembers (Fox, Khan, and Kuo) have pursued any investigation of this issue. Our City Council has declined to address this issue publicly in the last two city council meetings.
September 9th, Public Records Request
On September 9th, Watchdog submitted a public records request for specific line items of the city budget, broken down by individual council members. The records request extension letter received from the City on September 21st, 12 days later, said that they will contact us on or before October 5, 2020. Residents will be receiving mail-in ballots starting October 5th, so any potential information on this issue may not be available until after the election is underway.
“Additional time is needed to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request. Under the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6253(c) et seq.), an extension of an additional 14 days is appropriate under these circumstances.
Based on the initial 10-day response period and the additional 14-day extension period, our office will contact you on or before October 5, 2020 regarding the disposition of the requested records.”
September 21st, City Finance Commission eComment
In addition, Watchdog reached out to the City Finance Commission regarding this matter via eComment on September 21st with the following request:
“With the City Council department representing 24% of the City Manager’s Office budget, residents are respectfully requesting that the Finance Commission hold a public review of the entire City Council’s expenses and operation for the last 3 budget cycles, beginning in FY 2018. Please strongly consider placing this action on the next Finance Commission agenda. Thank you.”
Instead, the upcoming Finance Commission scheduled for October 5th was cancelled for “lack of business items”.
Reflections
There has been a complete lack of transparency and accountability from this City Council in the handling of this matter. Public records requests should not take city staff a month to complete, especially when there is alleged impropriety on the part of a councilmember. The Mayor and Council have not worked expeditiously to settle the matter, further aggravating the issue. Allegations of this nature warrant a concerted, transparent effort to either exonerate or hold Mr. Carroll accountable. So far the taxpayer has received neither.
Moments like this are clear and powerful reminders that Irvine needs an independent Ethics Commission for investigation of alleged misuse of public funds and other matters such as campaign finance violations and abuse of power that may arise.
Irvine deserves a higher standard of conduct and oversight.
3 Comments
Susan Sayre
September 24, 2020 at 9:17 amI totally agree! Our City Council has the duty and responsibility to oversee and ensure appropriate use of public funds. They also have the duty to order the investigation of ethics violations, misuse of public funds allegations, campaign finance violations and abuse of power allegation by City Council Members. The failure to order investigations amounts to dereliction of the City Council’s duty and responsibility.
In Irvine, the City Attorney is the designated party to investigate ethics violations, campaign finance allegations and abuse of power allegations, and most likely misuse of public funds by City Council members. However, as the City Attorney represents the city council, he cannot investigate the abuses without being ordered to do so by the City Council.
As Irvine’s City Council is unwilling to order ethics violations and other abuses by Council Members, it is clear that Irvine needs an independent Ethics Commission with the power and authority to receive, investigate, and remedy allegations of ethics abuses, campaign finance abuses, abuse of power and misuse of public funds by council members.
deefox
September 27, 2020 at 7:34 pmBelow is what is on the city website: If you notice it says they will contact the appropriate city department for an investigation. Well, I called, made a report, followed it up with supporting documentation (Melissa’s letter and memo from the City Manager) and explained two things to them…
1. This report cannot be given to any Irvine City Department because the department involved controls them all. It has to go to a higher authority outside the city of Irvine.
2. The investigation has been done. The Mayor even acknowledged it (sent an e-mail I received from Christina to show confirmation). So, what I want is action because we have a guy sitting on our council right now that has already taken $72,000 in public funds. He could do a lot more damage because the Mayor and others choose to look the other way.
So, we will see what happens.
Ethics and Compliance
The City of Irvine’s City Council and management team are committed to the highest standards of ethical and legal behavior and to proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars. As part of this commitment, the City of Irvine has an Integrity Line for employees, vendors, and the public at large to report concerns about suspected fraud, waste, or abuse. The City of Irvine has contracted with an independent company, NAVEX Global, to accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Call the Integrity Line to report:
* Fraudulent Behavior
* Conflicts of Interest
* Unlawful Conduct
* Unsafe or Unhealthy Conditions
* Discrimination
* Sexual Harassment
* Workplace Violence
* Substance Abuse
NAVEX Global
NAVEX Global is carefully designed and managed to maintain your confidentiality and anonymity throughout the reporting process. Calls are not recorded or traced. Step-by-step instructions guide you to help ensure that you do not inadvertently compromise its safeguards.
Step 1: Call 866-428-1509 (toll free).
Step 2: A communication specialist will document your report.
Step 3: The information is relayed to the appropriate City department to investigate your concern.
Step 4: A report key and password for follow-up will be issued to the caller.
Carrie O'Malley
October 1, 2020 at 11:17 amYes, I have been calling for an Ethics Commission for years. This is one of the main tenets of my campaign as you can see on my web site and all of my campaign literature. There have been many issues and items throughout the years that could have been vetted by the Ethics Commission if we had one here in Irvine. I look forward to initiating an Irvine Ethics Commission when I am on the City Council!
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