The floodgates are open with the recent Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case.
The recent GOP primary contest has shown us the power of unlimited corporate secret funding in politics. Needless to say, both the public and media need to be extra vigilant pointing out who is behind these massive waves of advertising as they are generally not in the public interest. We are all aware of how our federal and state legislators move into lucrative positions after long careers working for the same concerns they should have been overseeing in the public arena, but were in fact taking massive amounts of funds to support their bids for re-election each term.
But when do these bad political habits really begin? For most politicians, they begin at the local level as they first start to move up the political food chain. They learn that locals are very unlikely to call them out on each small step they take in this direction. They find the cash cows early in their careers, and the good old boy system protects them.
A recent report by reporter Nick Welsh in a South County newspaper, the Santa Barbara Independent, raises some serious questions and allegations that voters in North Santa Barbara County need answered. Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation has received federal HUD and other public funding both through the City of Lompoc and the County of Santa Barbara to purchase properties for low-income folks and to revamp commercial properties totaling $6 million in taxpayer funds in the past few years. Conflict of interest issues abound in this report.
Santa Barbara County Auditor Bob Geis found out a year ago that Lompoc Housing, a local nonprofit agency, had failed to provide annual financial reports to the county since 2007, as required by their contract with the county. Ultimately, Auditor Geis got three years of checkbooks after he told them they couldn’t have any more funding without good accounting records. He found the nonprofit had an inadequate record-keeping accounting system and virtually no records of its activities. As an example of how they did things, he noted that $50,000 given by Santa Barbara County to the nonprofit to get its finances in order looks to have been used to pay down an existing note. Boy! Who serves on the board of directors of this nonprofit?
The bubble exploded for Lompoc Housing last year when two private lenders foreclosed on the agency and its properties. Santa Barbara County could be on the hook for $1.4 million. How did they and Santa Barbara County taxpayers get into this position? Through the years, this agency has made some questionable investments and seems to have lost its focus on housing for the poor and moved into commercial activities in 2003. Prior to 2008, Lompoc Housing was in serious trouble after rapid growth in buying 36 parcels and running 19 projects. In addition, they purchased the old marquee movie theater and an old downtown hotel in Lompoc. The final straw was the College Park Development where cost and time of construction exceeded estimates. Most projects have now gone to seed, and they have added to town blight. Most projects have been described as beyond rehabilitation, and the incompetent management and decisions made for this organization are apparent.
So the question becomes: Who is responsible for the oversight or lack of oversight of this organization and were they politically connected and protected? Auditor Geis, going over the checkbooks, discovered that the nonprofit had been making payments to 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray’s law firm. On finding this information, he contacted the county counsel’s office about an apparent conflict of interest. Gray has been notified by the county attorney that she is to recuse herself from any future votes on this matter.
Gray’s executive assistant in her office was also the president of Lompoc Housing. She approached Geis about more county funds for this organization. After reviewing the checkbooks, he felt the mess was just too big, and to his credit he refused.
Does the fox guarding the hen house come to mind? A supervisor, who is also a practicing attorney, with 14 years experience as supervisor should be well aware of conflict of interest laws and her responsibility to look out for county funds and not intertwine her office and law firm into the dealings of a private corporation.
Fortunately for county taxpayers, several public debates are scheduled prior to the upcoming elections for 4th District supervisor, and at those our current supervisor will have the opportunity to fully explain her actions and we can find out if these allegations are true before we all cast our votes.
Ken McCalip is a North Santa Barbara County native who holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. He can be reached at foxmt.one@verizon.net. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 3-10, 2012.
