A judge has ruled in favor of an attorney who sued former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti in October 2003—while ordering him to pay $237,500—and concluded the ex-official had a conflict of interest on a development decision and failed to properly report a series of financial conflicts.
The judgment last week ordered the former, longtime supervisor to pay $237,500.
The case stems from a 2003 lawsuit filed initially by resident Don Kelley, an auto shop owner. Kelley alleged receiving threats at the time, so another resident, Juan Montoya, became plaintiff before the attorney’s son, Patrick Pekin, joined as petitioner. Over the years, the case itself has been amended eight times.
In a case led by Salinas attorney Michael Pekin, the petitioners were joined in 2003 by the group of anonymous residents calling themselves “Los Valientes”—which means “the brave ones” in Spanish—in making the claims against Scaglioitti.
Visiting Judge Robert O’Farrell made rulings on more than two dozen allegations while concluding insufficient evidence existed for many of them. The allegations largely relate to Scagliotti’s standing as a local developer and county supervisor at the time.
Specifically, the judge ruled against Scagliotti and concluded he failed to report properties on a financial disclosure form in five instances. For each violation, O’Farrell ordered Scagliotti to pay $2,500.
Most of the penalty amount–$160,000 of it—is linked to one count in the case. That count relates to an allegation that Scagliotti inappropriately voted against a development project as a member of the Local Agency Formation Commission. Scagliotti’s development firm was in competition with the 170-unit Estancia project on the west side for housing unit allocations. He voted against the application and also failed to properly report his conflict, owning a competitive development property.
Scagliotti served four terms on the county board and did not run for reelection in 2004, months after the lawsuit’s filing.
Scagliotti did not immediately return a phone call. County Counsel Matthew Granger and Michael Pekin also did not immediately return calls.
Outside of Scagliotti, Pekin has been the one central player in the case since its inception.
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