An upcoming copy of the second part of an investigation alleging
corruption in San Benito County government will go directly to the
state Office of the Attorney General, according to a source close
to the investigation.
After its completion Aug. 22, San Benito County District
Attorney John Sarsfield received part one of the two-volume
investigative report, but said he found no criminal wrongdoing
after carefully examining it.
An upcoming copy of the second part of an investigation alleging corruption in San Benito County government will go directly to the state Office of the Attorney General, according to a source close to the investigation.
After its completion Aug. 22, San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield received part one of the two-volume investigative report, but said he found no criminal wrongdoing after carefully examining it.
Sarsfield will again receive a copy of the second report at the same time as its release to the Attorney General, according to the source.
Regardless of his decision on the first report, Sarsfield reiterated Monday he would impartially review anything that enters his office. While his jurisdiction, he emphasized, is limited.
“I look only at criminality,” Sarsfield said.
He also said the Attorney General’s office is backlogged with cases.
“In all probability it would be turned around and sent back to me anyway,” Sarsfield said. “They (the state office) make that call.”
The investigator on the case, Dave Henderson, has not publicly commented on the matter. The lawyer of the group commissioning the investigation, however, said Henderson will continually seek “intervention of the proper authorities.”
“I support Henderson in his continued efforts to have the public agencies doing their jobs,” attorney Michael Pekin said Monday.
Pekin represents the anonymous group of residents calling themselves Los Valientes. They commissioned the investigation of county politics about six months ago.
It has resulted in the first completed report, mostly focusing on alleged corruption by Supervisor Richard Scagliotti. Part two of the ongoing investigation is under way and will reportedly include alleged misconduct from a wider spectrum of public officials.
It is not yet clear when Henderson will finish that report or whom it will scrutinize.
Sarsfield sent a letter to Henderson on Oct. 15 stating none of the first report’s six cases of alleged corruption warranted criminal prosecution.
But he did mention the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) as a relevant enforcement agency on some of the issues – particularly those addressing Form 700s.
Annually, elected officials are required to fill out Form 700s, which include information about personal income and property.
“I did not see anything in particular that would justify enforcement action by this office,” Sarsfield’s letter states. “However, as you know, the primary experts and administrative enforcement agency in this area (Form 700s) is the FPPC.”
The FPPC received a copy of the report and assigned an investigator and an attorney to the Scagliotti issues. The agency does not confirm nor deny existence of investigations, though FPPC involvement has been confirmed to the Free Lance by a source linked to the Commission.
The amount of time the FPPC spends on each complaint, according to spokesperson John Matthews, widely varies and depends on the case’s complexity.
Meanwhile, Los Valientes and Pekin recently joined a pending lawsuit over the Growth Control Initiative’s placement on the March ballot. One of the report’s cases alleges the five county supervisors illegally drafted the initiative through a serial meeting – a violation of the state’s open meetings law, the Brown Act. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday at the San Benito County Courthouse.
On Monday, Pekin announced that a second allegation in the report would result in legal action by Los Valientes.
For two weeks, Autoworks owner Don Kelley has requested the Board of Supervisors consider revoking a vehicle maintenance contract with San Benito Tire. On the advice of an outside attorney, the Board rejected Kelley’s petition – twice.
Sacramento attorney William Owen explained the county’s contention – that the Board would not consider revoking the contract because the investigative report had already been included in the Growth Control Initiative suit.
On Monday, after he got word the county would again not include Kelley’s petition on the Nov. 4 agenda, Pekin called Owen’s persistent reasoning a “shallow analysis.”
“Now the Board is forcing Mr. Kelley’s hand,” Pekin said. “The Board is forcing litigation against itself.”
Kelley, using the investigative report as supporting evidence, alleges Scagliotti’s influence led to the Board awarding the latest three-year contract to San Benito Tire in August 2002.
Scagliotti had maintained a business relationship with San Benito Tire owner Bob Cain; the supervisor was negotiating to move the repair shop to his property in Hollister, according to Hollister Planning Department records.
Plus, as San Benito Tire also conducted the county work during a previous one-year term starting in September 2000, Kelley worked on the county Sheriff’s Department vehicles during an interim period between the two contracts. Kelley says the work conducted by San Benito Tire was severely negligent.
Pekin said he could not specify a timeline for the filing of a suit because, he said, “suits against government agencies are complex.”
