The San Benito County Board of Supervisors allocated $10,000 to
commission an independent investigation into the San Benito County
Planning Department stemming from corruption allegations made by
two building inspectors in conjunction with lawyer Michael Pekin’s
Los Valientes lawsuit against the county.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors allocated $10,000 to commission an independent investigation into the San Benito County Planning Department stemming from corruption allegations made by two building inspectors in conjunction with lawyer Michael Pekin’s Los Valientes lawsuit against the county.
Board members agreed to the investigation during a closed-session meeting Tuesday, where they also allocated $5,000 to pay for an independent, internal investigation into county officials and employees regarding the release of a mediation brief on an investigation into District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office, said County Counsel Karen Forcum.
The investigation into the Planning Department stems from two building inspectors’, Jim Stevens and Ken Specialli, signed declarations alleging Planning Director Rob Mendiola was involved in corrupt behavior with former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti. Scagliotti is named personally in Pekin’s Los Valientes lawsuit against the county, which alleges he used his position as board member for financial gain.
In a related development, a criminal grand jury indicted Pekin on seven felony counts Wednesday, including conspiracy and filing a frivolous lawsuit regarding the Los Valientes suit.
After Specialli testified in front of the grand jury Friday regarding the case, he was served Tuesday with a notice that he also is the target of a criminal grand jury investigation for allegations of perjury, manufacturing false evidence and conspiracy to obstruct justice because of his grand jury testimony.
Specialli believes he is now the target of an investigation because he signed the declaration alleging corruption by Mendiola. Specialli said he refused to sign the declaration at first because his supervisors told him Pekin was a “crackpot” and not to talk to him. However, Specialli changed his mind after the way he was treated by Sarsfield and Picone throughout his grand jury experience, he said.
“They’re messing with people’s lives,” Specialli said.
Acting County Administrative Officer Susan Lyons said she is shopping around for the best outside agency to conduct the investigation, and hopes to have one tied down by next Tuesday. So far, she has contacted the Santa Clara County Counsel’s office, which has a special investigative team that specializes in planning issues. She hopes to contract with the same firm to conduct the internal investigation, she said.
She didn’t know how long the investigations would last or when they will begin.
However, she said as long as the report doesn’t include anything about specific employees’ jobs it should be made public.
“I expect the majority of the document, if not all, will be public,” Lyons said. “I don’t want to put employees in jeopardy.”
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said the board cannot ignore the allegations into the department and Mendiola. He stressed that if the allegations are false and Mendiola is being wrongly accused, an investigation would exonerate the planning director. When the report is finished, De La Cruz promised it would be made public because it will be paid for with taxpayer dollars.
“We will not hide this report like the board did for Sarsfield,” De La Cruz said. “At the end of the day, this report stands before the community.”
A summary of an investigative report into Sarsfield’s office, commissioned by the Board of Supervisors, was obtained by the Free Lance last week and spurred an internal investigation into the leak. The report stems from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by two women in the Victim Witness Department that sustained Sarsfield “openly engaged in a romantic relationship with his office manager,” Nancy Leon, and retaliated against some of his employees for political reasons.
De La Cruz also said if evidence is uncovered during the course of the independent investigation leading investigators to other county departments, those will also be investigated.
“If in the process of investigating the planning department we find some other irregularities, it’s fair game,” he said. “But if nothing’s there, we’ll just move on.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
