Legislation Boots Elected Officials Charged With Crimes

An Inland Empire lawmaker's bill to remove elected officials from boards or commissions when they're facing criminal charges was approved today by the state Senate and is now bound for the governor's desk.

Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Beaumont, introduced AB 309 in January in response to corruption cases in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Under the measure, which was unanimously approved by the Assembly in April, any elected official would be automatically disqualified from serving on a board or commission if he or she is indicted for any type of crime. If the office-holder was appointed to the board or commission before the charges were filed, the official would be required to vacate the seat.

By remaining on a commission while under indictment, officials put federal funds at risk because U.S. agencies generally will not disburse grants that will be controlled of accused felons, according to the assemblyman.

“This bill is important for our communities because without it, they could lose millions of dollars in funding from the federal government,'' Cook said.

“In these hard economic times, we can't afford to lose these funds due to a loophole in California law,'' he said. “Corruption is a serious and continuing problem in the Inland Empire that won't go away on its own. To continue fighting corruption, we need this bill signed into law.''

Cook cited a campaign money-laundering and bribery scandal in which four of five former members of the San Jacinto City Council were implicated as the impetus for AB 309.

Former Councilman James William Ayers, 49, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of making illegal campaign contributions and one count each of money laundering, bribery, conflict-of-interest and conspiracy to commit fraud. He was sentenced to a year in jail and three years probation.

Ex-Mayor Dale Jimmie Stubblefield and former councilmen John Richard Mansperger and James Walter Potts were named in the same 155-count indictment in November 2009 stemming from their alleged illegal contributions in support of Ayers' failed 2006 bid to win the Republican nomination for the 65th District.

Cook won it instead.

Two of the defendants continued to represent San Jacinto on the 32-member Riverside County Transportation Commission until they voluntarily removed themselves. The RCTC receives Federal Highway Administration grants for road and infrastructure projects.

All four men were voted out of office in a recall election last November.

Mansperger and Potts have trials set next month.

Stubblefield is slated to be tried in October.

Cook pointed to this year's indictments handed down against three former San Bernardino County officials in a bribery scheme centering on a real estate development as another example of why AB 309 is needed.

He introduced a similar bill last year, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said removing elected or appointed office holders should be “handled on the local level.'' –City News Service