Politics & Government

Tessitor, Legislators Back Gold Line Board's Dual Duties

Glendora Mayor Doug Tessitor and San Gabriel Valley legislators respond to conflict-of-interest charges against the GLCA.

Gold Line Construction Authority Chair and Glendora Mayor Doug Tessitor fired back at allegations that the GLCA's board's membership violated conflict-of-interest laws.

Among the lawsuits and allegations launched against the GLCA in an effort to derail the Gold Line from seizing property through eminent domain is a formal complaint directed at the legality of GLCA board membership.

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At the heart of the debate is California Code Section 1090, state law prohibiting public officials from holding multiple, simultaneous offices that are likely to present conflicts of interest.

The law references “state, county, district, judicial district and city officers or employees.” Lawyers Robert Silverstein and Christopher Sutton, who already represent a local property owner in , claim the GLCA–of which all of its five voting board members currently sit on city councils across the San Gabriel Valley–functions in violation of the law.

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Formed in 1998, the agency contracts the construction of the Foothill Extension, a project slated to extend from Pasadena to Ontario Airport.

But the Gold Line is hitting a snag in Monrovia, where property owner George Brokate is struggling to stave off GLCA eminent domain proceedings for a critical maintenance and operations facility.

Glendora City Attorney D. Wayne Leech said there is no existing litigation against the GLCA regarding dual duties of its board members;

Mayor Tessitor said claims by Silverstein and Sutton were tactics to save their client’s property from eminent domain proceedings.

“The Gold Line and its governance was established before [Code Section] 1090 was ever passed,” said Tessitor. “It’s clear in our enabling legislation that the Authority was intended to be elected officials.”

The GLCA received backing from San Gabriel Valley legislators who sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting that she disregard the complaint. The letter–signed by State Senators Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), Carol Liu (D-La Canada Flintridge), and Ed Hernandez (D-La Puente) and Assembly Members Norma Torres (D-Chino), Mike Eng (D-Alhambra), Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina) and Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills)–noted that an effort is underway to add that would allow members to stay on the board while also serving on local city councils.

"We believe the clarifying language ... will remove any uncertainty concerning the application of [state law] to both existing and future Gold Line board members," the letter from the San Gabrielf Valley Legislative Caucus states.

“It’s a technical correction basically,” said Tessitor. “The mere fact that we have bipartisan support and virtually no other opposition in doing this is testament to the fact that this isn’t a major issue.”

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