A special counsel investigation into allegations that two Yorba Linda City Council members violated provisions of the city's 13-year-old ethics ordinance when they were candidates in the Nov. 8 election has resulted in four of the six being "sustained" and passed on for further investigation.
Three of five allegations against Councilmember Carlos Rodriguez and one allegation against Councilmember Janice Lim were that sustained -- meaning "more likely than not" would be considered a violation -- will be forwarded to the Orange County District Attorney for investigation and potential enforcement. The investigation was conducted by the city's special counsel Hanson Bridgett and reported out at the March 7 council meeting by partner Steven Miller.
The allegations were brought by Ryan Bent, who ran third to Rodriguez and Lim for two council positions in the November election. Bent is an elected trustee in the North Orange County Community College District and a council-appointed member of the city Library Commission.
At the council meeting, Mayor Gene Hernandez said the city and council take complaints of ethics violations "very seriously" and with the completion of the special counsel report, "the city considers the matter concluded."
Miller said, "The City Council has reviewed and accepted (the) findings of this investigation."
One of the sustained allegations against Rodriguez involved a failure "to disqualify himself from acting on a land use entitlement matter when he had received a campaign contribution of $250 or more from the land use beneficiary within 12 months prior to the council action," according to the letter sent to Bent with the investigation's results that he shared.
The letter said Rodriguez "received a $250 contribution from Shea Homes on June 4, 2021" and "did not disqualify himself from voting on the matter" on July 20, 2021.
Another involved "accepting a campaign contribution from an existing city contractor," namely $250 from LSA Associates, which provides "on-call services to the city related to traffic and transportation engineering."
The third involved "soliciting a political endorsement from a labor association affiliated with city contractors – specifically from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs," which asked Rodriguez to fill out a questionnaire on his positions as part of its process and subsequently endorsed him.
Not considered sustained were allegations related to another contribution from Shea Homes and soliciting an endorsement from the county's firefighters union. The Fire Authority is not considered a city contractor under the ordinance; it is paid through property taxes.
Rodriguez returned the Shea Homes and LSA contributions.
The allegation against Lim involved "soliciting a political endorsement from a labor association affiliated with city contractors – specifically from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs," which subsequently endorsed her.
At the March council meeting, Hernandez asked Rodriguez and Lim if they wanted "to make a comment or no" on Miller's oral report on the findings, and they didn't respond. When reached by phone, Lim said she had no comment, and Rodriguez has yet to respond.