By: Craig Shultz and Erin Waldner | Original Article at pe.com
In their first gathering since a regional corruption task force raided City Hall, Beaumont city leaders were hit with calls for firings and resignations.
“I have never been so disappointed in anyone,” said Judy Bingham, a vocal critic of City Hall, during the public comment section of a special City Council meeting on Thursday, April 23. She directed her comments to Mayor Brenda Knight, who she claimed failed to look into the issues in the city.
Bingham called on the council to fire City Manager Alan Kapanicas and Police Chief Frank Coe. She also called for Knight and Councilman Jeff Fox to resign.
Kapanicas’ Palm Desert home was one of four sites searched by county officials and FBI officials on Wednesday. The raid was led by the Riverside County District Attorneys Corruption Task Force, according to Redlands attorney Bill Nassar, who represents the current owner of Urban Logic Consultants, which appears to be at the center of the probe.
As part of an investigation into the consulting firm’s relationship with the city, search warrants were served at the Beaumont Civic Center, Kapanicas’ home, the Beaumont office of Urban Logic Consultants, and a Temecula location.
Urban Logic, which has provided management services to the city for more than 20 years, was purchased in December 2012 by Kieran McKiernan, and his attorney said the investigation predates his client’s involvement.
“My client is not the target of the investigation, the company is,” Nassar said Thursday. “The company is fully cooperating with the District Attorney’s office and the task force.”
Nassar said they were alerted about the search warrants Wednesday morning.
“We have nothing to hide,” Nassar said. “We’re more than happy to cooperate.”
Former Councilwoman Nacy Gall, a member of Beaumont Citizens For Responsible Growth, said members of her group spoke with investigators before the raid.
“A lot of people were pushing us,” said Gall, who served one term from 2008 to 2012. “A lot of us were talking to the DA, FBI, state agencies.”
Gall said she was “absolutely thrilled” when she heard about the raid. She said the Council was never allowed to vote on the contract with Urban Logic during her time on Council, despite her asking for the opportunity.
“We’ve been waiting for is for a long time, years.”
Agents from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI closed the Civic Center on Wednesday, where they removed some boxes and blocked the view into a room where it appeared technicians were working.
More than 500 boxes were taken from the office of Urban Logic, an unmarked office in the Beaumont Industrial Park on West 4th Street. Computers also were seized.
The city released a statement Wednesday evening saying “the warrants were served in conjunction with an investigation into Urban Logic’s business relationship with the city,” adding it is cooperating with the DA’s office.
Urban Logic Consultants was hired in 1993 to help with infrastructure and financial planning, according to a report prepared in 2013 for City Council members. It employed many of the city’s top managers as contract employees.
City leaders have long said the arrangement has saved Beaumont hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Critics, however, have claimed the firm received a commission for developments approved by the council, which the city denied; and that its contract posed a conflict of interest because Urban Logic personnel advised the City Council.
It’s not unusual for city’s to have contracts with firms that offer specialized services, such as attorneys and engineers, but the number of contract employees Beaumont has had is unusual, according to Ron Bradley, a longtime city manager in the region.
“Beaumont over 20 years having a lot of staff under (contract), that can be a challenge,” he said. “I was a little surprised at how unique that arrangement was.”
Bradley, who served as city manager in Oceanside, La Mesa and Temecula and later was interim city manager in Murrieta and Hemet, said contract services are normally bid out, but that’s not a requirement.
“Usually if you contract out, you’re getting a firm that has specialists,” Bradley said, citing engineering, for example, where a firm could have experts in areas such as traffic or water.
He said contracted firms tend to be less expensive than city employees, because direct costs for benefits and retirement don’t have to be paid.
“That’s why a lot of cities (contract),” Bradley said. “Typically the salaries for employees themselves is cheaper than what we pay our employees.”
The investigation is on top of other issues facing the city, particularly a number of lawsuits. The agenda from the Tuesday, April 21, council meeting listed 11 pending litigation cases and one potential case.
Of note is the lawsuit the city faces from a regional agency, the Western Riverside Council of Governments. It sued Beaumont in 2009 for fee revenues it says it’s owed. In 2014, a judge ordered the city to pay the agency $43 million, plus interest. Beaumont is appealing.
Before the council went into closed session Thursday — they were to discuss one case of potential litigation and consider appointing an interim city attorney to replace a longtime firm that resigned earlier month — Knight said the city may be down, but it’s not out.
“These are difficult times for the city of Beaumont,” she said. Yet, despite the raids and lawsuits, “Beaumont’s future is bright.”
After four and a half hours in closed session, the Council selected the firm of Slovak Baron Empy Murphy & Pinkney to be the interim city attorney.
A formal contract is to come before the Council Tuesday.
John O. Pinckney, who will serve as city attorney, said the Palm Springs-based firm plans to be transparent in the wake of the city’s issues and the first job will be to reviews all city contracts, relationships, policies and procedures.