Fear not Beaumont residents. You have every right to be angry. But your troubled city is on a path to recovery.
That was the message Mayor Mike Lara presented Thursday in his State of the City address, an annual lunch ritual hosted by the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce.
Given the corruption arrests last week of seven former city officials, including the long-time city manager and the recently retired police chief, Lara said this speech would be like no other.
Sure, street crime is down, and businesses are moving in. But Lara stressed the priority now is ushering in a new era of accountability and transparency in Beaumont city government.
“It’s painful, embarrassing and expensive,” Lara said, describing what the city’s going through. “And takes way too long.”
The City Council has increased its oversight of city financing and contracts, among many other measures to restore trust, he said.
“We’ve replaced long-term contracts and we got rid of sweetheart deals,” he said.
But tasks remains daunting.
The city general fund that pays for police and most other city services remains insolvent despite recent spending cuts that resulted in layoffs and pay cuts.
“We need to be on a solid financial foundation, but we are not there yet,” he said.
The city also has retained outside experts to piece together how some $300 million in bonds were spent during 20-year leadership of former City Manager Alan Kapanicas, who left the last year after his Palm Desert home was raided by investigators with the District Attorney’s Office.
Kapanicas now faces felony embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, and conspiracy charges. Public records show he approved more than $1 million in bond payments to his own company.
These bond funds are a sore point because they are debts secured by special taxes called Mello-Roos assessments that are still being paid by thousands of Beaumont residents.
“People want to know what was done with this money,” said Lara, who promised that a city report about how the funds were used soon will be released.
Lara added that elected officials and more than a hundred city employees have and still are doing all they can to cooperate with outside authorities investigating the city, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In fact, because of city cooperation, last week’s arrests occurred nearly a year faster than district attorney investigators had expected, he said.
And the city is functioning.
“City services are continuing. A hundred and twenty-six employees are committed. We are not paralyzed,” he said.
Beaumont Treasurer Nancy Carroll and council members Mark Orozco and Della Condon were not at the table with city officials.
Carroll said she boycotted the speech because it was held at the lodge of the Four Seasons gated community, and tickets for the luncheon cost $35, putting it out of reach for many Beaumont residents.
“Gated community. Clubhouse. Thirty-five dollars per person. It should not be that way,” Carroll said in a telephone interview.
Lara countered that a video of his speech will be available for free on the city’s web page.