OCT. 30, 2015
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T he C oast News
FPPC clears Tri-City duo of conflict of interest By Aaron Burgin
OCEANSIDE — The state’s political ethics watchdog has cleared Tri-City Healthcare District’s former CEO and a current board member of having an alleged conflict of interest when they pushed for the hospital to enter into an agreement with a Carlsbad insurance underwriter. The Fair Political Practices Commission made the announcement in a pair of letters to former Tri-City CEO Larry Anderson and current board member RoseMarie Reno earlier this month. “I am very pleased and feel vindicated by the FPPC’s determination,” said Reno. Anderson released a statement through his attorney, George Rikos, saying he is “very pleased with the correct result by the FPPC.” The FPPC initiated the investigation following The Coast News’ story in 2014 on a lawsuit filed by the hospital that, among other things, accused the two officials of
having an illegal conflict of interest as it pertained to the hospital’s complex lease-leaseback arrangement with Carlsbad-based Medical Acquisition Co., and its president and founder, Charles Perez. The hospital is also involved in an eminent domain lawsuit to determine the fair market value of the building, which Tri-City took possession of last year. In the closure letters dated Oct. 9, the FPPC stated that it found insufficient evidence to conclude Anderson violated the state Political Reform Act, which defines and outlines the penalties for conflict of interest, and any evidence that Reno violated the act. When asked about the subtle difference in the letters, FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga said semantics aside, the result of the investigations were the same. The lawsuit, which is aimed at voiding the agreement between Tri-City and Mac, alleged that Anderson pushed the lease arrange-
ment even though it had a clause that virtually guaranteed him employment for eight years while Perez had bought him various gifts, including a home-security system, guns and other gratuities. The lawsuit also alleges that former board chairwoman Reno, who is still currently on the board, failed to recuse herself from voting on the deal even though Perez, through MAC’s services, paid for $200,000 worth of medical expenses for her grandson who had been in a car accident, and who was later hired as a company driver. Instead of not participating in the lease negotiations, the suit alleges that Anderson and Reno were major proponents of the arrangement, with Anderson going as far as misleading the board with incomplete, faulty and misleading information about MAC, its financial strength and construction experience. In a statement, MAC representatives said they felt
vindicated by the FPPC’s decision. “With the FPPC’s ruling, we are hopeful that the issues between MAC and Tri-City can now be narrowed, and the focus be put
REGION — An aide to 3rd District County Supervisor Dave Roberts dropped his lawsuit against two of his former colleagues, bringing to a legal end a months-long scandal that cost taxpayers more than $350,000. Dan Gilleon, the attorney for Harold Meza, said his client dismissed the lawsuit in papers filed Oct. 19 for a variety of reasons. “Harold had already cleared his name,” Gilleon stated in an email. “Before he sued, Meza was known as the ‘young male barista’ having an affair with his gay boss. After filing, he was known as the political aide aggressively fighting back against ugly, false, and manipulative accusations. “Also, when Harold realized that the Republicans, including Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar who is running for Roberts’ seat, would continue exploiting his lawsuit to mindlessly smear his boss during a campaign, Harold decided it was best to remove that weapon from their arsenal,” Gilleon added. “Again, in his mind, he had already won on June 11, when he cleared his name and reputation by filing his lawsuit.” In June, Meza sued Glynnis Vaughn and Diane Porter, accusing them of creating a hostile work environment by “embarking on a smear campaign,” spreading “despicable rumors” and calling him “just a barista” because he once worked at Starbucks. He also claimed they criticized his job performance, saying “no one knows what you do” and “no one trusts you.” His lawsuit was in response to claims made by Vaughn and Porter, Roberts’ former chief of staff
and scheduler, respectively. They both resigned earlier this year and subsequently filed claims against the county, accusing their former boss of, among other things, misusing county resources, creating a hostile work environment, having an unprofessional relationship, though not sexual, with Meza, campaigning on county time and bribery. The Board of Supervisors initially rejected severance payments requested by Vaughn and Porter based on Roberts’ commitment to settle the matter without the use of county funds. But after “careful consideration,” according to a Sept. 5 statement, they “determined that it is in the best interest of taxpayers to settle (the) claims,” including a third one filed by Roberts’ former policy adviser, Lindsey Masukawa. Supervisors also stated that if lawsuits were filed the county would be required to pay for Roberts’ defense at a cost of possibly more than $1 million. “In addition, we believe it is unlikely we would prevail on all three claims,” they said in the statement. After the settlement was announced, Gilleon said Meza had no plans to drop his lawsuit, noting that if the county was going to use the cost-of-defense strategy to settle three claims, they should do the same for his client. Because Vaughn and Porter worked for Roberts when Meza’s allegations took place, the county was required to pay for their defense. Generally in-house counsel would have been used but to avoid any conflict of interest, attorney Joe Kutyla was hired. Gilleon said Meza would consider a settlement but he never specified an
ed by the FPPC’s findings. MAC built a gorgeous building that we hope will serve Tri-City and the community well. We look forward to seeing the building be put to productive use.”
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Roberts’ aide drops lawsuit By Bianca Kaplanek
on the value of the building that Tri-City has taken in eminent domain,” said MAC’s Vice President and General Counsel, Tara Lusher. “There was no conflict of interest. We feel vindicat-
amount. “I sent Gilleon a standard request for evidence in July,” Kutyla said, adding that he never received a response. “I don’t know how many times I asked him to disclose evidence. “Gilleon sent an email to me asking for a dismissal two days before he was required to turn over evidence that my clients created a hostile work environment,” Kutyla said. “He wanted a dismissal because he had no evidence. “Harold Meza filed his TURN TO AIDE ON A18
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