Wednesday, July 1, 2015

[Alameda County] Grand Jury report: Haggerty's Chief of Staff improperly pressured county staff to approve projects for 'favored constituents'


OAKLAND -- Supervisor Scott Haggerty's Chief of Staff improperly and unethically pressured county staff to approve licenses and permits for political supporters and personal acquaintances, including a landowner who was also handling his personal home loan, according to an Alameda County Grand Jury report.
The Grand Jury found the staffer, Shawn Wilson, on multiple occasions lobbied county staff to make decisions that would benefit his bosses' donors or "favored applicants" and is calling for an immediate investigation.
Wilson denies the allegations and says he hasn't done anything illegal or unethical.
"I don't have anything to hide," Wilson said. "I feel like if they do an investigation, they won't find anything."
The jury concluded that Wilson's "inappropriate conduct" damaged the county's reputation and caused direct economic losses to the county and its taxpayers. In one case, the Grand Jury found Wilson pressured the county's Public Works department to allow BioFuel Systems, a Livermore-based wood-chipping and recycling business with several violations on record with the state, to move its operations to a county-owned site. The company made a $5,000 contribution to Haggerty's 2016 re-election campaign in July of 2013, the report states.
Wilson's interference in the process, the Jury concluded, cost the county nearly $100,000 in legal fees to remedy.
Company officials did not return calls for comment.
The jury also reported that during talks on a county proposal to purchase the Sunol Valley Golf Club land from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Wilson agreed to keep Chris George, with whom he was also pursuing a home loan, abreast of the negotiations under the auspices that the county could sell or trade the property to George's company, CMG Financial, after the county acquired it.
"If I explain where we are at on the (project) you promise me you will shred this email?" Wilson reportedly wrote to company officials.
Wilson, the report states, was also able to pressure county staff to fast-track permits for George to build a barn in Sunol.
Wilson denied any conflict of interest involved in his dealings with George or CMG Financial, adding the reference to shredding emails was a joke.
"The guy didn't do me any favors. The county got it wrong. I pushed for it because it was the right thing to do,'' he said.
In another case, the jury found, Wilson "applied relentless pressure" to staff to reconsider a rejection of a large home and pool construction project, telling a company official in one email that he was "bending these motherf****s" (meaning county staff).
Haggerty said the ultimate decision on relocating the recycling company rested with county Public Works Director Dan Woldesenbet. County staff, he said, is allowed to advocate for projects on behalf of constituents. He called the jury's findings a surprise.
"I've never had a department head come to me and complain that Shawn has unfairly pressured them," Haggerty said. "We have to look at it and find out why this is happening ... Shawn's a hard worker and an ethical person. I don't think he's broken the law in any way. He loves to advocate (and) I would be surprised if there were unethical violations in his case."
Wilson said he was disappointed by the outcome of the report and denied any inappropriate conduct.
"I'm very responsible at my job," Wilson said. "I help everybody. It doesn't matter who they are or what they've donated ... If the Grand Jury wants to continue to say it's unethical, then so be it."
Since the report's release, Haggerty said he had talked with Wilson about "being more professional" in his communications and Wilson agreed. No administrative action has been taken against Wilson.
"I've learned now I can't swear or joke in my emails," Wilson said. "Did I say some things in emails, yeah? Did I do anything illegal? No ... I shouldn't have said some of those things. I apologize for that."
George and Woldesenbet weren't immediately available for comment.
June 30, 2015
Marin Independent Journal
By Jeremy Thomas, Bay Area News Group

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