Sonoma County Grand Jury member acknowledges errors

By KEVIN MCCALLUM

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Sonoma County Grand Jury report questioning the ethics of the Santa Rosa Planning Commission members contained some errors, but its core findings remain valid, a member of the grand jury said Tuesday.

“I’m very embarrassed,” said Henry Alker, the grand jury member responsible for that section of the report.

The report questioned whether three commissioners had conflicts of interest when voting on the Lowe’s Home Improvement project in 2009.

But one of those commissioners referenced in the report wasn’t on the board when the key Lowe’s decisions were made.

Though it did not name them, the grand jury pointed out that two commissioners, Michael Allen and Nick Caston, did not recuse themselves from voting on the project despite being leaders of a group that lobbied against it.

Both men are founders of the Accountable Development Coalition, which opposed plans for a 155,000-square-foot Lowe’s on Santa Rosa Avenue.

The report also questioned why a third commissioner, also unnamed, failed to recuse himself from voting on the project despite owning $10,000 to $100,000 of stock in Lowe’s direct competitor, The Home Depot.

Financial disclosure records show that real estate investor Tom Karsten, who served on the commission from July 2007 to January of 2009, owned that much Home Depot stock in 2008.

But Karsten had stepped down from the commission before it voted in March of 2009 to reject the environmental impact report and in June of 2009 to reject the project.

Despite the error, Alker said the report findings are valid. He noted that Karsten participated in a discussion about the draft EIR for Lowe’s on Oct. 23, 2008. Records show he voted to extend the public comment period.

Another commissioner who owned $2,000 to $10,000 of Lowe’s stock, Patti Cisco, recused herself from the discussion and vote, records show.

When two commissioners who have a financial stake in a matter make different decisions about recusing themselves, there is clearly a problem, Alker said.

“That doesn’t suggest a live, vital or functioning ethics rule that is being abided by and consciously followed,” he said.

But Karsten said he never considered recusing himself from the discussion or vote. Previous guidance he received from the city attorney on such matters was that only commissioners with direct economic interest in a decision were required to rescue themselves, he said.

“It didn’t even occur to me that I should recuse myself because of some secondary holding in Home Depot,” he said.

The stock he disclosed is owned through the profit sharing plan of his real estate investment and management firm, Morrison Karsten Group, which has 11 employees. The fund is managed by a third party, much like a mutual fund, and he had no input on its purchase, he said.

“It was just one of many, many holdings,” Karsten said.

He said he was “a little chagrined” by the whole issue. He said he is careful about recusing himself, at times doing so when the city attorney said he wasn’t required to just to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

“If somebody says I did something wrong, I’m a big boy and I’ll stand up and take it,” Karsten said. “I just don’t think I did.”

Another error in the report indicated Lowe’s had withdrawn its proposal from consideration “because of the intense opposition.” In fact, after the Planning Commission rejected the application, the company appealed to the City Council, which upheld the decision.
(You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.)

http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/07/cities/grand-jury-member-acknowledges-errors/