Read FPPC Advice Letter To City Att'y Office re Vote-or-Recusal For Harbor Comm'n President Wise re WTC as Possible PoLB HQ

(Mar. 17, 2011) -- The legal division of the Fair Political Practices Commission has informed the City Attorney's office that LB Harbor Commission member/president Susan Wise can vote in decisions relating to the purchase, lease or construction of a building to house the Harbor Department [key caveat] "so long as there is no reasonably foreseeable material financial effect upon her economic interests."

LBReport.com requested a copy of the FPPC letter from the City Attorney's office (on Mar. 16) and received it promptly. In the public interest, we publish it in full here.

The 11 page letter (includes a three page attachment) dated March 12, 2012 comes in response to a request for advice regarding the Political Reform Act's conflict-of-interest provisions submitted by Principal Deputy City Attorney Dominic Holzhaus.

The FPPC response is legalistic and indicates that Harbor Commission President Wise must determine (1) whether it's reasonably foreseeable that the decision [on which she would vote] will result in a material financial effect on any of her clients or her husband's clients that qualify as sources of income under the Act; and (2) after identifying the applicable materiality standards, Ms. Wise must assess whether it's reasonably foreseeable [a substantial likelihood it will occur, not necessarily certain but more than a mere possibility] that one or more of the materiality standards will be met. "If so, then she will have a conflict of interest and will be prohibited from participating in the decision."

BUT (3) "The presumption that it is reasonably foreseeable that a particular decision will have an effect on the [voting member's] directly involved leasehold interest will be rebutted if the requirements of [FPPC regulation] 18705.2(a)(2)(A) - (E)."

In a key narrative section, the FPPC letter states:

President Wise must assess whether it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision in question will materially affect the expenses, assets, liabilities, or gross revenues of her business or her husband's law firm by the amounts specified in FPPC Regulation 18705.1(c)(4)...

The question of whether financial consequences on a business entity are reasonably foreseeable at the time a government decision is made must always depend on the facts of each case. [citation omitted] Thus, we cannot categorically state at this time whether the decision you [Deputy City Attorney Holzhaus] have identified will or will not have a reasonably foreseeable material financial effect upon President Wise's law and mediation practice and her clients, or her husband's law firm and clients.

The letter is the FPPC's legal analysis of what has been a local hot button issue. LB Mayor Bob Foster's two most recent Harbor Commission appointees, Rich Dines and Doug Drummond, voted against acquiring the World Trade Center (north side of Ocean Blvd. just west of Magnolia Ave.) for a new Harbor Commission HQ...while Harbor Commissioners Nick Sramek and Tom Fields voted in favor.

On the advice of the LB City Attorney's office, Harbor Commission President Wise recused herself. Ms. Wise subleases law office space in the World Trade Center and her husband has leased separate office space in the World Trade Center for his separate law firm.

With Wise recused, the result was a 2-2 tie that stymied the World Trade Center deal. It's not known how Commissioner Wise would vote on that matter, or others related to a new Harbor Dept. HQ, if/when those issues return.

LB Harbor Dept. staff supported proceeding with the World Trade Center acquisition as did the LB Area Chamber of Commerce.

A number of alternatives have been discussed. Among them is an offer by prominent LB lawyer Samuel "Skip" Keesal to negotiate a transaction in which the LB Harbor Dept. locates its HQ in a brand new building that his firm and investors plan (and have obtained entitlements) to construct as part of a major development on the south side of Ocean Blvd. west of Magnolia Ave.

Developing.