Author: The Mayor

Tustin, California –

The grand jury called in Kelly, Amante and Songstad, among others, and focused on that meeting at Chapman with Doti.

FINDINGS

There were, officially, four findings:

City officials apparently misused their membership in a non-profit corporation established on behalf of public entities to promote their own political agenda by using their status with that organization in an effort to influence the officials at a local university.

City officials arranged a meeting with the office of a university president indicating they were to introduce the executive director of the non-profit entity, when their intentions were to influence the university to investigate and discredit the report where students were assigned as interns to a political campaign by the Masters in Public Administration department.

The influence wielded by city officials appears to have been an attempt to cause the officials of a local university, to exert influence on a member of their faculty.

City officials may not have been forthcoming with the Orange County Grand Jury in their testimony about the primary purpose in meeting with university officials and the facts and circumstances related thereto.

The idea that a couple of councilmen from Tustin and Laguna Hills could threaten to lock Chapman/Brandman students out of public sector jobs in every Orange County city is ludicrous, they said.”A single council person, alone, has zero power,” Amante said. “No council person can exert power without colleagues in agreement at public meeting with discussion. And the irony is that neither of the cities had anything to do with the meeting with Doti.”

The cities have 90 days to respond formally to the grand jury. We’ll keep you posted.

https://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/07/06/city-officials-abused-power-grand-jury-says/158361/