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Guadalupe mulls hiring of P.I. - Sneddon |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 24 March 2004 |
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Guadalupe mulls hiring of P.I.
By Elizabeth Rodriguez/Staff Writer
Guadalupe is poised to hire a private investigator to look into issues brought up by the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury.
At tonight's meeting, the City Council is scheduled to decide whether to hire Robert Dale Schade, a Lompoc private investigator, who would be responsible for getting to the bottom of some of the allegations brought up in the scathing report.
Part of the investigation will focus on Mayor Sam Arca's use of a city-issued cell phone. The grand jury said that from Feb. 24, 2001, through Jan. 23, 2002, Arca made 562 personal phone calls - 10 percent of all his calls - on the city-issued phone. The grand jury recommended that the mayor reimburse the city for all personal calls he made.
At a previous meeting, City Administrator Carolyn Galloway-Cooper said she planned to hire an investigator to bring resolution to the report, which has caused a rift between members of the City Council and their supporters.
City leaders have pleaded with Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon to look into the allegations, but Sneddon has said only that his office does not comment on whether it has an investigation under way.
Galloway-Cooper could not be reached for comment Monday, but she previously said the investigator would look into various items brought up by the grand jury, including Arca's phone use and city expenditures of $70,800 for a heavily questioned telecommunications project that Arca managed.
Schade's contract calls for a payment of $5,500 for 100 hours of service. The contract does not list specific items for Schade to investigate. Instead, he will be assigned tasks by Galloway-Cooper.
The May 2003 report found numerous problems at City Hall. It accused the city - at the time under a different City Council and city administrator - of having few established policies, which led to questionable practices, including misuse of public funds.
To continue the city's clean-up process, the council is expected to receive an update from its newly contracted systems consultant. The consultant, who was hired to streamline the city's internal functions, has begun analyzing the city's accounting system and developing a new budget system.
The public meeting begins 6 p.m. at City Hall, 918 Obispo Street. A closed session to discuss property negotiations will be held at 4:30 p.m.
* Staff writer Elizabeth Rodriguez can be reached at
347-4580 or by e-mail at
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March 23, 2004
:nav Source: http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2004/03/23/news/local/news06.txt
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