Sex line calls stymie Guadalupe mayor

Sex line calls stymie Guadalupe mayor By Karen White — Staff Writer 10/17/02 Guadalupe’s mayor is trying to discover today how two phone numbers that connect to sex talk lines are among the thousands he called in a 13-month period through 2001. The numbers called by Mayor Sam Arca were made public Wednesday, by order of a Superior Court judge in Santa Maria. Among calls listed in 161 pages of numbers were an 888 number called on June 14 and another 800 number called four times in two minutes, on the afternoon of Dec. 13. “I’ve never called any of that,” Arca said, when contacted Wednesday evening. Obviously shocked, he said there must be mistakes or the numbers changed ownership. He spent more than an hour attempting to contact telephone authorities to check on the numbers. Before the numbers were made public, Arca said the lists would not contain any “sex lines.” Wednesday, even after the evidence surfaced and he personally checked the numbers, he denied again and again he called any sex lines. “I wouldn’t be that stupid,” Arca said. But he admitted he didn’t know what actually was on the phone list, because he didn’t check it. “That’s the job of staff,” he said. “The council just approves the warrants, or bills,” Arca said. The Times called the two numbers in question, heard a throaty female voice offer a provocative message, then give sex-line number information, complete with the fee per minute to continue on the line. The message for both numbers was the same. No 900 numbers or extra charges because of the calls were discovered on Arca’s bills. The mayor’s cell phone bills, running from $100 to more than $300 a month, became a political issue months ago. A political action group demanded the city reveal the phone numbers called from the city-issued phone. The city denied a request that the numbers be made public. Barbara Gilliland, whose husband, Jim, is running against Arca for mayor, brought suit in Superior Court. Judge Rodney Melville ordered the numbers released, with the last three numbers taken off all calls, except those with 800, 877, 888 and 900 prefixes. Arca, at the time, said he didn’t mind the partial release, but wanted to protect the private phone numbers of individuals he called. Staff writer Karen White can be reached by e-mail at kwhite@pulitzer.net :nav Source: http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2002/10/17/news/export7192.txt