The Long Beach City Attorney’s office sent a memo Thursday warning Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce of the consequences of not properly recusing herself from council items she’s no longer allowed to participate in after a number of conflicts of interest were discovered earlier this year.
The warning stems from Tuesday’s City Council meeting where officials took up two items: one about an appeal of an improvement project at the Carnival Cruise line terminal and another that led to tax reduction on non-retail cannabis outlets.
Pearce announced at the beginning of the meeting that she would be recusing herself from both issues and left the dais. However, she later reappeared in the audience during the cannabis tax item. This caused other council members to stop the meeting after they noticed Pearce in the crowd. She quickly left the chambers as a member of the city attorney’s office approached her.
Councilwoman’s consulting work with Queen Mary official raises conflict of interest questions
The memo, sent from City Attorney Charlie Parkin to Pearce, explained how her return to the audience of the council chamber was inappropriate and could constitute a violation of Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) regulations.
People recusing themselves from a conversation are required to leave the room until the item is done being discussed. Parkin also added that Pearce needed to be more clear about why she was leaving the room.
“I also remind you that the FPPC regulations require you to publicly identify the financial interest that gives rise to the conflict in detail sufficient to be understood by the public,” Parkin wrote. “Generally, this disclosure would be significantly more than simply stating that, ‘You have a conflict.’”
Pearce’s conflicts have to do with her consulting work for Dan Zaharoni, the former chief development officer for the Urban Commons, the group that holds the lease for the Queen Mary, which the Post reported in May.
Report: Undisclosed payments to councilwoman created ‘disqualifying’ conflict of interest on votes
In September, a report revealed that Pearce had received tens of thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed payments from businesses linked to the Queen Mary and the cannabis industry. She has since been barred from participating in discussions on those topics. Last month, Pearce announced she would not be seeking re-election.
When reached for comment Thursday Pearce declined to speak to Parkin’s memo, instead she pointed to a comment she made Wednesday morning when asked about the meeting the previous night.
“I walked in prematurely, notified the vote wasn’t over and I left,” she said. “Simple mistake.”
A violation of FPPC regulations could lead to an offender to be fined or penalized. Pearce is already under a separate FPPC investigation that was launched in September after a Long Beach resident filed a complaint with the commission regarding her financial conflicts.