FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION ANNOUNCES:
MICHAEL ALLEN IS GUILTY
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION HAS FOUND MICHAEL ALLEN GUILTY OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST CHARGES AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING THE FINE AMOUNT. READ THE FPPC'S ANALYSIS HERE.
See documentation for our claims here
In 2009 Santa Rosa Planning Commissioner Michael Allen was paid by the Sonoma County Water Agency to ensure the City of Santa Rosa’s General Plan and its Housing Element progressed the way the Water Agency wanted it to. Allen (while a SCWA consultant, a candidate for Santa Rosa City Council, chair of the Accountable Development Coalition, District Director for Senator Pat Wiggins, and President of the North Bay Labor Council) had lobbied Santa Rosa’s Advance Planning Director Wayne Goldberg on behalf of the Water Agency for several months in late 2008 to arrange for the rezoning of property owned by the SCWA and to include it in an Environmental Impact Report related to the city’s General Plan Update. After City Councilman Gary Wysocky appointed Allen to the Planning Commission on January 13, 2009, the SCWA amended the scope of work described in a controversial contract it had with Allen two weeks later to “assist in Santa Rosa General Plan Amendment” and “conduct additional planning, research, and collaboration with City of Santa Rosa to include 2150 W. College Ave. property as part of the City of Santa Rosa’s General Plan amendment.” Allen then continued to lobby Goldberg, participated in public hearings held by the Planning Commission from April through July, and then voted August 13, 2009 on recommendations to the City Council on updating the Housing Element of the General Plan which included the changes wanted by the SCWA. He did not recuse himself and also voted on the related EIR August 13, 2009.
Just days after these documents were requested from SCWA, Michael Allen resigned suddenly from the Santa Rosa Planning Commission on February 5, 2010. He said that he needed to focus on his campaign for the District 7 Assembly seat. Randy Poole announced his retirement in November 2009, and left SCWA on February 28, 2010.
The SCWA paid Allen a total of $86,108 from January 2007 through September 2009 on the original controversial 2007 consulting contract and the amended contract that followed in January 2009. In 2009 the SCWA paid Commissioner Allen:
$ 875.00 for 7.0 hours of consulting in January
$ 875.00 for 7.0 hours of consulting in February
$ 125.00 for 1 hour of consulting in March
$3,125.00 for 25 hours of consulting in April 2009
$1,500.00 for 12 hours of consulting in May 2009
$ 625.00 for 6 hours of consulting in June 2009
$ 625.00 for 5 hours of consulting in July 2009
$1,000.00 for 8 hours of consulting in August 2009
TOTAL: $8,725 for 71 hours in 2009
The Sonoma County Water Agency and Michael Allen entered into a consulting contract effective 1-23-07 for $70,000 after the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to approve a proposed agreement which required Allen to conduct a feasibility study for converting buildings on a 7 acre site owned by the Agency at 2150 West College Avenue into workforce housing, write a report on how the project could be managed through a land trust, conduct outreach to a prescribed list of interested parties, and to develop recommendations for an Agency Housing Program. There were three separate tasks and a report presenting recommendations assigned to the Consultant by the agency to complete.
The breakdown of services to be completed within 180 days of January 23, 2007 was as follows:
Investigate Existing Public Employee Housing Programs (RFP for Master Plan for Development of West College Site/Feasibility Study) $40,000
Investigate Land Trust Alternatives for Project Management $ 5,000
Conduct Outreach $10,000
Develop Recommendations for an Agency Housing Program $15,000
TOTAL: $70,000
Allen submitted the feasibility study in the summer of 2008 (a year later than the terms of the contract required), conducted outreach to only a portion of the list of individuals and entities detailed in the contract, never did develop or turn in any recommendations for the housing program, and failed to complete a report on how the potential project could be managed by a land trust, but on January 27, 2009 SCWA General Manager Randy Poole increased the value of the consulting contract by an additional $25,000 to make it a total of $95,000. This amendment to the original contract was executed two weeks after City Councilman Gary Wysocky announced he had appointed Allen to the Santa Rosa Planning Commission. The Amended Contract also expanded the scope of service of the contract to include work on the General Plan update as well as more work on developing alternative housing programs. The other terms of the contract including the deliverables and deadlines were not changed by Poole.
The following month, Allen submitted a report to the SCWA stating that in March 2009 he would “meet with City of Santa Rosa to ensure that the Housing Element and necessary General Plan Amendment is proceeding satisfactorily. As of this date 2/27/09 all progress appears to be on track for an eventual General Plan Update by late spring or early summer 2009 adoption by the Santa Rosa City Council.”
The SCWA did not issue a request for qualifications or a request for proposals before retaining Michael Allen as a consultant in 2007. According to the Press Democrat, Supervisors Valerie Brown and Paul Kelly voted against the contract on the grounds that the work could be performed by county staff, the money could be better spent on the project itself, and on the ethics issue of retaining a consultant who also holds a job working for the state legislature as Senator Pat Wiggins' District Director in Santa Rosa. Allen states on his Facebook bio: In 2007, state Senator Patricia Wiggins asked Michael to accept the position of District Director for her five regional offices that serve over 880,000 constituents in Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties, a position he still holds today.
DOCUMENTATION PROVING THESE ALLEGATIONS INCLUDES COPIES OF ALL CONTRACTS AND CONTRACT AMENDMENTS BETWEEN MICHAEL ALLEN AND SCWA FROM 2006-2009, INVOICES BY MICHAEL ALLEN FOR PAYMENT BY SCWA, PAYMENTS BY SCWA, MEETING MINUTES OF THE SANTA ROSA PLANNING COMMISSION, AND REPORTS SUBMITTED BY ALLEN TO THE SCWA.
THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED AGAINST MICHAEL ALLEN, RANDY POOLE, SCWA GENERAL MANAGER, AND MICHAEL THOMPSON, SCWA CHIEF ENGINEER, ON MARCH 9, 2010 BY ROSA KOIRE, SANTA ROSA NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER.
See Koire's letter to the Editor of the Napa Valley Register here.
See article in March 25, 2010 Santa Rosa Press Democrat here.
See article in March 29, 2010 Santa Rosa Press Democrat here. The PD got the main issue wrong in this article. The point is not 'Michael Allen's yes vote on the General Plan'. The point is that he spent months as a paid lobbyist lobbying the City on behalf of the County regarding a specific property WHILE he was sitting on the Santa Rosa Planning Commission. His invoices make that crystal clear. This is a conflict of interest.
SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT ENDORSES MICHAEL WILSON May 8, 2010 Editorial
FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION HAS FOUND MICHAEL ALLEN GUILTY OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST CHARGES AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING THE FINE AMOUNT. READ THE FPPC'S ANALYSIS HERE.
See documentation for our claims here
In 2009 Santa Rosa Planning Commissioner Michael Allen was paid by the Sonoma County Water Agency to ensure the City of Santa Rosa’s General Plan and its Housing Element progressed the way the Water Agency wanted it to. Allen (while a SCWA consultant, a candidate for Santa Rosa City Council, chair of the Accountable Development Coalition, District Director for Senator Pat Wiggins, and President of the North Bay Labor Council) had lobbied Santa Rosa’s Advance Planning Director Wayne Goldberg on behalf of the Water Agency for several months in late 2008 to arrange for the rezoning of property owned by the SCWA and to include it in an Environmental Impact Report related to the city’s General Plan Update. After City Councilman Gary Wysocky appointed Allen to the Planning Commission on January 13, 2009, the SCWA amended the scope of work described in a controversial contract it had with Allen two weeks later to “assist in Santa Rosa General Plan Amendment” and “conduct additional planning, research, and collaboration with City of Santa Rosa to include 2150 W. College Ave. property as part of the City of Santa Rosa’s General Plan amendment.” Allen then continued to lobby Goldberg, participated in public hearings held by the Planning Commission from April through July, and then voted August 13, 2009 on recommendations to the City Council on updating the Housing Element of the General Plan which included the changes wanted by the SCWA. He did not recuse himself and also voted on the related EIR August 13, 2009.
Just days after these documents were requested from SCWA, Michael Allen resigned suddenly from the Santa Rosa Planning Commission on February 5, 2010. He said that he needed to focus on his campaign for the District 7 Assembly seat. Randy Poole announced his retirement in November 2009, and left SCWA on February 28, 2010.
The SCWA paid Allen a total of $86,108 from January 2007 through September 2009 on the original controversial 2007 consulting contract and the amended contract that followed in January 2009. In 2009 the SCWA paid Commissioner Allen:
$ 875.00 for 7.0 hours of consulting in January
$ 875.00 for 7.0 hours of consulting in February
$ 125.00 for 1 hour of consulting in March
$3,125.00 for 25 hours of consulting in April 2009
$1,500.00 for 12 hours of consulting in May 2009
$ 625.00 for 6 hours of consulting in June 2009
$ 625.00 for 5 hours of consulting in July 2009
$1,000.00 for 8 hours of consulting in August 2009
TOTAL: $8,725 for 71 hours in 2009
The Sonoma County Water Agency and Michael Allen entered into a consulting contract effective 1-23-07 for $70,000 after the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to approve a proposed agreement which required Allen to conduct a feasibility study for converting buildings on a 7 acre site owned by the Agency at 2150 West College Avenue into workforce housing, write a report on how the project could be managed through a land trust, conduct outreach to a prescribed list of interested parties, and to develop recommendations for an Agency Housing Program. There were three separate tasks and a report presenting recommendations assigned to the Consultant by the agency to complete.
The breakdown of services to be completed within 180 days of January 23, 2007 was as follows:
Investigate Existing Public Employee Housing Programs (RFP for Master Plan for Development of West College Site/Feasibility Study) $40,000
Investigate Land Trust Alternatives for Project Management $ 5,000
Conduct Outreach $10,000
Develop Recommendations for an Agency Housing Program $15,000
TOTAL: $70,000
Allen submitted the feasibility study in the summer of 2008 (a year later than the terms of the contract required), conducted outreach to only a portion of the list of individuals and entities detailed in the contract, never did develop or turn in any recommendations for the housing program, and failed to complete a report on how the potential project could be managed by a land trust, but on January 27, 2009 SCWA General Manager Randy Poole increased the value of the consulting contract by an additional $25,000 to make it a total of $95,000. This amendment to the original contract was executed two weeks after City Councilman Gary Wysocky announced he had appointed Allen to the Santa Rosa Planning Commission. The Amended Contract also expanded the scope of service of the contract to include work on the General Plan update as well as more work on developing alternative housing programs. The other terms of the contract including the deliverables and deadlines were not changed by Poole.
The following month, Allen submitted a report to the SCWA stating that in March 2009 he would “meet with City of Santa Rosa to ensure that the Housing Element and necessary General Plan Amendment is proceeding satisfactorily. As of this date 2/27/09 all progress appears to be on track for an eventual General Plan Update by late spring or early summer 2009 adoption by the Santa Rosa City Council.”
The SCWA did not issue a request for qualifications or a request for proposals before retaining Michael Allen as a consultant in 2007. According to the Press Democrat, Supervisors Valerie Brown and Paul Kelly voted against the contract on the grounds that the work could be performed by county staff, the money could be better spent on the project itself, and on the ethics issue of retaining a consultant who also holds a job working for the state legislature as Senator Pat Wiggins' District Director in Santa Rosa. Allen states on his Facebook bio: In 2007, state Senator Patricia Wiggins asked Michael to accept the position of District Director for her five regional offices that serve over 880,000 constituents in Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties, a position he still holds today.
DOCUMENTATION PROVING THESE ALLEGATIONS INCLUDES COPIES OF ALL CONTRACTS AND CONTRACT AMENDMENTS BETWEEN MICHAEL ALLEN AND SCWA FROM 2006-2009, INVOICES BY MICHAEL ALLEN FOR PAYMENT BY SCWA, PAYMENTS BY SCWA, MEETING MINUTES OF THE SANTA ROSA PLANNING COMMISSION, AND REPORTS SUBMITTED BY ALLEN TO THE SCWA.
THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED AGAINST MICHAEL ALLEN, RANDY POOLE, SCWA GENERAL MANAGER, AND MICHAEL THOMPSON, SCWA CHIEF ENGINEER, ON MARCH 9, 2010 BY ROSA KOIRE, SANTA ROSA NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER.
See Koire's letter to the Editor of the Napa Valley Register here.
See article in March 25, 2010 Santa Rosa Press Democrat here.
See article in March 29, 2010 Santa Rosa Press Democrat here. The PD got the main issue wrong in this article. The point is not 'Michael Allen's yes vote on the General Plan'. The point is that he spent months as a paid lobbyist lobbying the City on behalf of the County regarding a specific property WHILE he was sitting on the Santa Rosa Planning Commission. His invoices make that crystal clear. This is a conflict of interest.
SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT ENDORSES MICHAEL WILSON May 8, 2010 Editorial
