John Earl
Surf City Voice News Service
www.surfcityvoice.com
Lately, southern California’s top water official, John V. Foley, has been explaining his apparent violations of a state law that requires public officials to disclose their economic interests.
Foley is chairman of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).
MWDOC's appointee to the MWD, John V. Foley, did not report $15,000 of consulting income
The Surf City Voice recently reported that Foley, who was appointed to the MWD by the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), failed to report an estimated $248,000 of income that his wife, Mary Jane Foley, earned as a consultant for various water agencies in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, going back to 2004. That disclosure came from public records obtained by the Voice.
Now, more public records obtained since then reveal that Foley also failed to report over $15,000 of his own income as a private consultant for the Moulton Niguel Water District (Moulton) in south Orange County going back to late 2008.
His failure to report that income was “an oversight,” Foley told the Voice.
The newly obtained documents include the invoices that Foley filed at Moulton when he worked as a private consultant for that agency under a contract (also obtained by the Voice) that is still open. But he did not report that income on the original financial disclosure (700) forms he filed with the MWD nor in amended versions that followed, records show.
Explanations
Foley, who originally told the Voice that he wasn’t aware that he had to report his wife’s income, had subsequently included it in the amended 700 forms, filed in October.
More recently, however, he told the Voice that he had made the amendments, not because he believed he was required to do so by law but to put the matter to rest by presenting the appearance of transparency and “to be extra safe.”
Based on his claim that his wife’s income was kept separate from his, Foley said that, “I really to this moment think that I don’t have to report it.”
Contrary to Foley’s interpretation, however, the law (Fair Political Practices Act) doesn’t allow for the exemption that he is claiming unless there is a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement between spouses, something that Foley says he never had.
When asked why he didn’t report the $15,000, Foley claimed that he was exempt from reporting it because each of the 24 invoices was for less than $500.00. “I think you have to make more than that in the individual voucher [invoice],” he told the Voice. “That’s my understanding.”
When it was pointed out that many of the invoices, fifteen of them to be exact, were for $500 or more, Foley acknowledged an error. “Oh – You know what? It’s an oversight. I don’t recall.”
But, once again, Foley’s interpretation of the law is mistaken. All income must be reported for the previous year – there is no threshold. That much is clear on the 700 forms, where the reporting categories go from $0.00 – $499.00 and up.
Contracts
The Moulton contract stipulates that Foley will attend meetings “for the purpose of developing, implementing and monitoring projects … and evaluating information and water industry issues of concern” to the agency.
Foley also will review the “projects and information, and contracts and documents for those projects, on a periodic basis for this purpose, and advise and recommend project development and implementation measures” for the agency, the contract states.
Foley’s consulting pay is $125 per hour, not to exceed 30 hours a month, according to his contract. He could have made up to $45,000 per year but made far less than that: $1,642 in late 2008, $4,945 in 2009, $5,535 in 2010 and $2,952 in 2011.
At least half of Foley’s consulting income from Moulton was for work related to ocean desalination, including the proposed Dana Point and Poseidon Resources Inc (Huntington Beach) desalination projects, the invoices show. By comparison, his wife’s consulting work during the same period concerned regulatory and permitting issues for the Dana Point project and ocean desalination in general, according to her invoices also obtained by the Voice.
Moulton is one of five south Orange County water agencies that are actively participating in the development of the Dana Point desalination project, which will produce 15,000 acre-feet of drinking water a year if it is built.
Moulton also had a memo of understanding to buy 4,000 acre-feet of water each year from Poseidon. That MOU expired in June, 2011, but MWDOC General Manager Kevin Hunt expects all of the 19 Orange County agencies and cities that previously signed it to renew their pledges.
Strong Influence
Foley was appointed to the MWD by MWDOC in 1989. MWD board members elected him as their chairman in the 90s and again starting in 2011. He also was employed by Moulton as its general manager from 1979 until late 2007 – working at multiple water agencies simultaneously is not uncommon among water officials.
Oddly, MWDOC’s board members don’t consider Foley to be their employee, even though they pay his wages and can fire him at any time at will.
Nor is he treated as an independent contractor or a consultant, even though he regularly advises the board on water issues and votes on behalf of MWDOC’s constituents—who never actually voted for him as their representative—at MWD meetings.
Instead, Foley is considered a “public official” for the MWD, whose board elected him its chairman and represents 19 million constituents – none of whom voted for him – living across southern California, including Ventura County, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego County.
Delivering 1.6 million gallons of water to those constituents in 26 cities and smaller member agencies—including MWDOC (which, in turn, supplies water from MWD to 28 water agencies and cities in Orange County) gives the MWD and its chairman considerable political clout.
As chairman, Foley appoints all members of all standing committees as well as chair persons for special committees. Prior to becoming chairman in 2011 Foley headed the Special Committee on Desalination and Recycling from 2009 through 2010. He also votes on desalination issues before the MWD board and regularly opines on the topic at MWD and MWDOC meetings.
Making Amends
Foley also omitted his wife’s income on 700 forms that he filed with Moulton as its general manager going back to at least 2004. Nor did he report his wife’s income on 700 forms he filed with the Santiago Aqueduct Commission and the San Juan Basin Authority for 2006 -2008 as an appointed representative of Moulton Water. He had not amended those financial disclosure statements as of Tuesday, Feb. 7, according to public records.
Asked if he would amend his MWD financial disclosure forms to correct his $15,000 “oversight,” Foley replied, “Now that you bring it up, I probably should.”
But Foley says that there are much more important topics to pay attention to, such as the Bay Delta and the need to “stay ahead” in order to provide the best water quality to over 19 million people in MWD’s service area.
“It’s what I worry about more than anything else,” he said.
OK, please pardon my naivete, because I don’t view politics as primarily a way to make money, but: is it common for Water Board members in one area to make significant amounts of money as “private consultants” for Water Districts in other parts of Orange County?
This practice seems like it’s ripe for abuse. It’s not exactly “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”; given that these are water districts it seems more like “you scrub my back, I’ll scrub yours.”
Great investigation, John — now how do we find out how much of this is going on countywide? Is there a master list of Water Boards, their members, and where to find their income statements? I can’t wait to tell the Occupy people about this.
You can see that “master list” by going to http://www.mwdoc.com and looking up that water district’s member agencies. You can then go to the respective web sites and find out who the board members are. Then, make a Public Records Act request to the GM or secretary of each of those agencies for the documents you want to see. If they can’t get them to you by email, you might have to pay for copies. That shouldn’t be more than 10 cents (not 20) if they are the original filing agency, that’s by state law. If you can’t get the documents from the agencies (because they aren’t the original agency) then you can go to the county, fifth floor in Santa Ana, and ask for the same documents there (only in print there).
As to Greg’s comment, “is it common for Water Board members in one area to make significant amounts of money as “private consultants” for Water Districts in other parts of Orange County?” I would be interested in learning the answer too. Please inform me if you have a follow up article.
YES, tell the occupy folks about this, let them see people who work. It may influence them to get productive, or at least see the water and think of bathing. Win-Win!
Another secret commentary by our cowardly water buffalo. See you at the meeting tomorrow? Be there and I might offer you a doughnut 🙂
Hi there, stranger!
(1) Are you under the impression that most Occupy people in OC don’t work? Enough so to put some money on it?
(2) Are you under the impression that there are currently jobs around for anyone who wants them — or even that U.S. policy favors this?
(3) Are you under the impression that people in the Occupy movement don’t bathe?
(4) For those who are camping and don’t have homes nearby or at all, are you under the impression that there are always public facilities available for the homeless to bathe? If not, what do you expect people to do? You don’t want them bathing in fountains, right?
Come on, play along and answer the questions rather than pretending to be kidding. You’re show that you’re brave enough to make a real point and I’ll have the satisfaction of throwing these ideas back at your face. Win-Win!
No, he’s a coward who hangs out at water board meetings pretending to represent the public good. A simple look at sign in sheets and the process of elimination will soon reveal who he really is: either a water official or a private water buffalo. And then we can ask him “face to face” why he’s such a jerk.
In answer to the question, it is indeed very common for elected officials and water board officials to be employed as lobbyists, consultants, or political staff members for other agencies. In many cases, they have multiple roles.
And there are networks of political contributions that bind these folks together. Curt Pringle and Scott Baugh have been the masters, but there are plenty of others who come to mind including Miguel Pulido, Denis Bilodeau, Jerry Amante, Kris Murray, Jordan Brandman, Leslie Daigle .. well the list goes on and on.
In the OC, it’s a feature, not a bug.