Councilman Asked Him for Funds, Developer Says : Azusa’s Camarena Rejects Charges as ‘Ridiculous’

AZUSA —  A businessman has said that while he was seeking city permission to build a $160-million waste-to-energy plant here Councilman Armando L. Camarena asked him for $150,000 to buy a liquor store.

John Macardican told the City Council on Monday night that after he refused to give Camarena the money, the councilman asked him to co-sign a loan. Macardican said he also rejected that request as well as an earlier suggestion from Camarena that he hire the mayor’s personal attorney to help him obtain necessary permits. Although he said Camarena did not promise to secure approval of Macardican’s project, the developer told the council he believed permission to build the plant hinged on his helping Camarena financially.

Camarena, 39, who until recently worked for a computer records storage company, rejected Macardican’s charges saying, “The comments made by Mr. Macardican are absurd, ridiculous and totally without merit. His comments reflect a desperate man grasping at straws.” Macardican had withdrawn his project after the council voted 3 to 2 to deny it.

Like other councilmen, Camarena had known that the allegations might be aired at the meeting because they have been circulating in the community for more than a week. He had earlier said that he would have a statement ready in case the matter did arise at the meeting.

Camarena did not give a detailed response to the charges at the meeting, but during an interview said that it was Macardican who initiated the discussion about obtaining financing for a liquor store. He said Macardican told him he might be able to recommend someone who could make a loan, but he never followed through. Camarena said he had arranged for half the financing elsewhere, but did not go ahead with the purchase.

Camarena said he had recommended that Macardican retain Richard Hernandez, the mayor’s personal attorney, when Macardican asked him if he knew anyone who might help him with the waste-to-energy project. The councilman did not specify what type of help Macardican told him he wanted, but he did say he never implied that hiring Hernandez would guarantee approval of the project.

Macardican’s allegations have been referred to the district attorney’s office by Lloyd Wood, the city administrator and police chief. Wood said that he referred the charges to the district attorney Jan. 14 even though he believes no law has been broken. Deputy Dist. Atty. Candace Beason said she will review the allegations to determine if a full investigation is warranted.

The confrontation at Monday’s council meeting was the latest development in a year of controversy over the waste-to-energy plant that Macardican wants to build.

Macardican, 47, heads a South El Monte recycling company established by his father in the 1940s. He said the company, which employs 120 workers, grosses $12 million a year. Macardican said in an interview that he mortgaged his house in Arcadia to raise some of the $550,000 he has spent for plans, environmental studies and other work connected with the waste-to-energy project, which he unveiled to the council 13 months ago.

On Jan. 6, Macardican suffered a major setback when the council voted 3 to 2 to deny a conditional-use permit needed before construction can begin. Camarena was one of the two councilmen who supported the project.

Allowed to Withdraw

At Monday’s meeting, the council allowed Macardican to withdraw his application for a use permit instead of formally rejecting it. They did not, however, go along with his request that an advisory measure be removed from the April 8 city ballot that will ask voters if they think a plant should be built in Azusa. City Atty. Peter Thorson said it was too late to remove the measure.

In his statement, Macardican said that he was approached by Camarena about the money a few months after they traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last summer to tour a waste-to-energy plant. “I was asked by Mr. Camarena for $150,000 so he could purchase a local liquor store,” Macardican told the council. “I told him that the project had taken all my money and I could not help him. He then asked if I would take him to my bank and co-sign a loan.”

Macardican said he “realized that at that moment I had a big problem. If I didn’t give him the money, I’d lose my $550,000 investment.”

Macardican said he met with Camarena again in December. “I stated to Mr. Camarena that I felt his request for money and me not responding had jeopardized my project . . . . Because of these circumstances I wanted him to abstain from voting. If he didn’t I would make a statement to council and give a copy to the press.”

Changed His Mind

The allegations began surfacing publicly after the council vote on Jan. 6. Macardican said he was prepared to raise his charges at that meeting, but changed his mind. Instead, he said he gave the statement to a reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. At first the newspaper did not publish the statement, but the reporter passed a copy of it to a city councilman and it subsequently circulated widely through the community.

Wood, who serves both as police chief and city administrator of this community of 33,000 people, said he received a copy from Richard Widman, a city utilities commissioner, who asked him to submit it to the district attorney. Although Wood said he did not believe any law had been violated because no vote had been promised and no money had changed hands.

In his statement, Macardican said he told Wood about his discussions with Camarena over hiring an attorney and financing a liquor store immediately after the conversations occurred.

Macardican said that Camarena advised him last summer to hire Hernandez because he was “the man with enough influence to guarantee a conditional-use permit.”

Said He Asked Wood

He said he asked Wood whether he should hire Hernandez and Wood advised against it.

In his letter to the district attorney’s office, Wood said Macardican “wanted to know if hiring Mr. Hernandez would guarantee that his project went through and I indicated to him that to my knowledge it would not.” Wood said in the letter that he did not advise Macardican either to hire or not hire Hernandez.

Hernandez said in an interview that friends recommend his services to others all the time, but he does not have the power to push deals through the Azusa City Council. He said he has long observed Azusa politics and said Macardican’s charges are targeted to influence the April council elections, when Camarena is expected to run for reelection.

“I’m at the train station watching the train go by, but they’re saying I’m the engineer, the conductor, the porter,” Hernandez said.

No Money Changed Hands

Wood said in an interview that he conferred with the city attorney after Macardican told him in October that Camarena had approached him for financial help to buy a liquor store. “We didn’t feel there was a violation of the law,” Wood said, because money had not changed hands and there were no promises made. If money had been solicited in exchange for a vote, Wood said, “I’d have had Mr. Macardican down in front of the district attorney.”

Wood said that it was his understanding that Camarena was seeking a loan, not an outright gift, and said he had heard that a number of people in the community, not necessarily developers, had been approached.

In his statement, Macardican alleged that self-interest and political concerns motivate most of the City Council.

He noted that all the council members backed the project initially, but support eroded, he said, as council members became preoccupied by self-interest and political concerns.

Mayor Reacts Angrily

Macardican said that Jim Cook, who voted in favor of the use permit, is the only councilman to maintain a consistent position on the project. “And I regret that he must sit with a body only interested in their political well-being.”

Mayor Eugene Moses, who opposed the permit, reacted angrily at the end of Macardican’s statement. He had warned Macardican, Moses said, that he would vote against the project if most residents opposed it. Although public hearings on the project drew no opposition from Azusa residents, Moses said he talked with hundreds of residents who were against it and that a survey sponsored by Miller Brewing Co., an opponent of the project, also showed strong opposition.

Moses said in an interview that he doubts Macardican’s account. He said Macardican should have gone directly to the district attorney after talking to Camarena instead of making allegations months afterward when his project had been turned down. “He’s a sore loser,” Moses said.