Councilwoman Cleared in Conflict of Interest Investigation

A Temecula Councilwoman who was investigated for allegedly violating conflict of interest laws was cleared of suspicion.

The Fair Political Practices Commission said Councilmember Maryann Edwards did nothing wrong when she voted on a motion that was loosely tied to an action that profited her employer.

The City Council approved a $5,000 grant in February to Edward’s employer, the .

Edwards is the CEO of the nonprofit organization, which provides childcare, tutoring and other activities for needy children.

To read more about the vote and Edwards’ connection, .

Edwards abstained from the final vote, she said in an earlier interview, but she did not abstain from a vote months earlier that was loosely tied to it.

The council was originally scheduled to vote on the grant – along with several others for more than a dozen organizations – in November, but the council decided to postpone the vote to take a second look at the list.

Edwards seconded a motion to put off the vote, according to Jeanette Turvill, a political reform consultant with the Fair Political Practices Commission.

A resident reported this to the commission, kicking off an investigation, Turvill wrote in a letter addressed to Edwards.

Tara Stock, spokesperson for the commission, declined to say who filed the complaint, though the letter clearing Edwards of suspicion read “cc. Mr. Bret Kelley” at the bottom. Bret Kelley is a Redhawk resident who criticized the council during numerous meetings.

Edwards’ action did nothing to benefit Boys & Girls Club, Turvill wrote.

“There is no evidence that the decision to move this issue to a future agenda had any reasonably foreseeable material financial effect on the Boys and Girls Club,” Turville wrote. “The organizations recommended for funding at the November 2010 meeting were the same organizations recommended for funding at the February 2011 meeting.”

To read the letter, click on the slideshow above.

Edwards was unaware she was being investigated, though she was unsurprised with the conclusion, she said.

"The complaint was a real surprise since I have been so careful to avoid even the appearance of a conflict," she wrote in an email. "If you read the FPPC ruling, it reiterated that the complainant himself stated that I had indeed abstained on all discussions and votes, even leaving the room to eliminate any doubt."

Though the councilwoman’s vote was indirect, it would have been illegal if it ended up benefiting the nonprofit, according to Turville.

“The Political Reform Act requires public officials to abstain from making or influencing decisions in which they have an economic interest,” she wrote to Edwards. “Generally, if an official has a conflict of interest in a decision, the official also has a conflict of interest in procedural decisions if the decision will have a reasonably foreseeable material financial effect on the official’s economic interest or will otherwise affect another governmental decision that will have such an effect.”

Edwards' vote to postpone the decision had no effect on the funding the organization got, Edwards said. "The motion that I seconded had nothing to do with funding or awarding funds," she wrote. "It was to postpone a discussion of an agenda item."

The letter left Edwards with a word of caution. “In the future, please be aware that there may be certain procedural decisions that require your disqualification,” it read.

Stock, the commissions spokesperson, declined to comment on the investigation today.

UPDATE: Comments from Maryann Edwards were added at 8:20 p.m. on July 9.