Fullerton’s Sa Counters Challenge of Residency

Fullerton Councilwoman Julie Sa defended herself Thursday against allegations that she is living outside the city, saying she splits her time between her $1.4-million Chino Hills estate, her parents’ house in Anaheim Hills and her one-bedroom apartment in Fullerton.

“I have nothing to hide,” Sa said. “I’m obligated to voters to let them know the truth, and this is the truth. Do I stay in Fullerton seven nights a week? No.”

Orange County prosecutors asked the state attorney general’s office Wednesday to investigate Sa’s legal residency after a complaint was filed last week, alleging that she lives in Chino Hills but rents an apartment in Fullerton to keep her council seat, authorities said.

If Sa is found not to live in Fullerton, she would lose her council seat and not be able to run for reelection in November.

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But Sa, 49, said she has lived in Fullerton since 1976. She is renting a $470-a-month apartment with no kitchen at a former motel, Ambassador Inn on West Commonwealth Avenue.

Sa said she moved there after the rent was raised to $700 a month at an apartment she was living in on Euclid Street. Before that--from 1976 to 1994--Sa lived in a house on Athena Place in Fullerton.

Sa said the 10-acre Chino Hills home was an investment she made in 1997. She bought the house for $625,000 and spent $200,000 to remodel it. Since then, it’s been on the market for more than a year with a $1.4-million price tag, she said.

“It’s a very good investment, and I’m hoping to sell it,” Sa said. “I hope to use the money for retirement at Morningside [a retirement center in Fullerton].”

Last Friday, city officials were presented charges that Sa rarely spends time at the apartment. John Cross, president of the Fullerton Police Officers Assn., had delivered a complaint to the city manager on behalf of several unnamed residents.

Sa, who has an exporting business, said she checks in frequently at the Chino Hills home she owns with her husband and stays there sometimes because it’s too far to drive back to Fullerton. She also visits her elderly parents on a regular basis and stays with them too.

“I go every weekend to my parents’ house in Anaheim Hills,” Sa said, adding that her father is 80, and her mother, who has suffered two strokes, is 75.

Fullerton City Atty. Richard D. Jones said there is not a minimum amount of time a public figure must spend at his or her primary residence.

“The standard is one’s intentions,” Jones said. “There’s a variety of evidence that will be looked at, including whether the person sleeps there, receives mail there, socializes there, and if their driver’s license lists the address. Just any evidence that would indicate that’s their primary domicile. It’s all circumstantial.

“If it were a quantity number,” Jones continued, “as in how many days they have to spend in their homes, it’s a hard standard to maintain.”

Sa’s driver’s license shows a Fullerton address.

She said she’s being singled out during her upcoming reelection in November.

“This is the name of the game,” Sa said. “In elections, things can get nasty, but I’ll never attack back or do a negative campaign.”