Huntington Beach Bureau to Cut Contract With Mayor

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  The Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau has been ordered to terminate its contract with Mayor David P. Garofalo, who is being investigated by county and state officials for possible conflict-of-interest violations.

City Atty. Gail Hutton warned the visitors bureau that if it does not immediately rescind its contract with the mayor, it may lose $270,000 in city funding--the organization’s entire budget.

Garofalo has published the agency’s visitors guide since 1993 and, under the terms of the contract, gets all profits from the guide’s advertising revenue. He has voted on the city’s funding contract for the bureau four out of the six years he has served on the City Council.

Hutton initially began an investigation into Garofalo’s voting history but, saying her efforts had become redundant, handed the case off to the Orange County district attorney’s office and the state’s Fair Practices Commission. Hutton was not available Tuesday to explain her resumed interest in the case or her edict to the visitors bureau.

Garofalo was awarded a three-year contract to publish the visitors guide in December 1993. But, Hutton noted in her Aug. 1 memo, he sold his publishing rights in January 1998 to longtime friend Ed Laird, president of Huntington Beach-based Coatings Resource Corp., for $220,000. Laird also agreed to pay Garofalo a $10,000 annual consulting fee.