Post by athena on Feb 12, 2007 0:17:07 GMT -8
City planning official resigns
By Alison Hewitt Staff Writer
AZUSA - Planning Commissioner Burke Hamilton has resigned his post in response to an audit of city commissions that found he had a conflict of interest.
Hamilton said his position as president of the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education created the conflict. He stepped down at the end of January and the Planning Commission was notified last week.
Hamilton said he felt compelled to resign after the city audit ruled that it was a conflict of interest for him to serve on the school board and the Planning Commission simultaneously. He said he was advised by the city attorney and the city manager that he could wait and ask for an opinion from the attorney general, but Hamilton said he didn't want to drag it out.
"I told them I'd worked very hard in Azusa to make sure I was a good public servant," Hamilton said.
"I sat through the city's ethics training \ and went to the two lawyers who were putting the training on, and asked them and they said they didn't see any legal conflict," he said. "I've been doing this for four years without anyone saying anything, but if it's against the rules, it's against the rules."
Hamilton has served on the commission since 2000, and on the school board since 2003. He is also principal of Santa Fe Elementary School in the Baldwin Park Unified School District.
Councilman Keith Hanks called for the city audit that uncovered Hamilton's conflict. Hanks said the audit reviewed all of the city's commissions because there were questions about whether commission meetings were being announced properly.
"I wasn't looking at all for conflicts of interest," Hanks said. "Burke is a superb commissioner - I served on the Planning Commission with him for a period of time, and he is exactly the kind of commissioner you look for ... he has a good, wholesome heart, and no agenda to pursue or ax to grind."
Hamilton said he chose to leave the Planning Commission instead of the school board because he was appointed to the commission by the council, whereas he was elected to the school board.
"I have some deep commitments there, and I was actually voted by the public to serve, and I would like to serve for one more year," Hamilton said. "Even though the city is at a very interesting point in their development, so I was disappointed that I'm not able to stay involved."
alison.hewitt@sgvn.com
By Alison Hewitt Staff Writer
AZUSA - Planning Commissioner Burke Hamilton has resigned his post in response to an audit of city commissions that found he had a conflict of interest.
Hamilton said his position as president of the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education created the conflict. He stepped down at the end of January and the Planning Commission was notified last week.
Hamilton said he felt compelled to resign after the city audit ruled that it was a conflict of interest for him to serve on the school board and the Planning Commission simultaneously. He said he was advised by the city attorney and the city manager that he could wait and ask for an opinion from the attorney general, but Hamilton said he didn't want to drag it out.
"I told them I'd worked very hard in Azusa to make sure I was a good public servant," Hamilton said.
"I sat through the city's ethics training \ and went to the two lawyers who were putting the training on, and asked them and they said they didn't see any legal conflict," he said. "I've been doing this for four years without anyone saying anything, but if it's against the rules, it's against the rules."
Hamilton has served on the commission since 2000, and on the school board since 2003. He is also principal of Santa Fe Elementary School in the Baldwin Park Unified School District.
Councilman Keith Hanks called for the city audit that uncovered Hamilton's conflict. Hanks said the audit reviewed all of the city's commissions because there were questions about whether commission meetings were being announced properly.
"I wasn't looking at all for conflicts of interest," Hanks said. "Burke is a superb commissioner - I served on the Planning Commission with him for a period of time, and he is exactly the kind of commissioner you look for ... he has a good, wholesome heart, and no agenda to pursue or ax to grind."
Hamilton said he chose to leave the Planning Commission instead of the school board because he was appointed to the commission by the council, whereas he was elected to the school board.
"I have some deep commitments there, and I was actually voted by the public to serve, and I would like to serve for one more year," Hamilton said. "Even though the city is at a very interesting point in their development, so I was disappointed that I'm not able to stay involved."
alison.hewitt@sgvn.com
