The Cypress City Council June 10 meeting featured another round of pressure from the local community about the upcoming special election for Measure A.
The Cypress City Council June 10 meeting featured another round of pressure from the local community about the upcoming special election for Measure A.
Residents spoke passionately about the issue, which will change the zoning standards of the property adjacent to the Prologis 33-acre site. The council recently adopted restrictions for the property that will require the land to be mostly residential, but many people fear that won’t be the case.
“If we vote for “Measure A” we vote to reduce the size of planning area one from 35.7 acres to five, and expand the permitted uses to include a variety of office, retail, and other neighborhood commercial uses,” Manfred Stein said. “The zoning map, which is part of the zoning ordinance, is hereby amended to change the zoning designation for the five of land in modified planning area one from “PS-1A (public and semi public) to PBP-25 A, (planned business park). You can vote for “neighborhood commercial” for planning area one, as spelled out on pages VI-20, VI-21, VI-22, but not for both, as written in the measure.
David Rose implied said that Bailey, Johnson, and Yarc may have a conflict of interest if they vote on “Measure A.”
“Councilmember Bailey, over $26,000 in non-monetary contributions was spent on your behalf from a political action committee called Quality of Life,” he said. “It appears Quality of Life received approximately the same amount of money from various companies, limited liability companies and other people that appear to be connected with or share a common address with Mr. Bardis, the Los Alamitos race track owner. I am not an expert, however, it seems that $26,000 is a lot for an election campaign in small-town Cypress, and it appears to be a conflict of interest.”
He accused Johnson of receiving money from the same committee.
“The records indicate that you accepted $6,500 from Quality of Life,” he said. “And you, Councilmember Yarc, accepted $2,500 as part of your campaign. It is my understanding that the Fair Political Practices Commission prohibits council members from voting on items within a year of accepting campaign contributions. Are these conflicts of interest? I am not an expert, so I cannot say.”
Rose did compliment the city staff during his due diligence, calling them professional and very helpful.
“I want you to know that we citizens are taking this situation very seriously and our response will not stop here,” he said. “We will continue to pursue an investigation into possible conflicts with the appropriate state agencies.”
After the meeting Johnson did not offer any specific response, but mentioned he did not have his hand out with the developers.
Bailey said the accusations made by Rose trace back to an election held seven years ago.
“I hired a political consultant back then and he handled all that for me,” he said.
The next Cypress City Council meeting is Monday, June 24.