San Jacinto councilmen charged in corruption probe face recall

Months before officials in the city Bell city were indicted for bilking millions in tax payer dollars, another city council faced similar accusations. Four-fifths of the San Jacinto city council is facing a range of corruption charges. All of the accused councilmen are still in office — but perhaps not for long.

They’re facing many angry voters demanding their recall. Supporters of the recall effort needed about 3,000 signatures to trigger a recall election. They far surpassed that threshold in a matter of weeks.

The four targeted councilmen are among nine people charged in a sweeping criminal conspiracy that involves money laundering, bribes and more. The charges stem from Councilman Jim Ayres’ failed bid for the 65th State Assembly.

“If they can’t legally manage their own campaign finances then how can they be trusted to maintain the finances of taxpayers,” asks Brian Hildreth, a Sacramento attorney representing the San Jacinto Corruption Recall Action Movement or, SCRAM.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

“And again these are criminal charges nothing’s been proven but the indictments were pretty significant,” says Hildreth.

Prosecutors say the defendants laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegitimate campaign contributions. The councilmen have all pleaded not guilty.

In his response to the recall campaign, council Jim Ayres touted his work on getting nine city budgets balanced and shoring up the city’s general fund. He asked voters to vote against the recall because his colleagues’ “policies and direction clearly improved San Jacinto.”

Many residents repeatedly called for the councilmen to resign anyway. So did Steve Di Memmo, the only councilman not accused of a crime. DiMemmo assisted investigators in the criminal probe.

But since the four councilmen have yet to be tried or convicted of a crime, they can keep their jobs — unless the recall is successful. Brian Hildreth says recall efforts typically are not.

“A lot of time recalls are put forth for political reasons and I think those that are tend to not go forward but in a situation like this I think the citizens of San Jacinto were entirely engaged and knew what was happening,” says Hildreth

If councilmen Jim Ayres and Jim Potts are recalled, each will be replaced by one of four candidates vying to serve out the last two years of a 4-year term. The other two councilmen, Dale Stubblefield and John Mansperger are not running for reelection. Their terms are already set to expire January 1.