News
Attorney general's office mum on details
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| Mike Lockett |
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Despite scheduled interviews with City Councilman John Lodzinski, former City Manager Martin Roush and former City Building Official Mike Lockett, the state attorney general's office would neither confirm nor deny it is investigating claims Mayor Mark Fenn violated conflict of interest laws.
On Monday, officials of the Arizona attorney general's office were vague on details. After being asked specifically about why they were interviewing Benson City Councilman John Lodzinski, former City Manager Martin Roush and City Building Official Mike Lockett, Anne Titus Hilby, a spokeswoman for the state's office, would not comment.
Lodzinski confirmed that he was being interviewed by the attorney general's office on Tuesday morning. Mike Acosta of the Tucson office called Lodzinski and set up the interview.
Acosta also refused comment, stating he could not confirm nor deny why he was talking to city officials.
Interim City Manager Glenn Nichols said the state office interviewed Lockett on Tuesday, but he didn't know of any other city employees being contacted by Acosta.
Lockett, who recently resigned, along with Roush, who was terminated in July, accused Mayor Fenn of violating state conflict of interest laws back in March.
The two allege that Fenn used his position as mayor to intimidate city staff to process permits and expedite plans for his projects in his development business, Fenn Homes.
Lockett and Roush sent letters claiming they had proof of Fenn's misdeeds to the Attorney General's office. Fenn has welcomed the investigation on numerous occasions, stating he has not broken any conflict of interest laws.
The Attorney General's office only recently starting setting up interviews, following a report provided to the Benson City Council by attorney Mary Judge Ryan.
The city paid Ryan just over $18,000 to investigate seven allegations against Fenn. Former council members Kathy Suagee and Dianne Tipton pushed for the investigation and have maintained contact with the Attorney General's office.
Suagee said while she is not happy this has happened to the city, she is happy the state agency is taking the allegations seriously and opening an investigation.
"I believe strongly that we need to do things by the book in Benson," Suagee said. "And right now that's not what's happening. The Attorney General obviously agrees there is a problem."
Suagee said she has not been contacted by Acosta for an interview, but she is aware of Lodzinski, Lockett and Roush being interviewed.
Tipton and Roush did not return the News-Sun call for comment.
Fenn said he learned there may be an investigation through a third party on Friday, and has yet to be contacted by Acosta or anyone else from the state agency.
While the Attorney General's office will not confirm anything, they may be looking into three concerns outlined by Ryan in her report.
The first is Fenn's purchasing a piece of property from Triple L Management Group, a Las Vegas company, while at the same time trying to push through an annexation for them with the City of Benson.
The council adopted a resolution to authorize negotiations with Triple L Management regarding annexation of their property on State Route 90 on Nov. 13, 2006, according to Ryan's report. Triple L Management is listed as an officer of WM 10 LLC. Robert Lozzi is listed as the resident agent of both entities. Mayor Fenn acted as the agent for WM 10 LLC in their rezoning application filed Dec. 31, 2007.
Ryan said records indicate that Fenn was actively involved in the annexation process since at least July 2007, and at one point accused former City Manager Martin Roush of dropping the ball on the project.
While Fenn did file a conflict of interest report on March 1, 2008, Ryan said he attended numerous meetings regarding the Triple L annexation before and after the document was filed.
Another concern of Ryan's dealt with the same issue, with the point that Fenn has an unfair advantage over other developers because he is the mayor.
In the rezoning process of the property at 2101 Prickly Pear, Ryan questioned Fenn's actions leading up to the council's approval in March.
Fenn asked city staff to expedite the rezoning process because the purchase of the property was contingent on its being rezoned from residential to business. Ryan said according to interviews conducted with staff, they felt compelled to speed up the process that normally takes six months. The rezoning was approved by the City Council in 53 days. Fenn did not vote with the rest of the council.
In the third concern provided by Ryan, the new dental building under construction on 4th Street is in question. The Tucson attorney questioned Fenn's method in getting the contract to build the new facility and whether or not he violated A.R. S. 38-503.
The owner of the dental building has since spoken out on behalf of Mayor Fenn.
Despite scheduled interviews with City Councilman John Lodzinski, former City Manager Martin Roush and former City Building Official Mike Lockett, the state attorney general's office would neither confirm nor deny it is investigating claims Mayor Mark Fenn violated conflict of interest laws.
On Monday, officials of the Arizona attorney general's office were vague on details. After being asked specifically about why they were interviewing Benson City Councilman John Lodzinski, former City Manager Martin Roush and City Building Official Mike Lockett, Anne Titus Hilby, a spokeswoman for the state's office, would not comment.
Lodzinski confirmed that he was being interviewed by the attorney general's office on Tuesday morning. Mike Acosta of the Tucson office called Lodzinski and set up the interview.
Acosta also refused comment, stating he could not confirm nor deny why he was talking to city officials.
Interim City Manager Glenn Nichols said the state office interviewed Lockett on Tuesday, but he didn't know of any other city employees being contacted by Acosta.
Lockett, who recently resigned, along with Roush, who was terminated in July, accused Mayor Fenn of violating state conflict of interest laws back in March.
The two allege that Fenn used his position as mayor to intimidate city staff to process permits and expedite plans for his projects in his development business, Fenn Homes.
Lockett and Roush sent letters claiming they had proof of Fenn's misdeeds to the Attorney General's office. Fenn has welcomed the investigation on numerous occasions, stating he has not broken any conflict of interest laws.
The Attorney General's office only recently starting setting up interviews, following a report provided to the Benson City Council by attorney Mary Judge Ryan.
The city paid Ryan just over $18,000 to investigate seven allegations against Fenn. Former council members Kathy Suagee and Dianne Tipton pushed for the investigation and have maintained contact with the Attorney General's office.
Suagee said while she is not happy this has happened to the city, she is happy the state agency is taking the allegations seriously and opening an investigation.
"I believe strongly that we need to do things by the book in Benson," Suagee said. "And right now that's not what's happening. The Attorney General obviously agrees there is a problem."
Suagee said she has not been contacted by Acosta for an interview, but she is aware of Lodzinski, Lockett and Roush being interviewed.
Tipton and Roush did not return the News-Sun call for comment.
Fenn said he learned there may be an investigation through a third party on Friday, and has yet to be contacted by Acosta or anyone else from the state agency.
While the Attorney General's office will not confirm anything, they may be looking into three concerns outlined by Ryan in her report.
The first is Fenn's purchasing a piece of property from Triple L Management Group, a Las Vegas company, while at the same time trying to push through an annexation for them with the City of Benson.
The council adopted a resolution to authorize negotiations with Triple L Management regarding annexation of their property on State Route 90 on Nov. 13, 2006, according to Ryan's report. Triple L Management is listed as an officer of WM 10 LLC. Robert Lozzi is listed as the resident agent of both entities. Mayor Fenn acted as the agent for WM 10 LLC in their rezoning application filed Dec. 31, 2007.
Ryan said records indicate that Fenn was actively involved in the annexation process since at least July 2007, and at one point accused former City Manager Martin Roush of dropping the ball on the project.
While Fenn did file a conflict of interest report on March 1, 2008, Ryan said he attended numerous meetings regarding the Triple L annexation before and after the document was filed.
Another concern of Ryan's dealt with the same issue, with the point that Fenn has an unfair advantage over other developers because he is the mayor.
In the rezoning process of the property at 2101 Prickly Pear, Ryan questioned Fenn's actions leading up to the council's approval in March.
Fenn asked city staff to expedite the rezoning process because the purchase of the property was contingent on its being rezoned from residential to business. Ryan said according to interviews conducted with staff, they felt compelled to speed up the process that normally takes six months. The rezoning was approved by the City Council in 53 days. Fenn did not vote with the rest of the council.
In the third concern provided by Ryan, the new dental building under construction on 4th Street is in question. The Tucson attorney questioned Fenn's method in getting the contract to build the new facility and whether or not he violated A.R. S. 38-503.
The owner of the dental building has since spoken out on behalf of Mayor Fenn.
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