Beaumont Councilman Calls on Colleague to Resign

Amid months of controversy as the city of Beaumont is investigated by the District Attorney’s office, the FBI and the state controller’s office, one freshman city councilman says it’s time the city continue to move forward with new leadership, and that the old management step aside.

In a blog on his website, which he also submitted to Patch for publication, Councilman Mark Orozco calls out longtime Councilman Jeff Fox.

“As a Representative of the people of Beaumont, I cannot ignore the needs of our community and the voice of our people,” he said. “It gives me no pleasure, but the investigations into the mismanagement of our city allow me to come to no other conclusion but to stand with our people and call for the resignation of the only residing member of the old Council, Councilman Jeff Fox.”

Fox, who was elected in Nov. 2015, did not respond to a request for comment by Patch. However, he did tell the Press Enterprise that he has no plans to step aside.

“No, we have a lot of work coming.” he told the paper.

Orozco told Patch by telephone this week that though he hopes Fox will step aside, he won’t be bringing up this issue at any council meetings, and stick to business.

“What Iwill not do is bring this to the dais,” he said. ”I’m not going to bring it up in council; there won’t be an agenda item on it.”

Below, is Orozco’s letter in full. Let us know what you think in the comments below:

It has been almost a year since the majority overhaul of the old City Council, and the Beaumont community has endured some onerous challenges along the way. The FBI and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office with its ongoing investigation served search warrants on Beaumont City Hall, and State Controller Betty Yee recently clarified findings on the corrupt dealings by the old City leadership. The new Council has independently completed an Internal Audit, with similar conclusions as the State Controller report.

In summary, the investigations have found that the Old Council:

The harsh but accurate information that the Council and the residents of Beaumont have been privy to from the investigations have propelled the residents of this city, and myself, to come to two conclusions:

• • First: The findings indicate a lack of past transparency and accountability by the former management and, most importantly, by the previous Council Members, who held the responsibility to preserve the city of Beaumont as the stewards of the people’s tax dollars. The disservice by the old Council to participate in corrupt and immoral uses of our tax dollars is unacceptable.
  • Secondly: for our new leadership to effectively usher in an era of fiscal responsibility and respect for our hard-working residents, we must hold our old leadership accountable and use this challenging time to work with our residents and create sustainable change.

As a Representative of the people of Beaumont, I cannot ignore the needs of our community and the voice of our people. It gives me no pleasure, but the investigations into the mismanagement of our city allow me to come to no other conclusion but to stand with our people and call for the resignation of the only residing member of the old Council, Councilman Jeff Fox.

The facts and concerns have been presented to the community through Open Session Council Meetings, and stated on both the City of Beaumont’s Independent Internal Audit, and State Controller’s Report;

• • Mr. Fox’s actions have shown no respect for other elected officials, city employees or the citizens and businesses in Beaumont, by representing on the dais unprepared and out of touch with the city’s issues.
  • Under Mr. Fox’s tenure, serving the community for almost 16 years since 2000 has failed the community by claiming willful ignorance or has been deceitful about the city finances, and making unwise, unethical and immoral decisions that affected the taxpayers and citizens of Beaumont.
  • Since 2000, Mr. Fox’s attendance at council meetings has been unacceptable and highly questionable, either being frequently absent or leaving early, while receiving his full compensation, and being the only elected official receiving favorable benefits package on the taxpayer’s expense.
  • City of Beaumont’s Independent Internal Audit and State Controller found inappropriate practices between Mr. Fox and the city, loans/advances were given every month, totaling up to $5,200 without interest.
  • Mr. Fox ignored conflict of interest contracts that involved third party consultants, including voting on receiving personal city loans/advancements for himself.
  • Mr. Fox and previous City Council Members failed to oversee the City administrative and internal accounting controls, which the State Controller said to be “non-existent,” and “a serious lack of oversight by past City Council Members over the City’s financial and operational activities.”
  • Mr. Fox and previous City Council Members failed to comply with Municipal Code requirements and, therefore, did not follow a competitive bidding process. According to the State Controller’s report, they found the process to be “inadequate to the accountability and oversight over the stewardship of public funds”.
  • Mr. Fox and previous Council Members failed to properly account for and maintain records for its CFD transactions. The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts Tax.
  • Mr. Fox directly supported the highly questionable and unethical arrangement between Beaumont Electric Company and the City of Beaumont.

The people are disappointed in the actions of Mr. Fox and the old Council, as their lack of transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility has situated the City of Beaumont in its current state. According to the State Controller’s report, the old “Council members failed to exercise its fiduciary responsibilities in protecting taxpayer dollars.” We cannot ignore the failures of the old Council and Mr. Fox, who must accept responsibility for abandoning his oath to office and immorally leading the City of Beaumont in deceit.

The conduct by Mr. Fox has been unacceptable and falls far short of the community’s expectations of the representation and accountability it deserves. As Controller Betty Yee stated, “These kinds of deficiencies are of great concern, especially to the citizens of Beaumont, who rightly expect their city government to safeguard their tax dollars.”

I, standing with the people of Beaumont, believe that the City can only move forward with new leadership that condemns the acts and members of the old Council, and call for the immediate resignation of Councilman Fox.

For more information, please visit website at www.MarkOrozco.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter.