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Published on 04/07/1999 All articles from this issue

State's FPPC clarifies conflict-of-interest question in Los Altos Hills

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By Carol Tiegs

Special to the Town Crier

Los Altos Hills council members and planning commissioners will content with fewer conflict-of-interest issues thanks to a March 4 decision by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission.

The town and Portola Valley petitioned the FPPC last summer to amend its conflict-of-interest laws for cities with fewer than 25,000 people. The laws prevent public officials from influencing or voting on issues that benefit them financially. In Los Altos Hills and similar small communities, that usually means issues involving home construction or remodel. It often means site development decisions are made by less than the full council or planning commission.

According to Los Altos Hills city attorney Sandy Sloan, who led the drive for change, "the rule of thumb has been that if an official lives within 300 feet of the property (at issue) they can't vote on it." If the official lives more than 2,500 feet from the property in question, it is presumed that there will be no impact on the official's property, she said.

That left a gray area between 300 and 2,500 feet. If the official's residence fell in that area, Sloan said, they "must examine whether their decision would have an impact of $10,000 or more on their property." That, she said, can be difficult to determine.

"There used to be exceptions in small towns," Sloan said, although the formula involved was complicated. Then the FPPC said officials could not vote if their parcel was greater than one acre, she said.

None of Los Altos Hills council members and only one of its five planning commissioners lives on a lot less than an acre.

In towns like the Hills, Portola Valley and Atherton, one-acre lots are the minimum.

The FPPC voted March 4 to change its regulations. Now, Sloan said, if a public official's house is between 300 and 2,500 feet of the boundaries of the property in question, they may vote on the issue if their home is located on a lot "not more than one acre or on a parcel that cannot be subdivided under current regulations."

This resolves conflict-of-interest issues for all Los Altos Hills council members, Sloan said, and for all but one of the current planning commissioners. Newly appointed commissioner Carl Cottrell lives on a lot which could be subdivided, she said.