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Published on 09/01/1999 All articles from this issue

Invitations by Mirage scrutinized

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When the invitation came for a complimentary dinner at the grand opening of a new restaurant in Los Altos, Liz Becker decided to go.

Her husband, Los Altos Mayor Lou Becker, was in Texas on business. So, "She went in good faith, like a good soldier," Lou Becker said.

What she didn't know was that this restaurant, at Club Mirage, was at the center of a city controversy on which the city council was scheduled to vote just four days later.

"I'd never talked with her about them," Becker said.

But when word got out about the invitations going to council members, "I was shocked," said Tony Lagorio, a former city attorney for Los Altos and attorney for Club Mirage. "It was completely inappropriate" for his client to send invitations to council members, he said.

City Councilman Francis La Poll agreed. "It made my jaw drop," he said at the Aug. 24 council meeting when the council was voting on the club. "I consider it tantamount to bribery and have asked the police chief to look into it."

Becker said bribery is "a horrible term to use. They were just trying to have a grand opening."

But to make sure his wife's good intentions were not misinterpreted, he immediately sent in a check for her meal.

"It was very unfortunate," Becker said. "It bothered me that (the invitations) came up. It had no impact on the issue."

- Joanne Griffith Domingue