No Charges Filed Against Duran for Meals Expenses

After a two year inquiry into expenses incurred by Councilman John Duran on a city issued credit card, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has decided not to press charges.

As first reported on West Hollywood Patch, Duran established a legal defense fund in May of 2012 in response to the district attorney's inquiry into $7,000 in meal expenses he piled up between 2008 and 2010.

A total of 128 meals were charged during that time, for a total of $55 per-meal.

At the time, Duran said that the lunches were held at establishments near city hall with city officials.

"I’m stunned they’re even considering filing meal-reimbursement charges," Duran told Patch at the time.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman formally responded to West Hollywood resident Chris Bray, who had filed the complaint after the expenditures of several city employees were made public on the eve of the 2011 election. 

In the response, which Bray shared with Patch, the district attorney states that "there is no evidence available to contradict the claim of city officials that they were conducting public business during these meals" and that "the city has taken corrective action to conform to state law and its own policies."

As a result of new policies enacted in the wake of the inquiry, city employees are no longer allowed to carry city credit cards, and all expenses must be reviewed in advance by a third party.

In March of 2011, the district attorney's office launched the inquiry into possible misuse of credit cards by West Hollywood City Hall employees. Earlier that month, documents surfaced showing $13,000 worth of questionable charges on the city’s credit cards in 2010.

Those charges—most of which were made by Councilman John Heilman’s deputy Fran Solomon and City Manager Paul Arevalo—included a dinner for six at Cecconi’s that totaled $674 and one at Soho House that came to $308. Other charges included $2,040 for six Montblanc pens and $1,860 for gift cards purchased at Gelson’s Markets.

The district attorney would have established a new precedent for city councils across the state had it decided to press charges against Duran.

In May of 2012, David Demerjian, head of the district attorney's Public Integrity Division, told the Los Angeles Times that he was comfortable with Duran being the "test case" for the legality of using municipal funds to pay for lunches within the city's borders. 

From The Los Angeles Times

[He] said Duran's expenses are suspect because state rules allow meal and related expenses only for "necessary city business." Expensing a meal when out of town on city business is permitted, he said. But it's not justified to regularly expense meals within the city, especially when guests are other city employees, he said.

"I don't mind if Mr. Duran is the test case," he said. "The law is you can be reimbursed if it is a necessary expense. The meeting may be necessary, but the meal isn't in West Hollywood."

On Monday, Bray told Patch that the district attorney's response to his claim was "perfect." He said inquiry, which prompted a tightening of the city's expense reimbursement policy, was precisely the outcome he had hoped for.

"They restrained some reckless behavior, reminded the city (and other cities) that someone is watching, produced some reasonable policy changes, and made the sensible decision not to prosecute a distinctly marginal criminal case. Their response was balanced, moderate, and effective," Bray said. "So yes, I know it was worth the time, and I think Fran Solomon and John Duran can afford to buy themselves a sandwich during ordinary weekday lunches in town. It would have been too much to file criminal charges, and it would have been too little to ignore the way city officials were spending public money."