Does Councilman Hamon have a conflict of interest on short-term rental ordinance?
John Hamon.
–At the most recent Paso Robles City Council meeting, Councilman John Hamon voted to adopt a short-term-rental urgency ordinance which went into effect Feb. 13. The ordinance establishes requirements for the operation of short-term rentals, such as parking limits, maximum occupancy, and code compliance.
Multiple readers submitted comments after the meeting, claiming there was a conflict of interest on Hamon’s part. As an example, a reader writes:
“Councilman John Hamon has denied ownership or interest in any vacation rental properties in the city of Paso Robles for 10 years and has consistently voted in favor of vacation rentals in our community and did so again at last Tuesday’s meeting. He has rejected our request for a temporary moratorium until the city puts some kind of guidelines in place. The county assessors office has verified John R. Hamon Jr. is the successor title holder of 821 16th Street Paso Robles, Ca. dated 11/10/10. If you look up this address on VRBO, both John and his wife Majorie are pictured as owners. Maybe he forgot he owned it. This is not just a conflict of interest, but blatant dishonesty.”
When contacted for comment, Hamon said, “I have no ownership interest in the property at 821 16th Street. The property is actually owned by my mother’s Trust, ‘The John R and Eva Hamon Trust.’ As the records show, I have zero percent ownership in the trust and therefore the property, however, my sister and I are apparently listed as the executor trustees of the trust.”
Hamon says that at the time, he did not believe that there was a conflict interest because neither he nor any member of his immediate family receives any compensation from any vacation rentals within the city. His mother owns the property and his wife Marjorie manages the property without any compensation, he says.
But after speaking further with the city’s legal counsel, Hamon says that the fact that he is a trustee of the trust that owns the property, it could constitute as having an indirect interest in the property under the conflict of interest rules.
Hamon has asked that the City Council to consider repealing the urgency ordinance next week and that it consider, “directing staff not to bring the regular ordinance back for second reading so that the process is entirely above-board.”
Paso Robles Assistant City Manager Jim Cogan confirmed this morning that the city council will consider a repeal of the short-term rental ordinance at a meeting next Tuesday.
Update: In response to questions about a potential conflict of interest, the city of Paso Robles issued a press release at Thursday afternoon:
City of Paso Robles Short-term Rental Ordinance update
On Tuesday, February 19, 2019 the City Council will be considering a request from Council Member John Hamon to repeal the urgency ordinance related to short-term vacation rentals that was recently adopted. The request was made after Council Member Hamon realized that he has an indirect interest in a short-term rental that could be considered a conflict of interest.
“I want to be sure that any ordinance regarding short-term rentals that is adopted by the City Council is properly adopted and without any possible conflict of interest,” Hamon said. “This is an important issue for the City, and the process should be completely above-board.”
On February 5, the Council considered an urgency ordinance and a regular ordinance to regulate short-term rentals in the City. At that time, Council Member Hamon believed he did not have a conflict of interest because of a short-term rental that is wholly-owned by a trust created by and for his parents. Because Council Member Hamon has no ownership interest in the property, nor has he or any member of his immediate family received any income from the short-term rental, he believed he could participate in the discussion and vote on the urgency ordinance and first reading of a regular ordinance on short-term rentals. Under the regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission, property ownership and income are two of the types of interests that can create a conflict of interest requiring recusal.
However, upon further investigation, it was determined that Council Member Hamon is one of the trustees of his parents’ trust. Based on this indirect interest and after conferring with the City Attorney, the City Attorney recommended that the most prudent course of action would be to ask the City Council to consider repealing the urgency ordinance and to request that the Council direct staff not to bring the regular ordinance back for second reading. Council Member Hamon will recuse himself from participating in the consideration of any new short-term rental ordinance.
The Council’s February 19, 2019 agenda will include an item to consider the repeal of the urgency ordinance and to direct staff not to bring the regular ordinance back for second reading. (Regular ordinances require two readings before they can be enacted). In addition, the City will soon empanel a Short-term Rental Task Force of stakeholders who will be charged with developing recommendations for City Council review. This will further ensure that any regulations are fully-vetted through a public and open process.
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