By Jorge Casuso
Lookout Staff

November 8, 2011 -- Architectural Review Chair Michael Folonis became the third board or commission member to resign under a newly enforced state conflict-of-interest law that prohibits municipal officials from entering into business contracts with the City.

Folonis' resignation last week came after Planning Commissioners Gwynne Pugh and Hank Koning chose to resign so their firms could continue to do business with the City.

In Folonis' case, the architect was advised that his work on "several projects that have pending development agreements with the City constitutes a conflict of interest" under Government Code Section 1090, which covers any official who stands to benefit from a contract that comes before their jurisdictional body.

Folonis resigned "effective immediately, so as not to compromise the Board's standards nor my clients' positions in negotiating their development agreements with the City," he wrote in a resignation letter to the City Council dated October 27.

"It was a surprise," Folonis told The Lookout. "It's very, very disappointing."

Folonis said the law will "pretty much" bar any working architect in Santa Monica from sitting on the ARB or Planning Commission because any project taller than 32 feet must be approved with a development agreement with the City.

Folonis said he planned to apply for a vacancy on the Planning Commission, which has no architects after Pugh and Koning resigned, before he was advised of the conflict.

"There are zero architects on the Planning Commission," he said.

The policy enforcement came in June at the request of City Attorney Marsha Moutrie, who cited a state conflict-of-interest law that imposes criminal sanctions on violators, regardless of intent.

Specifically, the 1090 code states that “city officers or employees shall not be financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any board or commission they serve on.”

Under 1090, it is not enough for officials to recuse themselves, and it doesn’t matter if the body they sit on actually awards the contract. As long as the board or commission participates in the process, none of its members can have a financial interest.

Although development agreements are ultimately approved by the council, they routinely go before the ARB and Planning Commission.

Pugh stepped down in May after the city manager's office told him his application to be on the city's list of “on call” consultants couldn't be considered as long as he was on the Planning Commission.

Koning, who was principal architect for the Virginia Avenue Library project, stepped down last month saying "it makes it difficult to be an architect in this city with that restriction.”