PS City Attorney defends council actions

We asked Palm Springs City Attorney Doug Holland to define California’s conflict of interest statue, called Section 1090.

“One cannot enter into a contract with a government entity if they’re a member of the board of directors,” Holland said.

Holland said recent council actions did not violate 1090.

“Steve [Pougnet] was a consultant for Union abbey. Union Abbey is a separate, legal corporation. Union abbey does not do business with the city of Palm Springs,” Holland said.

But the city has done business with the person who formed Union Abbey, developer Richard Meaney.

Mayor Steve Pougnet defended his consulting position for Meaney at the last city council meeting. The job earned the mayor at least $100,000 per year since 2013.

“They think my relationship with Mr. Meaney controls every project that’s come forward in this city and that’s absolutely not true,” Pougnet said at the May 20 meeting.

Meaney, who hasn’t responded to requests for an interview, received a $250,000 grant under the city’s economic incentive program for Hacienda Cantina.

He tried to buy a piece of city-owned land called Casa del Camino, a sale that was recently rescinded because the mayor admitted he should not have voted to approve it.

And Nexus Development, where Meaney serves as a principal, has completed several projects in the city with more in the works.

But Holland says those aren’t conflicts of interest.

“We don’t have that here. Union Abbey is the entity in which Steve was employed or retained by. Rich Meaney may have been a principal in Union Abbey and Rich Meaney may be a principal in a separate legal entity, but keep in mind we haven’t entered into a single contract with Union Abbey,” Holland said.

But questions have been raised about what Union Abbey is, and what business function it served.

Its business license was revoked in 2009 due to unpaid taxes, and its office address at 700 E. Tahquitz Canyon is a vacant building.

The same empty office is also the address for Nexus and Hacienda Cantina’s LLC, Miggy’s Cantina.

The building, designed by famed architect Hugh Kaptur, was slated for a mixed-use development spearheaded by Nexus Development, called Aberdeen. The city says that project is stalled, but that Nexus has applied for a permit to tear down the existing buildings.

“We have to deal with what is there and Union Abbey is a separate, legal entity,” Holland said.

News Channel 3 asked if Holland still believed Union Abbey was a legal entity.

“Yes,” he replied.