Council member reacts to Mayor Pougnet controversy

Mayor Steve Pougnet was absent from the Palm Springs Police and Fire Appreciation Luncheon Thursday. Mayor Pro Tem Paul Lewin spoke in his place.

“Two hundred international media people are here for the Louis Vuitton show. He needed to be there to represent our city in front of all of those important people,” Lewin announced.

Allegations of a possible conflict of interest recently surfaced about Mayor Steve Pougnet’s working relationship with a developer Richard Meaney.

According to files obtained from the city clerk, Pougnet was paid at least $200,000 over the past two years as a consultant for a company called Union Abbey, which Meaney created.

Minutes from a December city council meeting showed Pougnet failed to abstain from a vote approving the sale of property sold to Meaney, while the mayor consulted for Union Abbey.

No one at city hall, including the mayor, would talk on camera Wednesday night at the city council meeting. Lewin was asked at the luncheon Thursday what he knew about Pougnet’s business relationship with Meany.

“I don’t think there’s anything to these stories, and until it’s proven, I think it’s a tempest in a tea pot,” said Lewin.

After the business relationship with Meaney came to light, the mayor recently quit his $100,000 a year job.

So was it a conflict of interest?

“I really think you guys are making a mistake calling it that. I urge you not to do that. Wait for the facts to come out,” said Lewin.

City Attorney Doug Holland announced he will recommend the council rescind selling the parcel to Meany and another investor, pending a new vote.

An invitation for an interview has been extended to Pougnet to get his side of the story. A spokesperson for the city told us he’ll do a sit-down interview, not live, at a later date to clear the air.