Fessing up on their finances?

A City Council official alleged last week during a candidates’ forum that two sitting councilmen — one of whom is running for re-election this year — have not filed financial disclosure forms with the city and are in violation of their oath of office.

At a City Council candidates’ debate at the Martin Luther King Center on Oct. 24, Council Vice President Mona Goodman, a Republican, alleged in a response to a resident’s question that Councilmen Len Torres and Mike Fagen, both Democrats, have failed to file the forms.

The question focused on a member of the North Park community who was removed from his job as Civil Service commissioner for violating his oath of office. The candidates were then asked what an oath of office meant to them.

“The oath of office — you say you swear to uphold the charter and the code of the City of Long Beach,” Goodman said. “And that means following all of its rules.”

She continued: “Two of our councilmen did not file their financial disclosure forms with the City of Long Beach — council member Torres and council member Fagen. And they are in violation of their oath of office.”

Goodman went on to describe the alleged violation as a serious matter that needs to be addressed. “They have violated the law of the city … and the code of ordinances, which they swore to uphold …,” she said.

But Torres disputed the claim, saying that he submitted the disclosure forms to Corporation Counsel Corey Klein in April. “[Then], in July, corporation council approached me during a City Council meeting and said he had lost parts of those papers,” Torres recounted. “Corey Klein asked me to sign the authorization page, and I did.”

Torres added, “I suggested to Mr. Klein, ‘Do you need another copy?’ He said that’s not necessary. Apparently he needed another copy.”

After the debate, Goodman said that she had also raised the issue at a candidates’ forum four days earlier at the Long Beach Public Library, hosted and moderated by the Long Beach League of Women Voters, noting that the Democratic candidates continue to contend that there is a lack of transparency in local government.

“But here, the most minimal requirement of transparency, and they couldn’t be bothered filling out this form,” she said. “My point is, one is running for public office, the other is sitting, and in my opinion, you are held to the standard of following the law. … [I]f you can’t manage to do that, I don’t think you’re worthy of being a council member.”

On Tuesday, Torres said he submitted the original paperwork on April 27. After the Oct. 24 debate, he recopied the disclosure forms and sent them to Klein.

“What bothers me is that people may have misinformation and use it for political gain,” he said. “I don’t think I’d like to stoop that low to attack people. If there was an intent to hide any information … then of course it’s something that has to be brought up. But that has to be proven. Otherwise, it’s just low.”

Torres added that on Tuesday he received a call from Klein, and learned that Klein not only did not have the 2010 disclosure form, but also did not have a signature page for Torres’s 2009 form.

“They had the disclosure, but they didn’t have the signature page,” Torres said. “That wasn’t indicated until now. How come it took him a year before he realized the page was missing? And why did it take another year before I was notified he didn’t receive the 2010 paperwork? Regardless, he has everything now.”

Klein said that he would not speak about any City Council member. “I represent the city,” he said. “It would be inappropriate to comment regarding elected City Council members. Any documents submitted to my office are filed appropriately, and have always been properly filed. I don’t have any other comment.”

Fagen said that after hearing about the accusation at the MLK debate, he visited Klein’s office and filled out his financial disclosure form. “It was my understanding that what I had submitted was sufficient,” he said, “and since I had not heard from corporation council, I didn’t feel like I was neglecting anything. But it is odd I didn’t hear from corporation council, and Goodman knew about this before me.”

But Goodman described the matter as “hypocrisy,” and said that Torres’s rebuttal at the MLK debate was a “complete fabrication.”

“Both of them filed them prior to this year; they knew it was something that had to be done,” she said. “I checked with [Klein]. He told me he never had any conversation with Councilman Torres about it at all.”

Fagen said that what he found troubling was that when he asked to review Goodman’s financial disclosure, he was told by City Manager Charles Theofan that he needed to file a Freedom of Information request.

“When I asked to see if Ms. Goodman had [filed] to see mine, I was told I had to [file] for that,” he said. “To make matters more absurd, I was told by [Theofan], ‘Where does it state anywhere that I have to provide anything to you?’ Draw your own conclusions.”

Theofan was unavailable for comment as the Herald went to press on Wednesday.