In City of Industry, business and governance converge

A Zerep carpenter, the late Earl Mayberry had routinely abstained from voting on matters involving the company. But he initiated the contract extension vote in May 2001 as part of a routine approval of several "consent calendar" items, meeting minutes show.

Hanson said he was unfamiliar with Mayberry's voting record, but the contract extension vote was permissible.

"If you have someone who has a very minor connection to a business, like a carpenter, that's not going to be a conflict of interest," he said.

The mayor's vote earlier this year to approve the stadium complex also was permissible, Perez and Hanson said, even though a city-approved study shows that the development would generate thousands of tons of commercial refuse each year -- trash that evidently would be picked up by the mayor's company under the city franchise.

The stadium complex would "obviously" increase service demands and revenue for his family business, the mayor said. But he had no estimate of the possible increase and added that he relies on city lawyers "watching over us, doing everything by the letter of the law."

Assuming the stadium is built, any financial benefits that might accrue to the mayor's rubbish hauling interests are unclear, Hanson said, and he sees no potential conflicts.

The city had previous development plans for the stadium site, he noted. Those included a huge industrial park that studies show would have generated more solid waste than the stadium.

Using that comparison, Hanson suggested, the stadium's effect on the mayor's business interests might be viewed as "zero."

In an interview, Perez expressed puzzlement over a reporter's inquiries concerning his stadium vote and the refuse contract. The decision was not, he argued, anything particularly unusual for him or Industry.

"This is another development plan," he said.

"We approve 'em all day long."

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rich.connell@latimes.com

Times researcher Vicki Gallay contributed to this report.

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City of Industry officials

Mayor David Perez

* President of Zerep Management Corp., which holds multimillion-dollar city maintenance contract.

* Part-owner through Zerep of City of Industry Disposal Inc. and Valley Vista Services Inc., which operate city's exclusive commercial trash collection franchise, generating more than $12 million from city last year.

* Partner in Larrache Land Co., which owns about a dozen commercial and residential properties in town.

* Secretary and part owner of Grand Central Recycling Co., which operates trash transfer station in city, entered into development deal with city in 2000 and received more than $10,000 from redevelopment agency last year.

City Council

* John P. Ferrero, vice mayor: received more than $100,000 from Larrache Land Co. for storage property; rents city-owned home.

* Jeff Parriott: city redevelopment agency employee; rents city-owned home.