The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has settled a civil lawsuit against former Maywood Councilman Sergio Calderon that alleged he held two public offices at the same time which violated state law. The same charges the District Attorney’s office is seeking against the Mayor of Carson Albert Robles.
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Trial was set for Jan. 25 but Calderon agreed to resign from the Maywood City Council in exchange for a dismissal of the lawsuit against him. Calderon also agreed that he would not be a Maywood councilmember, or hold public office in any capacity in Maywood, while concurrently sitting on the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) board.
Calderon resigned from the Maywood City Council on Dec. 13 and the lawsuit was dismissed at the request of the District Attorney’s Office on Dec. 26.
In November 2016, the District Attorney’s Office filed the lawsuit, alleging that holding both offices at the same time is a conflict of interest and violates state law.
The two positions are incompatible under state law because “the WRD and the City of Maywood have overlapping territory, duties and responsibilities, and a clash of duties is likely to arise in the exercise of both offices simultaneously,” according to the lawsuit.
Calderon’s water board division includes Maywood.
Calderon also had a similar conflict in 2008, which resulted in a civil lawsuit by the District Attorney’s Office to remove him from the Maywood City Council, but he resigned from his council post before the matter went to trial.
The state Attorney General’s Office previously issued an opinion allowing Los Angeles prosecutors to sue in civil court to have Calderon removed from his elected WRD office.
Deputy District Attorneys Marian Thompson and Bjorn Dodd with the Public Integrity Division handled the case.
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Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey leads the largest local prosecutorial office in the nation. Her staff of nearly 1,000 attorneys, 300 investigators and 800 support staff members is dedicated to protecting our community through the fair and ethical pursuit of justice and the safeguarding of crime victims’ rights.
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2 Comments
I really dont understand, why the DA drop charges against Sergio Calderón, they should force him to resign both positions. Been that this is not the first time he falsely run. It is intentionally for not a good intentions for the comnunity he served.
Thanks for the article. My name is Oscar and I am a former council member of the City of Maywood. Calderon was part of a slate that bested my running mate and I in 2015. During the campaign we raised this as an issue to voters but it wasn’t a message that resonated with voters because the bigger seat at WRD has bought him name recognition throughout the years. The fact that the courts had already settled with him on this matter in 2008 and that he comes back and is allowed to settle once again is very disturbing. At this point, nothing is going to stop him from continuing to unfairly run for office against local candidates with less resources, because all he has to do is settle while his buddies who currently hold the majority just reappoint their other buddies. As an example, the guy who was appointed to replace Calderón, is the son-in-law of the current mayor, who was also Calderon’s running mate.