Kolender May Not Have Had to List Loan: FPPC Official
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San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender apparently was not required to disclose a $50,000 loan he received in 1984 from the vice president of the San Diego Crime Commission to help buy his Del Cerro home, a spokeswoman for the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission said Thursday.
Lynn Montgomery, the FPPC spokeswoman, said city regulations apparently require Kolender to report income, such as a loan, only if it came from a firm or entity doing business with the city, not from an individual.
“My understanding of this particular situation is that the individual who files pursuant to city codes has no requirement to disclose sources of income unless they are from business entities or firms doing business with the city,” Montgomery said. “Therefore, he would have had no requirement to disclose income, that is a loan, from a private individual.”
City Atty. John Witt, however, said Thursday that his office will not issue an opinion on the matter until Monday.
Witt’s office is trying to determine whether Kolender should have listed on his 1984 statement of economic interest a $50,000 loan he received in October, 1984, from James A. Vaus, crime commission vice president. Vaus is also a founder of Youth Development Inc., a nonprofit religious organization that works with the San Diego Police Department and other agencies to house and rehabilitate runaways and young offenders.
Kolender has acknowledged receiving the loan for a second mortgage on his Del Cerro home. Kolender said he pays $614 a month to satisfy the 14.5% interest rate and that the $50,000 principal will be due in 1987.
A trust deed between the police chief and Vaus was filed with the county in October, 1984, county records show. Kolender said he did not list the loan on his city form because it was exempt from disclosure, a belief that he said the city attorney’s office confirmed in discussions last week.
Montgomery said Thursday that, if Kolender were an elected official, state law would have compelled him to list the personal loan on the city forms. But because Kolender is appointed by the city manager, he must abide by a different set of reporting requirements that are written by the city and ask disclosure of ties with companies--not individuals--doing business with the city, she said.
Reached in Sacramento, where he was attending a meeting of the state Community College Board of Governors, Kolender said he has done nothing for Vaus in return for the loan. He said he has not written a letter of endorsement for Youth Development Inc. to use in its fund-raising efforts, something he has done for other nonprofit groups such as the YMCA.
Kolender’s wife, Lois, said Thursday she can produce at least one canceled check for February proving that the couple is making monthly payments to Vaus. But she said she has thrown out earlier checks.
She said Kolender approached Vaus for the personal loan at the suggestion of Roger S. Young, a friend and crime commission executive director. Young, a former FBI agent, received a $13,000 loan from Youth Development Inc. in May, 1984, toward the purchase of a San Diego condominium.
Young said Thursday he has yet to pay off his loan.
The crime commission, a nonprofit group, was formed in late 1983. It is run by 27 board members, many of whom are prominent in San Diego, and its headquarters is in Youth Development Inc. office space donated by Vaus.
Young said the commission’s budget is $100,000 in private funds raised through membership dues and gifts. He said the commission is more of a support group than a watchdog of local police agencies, lending help by sponsoring seminars about crime and raising reward money to solve crimes.
Young also confirmed that he has recently been named president of Youth Development Inc., taking over the post from Vaus, who is 67.
At one time, Youth Development Inc. ran three “ranches” in San Diego County for troubled youths. The ranches have been closed and the group now operates a small, six-bed shelter in Clairemont called Home Run House.
Lt. Bill Campbell, head of the San Diego Police Department juvenile division, said Youth Development Inc. is one of several social service agencies to which the department turns for help in dealing with runaways and children from broken homes.
He said the Youth Development Inc. shelter, which opened in January, is a direct response to the department’s need to find places for troubled youths overnight or for short stays.
Campbell said Vaus’ organization also sponsors about 15 youngsters, who are first-time offenders of lesser crimes, on a special wilderness training outing near Bass Lake each summer. The department picks youngsters for the program, which costs Youth Development Inc. about $300 per person, he said.
“It’s all been a one-way street when dealing with YDI,” Campbell said. “It’s been they’re helping the Police Department, and never the Police Department to help them.”
A Youth Development Inc. official said Thursday that she could not reach Vaus for comment. His son, school board candidate Steve Vaus, said he did not know much about his father’s financial affairs.
“I don’t pay close attention to how my dad makes his money,” he said.
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