County Official Solicited Campaign Funds From Contractor

Probe targets AIDS agency's chief, a fundraiser for mayoral candidate Villaraigosa. Backers say he did the work on his own time.

By Jack Leonard, Times Staff Writer

The head of a Los Angeles County government agency that doles out millions of dollars to community groups solicited campaign contributions from at least one of those groups while working for Antonio Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign, according to confidential county memos obtained by The Times.

The Department of Health Services is investigating whether Charles L. "Chuck" Henry, the director of the county's Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, used county resources while fundraising for Villaraigosa and whether his campaign role was a conflict of interest.

As director of the AIDS office, Henry oversees an $82.5-million agency that funds AIDS and HIV treatment and prevention programs, writes contract proposals, recommends contract recipients and monitors the programs.

County officials have not determined whether soliciting campaign contributions from vendors violates county policies. But one campaign ethics expert criticized Henry's invitation to an agency that receives grants from his office to contribute.

"He's perfectly within his rights to campaign for this person…. But when he starts using his contacts from the county, that's crossing a line," said Steve Levin, political reform manager of the Center for Governmental Studies. "It may not be outright illegal, but it just looks bad."

Henry, who went on leave from his county job Feb. 14 to run Villaraigosa's Westside campaign office, referred calls to the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy. An office spokesman said he had received no complaints about Henry's fundraising.

"No contractor has called me or said to me anything about this," said spokesman Gunther Freehill. "The county does not dictate personal, political activities or preferences."

Freehill, along with Henry and two other staffers in the county office, was among dozens of hosts of a Nov. 29 fundraiser for Villaraigosa. Freehill said Tuesday that he was a longtime supporter of Villaraigosa and that he had done nothing wrong in campaigning for him.

"I find it disturbing that the county sees fit to investigate my personal and political activities," he said.

Henry sent an invitation to the November fundraiser to an unnamed county contractor along with a handwritten note, according to a memo from the Department of Health Services.

Learning of his campaign work, Henry's bosses in the county's public health agency warned him that such solicitations could leave county contractors with the perception that "their support, or lack thereof, of Mr. Villaraigosa could impact their ability to secure funding" from Henry's office, the memo said. But Henry, the memo added, asserted his right to engage in political activities on his own time.

At least one other county contractor was invited to the Nov. 29 event at the Beverly Hills home of a real estate developer. Jury Candelario, executive director of the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team, told The Times that he received an invitation from Henry but felt no pressure to contribute.

"I don't think there was anything inappropriate about it," said Candelario, whose organization provides HIV and AIDS education and treatment services under a county contract. The invitation's envelope, he said, carried Henry's home address as sender. "Chuck did it outside, on his own time."

Candelario, who said he voted for Villaraigosa for mayor in 2001, said he donated $100 at the fundraiser.

As part of their ongoing internal investigation into the allegations, county health officials reviewed Henry's office computer and found a flier for a Villaraigosa event on Sunday along with an "invite list," though no contractors were on the list, the memo said. Indeed, staff at the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy told investigators that Henry was careful to separate his county work from his political activities, the memo said.

A second memo, which was written by County Counsel Raymond G. Fortner Jr. to the Board of Supervisors, said there are no rules that bar county employees from campaign fundraising as long as they do so on their own time and without using county resources.

However, a 25-year-old department policy prohibits political activities that "conflict with, limit or restrict the effective performance of the employee's official duties or responsibilities," Fortner wrote.

If Henry used county resources in his campaign work, he could be disciplined.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)