Baldwin Park City Council to Offer CEO Position to Woman Fired for Allegedly Cooking the Books in San Marino

Lucy Garcia

Baldwin Park City Council has decided to offer the CEO position to Lucy Garcia, who the City of San Marino fired because of of misrepresentations of the city budget. When Garcia was Assistant City Manager of San Marino, according to the Tribune, Garcia told the citizens and Council of the City that San Marino was making money, when in fact the City was in a deficit of around $2.3 million.  

The Tribune states that Garcia perpetrated the misrepresentation by failing to report on a $4.6 million loss that was carried into the fiscal year. The budget discrepancy committed was a common trick played by both corporations Enron and World, to make shareholders believe the company was making money.

Citizen activist, and successful business owner, Greg Tuttle also stated that he was concerned that Garcia had no experience as a city manager and lacked the required formal education. Tuttle believes that a retired corporate CEO should be hired for the job, instead of career semi-politicians.

Tuttle and others are disappointed that the new city council appears to be carrying out a legacy of corruption. Two years ago, the California Controller's office accused the Baldwin Park's administration of failing the audit for misappropriation money and by cooking the books. Although the current CEO is being replaced, finance director Rose Tam was and still is in charge of the budget. Furthermore, former employee of Tam, Suzanne Ruelas, accused Tam in her civil complaint that Tam misappropriates housing funds and misrepresents the budget, presumably in the self-interest of select individuals.

On January 27, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Ricardo Pacheco pled guilty to accepting over $303,000 in bribe money. The DOJ has also served search warrants on the city attorney, Robert Nacionales-Tafoya. 

Citizen activists are perplexed by the City's Council's choice. Tuttle stated, "I hope that the council members would be more thorough in their background search for the next City Manager. The City needs to be honest and hire good people."