LATHROP — A San Joaquin County grand jury said this week that Mayor Kristy Sayles did no wrong in accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from local developers.

“The mayor is now and has been acting in a reasonable and ethical manner in matters where the City Council is considering new business in the City of Lathrop,” states the April 24 grand jury report.

“I knew I never did anything wrong,” Sayles responded this week. “But getting that (letter) made me feel better.”
The investigation began last summer after Lathrop resident Rosalinda Valencia complained to the grand jury that

Sayles was accepting cash from developers with ongoing projects in the city, creating a potential conflict of interest.
According to campaign statements, Sayles collected $37,000 in contributions between January 1 and July 31, 2007.

This included $5,000 from T.C.N. Properties, $5,000 from River Islands at Lathrop’s parent company, and $5,000 from Richland Planned Communities’ parent company.

Two companies that share an address with Richland — D.M. Bray Investments and Oakland Reserve — also gave Sayles a total of $5,000, but the grand jury found them to be three separate companies that happened to be housed in the same office building.

The grand jury also noted that Sayles has recused herself from votes even when she was under no legal obligation to do so. Since taking office in November 2006, she has declined to vote 10 times because of a potential conflict of interest.

Elected officials are not required to step down on votes regarding their contributors, California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) spokesman Roman Porter has said.

Valencia filed a similar complaint with the FPPC last summer. That commission also found no fault with Sayles’s fundraising.