FBI probe catches Lancaster unaware

Today subdivisions have replaced the fields of green, and Lancaster is a bustling city of nearly 130,000 residents. City leaders talk with pride about the strides Lancaster has taken. City leaders say the future is even brighter.

But a dark side of Lancaster's development is unfolding in a federal courthouse in Los Angeles where grand jurors will take testimony about a suspected illegal toxic waste dump at the city's Department of Public Works yard.

Some workers are obeying subpoenas and making trips to a federal grand jury room as early as this week.

City Manager Jim Gilley, Public Works Director Jeff Long and workers at the yard were subpoenaed to appear this month before the federal grand jury.

Long's former deputy, Public Works Superintendent David Mulkey, abruptly resigned Friday after serving two weeks of a 15-day suspension for a variety of offenses.

Toxic wastes

Some of the city workers say it's been common practice for years to dump paints, solvents, grease and other toxic wastes in the yard. They also say diesel fuel and other toxins found on city streets are dumped at the yard.

Back when the yard property was still a shut-down drive-in movie, "Jeff Long sent us out to dump here," a worker said Saturday.

Long, reached at home Saturday, said, "That's blatantly false. There would be no reason" to dump hazardous waste at the yard.

"It wouldn't accomplish anything, since we've paid for disposal from the beginning," he said. He said such disposal was contracted for in the 1980s.

Long said he could not recall the name of the firm contracted to dispose of the city's hazardous waste because "I don't handle that." But he added he felt confident the FBI, grand jury and investigators would be satisfied with the city's paperwork and proof of its handling practices.

FBI raids

On Nov. 20, a small army of FBI agents and county hazardous materials investigators swarmed the yard, seizing documents and files and using heavy equipment to search for a suspected illegal toxicwaste dump.

So far, no city official has offered a public explanation of what it is that federal and county authorities may be looking for.

"We're caught in a process that looks worse before it gets better," Gilley said in a recent interview. "But we understand this, and we'll do what we need to do."

Gilley did not elaborate at the time on what that might be. The city issued a press release saying it is cooperating with authorities and promptly hired one of the nation's most expensive legal firms to protect its interests.

County hazardous materials investigators said raids such as the recent one are extremely rare.

Articles in the Valley Press figured in triggering the FBI and Los Angeles County probe, with investigators using the articles as a basis for questioning.

World class law firm

On the second and final day of the FBI's search for evidence, attorneys from Los Angeles law firm O'Melveny and Myers - newly hired by the city - were conferring with city officials and questioning employees from the Public Works yard.

The law firm is headed by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who headed the Christopher Commission that investigated the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots triggered by the Rodney King beating.

Top legal advice doesn't come cheap. In 1996 O'Melveny and Myers had revenues of nearly $260 million, which ranked it in the top 20 among U.S. law firms, according to "The American Lawyer" magazine.

Lancaster City Attorney Dave McEwen said the city is racking up legal bills of several thousand dollars a week as the federal probe continues and the final tally will easily be more than $100,000.

The city also retained Waterstone Environmental, a consulting firm hired to help the city deal with compliance issues from hazardous waste problems at the Public Works yard, and other parts of the city.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office won't comment about their investigation. Officials with the agencies say they will speak with the press only if charges are filed.

In a way, the city's advances and improvements, and its current problems, are probably related, political scientists say.

Growth with costs

"Anytime there is growth, it will involve costs," said David Mars, a retired political science professor with the University of Southern California's School of Public Administration. "The people pushing for the growth hide the costs or don't want to hear about them."

Mars said pressure for growth in Southern California's communities in the Mojave Desert and in some parts of Ventura County is tremendous, unlike the built-out, no-place-to-grow San Fernando Valley.

"Lancaster is on the edge of nine million people," he said. "These places are the places where there are growth possibilities. People will push growth."

And the city's current problems are an indication that the sleepy life of a small-town desert community is over for good.

Roger Robinson has taught anthropology and archeology at Antelope Valley College since 1967. He said when he came to Valley, ranching and farming were still mainstays of the community.

"People would brag that the Antelope Valley could produce two or three cuttings a season of alfalfa," he said. "That was a big deal."

He's seen most of Antelope Valley's farms and ranches disappear, replaced by tract homes, shopping centers and congestion, and the problems and pace of city life.

"When you have rapid growth and it has a very shiny surface bringing in money and people," he said, "it's sometimes easy to ignore problems and look the other way. That's not an evil, but it's easy to be focused on the good. That can, in some cases, allow the bad to sneak in."

Mulkey probe

The first hint that all might not be well in Lancaster surfaced in mid-August when a Public Works employee came to the Valley Press with grievances about Public Works Superintendent Mulkey.

Mulkey resigned Friday after being disciplined by the city for a range of abuses of his position as a key city department manager. Mulkey was also responsible for overseeing operations at the Public Works yard.

A two-month city investigation validated many of Robbins' and other Public Works employees' allegations that Mulkey used city employees and vehicles for personal errands, drank on the job and ordered up a lavish office remodeling job without permission.

The city also found that Mulkey drank on the job several times, used racial slurs, intimidated workers and caused a morale crisis that prompted a small exodus of workers.

The city found no evidence of dumping toxic wastes at the yard. However, the city's inquiry was cursory at best, and unlike the FBI's investigation did not include any soil samples or extensive digging.

The city disciplined Mulkey by placing him on 15 days suspension without pay starting Nov. 23. He resigned Friday.

The problems in Public Works come as no surprise to former Lancaster City Councilwoman Deborah Shelton who failed to win reelection in April.

"When I was elected in 1994 there were allegations by some city workers of problems in Public Works," said Shelton.

The allegations were made before Mulkey started working for the city, she said.

Shelton said when she and former Councilman Michael Singer tried to bring in someone without any ties to the city to investigate the allegations, they were outvoted by council members Henry Hearns, Frank Roberts and George Runner, since elected to the state Assembly.

Ed Reitkopp, the city's labor attorney, investigated the 1994 allegations, Singer said, and found nothing amiss. Reitkopp also conducted the recent investigation of Mulkey.

"We've had a management style that leads by retribution and intimidation," Shelton said. "It encourages people to go around with blinders. The philosophy has been, `Whatever it takes, I want it done. Get me this job done by this time. I don't care how you do it. Get it done.' "

Little scrutiny

City leaders - by their own account - often conduct business with as little public scrutiny as possible.

Some council members concede privately to meeting two-at-a-time with officials to discuss city business. By the time the council meets in public, decisions have already been made.

Certainly, council members place a great deal of reliance on the effectiveness of City Manager Gilley. Gilley's contract was renewed this year, with generous improvements in benefits and safeguards for his job.

Now, the FBI's investigation may pose one of the toughest challenges to Gilley's 25-year career in local governments.

Lancaster officials often express sensitivity about what they perceive to be bad press. And, even with an FBI team serving subpoenas and seizing documents, they have a point.

Long echoed these sentiments Friday, indicating that disgruntled city employees are trying to advance an agenda of their own.

"I don't know why they are continuing this hurtfulness," he said. "It's very disturbing to all of us (city officials) to continue the hurt. It can't go on."

Ultimately, Lancaster remains a growing city with great parks, a performing arts center, a new baseball stadium and other amenities. But the city does capture media attention for other less desirable coverage subjects.

"Perhaps it's our proximity to Los Angeles," said Antelope Valley College history professor Ralph Brax. Brax said he practically cringes when he watches TV news about the Antelope Valley. The image is distorted, he said.

"It's drugs, the horrendous traffic, white supremacists, how we lead the county in child abuse," he said. "My sense is people up here feel like the media and the national media are not giving us a fair shake. And there is a sense that L.A. is critical of us."

That, of course, would be the pot calling the kettle black. As the mega-neighbor to the south, Los Angeles emerged from riot, earthquake, a dud subway, and O.J. Simpson, and went on to do just fine amid regional recovery.

Mayor Frank Roberts thinks Lancaster can continue to grow and prosper.

"I think the city is dynamic enough and city staff competent enough," he said. "I think we can."

He also scoffs at the notion that Lancaster has lost its identity as it transformed itself from a town where agriculture ruled to a complicated city facing the demands of growth.

Roberts said communities take stock of what they are when they are built out and done with major growth. But a city like Lancaster, which has abundant room to expand, rightly focuses on the business at hand, in his view - growing in a planned, logical manner.

Anthropology professor Robinson has a different take. He said a community can't go forward unless it knows where it's been.

He said newcomers often ask him to point them in the direction of the Valley's historical sites. Robinson said he finds that difficult as time passes.

"Frequently, I'm telling them they can't see anything," he said. "It's all gone, all destroyed. Obviously, that's not true. But the pattern is that I'm telling people of what used to exist.

"It you don't preserve history you end up precisely with a betwixt-and- between community. You have a community growing in all directions and it takes no notice of where it's going because it has no concept of where it's been. . . . If you don't have a sense of history, it's very difficult if not impossible to evaluate the future."

HAZMAT DIGGERSFBI and L.A. County HazMat personnel inspect the Lancaster Public Works yard in their investigation of illegal hazardous materials dumping on city property. An FBI search warrant, served Nov. 20, alleged that the city was responsible for dumping toxic waste on its property.BART WEITZEL/Valley Press
MAYOR ROBERTSLancaster Mayor Frank Roberts discusses the upcoming season at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center. Roberts is a proponent of continued growth for Lancaster and believes that it has maintained it's identity despite the change from a rural small town to a big city.