ELECTIONS ’88 : ORANGE COUNTY : Ferguson Foes Cite Continuing Inquiry in a Letter to Voters

Supporters of Evelyn R. Hart, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the 70th Assembly District, have sent a letter to Newport Beach voters reminding them about a continuing investigation of the incumbent in that district, Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach).

The investigation grew out of Ferguson’s failure last year to properly report at least $30,000 he received from two county developers.

The two-page letter, from a group known as Newport 2000, criticized Ferguson but made no mention of Newport Beach City Council member Hart or Laguna Beach environmentalist Michael Mang, Ferguson’s challengers in the June 7 GOP primary.

It is signed by Jean Watt, an officer of Stop Polluting Our Newport (SPON), and Margaret Gardner, who--with her husband, John--filed a complaint against Ferguson with the county district attorney last year. Watt has endorsed Hart in the Assembly race, and John Gardner has contributed $100 to her campaign.

Gardner said, however, that the letter had no connection to the Hart campaign.

Hart said she first saw the letter when it arrived at her home.

Others Signing Letter

Also signing the letter were former Newport Beach Councilman Paul Ryckoff and Allan Beek, a member of the SPON steering committee. Neither is associated with the Hart campaign.

Mailed to 18,000 Newport Beach voters, the letter said city councils throughout the south county are “completely unrepresentative” of the voters on growth issues and blamed Ferguson for helping to elect pro-development council members.

The letter said Ferguson was “the person with the largest role in keeping local government at odds with the voters.”

“It’s a very interesting letter,” Hart said. “There were a lot of facts in there. They stopped short of supporting anyone else, but obviously they are very unhappy with Gil Ferguson.”

Ferguson blamed the Hart campaign for the letter and said he is considering suing its writers for libel, though he indicated that he believes a lawsuit would only bring more publicity about the contributions, a year-old mistake that he would just as soon forget.

“This is not something that I think must be addressed or would even be advisable to address at this time,” Ferguson said of the letter. “But it is not something that I am going to let slide.”

Ferguson said he would confer with fellow assemblymen, political advisers and attorneys before deciding what action, if any, to take.

After Primary Is Over

“I can’t wait until the primary is over and I can begin to clear my name,” Ferguson said.

The letter repeated allegations that the Gardners made a year ago in their complaint to the district attorney, which accused Ferguson, through his public relations consulting firm, of accepting money from developers and then subsidizing the campaigns of pro-development city council candidates.

The district attorney forwarded the complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is investigating.

A county-based FBI agent has also shown interest in the case, obtaining copies of Ferguson’s campaign finance statements from the county registrar of voters. But the FBI has refused to confirm that it is investigating Ferguson, and Ferguson said the agency has never contacted him about the matter.

In interviews with The Times and amendments to a financial disclosure statement on file with the FPPC, Ferguson disclosed last year that two county developers--Arnel Development and C.J. Segerstrom & Sons--had paid his firm at least $30,000 for public relations consulting.

Ferguson blamed an aide’s error for his failure to report the money on his original disclosure statement, as required by state law.