Conflict-of-interest complaint against O.C. Water District board member dismissed

The state’s political watchdog dismissed a complaint by former Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook, saying it did not show that Orange County Water District board member Stephen Sheldon had a conflict of interest in dealings with an ocean desalination project.

In a Jan. 15 letter to Cook and Sheldon, Gary Winuk, enforcement division chief of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, wrote that the complaint “failed to establish Mr. Sheldon’s economic interests in Poseidon [Water] in 2014 and did not provide the government decision in which he allegedly participated in.”

“This was a non-issue from the beginning,” Sheldon said. “I’m glad the FPPC agreed that there was no wrongdoing.”

Sheldon, a member of the water district board since 2005, did work for Poseidon when he was a consultant with Faubel Public Affairs, a Lake Forest-based public relations firm, between 2009 and 2013.

In her complaint filed Nov. 18, Cook alleged that Sheldon, who represents parts of Irvine and Newport Beach on the board, was still working with Poseidon through Roger Faubel, the PR firm’s owner who has worked with the desalination company for more than a decade.

Poseidon has been trying for 10 years to build a desalination plant on the Huntington Beach coast next to the AES power plant at Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street. The project is still in the process of obtaining a development permit from the California Coastal Commission.

The Orange County Water District board, including Sheldon, voted Jan. 7 to enter non-binding talks with the company about buying water from the proposed plant.

Cook said Sheldon should have been prevented from voting on any decisions regarding Poseidon.

But Cook said Thursday that she isn’t upset that her complaint was rejected. She said she was seeking transparency and that the FPPC told her that Sheldon’s last day working with Faubel was April 13, 2013.

“I got exactly what I was looking for,” she said.

Cook said she will do more research into whether Sheldon made any decisions regarding Poseidon’s project during the years he was working with Faubel.

Sheldon did not immediately comment Thursday. In December, he called the complaint an “unsubstantiated smear.”