BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Two Palo Alto City Council members want their colleagues to vote on releasing an investigation into a planning commissioner who allegedly tried to use his city position to get special treatment when his daughter’s car was towed.
Councilmen Pat Burt and Keith Reckdahl said they were surprised to see Commissioner Forest Olaf Peterson re-appointed after a tow yard owner complained that Peterson tried to get a discount on a tow.
“The public has a right to know the facts and understand what the council knew when we made the appointment,” Burt said in an interview on Saturday.
Reckdahl said he wants to err on the side of transparency to avoid undermining public trust.
“If you refuse to release the report, then it may look like we’re trying to hide something,” Reckdahl said.
Both Burt and Reckdahl said they’d talk to City Attorney Chris Jensen about if, when and how the report can be made public.
The city hired an investigator after Peterson’s daughter’s black 1994 Ford Mustang was impounded by police on Jan. 6 from a city garage at 350 Sherman Ave.
“Change the rules”
Peterson repeatedly referenced his position, suggested he could “change the rules” and said he had friends within the police department who would agree with him, the tow yard owner said.
“These remarks were troubling and gave the appearance of an abuse of position,” the tow yard owner said in a complaint to City Manager Ed Shikada.
Peterson left a negative online review that accused the owner of raising fees and writing fake reviews for the business.
“Shop looked like a mess. I doubt they are real mechanics,” Peterson wrote.
Burt alluded to the investigation during interviews for the Planning and Transportation Commission on March 23. Peterson was seeking another term on the board. Burt asked Peterson to speak to any personal events that would inform council about his ethics as a commissioner.
Burt gave Peterson a chance to explain
Peterson said he’s held to high ethical standards as a Stanford researcher and a labor standards investigator.
“For 20 years, I have had no deficits to my behavior,” he said.
In an interview on Saturday, Burt said he gave Peterson an opportunity to respond to the investigation, but Peterson espoused his “expertise in ethics” instead.
“I was disappointed,” Burt said. “I felt it was unresponsive and even deceptive.”
Shikada sent the investigator’s report to council on April 7. He said the investigator gathered facts but didn’t decide on any policy violations, and the report is confidential because of attorney-client privilege.
Mayor Vicki Veenker, Vice Mayor Greer Stone, Councilman George Lu and Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims voted to appoint Peterson to a four-year term on April 13.
Councilman Ed Lauing joined Burt and Reckdahl in voting for tech executive Tom Siegel.
In an interview on Friday, Veenker said she couldn’t discuss the report.
“Personally, after reviewing the report, I did not believe there was a sufficient basis to conclude there had been an abuse of position. So I voted for the incumbents,” she said.
Burt and Reckdahl said they were surprised to see a majority pick Peterson.
“We were supplied the same report, and I simply don’t understand how (Veenker) came to the conclusion that she claimed,” Burt said.
“The complaint was concerning,” Reckdahl said.
Peterson has declined a phone interview.
“I consider the matter resolved,” he said in an email.
Peterson said he wasn’t negotiating a bill
Peterson told the investigator that he asked the tow yard to return his daughter’s cash payment so he could pay by credit card and have a record of the transaction.
“I was not negotiating the bill,” he said in an email.
Burt said Peterson will have difficulty being objective in discussions about the city’s parking garage policies, given its personal financial impact. Peterson paid $494 to recover the car, a receipt shows.
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