Just when you thought the Regional Water Project conflict-of-interest debacle couldn’t get much weirder, former county Water Resources Agency board member Steve Collins finds himself on the receiving end of a 20-page criminal complaint, courtesy of District Attorney Dean Flippo.


And while highly anticipated news – Chief Assistant DA Terry Spitz could probably set his watch by my “anything interesting going on” phone calls – the complaint isn’t the most interesting part. The most interesting part: Of the 39 counts laid out, 31 are felony grand theft charges alleging the CPA and longtime ag industry consultant billed artichoke giant Ocean Mist Farms for work he didn’t actually do. Six misdemeanor counts allege that while acting as a public official, Collins received payments for performing official acts by attending meetings with his board member hat on, then billed Ocean Mist for it. And two felony counts allege he violated Government Code Section 1090 by semi-secretly being on the payroll of RMC Water and Environment – the winner of the grand prize, a $28 million desal project contract Collins helped arrange – while he was supposed to be looking out for the county’s best interests as a water board member.


Semi-secretly, because Jim Heitzman, general manager of desal project partner Marina Coast Water District, arranged for Collins to get the RMC gig with RMC founder Lyndel Melton in January 2010. That was the same month that Collins and Curtis Weeks, the ex-water agency director the county just paid more than $100,000 to shut up and go away, formed a consulting company whose first and as-yet unidentified client was accused of defrauding the federal government.


The funny thing is, the case started with a mention in the Weekly’s Squid column in March, based on the eagle eye of Salinas Valley Water Coalition chairman Keith Roberts. Squid noted that Collins recused himself from voting on the $28 million RMC contract without acknowledging the nature of any conflict of interest. A month later, when Collins filed his Form 700s – his “statement of economic interest” he was required to file as a public official – he reported having received more than $100,000 from RMC for financial consulting services. (The number, as we now know, was about $160,000 total.) The hubbub that ensued included a pricey investigation commissioned by the county that laid blame at Collins’ and Heitzman’s feet; a dueling and equally pricey investigation commissioned by Marina Coast (those guys spend money like drunken sailors, no offense to drunks or sailors) that laid blame on Weeks, County Counsel Charles McKee and Supervisors Lou Calcagno, Simon Salinas and Dave Potter. Collins filed a defamation claim against the county; desal project partner Cal Am tried to flounce out of the deal.


So with all the fingers being pointed, why is it only Collins being hoisted on his own petard?


For that, Heitzman and Weeks have the case of D’Amato v. Superior Court to thank. The ’08 decision holds that a public official can’t be prosecuted as an aider and abettor, or as a co-conspirator, for violations of the 1090 rule.


“It’s an unusual opinion that finds normal principals for criminal liability for aiding and abetting don’t apply to Code 1090 conflict of interest,” Spitz says. “The court thought it would give prosecutors too much control over government by allowing them to choose anyone in the chain of decision making.”


Not that prosecutors probably didn’t fantasize about it. 


“I don’t wish to address that because we have cooperated fully with FPPC, which is continuing its investigation, and they do have an aiders and abettors statute,” Spitz says.


The FPPC, by the way, is the Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigates violations of the Political Reform Act. While the district attorney’s case is underway, the FPPC’s investigation into Collins, Weeks, Heitzman and probably a lot of other officials is ongoing. If violations of the PRA are found, they could be fined or prosecuted in separate actions. 


A few weeks after Collins filed his claim against the county, the Weekly reported that American Express had sued him, seeking $40,000 in unpaid debt. In his claim, Collins reported he earned no income this year as a result of the myriad investigations; his income previous to the desal debacle had exceeded $285,000. His response: a long comment left on our website that while other papers were reporting on desal funding options (we covered that) and allegations of racism against supervisors by ousted county official Tim McCormick (we covered that too), the Weekly was reporting on his credit card. 


The nerve, was his tone. The nerve indeed. How much of that $285,000 was actually earned?


As for how much time Collins could face if convicted, Spitz says it could require a doctorate to figure out. 


MARY DUAN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at mary@mcweekly.com.