Placentia City Administrator Under Investigation For Suspect Purchases

Placentia City Administrator Damien Arrula is nether probe for whether helium overbilled his metropolis recognition paper and violated metropolis argumentation by spending taxation dollars to instal an electrical car charger successful his parking spot astatine metropolis hall.  

Now, metropolis assembly members are looking astatine ways to tighten their policies connected city-issued recognition paper spending and question allowances portion debating whether oregon not to occurrence him. 

Nicolette Drulius, the city’s spokesperson, declined to remark whether oregon not Arrula has been placed connected permission and Arrula did not instrumentality aggregate requests for comment. 

Arrula became metropolis manager successful 2016, erstwhile spot successful metropolis hallway was astatine a grounds debased aft the city’s erstwhile fiscal services manager was charged and aboriginal convicted for embezzling implicit $5 cardinal from the metropolis and sentenced to implicit 20 years successful prison. 

Since then, Arrula has go 1 of the highest paid metropolis managers successful the county, helping pb the metropolis retired of the OC Fire Authority and found an autarkic occurrence department. 

[Read: Placentia First OC City to Leave Fire Authority and Form its Own Fire Department]

But now, he’s facing questions astir his ain spending with officials gathering down closed doors doubly this week to sermon possibly removing a metropolis employee. 

Screenshot Credit: PLACENTIA CITY LIVESTREAM

Officials did not study immoderate enactment taken down closed doors retired of either meeting, and would not corroborate oregon contradict if Arrula was the worker successful question. 

They besides would not corroborate who would beryllium sitting successful the metropolis manager’s bureau travel Monday. 

The questions archetypal surfaced successful March, erstwhile nonmigratory Julie Suchard publically brought up concerns astir Arrula regularly sending unit retired with his idiosyncratic car to a car lavation who contracted with the metropolis for escaped car washes, contempt his $800 monthly conveyance stipend. 

“I would reason that clip spent utilizing metropolis resources and the funds expended connected the attraction of Mr. Arrula’s idiosyncratic conveyance should beryllium considered compensation,” Suchard said astatine the metropolis council’s March 5 meeting. “Where does the assembly gully the enactment connected forcing taxpayers to money Mr.Arrula’s employment perks?” 

Since then, Suchard has repeatedly shown up astatine nationalist meetings raising her concerns astir Arrula’s spending and connected Tuesday called connected officials to merchandise the probe study astir her concerns to the nationalist and taxpayers that are paying for it.

“Since it was my concerns being investigated, I americium a enactment to the investigation,” Suchard said. “I judge this study should beryllium revealed to everyone successful Placentia.”  

At the council’s Tuesday gathering nationalist remark period, Suchard said she’d been interviewed by investigators regarding her nationalist comments astir Arrula, and told the Voice of OC Thursday that she turned implicit the metropolis records she’d received to them. 

“The metropolis assembly took my concerns astir Mr. Arrula wasting payer wealth truthful earnestly that they hired a backstage investigator,” Suchard said astatine Tuesday’s meeting. “I was interviewed by the researcher astatine magnitude successful June 2024 and was asked not to notation the probe astatine metropolis assembly meetings until his study was fixed to council.”

City Councilman Chad Wanke declined to remark connected the contented connected Thursday morning, saying helium couldn’t talk to an ongoing investigation. 

“(Arrula) has been fiscally irresponsible with payer funds enriching himself personally astatine payer expense,” Suchard said at​​ Tuesday’s meeting. “Placentia taxpayers should not beryllium expected to money Mr. Arrula’s Nordstrom manner connected our Walmart budget.”

Proposed Changes to Travel Allowances & City Credit Card Usage

Earlier this week, officials held a survey league to sermon ways to update question allowances and city-issued recognition paper usage policies including submitting each question disbursal receipts adjacent erstwhile taking per diem allowances.

Staff is besides proposing to prohibition officials from utilizing metropolis recognition to bargain meals erstwhile traveling arsenic good arsenic raising 1 clip spending limits for section heads, wide employees, and mid-level managers

Beyond that, the connection would prohibition unit and officials from utilizing their recognition cards to bargain and wage for ammunition and weapons, ineligible fees, insurance, excessive baggage fees, movies, shoeshines, haircuts, magazines, dry-cleaning, postulation tickets and more.

The changes to question argumentation are expected to beryllium approved by the assembly astatine a aboriginal meeting, portion changes to the recognition paper usage argumentation volition beryllium made administratively by the metropolis manager.

At the meeting, Arrula said the politician approves his question and each his question expenses, adding that helium implemented a strategy that requires the concern manager to reappraisal assembly subordinate question and expenses anterior to his ain review.

“I conscionable privation to marque definite I’m being wide astir that. We bash person that process successful place. In addition, it is for checks and balances and interior controls,” helium said.

Noah Biesiada is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine [email protected] oregon connected Twitter @NBiesiada.

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine [email protected] oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.

•••