Local News in Brief : D.A. Asked to Probe Council’s Spending

Azusa officials have asked the district attorney’s office to investigate travel policies and expenditures of their City Council following a spate of allegations among council members that started with the questioning of a $47.70 expense.

At a heated special meeting, the council voted to ask the district attorney to look into the “allegations, rumors and lies” that one councilman said were eroding public confidence in city officials.

The catalyst for the uproar was a side trip taken by Mayor Eugene F. Moses in May, when he was scheduled to meet the city’s delegation at a conference in San Francisco. Instead, Moses spent a night in Lee Vining, a Mono County community 270 miles from San Francisco.

On the trip, Moses and a passenger hung signs for unsuccessful state Senate candidate Eugene Osko. Moses said his car broke down, necessitating the Lee Vining stop, but City Council members Tony D. Naranjo and Harry L. Stemrich alleged that the stop was illegal, saying the $47.70 Moses billed the city for lodging should be returned.

Moses leveled his own allegations of improper expenditures, and the district attorney’s investigation was seen by both sides as a means of settling the issue. “This witch hunt has to stop,” Naranjo said.