Only Strack, Dickison take oaths of office

Although he won the election for a seat on the Corning City Council, Jesse Lopez didn’t take the oath of office during Tuesday night's ceremony.

Lopez sat quietly in the audience as Darlene Dickison was sworn in to fill one of two vacant seats, and Gary Strack took the oath of office as mayor.

“I really don’t have anything to say at this time,” Lopez said after the special City Council meeting. “It has all been said and now I will just wait.”

Lopez is waiting to see the outcome of a review by City Attorney Michael Fitzpatrick to find out if he is eligible to hold public office.

A resolution concerning the results of the Nov. 2 election, unanimously approved by the City Council, states, “Any declaration by this Council that Jesse Lopez has been elected to the Corning City Council is postponed until January 11, 2011, to permit further review of his eligibility to assume office.”

Lopez’s eligibility came into question due to the fact he was convicted of felony forgery in 2005. That conviction was dismissed and became a misdemeanor in 2009, but some feel the state Constitution and one penal code section prohibits him from holding public office.

The section states, in short, that even if a felony conviction is dismissed, if the conviction was enough to keep a person from holding public office in the first place, then that person cannot hold public office even after the dismissal.

“Our attorney is looking into this and we are hoping for an opinion,” said City Manager Steve Kimbrough.

City Clerk Lisa Linnet said the city is being very cautious.

“We have to make sure all actions are legal and within the law. Depending on the outcome of the Lopez decision, we also have to explore how we fill the vacancy if he is ineligible,” she said.

Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen had been researching the issue and came out with a statement last week that his office cannot offer an opinion and that the responsibility falls on the state Attorney General’s office.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office indicated Monday she would return inquiries by the Corning Observer on Tuesday, but no contact was made.

Lopez said he has been working with his own attorneys on the issue.