Dateline Hawthorne – Under siege for a brimming platter of accusations of alleged spectacular debts and shadowy uses of city finances, Hawthorne Mayor Chris Brown said this morning “I was shocked” when he read of the second straight week of allegations in today’s Daily Breeze.
In a private interview with this newspaper, Mr. Brown indicated he was in the midst of his own investigation, especially, but not only, regarding $22,000 in airline travel since taking office, Dec. 5, 2013.
He said the Breeze’s assertion that he has taken 30 airline trips about the country “is not even close.”
Once his own probing has been completed, Mr. Brown said he intends to turn over his findings to the District Attorney’s Office.
As for the Breeze notation that he never has given proof about the validity of his job resume – “as a business owner, self-employed and as a former mobile phone account executive” — Mr. Brown told this newspaper that “no one ever asked me.”
The mayor said that a now-former Hawthorne city employee “was adding my name to the room where the person was stayed in at least one hotel.
“We are about to launch our own investigation,” he said.
Mr. Brown believes that the Breeze reporter covering Hawthorne “is getting receipts and stuff from the city manager’s credit card.
“Not all of (the 30 trips) were mine, obviously. A flight to Washington was a group trip that cost $12,000.
“Another $9,000 is travel for, we went to (places like) Sacramento and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (Washington).
“Twelve thousand of that ($22,000 total) was one trip that me, another Councilmember, and staff went to talk to HUD about HUD issue and transportation in Washington, D.C., where we also took our consultant Robert Levy over a $2.8 million HUD issue that we were having.
“So,” said Mr. Brown, “the other $10,000 (of the $22,000 total) was spread over 15 months.
“I am telling you we have evidence one of our former employees was booking rooms and adding my name.
“That is all I have to say about the charges at the moment,” the mayor said.
