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Evidence 1: The Secret $10.05 Million Park Liability Shift (Video)
The Context: The District secretly executed an agreement to relieve a private developer of their legal mandate to deliver a fully funded “turnkey” park. The District assumed the multi-million-dollar park construction liability, intentionally recording it as a “land-only transaction” to hide the massive encumbrance from the public ledgers and external auditors. The Admission: Mr. Harn publicly confirms that he knew the CSD took on this massive, unfunded construction liability in August 2020:
Evidence 2: The Brown Act Violation & Election Cover-Up (Video)
The Context: At the exact same time the District was hiding the unfunded park liability (Fall 2020), former General Manager Kevin Loewen requested permission to moonlight for David Taussig & Associates (DTA)—the very firm engineering the District’s special taxes. The Admission: Mr. Harn explicitly states the Board approved this massive conflict of interest via illegal, clandestine communications (violating the Brown Act) and deliberately concealed the approval from the public to manipulate an upcoming election:
“Unanimously through a serial meeting in violation of the Brown Act, the board approved the outside employment… via a text message… Why the cover up? Why didn’t at the next board meeting, why wasn’t this reported… What could have been the motivation to cover this up? Well, this was September twentieth, 2020. In 6 weeks there was an election… This was covered up to affect an election.”
Evidence 3: The Miscalculation Cover-Up & Fabricated Debt Caps (Documentary)
The Context: To justify draining millions of dollars from CFD 1992-1 for park projects without triggering the legally required two-thirds (2/3) taxpayer vote, the County needed a way to bypass the binding $2 million park funding cap established in 1988. Rather than complying with the Mello-Roos Act and seeking a formal amendment to the Rate and Method of Apportionment (RMA), Auditor-Controller Joe Harn unilaterally fabricated a new funding ceiling.
The Admission: In an email sent to CSD management on December 17, 2018, Mr. Harn admits to inventing a $9.45 million cap based on unreviewed, “quick” math, while openly confessing he didn’t even understand the intent of the foundational legal agreements:
“As I read the 1988 EDH Specific Plan Public Improvements Financing Plan… $2 million of CFD monies were earmarked for parks to be adjusted up by the CalTRANS Construction Cost Index. It appears that the index has increased by 473% since 1988. That would mean $9,455,309 to be spent on parks… I have prepared this response quickly without my staff reviewing my response… I am unclear as to what the exact intent of the parties was back in 1988 and 1989…”
The Investigative Impact: This email exposes a staggering fiduciary breach. Mr. Harn admits his 473% multiplier was calculated “quickly,” without staff review, and with a confessed ignorance of the “exact intent” of the original financing plan. Yet, instead of seeking formal legal interpretation, bondholder consent, or the required voter approval to amend the limits, this “quick math” served as a fraudulent ledger justification to systematically siphon millions in unauthorized public funds.
Crucially, because former GM Kevin Loewen and the CSD Board ultimately failed to actually construct the park, this fabricated math has trapped the Auditor-Controller in a compounding compliance nightmare. By utilizing this unverified cap to justify bond disbursements for a project that was never built, Mr. Harn has effectively exposed the County—and himself—to six consecutive years of false SEC reporting. For six years running, the County’s annual continuing disclosures have completely omitted the unauthorized inflation of the funding caps, the unfulfilled park construction mandate, and the resulting misappropriation of CFD 1992-1 bondholder funds.
Conversely, the CSD is also trapped with an unfunded liability off their books that won’t cover the park develop costs as confirmed by Director Martinelli captured here.
Evidence 4: The Unfunded Liability & The Missing $3.5 Million (Video)
The Context: Because the CSD Board secretly relieved the private developer of the $10.05 million “turnkey” park mandate in 2020 and recorded it as a “land-only transaction,” they kept a massive financial burden off their public ledgers. Conversely, the CSD is now trapped with an unfunded liability that won’t cover the actual park development costs. At a December 12, 2024 board meeting, the CSD Directors publicly questioned if the County even possesses the $3.5 million in CFD 1992-1 funds supposedly earmarked for the project.
The Admission: CSD Director Michael Martinelli explicitly confirms that the park construction costs will drastically exceed the supposed bond funds, leaving the District at a complete loss for how to proceed:
“Can we reach out to the county? Ask them, do they have the three and a half million or not? If we wanted to look at concepts to see what can be done with the 12 and a half acres that are there… Last time I checked in terms of the money that it requires us to build a park is going to far exceed three and a half million. So if that’s the case, again, what could we do with three and a half million? And what is the timing of it?”
The Investigative Impact: This video is the smoking gun that proves the “land-only” transaction was a catastrophic fiduciary failure for the taxpayers. Director Martinelli’s admission confirms that the CSD intentionally absorbed a massive construction liability they knew they could not afford. Furthermore, the fact that the CSD Board has to publicly ask if the County actually “has the three and a half million or not” demonstrates the absolute opacity and mismanagement of the CFD 1992-1 bond funds. The taxpayers were robbed of a fully-funded turnkey park, and the CSD is now left holding an empty, unfunded dirt lot while the external auditors are kept in the dark.
