Politics & Government

Councilman's Residency Questioned

Kit Bobko, who is being accused by a retired firefighter of possibly living outside of his district, invites Patch to his 19th Street home for verification.

In the midst of ongoing tension between the city and public safety unions, retired firefighter Paul Hawkins has asked City Hall and Los Angeles County to investigate whether Councilman Kit Bobko officially lives in town. Residency is a requirement to hold elective office

"Every police officer I've spoken to who has been tasked with delivering city correspondence, several times a month, to [Bobko's] residence of record has said the 19th Street apartment appears unoccupied," Hawkins wrote in an e-mail addressed to the city and the county earlier this week. 

Hawkins also wrote that some locals speculate Bobko actually lives on Paseo de la Concha in the Hollywood Riviera section of Torrance, thereby lying about his Hermosa residency.

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"If Mr. Bobko is committing ongoing fraud, he is violating more than just the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code," Hawkins wrote. "He is willfully and fraudulently enrolled in the California Public Employees' Retirement System."

Bobko denied the allegations. 

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The two-term councilman invited Patch to his home on 19th Street on Thursday, where milk dated Sept. 10 sat in his refrigerator, paintings and family photos hung on the walls of his living room, two large wooden bookshelves were filled with classic literature, and his issues of Los Angeles magazine and Esquire were addressed to the 19th Street residence.

"This is just a naked, vindictive, intimidating act," Bobko said about the e-mail. "They're accusing me of fraud."

In his e-mail, Hawkins went on to write that "If this allegation is true, every opinion expressed and every vote cast by Mr. Bobko that was harmful to wages and benefits of city employees would warrant a legal remedy."

Hawkins' allegation was made just weeks after Bobko publicly criticized the Hermosa Beach Police Officers Association and Hermosa Beach Firefighters Association for suing the city in an effort to prevent it from altering the unions' pension plan, which would affect future public safety personnel.

Bobko said in a City Council meeting on Aug. 10 that "This isn't a lawsuit against the city… It's a lawsuit against all of you [taxpayers]."

The unions argue that the city didn't follow proper procedures such as to "meet and confer" and to negotiate alterations made to salaries and benefits before it proposed the pension changes. 

According to last month's court decision, until the proposed changes are officially voted upon, and approved then implemented, there is nothing to rule on. There was also no legal basis for the unions to get a restraining order in an attempt to stop the city from altering retirement benefits for new hires.

"I've set out my arguments and made my case," Bobko said. "Instead, the unions and their accomplices have abandoned the idea of making a counter case to mine… They're taking to personal attacks." 

City Council members must reside in the city they serve, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Bobko said that, besides Patch, he has also invited the district attorney's office to visit his home to verify that he does indeed live there. He said he'll show officials that 19th Street is the address printed on his California driver's license.

As more information is released, Patch will report it.


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