Azusa Planning Commissioner Resigns

Azusa Planning Commissioner and School Board President Burke Hamilton resigned from the Planning Commission after a city audit concerning another issue found his dual role to be a potential conflict of interest. See Alison Hewitt's article in the SGV Tribune.

To my knowledge thus far, this is a situation in which city politics are working like they are supposed to work, unlike the recent La Verne incident involving Councilman Johnson. No one suggests that Hamilton was doing anything wrong, but because of the potential conflict given his formal roles, the city lawyer warned him and he took action. Many times city officials get themselves in such situations through no fault of their own: there simply aren't a lot of people active in small city politics, and since it is a small world the same people often end up taking on a number of roles. Thing is, there are lots of people out there willing to take advantage of such situations, and so it pays to err on the side of caution.