December 30, 2009

Jeff Barber
5736 Starfish Court
Discovery Bay, CA 94514

RE: Town of Discovery Bay CSD

Dear Mr. Barber:

I have completed my review of the issues you raised regarding the Town of Discovery
Bay Community Services District Board of Directors and whether stipends received by
some Directors were paid in violation of Government Code sections 61000-61226.5. It
is my understanding that Directors Tetreault, Piepho, Knight, Murphy-Texeira and Dove
all received stipends in violation of Government Code section 61047 and that
arrangements have been made for those stipends to be repaid. The question remaining
for me to determine is whether these Directors can be charged criminally. After
reviewing the applicable law, I have decided that criminal charges cannot be filed in this
specific case.

Unlike the case you raised of the Baltimore mayor convicted of stealing gift cards, this
case hinges solely on whether the Directors had the criminal intent to steal from the
Town. Complicating that analysis is that AB 1234 (Government Code sections 53232-
53235.2) which was also effective as of 2006, provides conflicting advice as to when
stipends may be received. All of the Directors involved openly requested the stipends
based upon their understanding of the law. There is no evidence that any Director
sought to conceal the receipt of these stipends. Based upon this evidence, it would be
unlikely that any of the Directors could be convicted of theft beyond a reasonable doubt.

My decision is based only upon the standards imposed by criminal law; the lower civil
standard of proof by a preponderance of the evidence may be sufficient for the filing of a
civil suit demanding repayment of the stipends. That, however, is not the standard that I
must use to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. Please feel free to
contact me with any questions or comments you may have.

Sincerely,

ROBERT J. KOCHLY
District Attorney

Steven C. Bolen
Deputy District Attorney

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Special Operations Division (925) 957-8604
900 Ward Street, Fourth Floor Fax (925) 646-4683
P.O. Box 670
Martinez, California 94553