DA rules in favor of Grego

By Kathryn Reed

The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office has reviewed material supplied to it and has determined “there does not appear to be any criminal violation of law relating to Council Member [Bruce] Grego’s reimbursement for legal fees.”

Grego was the subject of a divisive South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting on April 15 that will go down as the oddest meeting these five elected officials have been part of. Nothing was resolved at the end of the meeting.

Bruce Grego

Councilman Jerry Birdwell had requested the council meeting and sought the opinion of the county’s highest legal authority. His belief is Grego’s reimbursement with taxpayer money for the use of outside legal counsel to determine if he had a conflict of interest regarding the convention center project, was not justified.

Deputy District Attorney James Clinchard in his letter dated April 20 says to Birdwell that he can ask the grand jury to look into the matter.

Birdwell told Lake Tahoe News he has no intention of doing so.

Clinchard’s letter said, “Whether or not such conduct violated South Lake Tahoe city guidelines for reimbursement is an issue best left to city government and the SLT City Council.”

Grego was not available for comment Tuesday night.