Councilman did legal work to evict Broc’s Puppies

By Kathryn Reed

When the city attorney found out Tuesday that a councilman did the legal work to evict Broc’s Puppies, he said, “I’ll talk to Bruce.”

Bruce Grego, the councilman in question, believes because the work had nothing to do with the ordinance he voted on a year ago that bans future stores like Broc’s in the city limits, there is nothing wrong with having worked on the eviction.

Bruce Grego

“It was for failure to pay rent. It was a standard vanilla eviction,” Grego said. “The eviction was not based on a violation of the ordinance.”

Broc’s Puppies has been in the news for years. Part had to do with the city deciding to ban the sale of live cats and dogs, then the store on Highway 50 near Tahoe Keys Boulevard was raided by law enforcement, the owner was arrested on a parole violation and is back behind bars, and then the property manager had the business evicted this spring.

Don Huggins is the property manager for owner Helen Edgin. Huggins said he had Grego file the paper work involving the eviction.

Huggins and Grego have a long history of working together. Grego leases the building his law office is in from Huggins. Huggins has been a client of Grego’s many times.

“I was a client long before Bruce became my tenant,” Huggins said. “He has done my eviction work on apartments for 10 years or more. I paid for everything Bruce has done for me.”

South Lake Tahoe City Attorney Patrick Enright has been busy keeping track of all of Grego’s dealings.

Enright said the dollar amount of the work involved would dictate whether Grego has a conflict in helping to evict a business that he has also cast votes about. He earned $495 for the job.

Grego’s involvement with the Broc’s eviction came as a surprise to his council colleagues.

Grego’s ethics were called into question this spring for which he faced an inquisition of sorts for having the city reimburse him for outside legal counsel expenses. The city was left with a black eye and Grego got paid.

Another issue involving Grego is his lease with Huggins. On Friday, Enright was shown a lease agreement between Grego and Huggins. He was not given a copy of it.

If the agreement were for more than one month at a time, Grego would not be able to vote on issues related to the redevelopment area the council approved in May. No written agreement existed between the two men until May 28.