Baglin Says He Took Advice of City Atty.

Laguna Beach City Councilman Wayne Baglin testified Tuesday that he painstakingly followed the advice of the city attorney when he netted a $36,000 commission in a land deal with longtime real estate clients and the city.

Baglin, facing felony conflict of interest charges, said he relied on City Atty. Philip Kohn’s advice to avoid violating a state law that prohibited him from making money as a broker on two properties the city bought for $1.8 million in 2001.

Baglin recused himself from the council’s vote on the purchase and disclosed his relationship with the sellers.

But he testified that he wanted it “in black and white” from Kohn, who he said told him that even if he recused himself, the councilman could still violate the law by receiving a commission while serving as a city councilman.

Baglin said Kohn sent him a 29-page fax on the law and subsequently told him that one option that would provide Baglin legal protection was if the city acquired the 3rd Street properties through eminent domain.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank also assured Baglin in a telephone call that the City Council would probably take such steps to acquire the land, Baglin testified.

Baglin said that when the City Council voted 4 to 0 in closed session Jan. 23, 2001, to authorize the use of eminent domain rather than a sales contract, he believed any legal problems stemming from the real estate deal were gone.

“For lack of a better term, I thought I was totally off the hook,” he said.

At a City Council meeting a month later, Baglin said he was shocked when Frank and Kohn publicly said that Laguna Beach had not started the condemnation process and had apparently only threatened to use eminent domain as a tactic to close the deal.

Frank, Baglin testified, described the transaction as a “friendly eminent domain,” while Kohn described it as “a hybrid eminent domain.”

Baglin is charged with six felonies coinciding with the occasions he represented the sellers, Edgar and Dorothy Hatfield.

He could face a maximum of 6 1/2 years in prison.