2 City Leaders Get Fines, No Jail in Asbestos Case : Lawndale: The public works director and former city manager are given probation for their roles in razing a city building in 1989 that contained asbestos.

Lawndale Public Works Director James Sanders and former City Manager James Arnold were fined Wednesday, but received no jail time for having illegally disposed of asbestos at the old city yard two years ago.

Sanders, who personally drove a bulldozer in June, 1989, to raze a run-down city building that contained asbestos, received the harsher sentence. He was fined $9,940, ordered to perform 300 hours of community service and placed on three years of probation by South Bay Municipal Court Judge Deanne Smith-Myers.

Arnold, who was blamed during the trial for not stopping Sanders when he learned the building contained asbestos, lost his job in part because of the incident. He was fined $6,125, required to perform 150 hours of community service and given two years of probation.

Smith-Myers said she concurred with probation reports that recommended probation, rather than jail time. The reports note that Sanders and Arnold have no criminal record and that neither intended to harm anyone.

Smith-Myers did not explain why Sanders drew the stiffer penalty. The probation reports balance the blame, but say Arnold had “overall responsibility to deal with the problem appropriately.”

Attorneys for both Sanders and Arnold, neither of whom testified during the trial or spoke at the sentencing, said they would appeal the convictions.

The Lawndale City Council, which agreed in July to pay up to $40,000 for Sanders’ and Arnold’s defense, will not cover the costs of their appeals, said Lawndale Assistant City Atty. Robert Owen. He also said it is unlikely that the city would pay their fines.

Although a jury in March found them both guilty of five misdemeanor counts of illegally disposing of hazardous materials for each of the five days of the demolition, Smith-Myers suspended sentencing on all but the first count.

Each faced six months in jail for each misdemeanor and up to $100,000 in fines.

At the hearing Wednesday, Sanders’ attorney, Brendan O’Neill, asked for leniency. He described Sanders as “a good citizen who made a mistake, essentially,” and minimized the danger of his actions to the public’s health.

Smith-Myers said she felt including probation “was a little more necessary” in Sanders’ case, adding that she believed his sentence “is extremely fair, considering his actions.”

Arnold’s attorney, Patricia Friedel, told Smith-Myers that her client has found it “extremely difficult to find other employment” and may be forced to declare bankruptcy next month. She asked Smith-Myers to reduce his fine.

Smith-Myers refused, saying the reason she placed “him on formal probation is so the probation officer can work with him” on setting up a payment schedule.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Patchett had argued during the trial that Sanders knowingly crushed asbestos tiles under the wheels of a tractor during the demolition of a storage building in the old city yard at 167th Street and Osage Avenue, causing the release of harmful asbestos fibers into the soil and air.

He also suggested that Arnold did not stop Sanders from finishing the demolition because he wanted to save the city $5,000--the cost of having a licensed contractor do the job.

Hazardous materials experts testified for both sides that asbestos tiles are not harmful when properly handled. However, several neighbors and city workers said Sanders’ use of the tractor had pulverized the tiles and kicked up thick clouds of dust, which may have contained asbestos fibers. Although asbestos was once a common form of insulation, health experts now say it may cause cancer when its invisible, needle-like fibers are swallowed or inhaled.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Fred Macksoud said he and other prosecutors are disappointed that Sanders, in particular, did not receive any jail time.

“We did not oppose the sentence the court gave to Mr. Arnold . . . but I know Mr. Patchett would have preferred a suitable jail sentence for Sanders, because he is the one who actually did the disposal of the asbestos,” said Macksoud, who is handling the case while Patchett recovers from an injury. “It was a very dangerous act.”

Arnold declined to comment after the hearing. But in a letter to Smith-Myers dated May 15, he described the trial as “a nightmare for me and my family” and said that he will have to borrow money from his elderly parents to pay for his appeal. “I honestly feel that further punishment of a person near ruin from this affair would not serve any public purpose,” Arnold wrote.

Sanders, in an interview outside the courthouse, repeated allegations that he and Arnold were framed by enemies at City Hall. Sanders added that he believed Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who ran for attorney general last year, was “politically motivated” in pursuing the case against them.