Fuhrman: Mann said, 'I'll be back with a vengeance'

Scott Mann (left) has been accused by Tom Fuhrman of ordering city officials to look for city violations by Fuhrman, who defeated Mann for a City Council seat in 2010. Menifee 24/7 photos

Story has been updated with a correction in the second paragraph about Fuhrman's plea agreement.

On the morning of Oct. 23, 2014, Menifee City Council member Tom Fuhrman was handcuffed by investigators from the District Attorney's Office as he walked off the field from a senior league softball game at Wheatfield Park. He was arrested and charged with eight counts, including one felony.

In July 2015, Fuhrman entered into an agreement to postpone his plea for one year pertaining to actions taken as a city council member regarding issues in which he had a financial interest. He was scheduled to enter a plea in July 2016 once he had completed 100 hours of community service, at which time the felony count would be dropped. Before that time had expired, however, Fuhrman was found in violation of the plea agreement because of citations on his property he says was engineered by a person he says had no authority to do so.

In an interview with Menifee 24/7 this week, Fuhrman named the man he considers most responsible for his arrest -- Scott Mann.

Today, Mann stands accused of using more than $44,000 in campaign funds for personal use from 2010 through 2014 -- a violation for which he has agreed to pay a $60,000 fine through a negotiated settlement with the Fair Political Practices Commission. According to a spokesperson, the District Attorney's Office cannot confirm or deny at this point whether it will launch an investigation of Mann in order to pursue criminal charges.

According to Fuhrman, who admits he has some culpability in his ongoing dispute with Mann and the City of Menifee, the DA's Office has far more reason to pursue Mann than it did him. And he insists the DA's action against him resulted from Mann's vow that "I'll be back with a vengeance" in a private conversation with Fuhrman after Furhman defeated him for a City Council seat in 2010.

"When Scott was elected mayor in 2012, the vengeance started," Fuhrman said. "He called a closed session meeting and convinced his fellow councilmen to go after me. They hired an outside attorney to throw the book at the Wooden Nickel Ranch."

According to Fuhrman, the City spent $107,000 on an attorney who was ultimately fired in 2013 after pursuing legal action against him. He also claims former city attorney Julie Biggs has billed the city $354,000 for legal action taken against Fuhrman because of Mann's inappropriate use of power in going after him.

Contacted by Menifee 24/7, Mann (center in photo at right) said he could not comment because of pending lawsuits filed against the city by Fuhrman. City Manager Rob Johnson also declined to comment for the same reason. Only Fuhrman is going on record about the City's ongoing denials of his request for a business license to charge for weddings and other activities on his 25-acre horse ranch on Holland Road on the west side of town.

Fuhrman admits he is no saint. He has  acknowledged holding weddings on his property after being told by code enforcement officials they were prohibited.

Why do this when the city says he is not supposed to?

"They are saying I'm not supposed to," Fuhrman said. "My consultants say I can. It's how you interpret the zoning and ordinance. The city is making the interpretation that horses are not livestock, when the definition of livestock says cows, horses, sheeps and goats."

Earlier this year, Fuhrman filed an appeal in Riverside Superior Court of two citations the city gave him for weddings held on his ranch in October and November of 2015. Fuhrman lost the appeal, but he contends that much of Judge Janet Kintner's comments in announcing the decision pointed to a greater problem on the part of Mann and city officials.

In the court document, Kintner said, "The evidence indicates that the city is not treating Mr. Fuhrman fairly. One of the major problems is the mayor's emails, which indicate a great deal of animosity and too much focus on Mr. Fuhrman ... To put that much pressure on other people in the city like he (Mann) apparently is doing causes a great deal of concern about whether they're being fair to Mr. Fuhrman.

"The city should not be keeping Mr. Fuhrman from being able to get a license and be able to have weddings."

Fuhrman contends that he took the plea deal following his 2014 arrest because it allowed him to have the felony removed from his record after he served 100 hours of community service and after one year had passed. He further claims that Mann overstepped his authority by ordering city code enforcement officials to work overtime hours looking for violations at his ranch, which he claims were not violations at all.

He also said that while admitting he agreed to host a wedding involving fewer than 50 people for a friend at his ranch in November 2015, that citation was made because "Scott wasn't happy" that Fuhrman would've been eligible to fun for public office after his felony was taken off his record.

"That wasn't enough for him," said Fuhrman, shown in his home below. "He wanted me out forever."

As what he says is proof of the extreme efforts of Mann and city officials to look for violations on his ranch, Fuhrman points to notations made in a report of code enforcement actions taken against him in recent years. In that document, received by Fuhrman through a public records request, Donna Burks of the city's code enforcement department reported that she observed a wedding at the Wooden Nickel Ranch "while driving by off duty" on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014. She also said that on the day before, "I was asked by supervision if I was able to work on Saturday as there was an un-permitted special event -- a wedding ceremony -- planned."

"Scott has a spy on the staff," Fuhrman said. "How did he know the day before that I was having this event? It was just a reason to give me a $100 citation."

Fuhrman contends that it is not within Mann's authority to get involved in code enforcement issues. He points to an earlier code enforcement report in which Burks stated that "I received a call from City Manager Rob Johnson and Scott Mann that a special event -- a wedding -- was taking place at this location on the lawn area."

That is the only reference to Mann in the report, although Fuhrman finds it disturbing that several sections of the copy of the document given to him are blacked out.

He also points to an April 2013 email from Biggs to former Community Development Director Carmen Cave, in which Biggs said Fuhrman agreed not to hold mayor events with over 200 people. He said he has not done so since, and that the events he has hosted have all been with less than 200 people, which he is allowed to do under the city ordinance.

Other documents provided by Fuhrman to Menifee 24/7 include:

-- A March 26, 2014 email to City Manager Johnson from the late council member Wallace Edgerton, in which Edgerton writes, "Hopefully, we are not trying to make money off code enforcement."

-- An April 2014 form letter former City finance director Teri Willoughby sent out to residents who were denied a business license, including Fuhrman, stating that "we are currently not pursuing any code enforcement actions related to business licensing."

-- A Nov. 19, 2010 email from Mann to a former city attorney, with the subject line "Tom Fuhrman's antics," in which Mann writes, "Since apparently Code Enforcement refuses to do its job on the Wooden Nickel Ranch anymore when neighbors complain, perhaps the city attorney can do something here."

-- An Oct, 24, 2014 email in which City Manager Johnson writes to Edgerton, "As I have reminded council members many times in the past, commenting and inserting oneself in active code cases may conflict you out of the final determination should the case come before you at an upcoming council meeting."

In Fuhrman's view, Mann's refusal to recuse himself from voting on matters involving Fuhrman constitutes a conflict of interest at least as bad as the one for which he was convicted of a felony.

Obviously, there is another side to this, but it is unknown because Mann and Johnson decline to discuss the issue. Fuhrman said he simply hopes that justice will be served.

"I believe he [Mann] was hurt [by the 2010 loss to Fuhrman] and he's vengeful and biased," Fuhrman said. "I think this situation is far, far worse than the felony I was convicted of. I do think the DA should file charges.

"He probably should withdraw, but I know Scott well enough, he'll try to talk his way out of it. I've heard he made an apology, but why didn't he make an apology years ago? You let the people know, 'Hey, I did something wrong.' You don't wait until you get caught. He thinks he's untouchable."