By LESTER CHANG
The Sunnyvale City Council found no validity to charges that Mayor Stan Kawczynski forced the Union Bank to do business with him when he was a member of the council in 1993.
At its Jan. 14 meeting, the council declined to investigate charges that Frances Rowe, a former Sunnyvale mayor, lodged against Kawczynski two weeks ago. The council rejected a proposal to hire someone to look into the charges and suggested Rowe take her charges to county prosecutors if she wanted to pursue the matter further.
"You obviously have done nothing wrong here," said Vice Mayor Jim Roberts in Kawczynski's defense. "There has been no evidence presented that you, as a councilmember or mayor, ever did anything wrong."
The accusations might be linked to Rowe's ouster as mayor in 1994, said David Vossbrink, the city's community relations officer.
Roberts characterized the accusation as "reprehensible."
At a Jan. 7 council meeting, Rowe alleged that the mayor, an investment adviser, told a bank manager to do business with him or he would have the city pull $100,000 in investments out of the bank.
At the Jan. 14 meeting, Rowe refused to elaborate on the allegations. She said she would send them to the Santa Clara County District Attorney, and noted that the state Fair Political Practices Commission has been made aware of them.
Kawczynski didn't comment on the charge at the meeting, but in a news release to The Sun he commented that the allegation "not only is unfounded, but I believe it is also slanderous."
The mayor also wrote that he did meet with an official at Union Bank to encourage participation in the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal program aimed at strengthening communities.
"I did this with the knowledge and support of the Sunnyvale City Council, which had studied the issue and how it could benefit small-business development in Sunnyvale," he wrote.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 22, 1997.
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