Bribery, fraud and threats mar Hill’s financial plans

August 2, 2024

Editor’s note: This is the third in a four-part series regarding the history of former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill based largely on statements and interviews released as part of a federal criminal trial regarding corruption, bribery, and fraud. Read part-one: “Adam Hill’s tortuous journey to San Luis Obispo County.” Read part-two: “Adam Hill’s widow recounts his hunger for money, women.”

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill and Dee Torres-Hill’s honeymoon was short-lived. Torres-Hill left her job at CAPSLO shortly after she was demoted, leading the couple to seek new sources of income.

Hill came home one day in 2014 and told his new wife that he wanted to be a consultant. He planned to work for local developers Ryan Wright (also known as Ryan Petetit) and attorney John Belsher, Torres-Hill told an investigator. After learning he was a target in a criminal investigation, Wright hired investigator Heidi Alonzo to interview Torres-Hill and produce a report.

Hill asked San Luis Obispo attorney Don Ernst, who introduced Hill to Belsher, to help him find a lawyer to navigate the process.

Hill paid attorney “Diane Fishburn $5,000 in 2014 for advice on a consulting contract,” according to Torres-Hill’s 2022 interview. Fishburn allegedly told Hill not to do consulting work for projects in SLO County because of issues with conflicts of interest, advice he appears to have dismissed.

For years, residents had voiced concerns over alleged bribery and special favors tied to Hill and others. In March 2020, FBI agents raided Hill’s Shell Beach home and his office in the county government center as part of a widespread corruption investigation.

Torres-Hill knew Ernst before she met her husband, she said. Ernst agreed to sponsor a childcare coordinator position at the nonprofit Torres worked. He then donated “about $30,000 the first time and funded the position for a while.”

At that time, Ernst became Torres-Hill’s’ confidant because she thought he cared about the homeless, she said.

Before CAPSLO demoted Torres-Hill in 2015, she had already created a new nonprofit and had begun soliciting donations from wealthy developers who had dealings with Hill. Hill, in turn, lobbied on behalf of developers donating or pledging to support Torres-Hill’s fledgling nonprofit, the SLO Housing Connection.

While Hill promoted PB Companies’ development projects, Belsher and Wright made multiple commitments to local nonprofits, many of which they did not honor. While Torres-Hill wanted to work with Belsher and Wright, her board did not agree.

“Later, Belsher and Wright offered to help build a homeless shelter, but that never materialized,” according to Alonzo’s 2022 interview with Torres-Hill. “Torres-Hill tried to get the board of Torres-Hill’s’ new homeless non-profit, SLO Housing Connection, to meet with Belsher, but they refused because they said he was shady. Torres did not take that to heart, because everyone in the community said everyone else was shady.”

Even though Hill was warned not to promote projects in SLO County, multiple text messages between Hill and Wright show the supervisor sought money for securing votes in San Luis Obispo.

During a 2023 interview, former San Luis Obispo City Manager Derek Johnson told U.S. Attorney Thomas Rybarczyk that Hill appeared to be representing PB Companies by advocating for their projects in SLO.

From 2014 through 2017, Hill set meetings or called Johnson 10 to 20 times to promote Belsher and Petetit’s projects in SLO, according to the interview. Hill also invited Johnson to attend local events and private soirees.

At Hill’s invitation, Johnson attended a party at Hill’s home along with U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal, Belsher and Wright. During the party, Hill spoke glowingly of Belsher and Wright and their investment in downtown SLO.

Johnson also attended an AMGEN race where he met Hill and Wright in a private viewing tent where Hill relentlessly pushed PB projects and homelessness issues, according to Johnson’s interview.

In his meetings with Johnson, Hill also promoted funding for a new homeless shelter tied to CAPSLO, Torres-Hill’s employer. However, Hill’s support for CAPSLO ended after his wife’s demotion.

“Until he got mad and then decided to – I think at some point he fell out of favor with (indiscernible) largely because his girlfriend and then wife was employed and then was no longer employed there,” according Johnson’s interview.

Read part-four, “Threats, lies and criminal investigations take a toll on Hill.”