The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has settled a civil lawsuit against former Maywood Councilman Sergio Calderon that alleged he held two public offices at the same time which violated state law.

Trial was set for Jan. 25 but Calderon agreed to resign from the Maywood City Council in exchange for a dismissal of the lawsuit against him. Calderon also agreed that he would not be a Maywood councilmember, or hold public office in any capacity in Maywood, while concurrently sitting on the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) board.

Calderon resigned from the Maywood City Council on Dec. 13 and the lawsuit was dismissed at the request of the District Attorney's Office on Dec. 26.

In November 2016, the District Attorney's Office filed the lawsuit, alleging that holding both offices at the same time is a conflict of interest and violates state law.

The two positions are incompatible under state law because “the WRD and the City of Maywood have overlapping territory, duties and responsibilities, and a clash of duties is likely to arise in the exercise of both offices simultaneously,” according to the lawsuit.

Calderon's water board division includes Maywood.

Calderon also had a similar conflict in 2008, which resulted in a civil lawsuit by the District Attorney's Office to remove him from the Maywood City Council, but he resigned from his council post before the matter went to trial.

The state Attorney General's Office previously issued an opinion allowing Los Angeles prosecutors to sue in civil court to have Calderon removed from his elected WRD office.

Deputy District Attorneys Marian Thompson and Bjorn Dodd with the Public Integrity Division handled the case.

Los Angeles District Attorney / January 3, 2018