ORANGE : Despite Suit, Greek Says He’s Running

City Council candidate Don Greek said Friday that he will stay in the race despite the council’s decision this week to sue him because his engineering firms did business with the city while he was a public official.

Greek also blamed the City Council for any impropriety, noting that the Planning Commission, on which he served for seven years, does not have the power to award city contracts.

“We are tired of the abuse,” Greek said in an interview. “Now (my opponents) are starting rumors that I’ve dropped out of the race, which is not true. We’re still running, and we’re planning to win.”

The City Council voted 5 to 0 to sue Greek after the Orange County district attorney’s office began reviewing the contracts with Greek’s businesses to see if state conflict-of-interest codes had been violated. Greek’s firms, Don Greek & Associates and DGA Consultants Inc., did at least $104,000 worth of business with the city while he was a planning commissioner.

According to a California code, state, county and city employees and officers “shall not be financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity or by any body or board of which they are members.”