Solvang Mayor David Brown, center, sits on the dais during the March 23 City Council meeting. Brown later recused himself from the council’s discussion of ethics concerns tied to his private business venture.
Solvang Mayor David Brown, center, sits on the dais during the March 23 City Council meeting. Brown later recused himself from the council’s discussion of ethics concerns tied to his private business venture. Credit: Contributed photo

A Solvang City Council discussion over Mayor David Brown’s private business venture, a mobile app targeting tourists, turned into a debate about ethics at the most recent meeting.

Several council members said their concerns went beyond the app itself, arguing that it targets the same visitor market as the city’s own tourism efforts and raises broader implications for public trust.

Brown recused himself from the March 23 discussion, which lasted for nearly an hour and included questions about the app’s use of city marketing material, possible changes to the council’s ethics policy and whether the city should pursue a formal cease-and-desist order.

Councilwoman Louise Smith said she felt “blindsided” by the venture, which first surfaced publicly during a Feb. 23 council meeting, when a local business owner raised concerns about the city appearing to favor certain Solvang businesses.

Smith questioned how business owners are supposed to distinguish between “David Brown the businessman” and “David Brown the mayor.”

“I don’t want to put them in a bad spot,” she said. “I think we do need to do a cease-and-desist on this.”

Councilwoman Elizabeth Orona also said she supported pursuing a cease-and-desist order, adding that the city needed to send a clear message that it had serious concerns about the venture.

City Attorney Chelsea O’Sullivan cautioned the council against trying to order Brown to stop operating the business outright. She said the city can tell him not to use city property, but it faces limits in restricting a private enterprise.

Elizabeth Orona said the property issue remained unresolved. While Brown removed a city-owned promotional video from the app, she said Solvang Passport continued to feature text copied “word for word” from the city’s website.

A screenshot shows the app store page for Solvang Passport, the private tourism app created by Mayor David Brown that became the focus of an ethics debate at a March 23 City Council meeting.
A screenshot shows the app store page for Solvang Passport, the private tourism app created by Mayor David Brown that became the focus of an ethics debate at a March 23 City Council meeting. Credit: Contributed photo

She questioned whether the council was willing to let city-funded material be reused for private purposes without taking action.

Councilwoman Claudia Orona said the city should protect its own property but not try to shut down Brown’s business.

“I can understand how it looks bad. I can see the optics on it,” she said, “but just because something looks bad, looks fishy, doesn’t mean that it’s illegal.”

The conflict discussion also encompassed Claudia Orona, whose Solvang Trolley Ice Cream Parlor appears on Brown’s app.

Councilman Mark Infanti raised the connection, while Elizabeth Orona questioned whether it warranted having Claudia Orona recuse herself from the discussion.

“If she’s his client or potential client and he’s recused, she’s going to have an opinion or a bias,” Elizabeth Orona said.

Claudia Orona dismissed the idea, saying the app had brought her no financial benefit. She also said voters, not the council, should decide whether Brown is acting appropriately.

“It’s up to the public. It’s not up to us to police each other,” she said.

Infanti said he was not sure he fully agreed.

He said Brown appeared to have structured the app’s listed $249 monthly fee to business owners to stay just below a reporting threshold tied to Form 700 disclosures. Infanti added that he had been told Brown was not currently taking money and planned to wait until leaving office to do so.

Infanti said he was “not crazy” about the arrangement and urged the city to clarify what marketing material it owns and what policy it should adopt for the use of publicly funded assets.

Elizabeth Orona said the broader concern was Brown’s business model.

Referring to a tourism presentation the council heard earlier that same meeting, she said Brown’s role as mayor gives him access to publicly funded insights from a contractor the city pays more than $800,000 a year.

She said that created an ethical conflict by allowing an elected official to apply publicly funded information to a private venture meant to generate revenue.

“After this discussion, I’m 100% convinced we should update our ethics policy,” Elizabeth Orona said.

The council did not issue a cease-and-desist order as of this week.

O’Sullivan, the city attorney, said staff would return at a future meeting with research on how the city can register and protect its intellectual property, along with possible changes to the council’s ethics policies and protocols.

The next regular Solvang City Council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 13 at 1644 Oak St. in Solvang.

— Noozhawk staff writer Nick Forselles can be reached at nforselles@noozhawk.com.