Former Hanford City Manager Alan Christensen went on criminal trial on misdemeanor fraud and grand theft charges Monday. Michael Reinhart, Kings County's prosecutor in the case, said Christensen "betrayed the trust" of city taxpayers when he tampered with numbers in the documents used to get his moving expenses reimbursed.

In his opening statements, Reinhart told how Christensen falsified documents and lied about it to the city's finance director, Tom Dibble, and overcharged the city by about $1,000 in moving expenses allowed under his employment contract.

"We'll prove to you this was not simply a mistake," Reinhart told a jury of nine women and three men. "This was intentional."

Christensen's lawyer, Carl Faller, portrayed his client as a responsible family man and also as a victim of dissension within the ranks of his administration. He raised questions about three of his subordinates who banded together to turn him in to state authorities for criminal investigation rather than consulting with the city council or city attorney. Faller also claimed that the reimbursement process was vaguely worded in the contract.

Faller told the jurors that his client, who was under pressure to move his family from Bakersfield up to Hanford while dealing with his father's failing health, did make a "stupid mistake" in the chaos of his situation.

Charges stem from allegations that Christensen changed a low bid of $7,050 to $7,850 submitted by Allied Van Lines of Bakersfield in order to hire an apparent low bidder, Galbraith Van & Storage that submitted an unfixed bid of $7,600 and ultimately caused the city to reimburse him for $8,100.

Under his contract, Christensen was required to seek three bids and take the lowest.

"In the midst of things he did a very stupid thing. He changed the zero to an eight on an Alllied bid," Faller said, adding that Christensen changed the numbers himself because he thought he missed the lowest bid's deadline.

Also, when contacted by a state Department of Justice agent in May 2007, Christensen "freaked" and denied the allegation, Faller said.

"That was the second huge mistake he made," Faller said, following up with statements that Christensen wasn't trying to pocket any money.

"We'll show that no crime was committed by Alan Christensen," Faller said.

Christensen, 46, faces two misdemeanor charges for fraud and grand theft. He was city manager for Hanford from August 2006 to May 2007, before resigning abruptly with no explanation only nine months into his job.

If convicted, he could face one year in county jail; Christensen's defense lawyer and prosecutors had not been able to reach any resolution before trial.

Christensen, donning a dark blue suit, sat quietly during testimony of those who worked under him, which was scheduled to continue today. Christensen, who now lives in Bakersfield, is currently the city manager of Arvin.

The trial is expected to last for two or three days, and any more than that is unlikely, visiting Judge Timothy Buckley said during the jury selection process.

On Monday, the jury listened to testimony from City Clerk Karen Madruga and City Finance Director Tom Dibble, as well as Ben Durham, sales manager of the Allied moving firm.

Today, the trial will resume with testimony by Deputy City Manager Mary Lindsay. Other witnesses, including Deputy City Manager Tom Haglund, are expected to testify about how Christensen claimed $1,000 more than he should have on his moving expenses and breached the terms of his contract.

Dibble, Lindsay and Haglund were the three who took the case to Kings County Sheriff Chris Jordan, a former Hanford Police Department captain, who then forwarded the matter to the state Department of Justice. Haglund was among the candidates vying for the city manager position when Christensen was hired.

Sentinel reporter Joe Johnson contributed to this report.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(March 25, 2008)