Long Beach official asked to take a leave

Democratic members of the Long Beach City Council have asked Councilman Michael Fagen, also a Democrat, to step aside from his duties after his indictment last week on charges of illegally collecting unemployment benefits.

"We felt very strongly that he needed time for himself to get his house in order, to deal with this," said Council vice president Len Torres, who with Council president Fran Adelson and Councilman Scott Mandel met with Fagen last Wednesday and suggested that he either step aside or take a leave of absence.

But Fagen refused, Torres said.

Fagen said Tuesday that he appreciated his colleagues' concern, but taking a break from serving on the council isn't necessary.

"We're a close group," Fagen said. "They were genuinely concerned about my well-being and offered me time away from council to focus in on my case."

After an arrest in June on charges that he illegally collected $7,000 in unemployment benefits, Fagen last week was indicted by a Nassau County grand jury on charges that he illegally claimed more than $14,000 in unemployment benefits by failing to report his job as a city councilman, prosecutors said.

Fagen was charged with third-degree grand larceny, petty larceny and 38 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.

Fagen's attorney Marc Gann said last week that the previous Republican administration filed false documents to the Department of Labor and the state comptroller's office on Fagen's behalf.

"We believe he's innocent until proven guilty obviously, but we feel that . . . it might be distracting both for him and us," if Fagen remains active on the council, Adelson said.