A Temecula councilman voted for a series of city land purchases in late 2003 that earned more than $58,000 in commissions for a real estate firm overseen by a developer for whom he does consulting work.

The commissions went to Rancon Real Estate Corp., one of dozens of companies headed by developer Daniel L. Stephenson, according to city and state records.

When Councilman Jeff Comerchero voted for the land buys, he was a consultant for several other land-investment companies that Stephenson had formed to develop a community in an unincorporated area between Menifee and Hemet.

Records filed with the California secretary of state's office list Stephenson as manager of the land-investment companies and, in 2005 and 2007 filings, the chief executive officer of Rancon Real Estate.

All of the companies have used the same two addresses in Temecula and Murrieta.

Comerchero stated in an e-mail that he had nothing to do with Rancon Real Estate Corp. and thus had no conflict of interest.

Temecula City Attorney Peter Thorson, also in an e-mail, described the companies as "separate and distinct" from the development companies "in which Mr. Comerchero has financial interests."

"I have advised him that he does not need to abstain from participation in matters that might affect Rancon Real Estate Corp.," Thorson wrote.

When contacted by telephone, Thorson did not address the secretary of state filings.

Comerchero has worked for Stephenson as a consultant since 2002, helping several of Stephenson's companies obtain land-use approvals and bond financing for roads and other public works needed for development.

In January 2004, Comerchero was named president and chief executive officer of The Rancon Group, described on the company's Web site as "an integrated network of real estate-related companies and divisions formed to provide an array of services for buyers, sellers, developers, investors and owners of real property."

In a flow chart published on the Web site, Rancon Real Estate Corp. appeared with other companies under The Rancon Group. In an e-mail, Comerchero described the flow chart as "nothing more than semantics and marketing."

Stephenson, in telephone interviews, said he is chairman of the Rancon Real Estate Corp.'s board of directors and Mike Diaz is the company's president.

Comerchero's vote did not appear to violate state conflict-of-interest laws, which allow elected officials to vote on matters that result in a benefit of less than $100,000 to their employers -- provided the employer has at least $1 million in gross receipts.

"This still raises ethical questions," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.

A majority of Temecula City Council members -- Comerchero, Mike Naggar and Chuck Washington -- now have business, employment or investments with Stephenson's group of companies. But only Comerchero was doing business with Stephenson at the time the council voted to acquire the land.

Comerchero and other city officials declined to be interviewed for this article but agreed to respond in writing to written questions.

In his response, Comerchero said he did not know Rancon Real Estate earned commissions for selling land the city wanted for a future civic center complex. "I was not aware, nor was it important that I be.... " Comerchero wrote.

"Since Rancon Real Estate Corporation is a completely separate entity and since I have nothing to do with it, and certainly derive no financial benefit from it, there is no conflict of interest."

In a telephone interview, Stephenson said Comerchero doesn't earn any money from Rancon Real Estate. He said Comerchero is paid for helping to manage limited liability corporations set up by Stephenson and others to handle development projects.

Comerchero added that Rancon's commissions were not a city concern.

"Since the commissions paid in this case were paid by the seller, it was not a city expense, and therefore only a concern to the seller," he wrote.

The deal stemmed from a 0.6-acre lot just off Interstate 15 that Rancon Real Estate had listed for sale, said Rancon broker Ben Fraleigh in an interview. He said he contacted the owners of three adjacent properties and became their representative in the talks with the city.

The parcels eventually became part of a larger plan to build a complex that includes a $54 million city hall, a parking garage with nearly 400 spaces, a town square and office and retail space. Factoring in street improvements and the burying of utility lines, the city hall and related structures are expected to cost at least $80 million.

In November 2003, Fraleigh wrote to city Housing and Redevelopment Director John Meyer, saying the Rancon commissions would range from 2 percent to 6 percent in four land deals that totaled $1.3 million.

At no time, Fraleigh said, was Comerchero involved with the transactions.

"It had nothing to do with him," Fraleigh said. "This is way down at the bottom of the pecking order."

The four land deals went to the City Council on Dec. 16, 2003.

Council minutes show that Comerchero asked what the city would do with houses that existed on the properties and made the motion to approve several resolutions to buy the land. The vote was unanimous. Joining Comerchero were Naggar, Washington and Ron Roberts. The other council member, Jeff Stone, was absent. Stone is now a county supervisor.

No details of specific real estate commissions were included in the sales contracts attached to those resolutions.

In city real estate files, the signed final contract includes addendums that described the $58,090 in commissions to be paid to Rancon Real Estate. Fraleigh said the commissions were split between him and the company, but he declined to give the breakdown.

Comerchero was emphatic when asked whether the commission affected his status within the Rancon family of companies. He wrote: "That is a ridiculous question and an insult to my integrity. OF COURSE NOT!!!"

Longtime Old Town merchant Doc Laine said he was concerned about the ties between Rancon and the City Council.

"There's so much Rancon down here," said Laine, who sells Old West and Indian antiquities from a shop near the city hall site.

Laine, who has concerns about what the new city hall will do to Old Town, said he feels the City Council doesn't listen to him when he testifies.

"It's already a done deal," he said. "It's blowing in the wind up there."