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Wife, Neighbors Defend Monrovia Council Member Spicer
Monrovia Weekly Jun 21, 2012
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By Susan Motander
Several neighbors of Monrovia Council Member Larry Spicer contacted this newspaper to support him after a story that appeared last week. The story reported on allegations by Mike Vallejo that Spicer was a bully and that his wife was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Spicer. Vallejo also said that Spicer’s neighbors were afraid of him because of his abusive behavior.
Delphine Spicer, the council member’s wife chose to use the same forum as the individual who made the allegations and addressed the City Council during its Public Input portion of the council meeting on. Spicer’s neighbors and wife were in complete agreement on the fact that the charges were false.
Delphine said that she felt compelled to attend the council meeting to set the record straight about the charges. She said that Vallejo had not told the true story of what had happened in their neighborhood.
Delphine Spicer reported that Vallejo had not told the true story of what occurred in their neighborhood. According to her, Vallejo lives next door with his parents. His father had several plants and trees on his property adjacent to the Spicer home. Some of these were beginning to encroach on the Spicer property.
She said that seven months ago, Mike Vallejo approached her husband and told him he would trim the trees. Vallejo’s father was out of the country at the time. She said that subsequently Mike Vallejo claimed that “Larry had cut the trees.” She said she believed that Vallejo had made up the story to prevent his father from forcing him to leave.
Delphine further related that Vallejo called the police at that time and that as a result code enforcement representatives also came to the location and ordered that additional trimming be done to other trees.
“We never had any problems with him before this,” she told the council. As evidence of this she recounted several incidents of amicable relations with Mike Vallejo including the gift of an art piece of a fish which Vallejo had given the couple.
She also responded to the reports Vallejo said he had collected from other neighbors to substantiate his claim that the whole neighborhood lived in fear of Spicer. “In the 20 years we lived there I have never seen Mike talk to the neighbors,” she said.
She said that Vallejo had found two neighbors who were willing to join him in his allegations against Spicer. She said their stories were “twisted and exaggerated” and that they involved alleged incidents which occurred “ten years ago.”
She also objected to Vallejo using her name in claiming that Spicer had sprayed her with a “high pressure hose.” She denied that he had done so and said that she was considering legal action against Vallejo for making these allegations regarding her relationship with her husband.
Delphine Spicer called her husband “a strong man” and denied the allegations made by Vallejo. She questioned why after all this time he would bring up incidents that happened so many years ago. She said she believed that the only difference is that “Larry Spicer is now Councilman Spicer.”
The neighbors who voiced their support of Spicer also denied the story of domestic violence. Mrs. Mercedes Duarte reported to this newspaper that she lives next door to the Spicers. She said that it was her son who gave Vallejo the erroneous story of the incident regarding the hose.
“It was over ten years ago. Larry and his wife and their little one were in the front yard fooling around with the garden hose,” she recalled.
“Larry sprayed his wife and she ran to my house to get away from the water,” Duarte recounted. “He shouldn’t have gotten her hair wet and I gave him a lecture and told him that was not the way to treat his wife.”
Spicer said he remembered Duarte’s lecture and agreed with her. “We were just playing with the hose and the water,” he said, “but Mrs. Duarte was right. I shouldn’t have squirted her and I did apologize to my wife. I remember that I had to pay for a new hairdo as well.”
Duarte said that both the Spicers and their children were good neighbors and that she was very sorry that her son had gotten written what he did. “I do not like to get involved in my neighbors’ businesss,” she said, but added, “I felt I need to say I have no problems with Larry.”
She was not the only neighbor to defend Spicer. Terry and Henry Frias live across the street from the Spicers. Far from being afraid of Larry they said he would be the first person they would call in the event of an emergency.
“I know I could call him at any time, even three o’clock in the morning, and Larry would be here to help me,” Henry Frias said.
Mr. Frias and his wife of over fifty years have lived in the neighborhood even longer than the Spicers. As an example of their trust in him, the Frias said that whenever they go out of town, it is with Spicer that they leave a key and have pick up their mail. “Would we do that with someone we are afraid of?” asked Mrs. Frias.
On a final note in regard to this story: This newspaper received an anonymous call earlier this week making other allegations about Spicer. This newspaper was unable to substantiate any of the allegations made.
It had long been the policy of this paper not to print anonymous letters. We have printed letters and withheld the name at the request of the writers. However, in each of these instances, the identity of the writer was known to at least one member of the editorial board. Anonymous and unsubstantiated reports are merely gossip and are not news and therefore not reported.
As an aside to that caller “You didn’t even get Spicer’s name right.”sm
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