On Sunday, after racist comments were published online, Los Aangeles City Council President Nury Martinez issued a statement apologizing, saying, “In a moment of intense frustration and anger, I let the situation get the best of me and I hold myself accountable for these comments. For that I am sorry" In the leaked audio Martinez derided some of her council colleagues and according to the Los Angeles Times "spoke in unusually crass terms about how the city should be carved up politically." The contents of the leak were not new. The LA Times first reported about the audio recording of a conversation that happened back in October 2021 between Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera while discussing the redrawing of districts. "The conversation remained private for nearly a year, until a leaked recording reverberated explosively Sunday and turned the focus of a sprawling metropolis toward Los Angeles City Hall." Response to the leak was swift. The California and Los Angeles branches of the NAACP demanded late Sunday that Martinez and the others involved, resign.
Ron
Herrera, the president of Los
Angeles County Federation of Labor, who was part of the leaked conversation
resigned
at a meeting Monday, The
organization’s remaining leaders demanded Tuesday that the
three City Council members involved in the leak scandal resign as well. Thom
davis, the chair of the federation’s executive board, sid that “The Executive
Board of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor also calls on those elected
officials who were present to follow President Herrera’s example by immediately
resigning as well,” According to its website. The Federation "support
progressive leaders and policies that will ensure the protection of our rights
and the betterment of our lives"
You might recall Doctor
Jill Biden apologized via a tweet from her Spokesperson Michael LaRosa
after she characterized Hispanics as unique as breakfast tacos. Martinez,
Herrera and the others, like Biden, regardless of the issue, demeaning
statements, racist remarks or vacuous apology is not what matters. Politicians
are like the wind – they apologize if they sense resistance, or bask in it if
praised
As if on que, on Wednesday, right after Martinez and Herrera
stepped down from their respective positions, Salvador Huizar, 57, of Boyle
Heights, brother of Former L.A. City Councilman José Huizar, facing federal
racketeering charges stemming from a “pay-to-play” scheme, admitted in a
plea agreement that the took cash from José Huizar on numerous occasions
and immediately wrote checks back to him or arranged to pay his expenses, and
then lied about his actions to federal investigators, On at least 20 occasions,
José Huizar gave his brother an envelope of cash and asked him to write checks
or facilitate electronic payments to José Huizar or for his expenses.
 |
| RICO Act |
The Chinese Connection
You might recall that in 2020 Huizar’s brother, then
council member Jose Huizar, 52, of Boyle Heights, was Indicted for conspiracy
to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in
which Huizar agreed to accept at least $1.5 million in illicit financial
benefits. A superseding
indictment also charges Richard Chan, who formerly was the general manager
of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and, the city’s deputy
mayor of economic development. Five new defendants were added in the
superseding indictment
·
Raymond She Wah Chan, also known as “She Wah Kwong,” 64, of
Monterey Park,
·
Wei Huang, 55, a resident of Shenzhen, China, who also maintains
a residence in San Marino, previously identified in court documents as “Chairman
E,” who is the billionaire chairman and president of a global development company
headquartered in China,
·
Shen Zhen New World I, LLC, one of Huang’s U.S.-based companies,
which acquired the L.A. Grand Hotel Downtown in 2011 for $90 million and
planned to redevelop it into a 77-story tower,
·
Dae Yong Lee, also known as “David Lee,” 56, of Bel Air, a developer with multiple properties in Los
Angeles,
·
940 Hill, LLC, a Lee-owned company that purchased a South Hill
Street property in downtown Los Angeles in 2008 for $9 million and planned to
redevelop it into a mixed-use development
According to United States
Attorney Nick Hanna. “The scope of corruption outlined in this indictment is
staggering. As the indictment alleges, Huizar, Chan and their network of
associates repeatedly violated the public trust by soliciting and accepting
numerous cash bribes and other financial benefits, turning Huizar’s City
Council seat into a money-making criminal enterprise. Powerful developers,
operating through well-connected lobbyists, eagerly participated in the schemes
to get preferential treatment for their downtown projects. This detailed
indictment, which lays bare these backroom deals, should prompt a serious
discussion as to whether significant reforms are warranted in Los Angeles city
government.”
On August 2020, Morris
Roland Goldman, a.k.a. “Morrie,” 57, of Porter Ranch, a longtime Los
Angeles City Hall lobbyist and close associate of City Councilman Jose Huizar agreed
to a plea deal where he was charged with participating in a bribery scheme in
which he brokered deals where a developer client agreed to make $50,000 in
political donations in exchange for Huizar’s official actions for the
developer’s benefit.
Federal prosecutors today
filed a criminal information charging a longtime Los Angeles City Hall lobbyist
and close associate of City Councilman Jose Huizar with participating in a
bribery scheme in which he brokered deals where a developer client agreed to
make $50,000 in political donations in exchange for Huizar’s official actions
for the developer’s benefit.
A
Chinese company’s Arcadia subsidiary, established to redevelop a
downtown Los Angeles hotel, agreed on October 7, 2020, to pay $1,050,000 to
resolve an investigation into the company’s conduct with public officials in
the City of Los Angeles, including bribery, honest services fraud, and foreign
and conduit campaign contributions.
On January 7, 2021, CP
Employer, Inc., formerly known as Carmel Partners, a San
Francisco-based company has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve a federal
criminal investigation that focused on the company’s relationship with former
Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar, who voted to approve its 35-story
project in the Arts District.
Dae
Yong Lee and one of his companies were
found guilty by a jury June 27, 2022 of federal criminal charges for providing
$500,000 in cash to then-Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar and his
special assistant in exchange for their help in resolving a labor organization’s
appeal of their own Los Angeles development project
Given Salvador Huizar’s plea
deal and the leaked audio, it would not be too surprising to see additional scandals
coming out from the LA City Council
No comments:
Post a Comment