Trutanich, Baca under investigation by FBI over fundraising

The Los Angeles Dragnet reports:

The LA Times has confirmed rumors that were received by the Dragnet that Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich and 'longtime supporter' Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca are being investigated by the FBI over potentially illegal fundraising activities during which deputy sheriffs were 'ordered' to collect campaign contributions for Trutanich's Hindenburg-like campaign for District Attorney.

In our recent review of 'winners and losers' in the 2013 City Elections, we listed Sheriff Baca as a 'loser' for his support for the failed incumbent City Attorney Trutanich, noting that "to this day nobody fully understands why Baca is so entrenched in his support for Trutanich. He spearheaded the pathetically false 'Draft Trutanich for DA' movement, got himself in trouble for breaking the law by endorsing Trutanich in his uniform, and raised a ton of cash for Trutanich - which might also get him in trouble if rumors are correct..."

The rumors were correct, and the Dragnet can now reveal that the FBI investigation into Trutanich and Baca was ongoing long before the May 21, 2013 election where Trutanich was rejected by voters in an historic defeat.

The FBI had received information from Deputy Tamayo, assigned the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station (Malibu area), that he had been ordered to obtain donations for Trutanich from local businessmen and wealthy residents. It is understood that Tamayo was not the only deputy sheriff involved in the fundraising scandal. The Malibu Times reported that as many as twelve other deputies were 'ordered' to shake down the wealthy for donations in the form of 'tickets' to a fundraiser attended by Trutanich. Each deputy was expected to sell 10 tickets, Tamayo told the Times, stating that the order "came down through the chain of command from Sheriff Lee Baca — an allegation his spokesman denied." The Times reported.
  
One thing the Times makes clear is that Trutanich was "targeted" by the FBI in their investigation.

Tamayo stated that in the course of the FBI investigation he wore a wiretap and was monitored by FBI Agents who communicated with him by text messages. Tamayo provided the Times with the text messages where his handlers 'coached' him to "mention Trutanich and to bring up the difference between the truth and staying loyal." Seemingly, Tamayo followed his prompts from the FBI handler and obtained the necessary information. "You're doing fine," one message from the FBI handler says, another says "OK when you have a chance turn everything off, we'll meet you at iHop," indicating that Tamayo had recorded the conversations necessary for the investigation. 

Intriguingly, it seems the FBI had realized that an issue central to Trutanich's candidacy for District Attorney was the apparent conflict between "the truth" and "staying loyal." The implication being that "the truth" about Trutanich (presumably his being utterly unfit for District Attorney) was irrelevant, and that "loyalty" was more important. Presumably the reference to loyalty refers to Sheriff Baca's support for Trutanich.

As mentioned in both the LA Times and Malibu Times articles, Sheriff Baca previously broke state law in connection with Trutanich when he appeared "in uniform" offering his endorsement of Trutanich during the 2012 campaign for District Attorney.



Trutanich quickly edited out the endorsement from his much hailed 'viral' YouTube campaign video which was subsequently removed from YouTube for violating their deceptive content policy. Trutanich also removed the endorsement from his DA campaign website, which was also promptly shut down following his humiliating defeat.  

While Trutanich has pretty much sealed his own fate in terms of his political future, Sheriff Baca is understood to be campaigning for reelection as Los Angeles County Sheriff in 2014. Those who have announced an interest in opposing Baca will likely exploit the scandal over the fundraising issue, and should the FBI investigation yield criminal charges, Baca may well find himself in the same situation as Trutanich.

The latest scandal concerning Trutanich may cause his successor, City Attorney elect Mike Feuer to reconsider Trutanich's offer to help with the transition of administration. The LA Times had reportedthat after conceding defeat, 'Trutanich telephoned Feuer after conceding and offered to help with the transition to a new administration. Feuer said Wednesday he was "very grateful" for the offer. "He'll play an integral role in the transition," Feuer said.' Trutanich, of course, may have his own reasons for wanting to 'help' with the transition and given the shocking revelations in the Times, Feuer might do better without 'help' from Trutanich. As Sheriff Baca now must realize, association with Trutanich comes at a very heavy price.

Quoted content ends.

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Kevin James Mayoral campaign boosted by matching funds

Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Kevin James took a giant leap forward in his campaign to become the next Mayor of Los Angeles with the news that he has raised enough money to qualify for matching funds.

Qualifying for matching funds means that not only will James receive a dollar for dollar doubling of his fundraising, but even more importantly, it means that he will be a participant in the next Mayoral candidates' debate on February 2, 2101 at UCLA.

All eyes will be on James in the debates. The former Assistant US Attorney and talk show host is bound to raise the bar in the debates, challenging the policies of the Villaraigosa administration and the business as usual brigade that have brought the nation's second largest city to the brink of bankruptcy.

To learn more about Kevin James, visit his campaign website: www.KevinJamesForMayor.com

Trutanich faced with major setback in District Attorney campaign

The LA Weekly's exclusive report of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's shock defeat in what should have been slam-dunk convictions of OccupyLA protesters, shows just how ill-suited the former plaintiff's attorney is to the serious business of law enforcement, according to the Los Angeles Dragnet.

Trutanich was unable to proceed with prosecutions against the Occupy LA protesters because his attorneys were unprepared to go forward with trials, missing witnesses, paperwork and evidence.

It's a shocking indictment of Trutanich's management ability and will harm Trutanich's credibility as a candidate for District Attorney; if he cannot manage a simple misdemeanor prosecution for failing to disperse and trespass, how can he possibly be capable of managing the serious business of prosecuting felons as District Attorney?

Ironically, on the same day that news of Trutanich's monumental failure was revealed, his former supporter Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley sat calmly in Department 30 of the Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles  while a 37 count felony complaint was presented against the Hollywood serial arsonist, Harry Burkhart.

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley looks calmly at the face of
alleged serial arsonist Harry Burkhart while Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney
outlines the well-prepared case against the defendant

Trutanich had over a month to be prepared to prosecute the Occupy LA protesters for minor crimes that barely warrant a slap on the wrist, but Trutanich could not handle the pressure. In contrast, the District Attorney's Office had 48 hours to prepare and successfully present the 37 count complaint against the worst arsonist in Los Angeles history.

The contrast between the two former friends couldn't be greater. While Trutanich appears to prefer trying his cases in the press without being able to follow through, Cooley shuns the media and gets on with doing the job. Cooley has made it clear that he does not support Trutanich to replace him as District Attorney when he retires in 2013. Now Los Angelenos can see why; he cannot do the job.

City Attorney's ACE Program Promises Swift Justice At Small Price

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD5) have been quietly but steadily working together for the past two years on a plan to streamline the handling of minor, low-grade violations of the municipal code. The Administrative Citations Enforcement program (ACE) will allow Trutanich to impose fines (administrative citations) on violators without the traditional high costs and delays of the criminal justice system. Apart from the clear advantage of swift justice, it will also generate a revenue stream that will not only cover the costs of the program, but also yield several millions of dollars in fines and fees that will go to the General Fund.

At 1PM on Monday, September 26, 2011, the Budget and Finance Committee will vote on Trutanich's proposal, and members of the public are welcome to testify as to their thoughts on ACE.

The ACE program was an idea Trutanich came up with when he became LA's first fiscally conservative City Attorney in decades. A former Republican, Trutanich reinvented himself as an independent but kept a firm grip on his Republican values. Supporters will be pleased to find that unnecessary and often undue deference to civil liberties and minority interests, takes a distant second place to uniform enforcement of law. According to Trutanich, his idea was adopted by at least two major Californian cities after he shared his idea with them; San Diego and Santa Monica were rapid adopters and, according to Trutanich, "it's working just fine."

Although the idea was Trutanich's the impetus for ACE came from Councilmember Paul Koretz who represents Council District 5 which includes much of LA's wealthy westside community. Koretz had the bare bones of a plan to tackle common neighborhood complaints such as illegal vending, noise pollution, fence heights, unpermitted construction and untended front yards. Trutanich had to modify Koretz's two-page motion to beef it up with more effective enforcement measures that the liberal lawmaker had overlooked. Trutanich's final draft includes the following key concepts designed to ensure maximum enforcement with minimum delay and minimal or no cost.

1. Removal of the Criminal Court's Jurisdiction
Currently, neighborhood problems receive low priority in the already overcrowded criminal court system. Rogue judges often make allowances or exceptions for special interests and minorities that are not written into the letter of the law. ACE creates a parallel universe of Administrative Hearing Courts where the defendant will not be able to "game the system" with delays and typical defense attorney tricks. The goal is to ensure a uniform enforcement of the law with no exceptions.

The Trutanich Courts will be efficient and effective because:

• There will be no jury - the judge decides everything.
• There will be no public defender - if these criminals want an attorney, let them pay for one.
• The judges will be selected by the City Attorney and told how to decide cases. That way, rogue judges can be quickly removed.
• Specially selected prosecutors will staff the courts to assist the judge in matters of law.
• If defendants want to fight cases, they will have to pay the fine first before the judge even hears their case.
• If defendants fail to attend their scheduled hearing, a money judgment lien will be recorded against their home or business.

2. Fines not Jail Will Bring Rapid Results
The costs of incarceration are bankrupting the state. Sending more criminals to jail just adds to the strain on our limited resources. Using Administrative Penalties and Fees we can save money because:

• No defendant in Trutanich Courts will ever be sent to jail by one of Trutanich's judges. 
• Defendants will, instead, be made to pay their fines and fees, either by attachment of earnings or property liens.  
• Defendants who delay resolving their obligations will face a daily increase in fines because every day that a violation exists, constitutes a new offense.

3. Criminals Cannot Hide Evidence
Oftentimes, defendants escape justice because they are able to hide or conceal incriminating evidence. Because the Trutanich Courts are non-criminal, the full range of constitutional protections such as the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to the Constitution do not apply. All that is required is Due Process - notice and an opportunity to be heard. Accordingly, the Trutanich Courts can:

• Hear evidence that would be considered hearsay in a criminal court.
• Compel the defendant to produce documents and items using a subpoena power similar to that used in criminal courts and grand juries.
• Use evidence seized by enforcement officers without search warrants.
• Hear incriminating statements made by defendants without "Miranda" warnings.

These are just a few of the ways that Trutanich will ensure that all our laws are applied fairly, evenly and appropriately to all who violate them. Yes, it is swift justice, but justice delayed is justice denied.

Unfortunately, not all citizens see things the right way, and there have been a few alarmist and ill informed criticisms of ACE. Stephen Box, who ran for CD4 and lost, published a hit piece on CityWatchLA, read it after reading this and you decide what's makes more sense. The Los Angeles Dragnet blog also criticized Carmen Trutanich for his ACE program, but the arguments made there are frankly ludicrous and completely biased against Trutanich.

For more information the draft ACE ordinance can be found at:

http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0085_RPT_ATTY_06-27-11.pdf .

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact David Hersch or Christopher Koontz in Councilmember
Koretz’s office at 213-473-7005.

Come and testify at the Budget and Finance Committee:
September 26, 2011, 1:00 PM
Room 1010, City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(Contact CD5 for Parking 213-473-7005.)

If you cannot attend the hearing, please send e-mails and letter of support to members of the
Budget and Finance Committee below.  Please copy Councilmember Paul Koretz.

Bernard Parks             bernard.c.parks@lacity.org
Tony Cardenas           tony.cardenas@lacity.org
Mitch Englander         mitch.englander@lacity.org
Paul Koretz                 paul.koretz@lacity.org
Bill Rosendahl            bill.rosendahl@lacity.org

Remember, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has worked on this plan for over two years and if there were any real problems, he would have said so. His enemies inside City Hall want him to fail, but with your support that will not happen.

Thanks to the folks at LANeighbors.org for much of the information used here.

Trutanich Targeted in "Memorial Day Of Shame" Attack

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was the target of what appears to be an orchestrated ad hominem attack against his credibility on Memorial Day. The attack is likely the work of his political opponents in the District Attorney race all of whom, however, are expected to deny any connection to what one commenter described as "a cowardly outrage reminiscent of Pearl Harbor."

Carmen 'Nuch' Truanich's 2009 City Attorney campaign promises were
dragged out and selectively edited into a YouTube video produced by
the Political Pantloads blog, and shared by two other blogs.  

The Political Pantloads Blog produced a YouTube video containing statements made by Carmen Trutanich during his 2009 campaign for City Attorney which, when taken at face value and out of context, could be construed as contradicting a campaign pledge made by Trutanich that he would not run for District Attorney until he had completed two terms as City Attorney.

The Political Pantloads story was quickly picked up by the Los Angeles Dragnet at the Politics Without Mercy blogs, with little or no attempt made to disguise the fact that they were basically parroting the original story, suggesting that this was a pre-arranged attack with the collusion and cooperation of all involved.



Credits for the YouTube video makes the claim that no candidate for District Attorney was involved in the production of the Memorial Day hit piece, however, observers may think differently.

Trutanich has known for some time that his campaign pledge would be used against him and has stated that he challenged his then opponent to sign the pledge. Because the pledge was not signed by both politicians, it is not binding and is basically a campaign stunt that should not be taken seriously.

Your thoughts.

LA City Council - Next In Line For Investigation?

They're amongst the highest paid city government officials in the nation, the 15 Los Angeles City Council "members" who must be very nervous about what's going on in terms of investigations into the high salaries paid to elected city officials in the City of Bell and other LA County cities.

Today a new voice was added to the many who now question whether councilmen are worth the high salaries they pay themselves. Former Assistant US Attorney Adam Schiff (Rep. D-Pasadena) "called on federal prosecutors to examine political corruption in Los Angeles County" according to the Pasadena News Star.

Schiff's call to arms is intriguing as he wants the US Attorney to conduct the investigation, not LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who made international headlines by busting "corruption on steroids" in the City of Bell, as well as prosecuting Los Angeles City Council "member" Richard Alarcon for living outside of his council district.

Perhaps Schiff felt it was incongruous for Cooley to pursue an investigation into the LA City Council's lack of action in the face of very damning evidence against Alarcon? Many are wondering why Alarcon should continue to receive in excess of $170,000 a year while facing charges that appear to be incontestable. Yet the City Council has steadfastly refused to consider suspending Alarcon's "CEO-like" salary while he struggles to find some excuse for not residing in his council district to such an extent that a homeless person was able to move in.

But it is not only Alarcon's pay that Schiff might be concerned about. All 15 Los Angeles council "members" receive over $170,000 a year, but many nevertheless consistently fail to show up for scheduled council meetings. Schiff may be on to something here as there certainly seems to be more than a degree of similarity between the charges in the Bell City case where councilmen received high salaries but rarely showed up for work, and the tardy attitudes of the Los Angeles City 15.

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is precluded from investigating and/or prosecuting his clients for taking high salaries and not showing up for work, and perhaps Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley already has enough on his plate. Maybe it's time for the US Attorney to do something to justify his salary and clamp down on the Los Angeles City Council - somebody has to.

Deputy City Attorney Uses Misleading Ballot Designation in Judicial Race

Is Thomas Griego really a "Criminal Prosecutor?"

OPINION
One man who must be banking on how little voters actually know about them when voters pick judges must be Deputy City Attorney Thomas 'Tom" Griego, who is probably relying on the fact that most voters in the November mid-term election have never heard of him, visited his website, or know the first thing about him.

What Griego is likely gambling on is that voters will just look at his ballot designation, "Criminal Prosecutor," and decide that a person who fights crime and puts bad guys in jail, must be a good choice for Judge.

But in the case of Thomas "Tom" Griego, there's good reason to question whether Griego has ever really "put a bad guy in jail," and it certainly appears that he hasn't done anything like that recently. Sources at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office say that Griego has spent most of his lackluster career hidden away on the civil side and only recently requested a transfer out of his obscure civil duties to the criminal side. 

Griego is believed to have requested the transfer because it would help him in his bid to become a judge, a role that many do not feel his is qualified for.

The leading Los Angeles legal newspaper, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, had this to say about Griego's misleading ballot designation:

"TOM GRIEGO is also running for the county’s Superior Court with a vote-attracting ballot designation of “Criminal Prosecutor.” In his case, it’s misleading.

I asked Griego: “Have you prosecuted anyone in the last year?”
His answer: “No, I have not.”
 

To me, that’s a confession as to the invalidity of the designation. If he has not prosecuted criminals (or alleged criminals), he has not been a criminal prosecutor.
 

Garcia admits that as of March 8, he in no way even assisted in any prosecution, but had been reading manuals and the like.
 

His job title is “deputy city attorney.” During the one-year period preceding the filing of his papers—except for some time in recent days in the role of a trainee—he handled civil matters.
The ballot designation he has chosen—which so far has not drawn a challenge—is a falsehood."

Those are strong words indeed from Roger M. Grace at the Met News, and many might well believe that a person like Griego who seeks to mislead voters so blatantly, has no place sitting in judgment of others. Certainly, the Los Angeles County Bar Association wasted no time in declaring Griego "Not Qualified" to be a judge, but in the Primary Election Griego fooled 223,411 voters into putting him into a runoff against a real "Criminal Prosecutor," Alan Schneider.

Schneider, unlike Griego, really does the job of "putting bad guys in jail," and instead of running around campaigning, is actually engaged in a murder trial. According to Schneider's website, he has "tried over 100 jury trials, including 40 homicides, with a 94 percent conviction rate. For the last 7 years, I have specialized in prosecuting complex murder cases against gang member defendants who pose the greatest threat to the public’s safety and the quality of life in our communities."

Schneider has valuable endorsements from all sides of law enforcement, including over 100 Superior Court Judges, as well as Michael P. Judge, Los Angeles County Public Defender and Steve Cooley, Los Angeles County District Attorney.

In a marked contrast, Griego has an endorsement from Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. It's an endorsement that many find troubling, especially in the light of Griego's "Unqualified" rating, and the controversy over his misleading ballot designation.

It is rare for the City Hall Insider to disagree with Trutanich, but this time we have to say that even if there were internal pressures, it would have been better for Trutanich to only endorse candidates for judicial office who are rated "qualified" or above.

 On November 2, 2010 City Hall Insider urges you to vote for Alan Schneider for Judge.

Venice RV Poop Dumpers Get Slap on Wrist

LA Superior Court Commissioner Mark Zuckman is not related to Groucho Marx

KFI 640AM's Steve Gregory reports that the Venice RV dwelling doodoo dumping duo, who were arrested in August for dumping their feces, urine and shower waste on the streets of Venice, and who were arrested again this past weekend for doing the same thing, have done a sweetheart deal with a Court Commissioner  for a time-served sentence; 2 days in jail and 36 months of probation is all they will serve for their crimes.

According to Steve Gregory, defendant Lindsey Estilette and her companion reportedly appeared in front of LA Superior Court Commissioner Mark Zuckman Wednesday, October 13, 2010, and Zuckerman wasted no time in showing how little he apparently cares about the serious problem of RV operators in Venice who dump toxic waste on the streets, instead of going to a disposal site.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich had insisted that the doodoo dumpers serve 90 days in jail if they plead guilty, although they faced a potential maximum of three years in jail if convicted after trial.

However, Commissioner Zuckman undercut Trutanich and basically said if they plead no contest to all the charges, he would let them off for the two days that 28 year-old Estilette had already spent in jail, and give them 36 months of probation to pay restitution for the cost of cleaning up their toxic waste. The doodoo dumping duo have also been ordered to stay away from Venice.

Mark Zuckman was appointed as Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner in 2002. He is a former Deputy Public Defender who, some say, bears a passing resemblance to comedian Groucho Marx.

Venice Beach residents concerned about the problems that RV dwellers have caused in their community are unlikely to be pleased with Zuckman's assessment of the seriousness of the problem as it was hoped by many that this case would set an example to others, and deter this disgusting practice.

Zine Tells Mayor to Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine

Can't do better than link to Los Angeles Dragnet who called Dennis Zine "The People's Hero" for having the guts to say "No" to Mayor Villaraigosa's shameful attempt to solve his fiscal irresponsibility by making the cash-rich DWP raise our rates.

LA Dragnet also had this great pic of Dennis Zine which we hope they don't mind us also using here.  Zine has been the only City Councilman to consistently stand by City Attorney Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich, and as they say, perhaps a little of the City Attorney's "Do the right thing" mantra is finally making sense to some of the other elected officials in our City.

Zine's consistent stance against the Mayor marks a first for Los Angeles, and let' s hope Zine's example inspires the rest of the Council to marginalize and ignore the Mayor for the remainder of his term, and get to grips with the financial ruin Villariagosa has brought on our City.

Times Tries To Cover Up Villaraigosa's Failure

As KABC talk show host Doug McIntrye would say, "You can't make this stuff up!"

At 12:18PM today, the LA Times NOW Blog carried a nice little puff piece about the Mayor's impending TV appearance on 'All My Children,' currently scheduled for airing on Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

Less than one and a half hours later, the Times closed comments on their puff piece with the simple statement "The comments to this entry are closed." You can see the puff piece for yourself at:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/villaraigosas-debut-on-all-my-children-set-for-wednesday.html#comments

that is, of course, assuming that the Times hasn't removed it altogether by the time you read this.

Three comments somehow managed to be posted in the 90 minutes that free speech was allowed at the Times, all scathingly negative about the Mayor of Failure's poor choice in taking days off work to make a cameo appearance on TV.

Just in case the Times removes those comments, here they are:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you wondered about the Mayor's priorities and focus on crucial city issues, this choice to do this appearance will tell you a lot. Antonio is an absolute Bozo.

Posted by: robert | February 15, 2010 at 01:10 PM

Doesn't he have City of Los Angeles work to do? Is he donating his "salary" for his appearance to the general fund?

Posted by: Margie Ochoa | February 15, 2010 at 01:10 PM

It's nice to see our tax dollars hard at work.


Amazing this city is is the toilet and he is doing this.


What's next?

Posted by: ellesdad1 | February 15, 2010 at 01:46 PM

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Unconfirmed rumors have it that the Times was inundated with so many negative comments about the Mayor's TV soap opera debut, that they felt compelled to shut down comments before they become the source of more embarrassment to Villaraigosa.

More embarrassment? Oh yes. Did you see the Opinion section in yesterday's Sunday LA Times?

Antonio Villaraigosa on L.A.’s budget woes

Villaraigosa spoke to Times reporters Nick Goldberg, David Lauter, Dan Turner, 'Newton,' and someone only identified as "L.A. Times reporter."

There were a couple of interesting things about the report of the interview. First, the Times reported Villariagosa's comments verbatim - complete with poor sentence structure, rambling thoughts, and the usual bagful of catchphrases, cliches and platitudes.

It made one thing very clear; when Villaraigosa goes 'off script,' he stumbles and stammers his way through an answer. We saw all of that and more last week when Villaraigosa spoke to the Council. He was incoherently babbling most of the time.

Second, an unidentified "Aide" interrupted Villaraigosa not less than five times either to correct Villaraigosa's misstatements, or to answer facts and figures that Villaraigosa plainly did not know.

Here's the link to the Opinion Section:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-villaraigosa-ps15-2010feb15,0,3847290,full.story

Clearly Goldberg, Lauter, Turner, 'Newton,' and "reporter" could have cleaned up Villaraigosa's poor performance. They chose not to, perhaps because this was supposed to be an opinion written by Villaraigosa, and as he cannot write very well (he failed the California Bar at least 4 times), and was too lazy to even try to put pen to paper, he chose to use his charm and eloquence to win over the Times. It didn't work, did it?

One other thing that the Mayor of Failure stumbled and stammered his way through was a feeble attempt to explain why he screwed up in ordering City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to fire 100 staffers.

According the Times, Villaraigosa said:

"So once it was clear to me that I had the power through my managers -- and all [City Attorney 
Carmen Trutanich] said what that I had overreached. I don't have power over the city attorney 
because he's duly elected, but as you know I wrote him a letter saying I still want you to lay these 
people off, and I said that in public at the City Council meeting."


So Villaraigosa now admits that he doesn't have the power to order lay-offs, but he can write a letter saying "pretty please" fire 100 attorneys.

If the Mayor's performance in Council and in front of the LA Times reporters is anything to go by, his soap opera debut on 'All My Children' will make viewers wonder just how many takes it took to get this one episode in the can?

CD5 to Recall Paul Koretz?

As news of Koretz's ad hominem attack on District Attorney Steve Cooley and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is reaching stakeholders in Council District 5, rumor has it that there is a growing movement to launch a recall campaign to oust the Sacramento liberal from what many see as a carpet-bagged seat that he somehow managed to steal.

Few in CD5 realized exactly how responsible Koretz was for bringing hundreds of pot shops to the streets of Los Angeles while he was a Sacramento liberal democrat. in response to criticism from Melrose residents who have 14 pot shops in their neighborhood, Koretz blasted Cooley and Trutanich for upholding a law that does not allow pot shops to ply their trade on Los Angeles streets.

But Koretz failed to mention that he was the co-author of what legal experts agree was a poorly written and vague law that only allowed communist style 'collectives' to exist, not the main street marijuana shops that resulted from his law.

Instead of "fessing-up" and admitting that he wrote a bad law that has harmed the community, the self-proclaimed 'King of Pot' likened Trutanich and Cooley to George W. Bush rather than admit his close association with Americans for Safe Access, a pot shop funded lobbying group that not only funded Koretz's campaign, but co-opted Council Member Ed Reyes into proposing a law to regulate pot shops written by pot shop owners.

Koretz's remarks are reproduced here:



Koretz is going to have a hard time explaining why he not only caused the explosion of pot shops in Los Angeles, but why he thought that invoking the name of George W. Bush would somehow win him support in a council district that is largely supportive of their City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich, and District Attorney, Steve Cooley.