Secret LAUSD Bond Operation
Full Disclosure Network has issued a report that claims that the Los Angeles Unified School District maintains "a secret public financing operation whereby they quietly issue non-voter approved, tax-exempt bonds, mounting billions in public debt, and which is passed on to unsuspecting taxpayers for undefined projects."
Anthony Patchett, special district attorney and head of the LA County D.A.'s Belmont investigation, describes the LAUSD financing operation as a “pyramid scheme to defraud the voters” and LAUSD Chief Facilities Executive Jim Mc Connell confirms the existence of a secret public benefit corporation saying the LAUSD Land Bank is funded by Certificates of Participation (COP) bonds.
Full Disclosure has a video report online featuring interviews with Patchett, LAUSD Inspector General Don Mulllinax, former US Attorney General Ed Meese who describes the secret bond financing process as a “gimmick” to fool the taxpayers. To view the report and interviews, click here.
UPDATE: Martini Republic's Joseph Mailander squares off with Full Disclosure's Leslie Dutton over the issues in this report, in our comments section.
Anthony Patchett, special district attorney and head of the LA County D.A.'s Belmont investigation, describes the LAUSD financing operation as a “pyramid scheme to defraud the voters” and LAUSD Chief Facilities Executive Jim Mc Connell confirms the existence of a secret public benefit corporation saying the LAUSD Land Bank is funded by Certificates of Participation (COP) bonds.
Full Disclosure has a video report online featuring interviews with Patchett, LAUSD Inspector General Don Mulllinax, former US Attorney General Ed Meese who describes the secret bond financing process as a “gimmick” to fool the taxpayers. To view the report and interviews, click here.
UPDATE: Martini Republic's Joseph Mailander squares off with Full Disclosure's Leslie Dutton over the issues in this report, in our comments section.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 7/11/2005 11:20:00 AM
21 Comments:
Can you hear that noise? That is the sound of the boardmembers and District executives destroying documents and passing blame.
I'm not getting the word "secret" here, viz. an S&P bond rating on LAUSD COPs offered in 2000. Discussion of COPs can be found on many LAUSD board agendas.
Joseph Mailander, that sounds familiar, aren't you one of the partners in "The Firm"?
Bail out faster, Sleezy Huizar, before you get tarred to badly to ever run for office again, Hispanic surname or not.
ANTONIO'S 1ST BIG TEST TODAY. No doubt the blacks are going to come out outraged that a 17 month old baby was killed in the shootout yesterday in South LA. Father was using the baby as a shield. LAPD had no choice when the idiot came out shooting and tried eveything before that to get the baby.
Let's see how Antonio handles this situation. He will now see how irrational the blacks can be.They sure ignore all the black on black crime in their own backyard. Guess its ok for blacks to keep killing eachother but when LAPD does everything in their power to prevent a psycho from going off on the whole neighborhood and sadly a baby is killed they are outraged. Good luck Tony
Dumbshit, not that it matters, but that low life and the poor child in the middle were Hispanic, not Black.
How can anyone second guess police officers in that kind of a situation?
There is no way you can blame the police officers or anyone else on this. The blame rests squarely on Jose Lemos, who held the folks hostage, shot at the police officers and used that child as a shield.
Now, enough off topic posting.
Martini Man - you are right, but what FDN is talking about it is that its received no press. For sure, the LAUSD wanted no one but the investment community to know about it. That press release you link to was put out by S&P, not LAUSD. If you watch Leslie's report, you will see there are senior district officials who know very little about the COPs.
Even if they didn't totally hide it, it was a sneaky way to fly under the radar of the voters.
Sleezy Huizy was on a paid infomercial show on KRLA last night, hosted by that guy Barry Gordon, washed up actor who used to be on Archie Bunker's place.
Is that the best he can do?
Didn't Gordon have a failed run for Assembly a few years back? Maybe he's a fortune teller.
I think he ran against James Rogan for Congress didn't he?
AD 44 against Liu
http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/00031239/rr1239pg.html-ssi#44
If you watch Leslie's report, you will see there are senior district officials who know very little about the COPs.
I've met bankers who know very little about COPs. Your Honor, it's not the responsibility of everyone in the District at a senior level to know about how they work, only that they must be paid when due. Nor is it the responsibility of the District to issue idiot-proof (or even journalist-proof) press releases distilling the agendas of all LAUSD committee meetings and spelling out exactly how a given (and in this case, very common) financial instrument works. Aren't the journalists supposed to be asking questions about the things they don't understand?
I see them as a way of getting around draconian spending limits. But two words that are misleading in FDN's report are "secret" and "voter." They're not secret, and there's no need for every voter to receive full disclosure statements regarding every financial instrument a public institution employs. Those who are interested to can easily follow along.
This looks like a bunch of libertarians doing a piling-on hatchet job on a public agency that has already been bludgeoned fairly thoroughly.
Barry Gordon:
President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). [1988-1995]
He sang the song "I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas" a charming Christmas song from the early 50s
In the mid-1950s, rock legend Bill Haley wrote the song "Six Year Olds Can Rock and Roll" for Barry Gordon. It's not known if Gordon ever recorded it; Haley's demo recording surfaced in the 1980s.
In 1996 Gordon, a Democrat, ran for the Burbank-Glendale based congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Carlos Moorhead. He lost the primary to fellow Democrat Doug Kahn, who went on to lose to then assemblyman James Rogan (R-Glendale). In 1998 Gordon ran again and this time won the primary. He narrowly lost to Rogan 51%-46%, however. Incidently, Rogan went on to become a manager in the GOP's effort to impeach President Bill Clinton in the U.S. House. He lost his seat in 2000 as a result.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1963 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for "A Thousand Clowns."
Other notable items about Barry Gordon...
Has appeared in many TV shows and movies, but does most of his work in voice-overs, cartoons.
Was the voice of Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Might be most recognized for roles on the 70s series "Fish" and "Archie Bunker's Place."
Played Jerry Lewis' role at age 11 in the movie "Cinderfella."
Was a child actor/singer.
Mr. Mailander:
I beg to differ with your objection to describing the LAUSD financing corporation as "secret". When public documents are withheld from the media the term "secret" does apply. And when the Board approves hundreds of millions of COPs without any discussion in a matter of 2 minutes, that is hardly an open meeting. It is a prearranged meeting.
As for "voters", the reason we have so few of them, is they have become disenfranchised by arrogant bureaucrats who do not think the people need to know what is going on. And, I might remind you that is exactly what provoked spending limits in the first place. We may be ready for more, if this keeps up.
Please remember, without the consent of the people, it is difficult, if not impossible to govern.
When public documents are withheld from the media the term "secret" does apply.
Hi. Which public documents were "withheld"? I'm not clear on that.
Is is a case of persistent non-cooperation with media, who had made persistent requests for a certain document; or is it a case of the media not asking for something that was in truth available to them had they asked for it?
Mr. Mailander, I do not have time to list the volumes of documents I have requested. But the longer it takes, the more irritated people get. The LAUSD could certainly could use some good PR, I believe that Roy Romer is working on that. I know he does not care for the name LAUSD Stonewall Headquarters. In the meantime, I believe the Full Disclosure interview video clips of the actual people involved speak for themselves. Anyone can see by viewing our Secret School Bond Video Blog that we are getting the run around.
Well, I can appreciate that you're pressed for time; and I'm glad for the time you've take to respond here. But can you take the time to just list ONE document you've requested? Just as an example? It'll take ten seconds.
It would be helpful to me and others like me on the Internet who are readers and not watchers. I don't like watching TV even on the TV--and I just don't have time to watch TV on the Internet.
Well one document requested, we had to wait for over a year. We filed Calif. Public Records Act Requests with not only the LAUSD but the District Attorney's office, and an FOIA with the IRS regarding the Secret School Bonds (COPs). I finally got the document and it is the topic our next Video Blog. So you will just have to stay tuned to learn what it is YOUR government doesn't want YOU to know.
I finally got the document and it is the topic our next Video Blog. So you will just have to stay tuned to learn what it is YOUR government doesn't want YOU to know.
Yuck. That's not journalism--that's not even blogging--that's marketing.
Response to July 11, 2005 1:48am
This will ruin Huizar forever... Huizie's backers need to really think twice about supporting him this time around. Politically his days are not even numbered, they're over.
Broad etc. are you sure you want to get your own donkey dung all over you? Your matrix of corruption and control of the City of Los Angeles needs to cease... The poor are tired of you taking the food from their mouths....
CD 14 and the rest of the City of Angels are waking up to another day in America. They are getting wiser, smarter, brighter, and more informed about the truth than ever before.
Thank you LESLIE DUTTON for your investigative journalism on the COPs and the corruption that is condoned and protected by the most stupidest people like Huizar... And others...
Keep the investigative reporting coming...
Mailander is an idiot! = )
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