Maria Elena Durazo in at County Fed
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has a new leader. It's Maria Elena Durazo. She's taken the position as an "interim."
Durazo has over 20 years of experience as a union organizer, and most of those years have been spent alternately listening attentively in the field and walking assertively in the corridors of power. The first Latina elected to the national board of HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International), she is also a longtime friend of Mayor Villaraigosa. Ms. Durazo, the widow of County Fed boss Miguel Contreras, was also widely thought here at MayorSam to be the odds-on favorite to replace Contreras last May. After the brief Ludlow interregnum, the County Fed indeed Habeus Maria. The County Fed's press release is already up at the site, here.
Durazo has over 20 years of experience as a union organizer, and most of those years have been spent alternately listening attentively in the field and walking assertively in the corridors of power. The first Latina elected to the national board of HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International), she is also a longtime friend of Mayor Villaraigosa. Ms. Durazo, the widow of County Fed boss Miguel Contreras, was also widely thought here at MayorSam to be the odds-on favorite to replace Contreras last May. After the brief Ludlow interregnum, the County Fed indeed Habeus Maria. The County Fed's press release is already up at the site, here.
Posted by Joseph Mailander @ 3/03/2006 03:34:00 PM
40 Comments:
Contrats!
I thought Gloria Romero was his widow?
BREAKING NEWS
Former LA City Councilman Charged With Conspiracy
UPDATED: 4:48 pm PST March 3, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- Former City Councilman Martin Ludlow is expected to plead guilty to state and federal charges in relation to money that a local union illegally funneled to his 2003 campaign, prosecutors said Friday.
The charges against Ludlow stem from money that the then-head of Service Employees International Union Local 99, Janett Humphries, is accused of diverting to pay multiple workers on his successful campaign for the Los Angeles City Council......At the time, the union was also paying his cell phone bills, prosecutors allege.
Ludlow, 41, resigned last year to head the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, a post he quit last month after word of the investigation leaked out.
His plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office does not call for him to receive prison time in exchange for his expected guilty plea to a federal count of conspiring to embezzle from a union -- although the federal judge who sentences him will have the option of ordering him to spend time in custody if he or she rules it appropriate.
Congratulations Martin you are now a felon. Great role model for your community. its hard to believe for a measly $53,000 you embarrassed yourself, wife, family and friends who counted on you to succeed. But you got greedy.
The deal does call for Ludlow to be barred from serving as a union leader for 13 years, and to pay more than $36,000 in restitution to the SEIU -- the same amount prosecutors say he and his campaign received illegally from the union's Local 99....In the state case, Ludlow is expected to plead guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to exceed the city's $500 campaign contribution limit, which is a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of violating campaign laws, said Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman.
Ludlow will likely receive a fine with penalties totaling about $40,000, be placed on probation for three years and be prohibited from engaging in political fund-raising, Huntsman said.
Now Martin used his personal vehicle as his official city vehicle as well. How did he do that? Did the city take over paying his lease, or did they pay for it outright?
Anybody know?
You know what the real shame is? Several people offered to help Martin in his first year in office. From transition to administration and he turned them down flat. Hell, even Nate offered to help him several times through many channels, and Martin turned everyone down.
His ego and naivete don't go hand in hand. This is sad. $53k embarassed so many people, and even a culture as a whole. Martin must feel bad for his children.
Give us the Ludlow thread!!!!!!
Give us the Ludlow thread!!!!!!
Give us the Ludlow thread!!!!!!
Give us the Ludlow thread!!!!!!
Give us the Ludlow thread!!!!!!
Gee, wonder what John Mack, Naji Ali, Tony Mohammed, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, Yvonne Burke and the rest of the racists. Trust me, you will soon hear how white american went after poor black Martin to make an example of him. I couldn't be happier he got busted because he didn't care about the people.
I love it. You rip off the union and this is what happens.
I love it. You got what you deserved, Martin
Martin didn't care about those black folk. Surely he didn't care about Najee or Maxine. Martin is a hypocrite and he got what he deserved.
When you steal as blatantly as he did, he did himself and everyone else a disservice. Serves him right for all the wrong he did in his personal life to his "friends" and family.
Karma is a muthafucker ain't it.
7:48 says:
"Martin didn't care about those black folk"
I guess working tirelessly to end the gang violence that Nate Holden and Dave Cunningham ignored means he didn't care.
I guess making the greatest effort on behalf of MAV to build a Black-Latino coallition means nothing as well.
He's going down for something ALL electeds in LA do at one point or another during campaigns. Only thing is someone he knows and trusted betrayed him.
At least the County Fed remains in the family, to the chagrin of all those who think the whole house would topple.
9:11 If you feel Martin is a target hmmmmmm...... why don't you rally up your friends and find the culprit=Villaraigosa.
Is he untouchable?
AV higher powers than FEDS?
Who is protecting who?
Those dumb fucks at the County Fed never learn. I guess this is why they are workers and not business owners. How long before Maria Elena Durazo gets indicted. Her poverty laden union members were always the first to help out Antonio in all his campaigns. I guess she could never get of Antonio's taste out of her mouth. Instead of organizing the Otani, she put the money into Antonio's campaigns.
And this is the woman who started the whole Belmont fiasco. She went after the construction company building Belmont because they were owned by the same corporation that owned the Otani. This secondary strike was spearheaded by her two People's College of Law dumb fucks, Antonio and Gil Cedillo. And what do we have, still 5,000 students being bussed out of the inner city every day because Maria Elena couldn't organize the Otani. You deserve what's coming to you L.A. Labor.
You guys are indictment happy.
I guess because Nick and Torres III couldn't beat Cooley to be D.A. (Nick got 15% of the overall vote in that one)they are now reduced to indicting people in blogs.
Maria Elena is no walk in the park, but she is smart enough to have made her way here and can certainly see what happens when you ignore the law.
The County Fed has been greatly diminished by the events of this year. Its political power will no longer be thrown around like a playtoy, and the balance may be restored to our city, all for the good.
Martin Ludlow will become just a metaphor for arrogance and greed, and Antonio will continue to sail forward because he has the good sense to surround himself with solid folks like Robin Kramer and Thomas Saenz who will watch his six for him.
I know all you Pacheconiks are disappointed that it is only Martin, but you'll have to settle for this scalp, because Torres III and Pacheco just don't have the firepower to take this any further.
You need evidence, and it doesn't exist, so let's us just move on to reality.
Monica will be on the School Board, Jose in the Council and Antonio firmly seated on the Third Floor.
Nick 'n Ric are sucking air.
All this crap gives me the sick sense that gay-bashing is in the air, between the unfair attacks on christopher and on the relationship between Pacheco and Ricardo Torres. Their private lives are none of our business. I hope they keep fighting on.
3:01
Parke, can't sleep again. Are you sure about that evidence? You, more than anyone, knows that Martin wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and you know other labor folk will talk - especially after Martin does get some jail time. The Republicans got toasted with Cunningham - he couldn't even get to see his 91 yr. old mother for the last time before beginning his 8 yeear sentence, the Democrats will get toasted with Martin. But this isn't where it will end, the big fish is Antonio and there are plenty of leads out there.
Ricardo won't stop until everything is uncovered. Are you still packed Parke?
How far will the investigation go? Here's a hint from today's Times:
"Last fall, for example, her union dumped $82,000 into the campaign to get Jose Huizar elected to the City Council."
And this doesn't even begin to cover the cost of all those "ghost voters." All it take is one to crack, and from Martin's pleas deal, someone is cracking.
Maria is an Antonio groupie and the whole city knows it. Let's see if she gets voted in and how long she lasts. Martin isn't going to jail because he's dropping dimes on people that were in on what he was doing. If you don't think Antonio, Jose, and Maria didn't know about it, think again. There were too many witnesses during the campaign that saw union workers on the weekends working the campaigns of Antonio and Jose. I can't believe for one minute it was all honest. It's only a matter of time.
You're all gay.
Archie
why now?
Maria Elena Durazo in bed with Antonio and culprit to having Ludlow Out.
The hispanics wanted this position of power, it was a matter of time before they made up shit to get Maria in position for Fabian Nunez.
And the new political director at the Fed is:
Eric Hacopian
Parke has taken complete control.
This race continues to be a three-way contest, with political dynamics that are increasingly complex.
Wildman (http://www.wildman2006.com/) has brought on Richie Ross as his consultant, and is receiving help within Latino Caucus circles from Senator Alarcon, who has his own leadership aspirations when he gets to the Assembly. Quintero (http://quintero2006.com/) has hired Phil Giarrizzo, who is just coming off of a successful effort as the Field director for the Alliance for a Better California. Krekorian (http://www.paulkrekorian.com/) is sticking with local political consultant, Eric Hacopian, who has the most experience within the district and a long history with Parke Skelton’s SG&A firm.
What's going on guys? I leave for a few days of Presidential Holiday Rest, and this race turns into a contest between Phil Giarrizzo, Eric Hacopian, and a Monkey?
I don't know about you, but if my candidate just won the COPE endorsement I would probably post about that, rather than picking fights that nobody cares about.
But, of course, I don't take on clients who can't even get 9% of the vote in a city election. Must be tough to suggest that Glendale is a "base" for Qunitero.
And on the Quintero “base” story-line, those ’05 election results show something else interesting. If you take all the votes for Latino candidates, and all the votes for Armenian candidates, and add them up as a proxy for Latino and Armenian support, you find that the Armenians received THREE TIMES more votes than the Latinos. Now, this is a proxy measurement, please don’t get too riled up. However, it does say something about the size of the Latino and Armenian voter bases. It won’t be long before Quintero’s claim to a strong Glendale base is completely eroded, and his whole campaign will only have attacks on political consultants and monkeys to keep them busy.
Phil is right about one thing, which is Eric Hacopian is a first rate dirty tricks guy who hits below the belt. I got a first hand taste of his tactics when he was doing AV's race for the city council in 2003.
That being said, that does not change the fact that Quintero is damaged goods. Between his Pete Wilson appointement, voting himself city contracts and opposition to the driver license bill; he is pretty much dead on arrival for Democratic voters in this area.
The only real choice for progressive Democrats in the area is Scott Wildman. What he lacks in cash he makes up for in guts and hard work.
It is hard not to laugh at Phils "resoning" in pushing the Quintero line. The only reason that Phil is involved in this race, is to settle old scores with the other consultants and candidates in this race.
Phil has never forgiven Wildman for firing him, and Hacopian for whipping his boy Pacheco in 2003.
As usual, Phil has picked a bum horse to settle his personal scores.
Why would pacheco hire consultant from Parke's office?
How could Pacheco afford to hire anyone? The guy has no job, does pro bono law and has no clients.
Is he paying the guy in indictments?
Does Pacheco know he lost for D.A. yet?
What a world...
you guys should lay off Hacopian.
Let me give you guys a guide of who is decent and who is a crook in the consulting world.
Good Guys-
Skelton
Levine
Hacopian
Crooks-
Shallman
Englander
Phil G.
Englander
Get this into your thick heads, and get off the good guys.
you guys should lay off Hacopian.
Let me give you guys a guide of who is decent and who is a crook in the consulting world.
Good Guys-
Skelton
Levine
Hacopian
Crooks-
Shallman
Englander
Phil G.
Englander
Get this into your thick heads, and get off the good guys.
What about Kam Kuwata? Is he crooked?
Let's do a recap - Maria, D'Arcy and Antonio have been friends for years. Antonio needs the County Fed to build a machine similar to the one built by his idol, Daly, in Chicago. Including running all of the unions and the school district. Maria's not even AFL-CIO at this point and she couldnt' get the Fed's executive committee to name her as acting head in the first meeting. Political pressure has been brought to bear to name her to the post for now, but there will be an election this May. Enter the UTLA, stage left. They are now part of the AFL-CIO and they immediately submitted thier delegates for approval with the Fed with almost 45,000 members voting strength and possible alliances with some of the other unions disaffected with Antonio. Maria will have a tough time bringing this off. By the way, when did being the wife of a labor leader qualify a person to run an organization like the County Federation? Now to Martin - Martin was a gopher for Antonio. Antonio had the real connections with SEIU and still does. Working in the mayor's office, I can tell you that the mayor has just cancelled 2 trips designed to promote trade because of the problems he's having as a result of the indictment and Humphrey's lawsuit as well as the ongoing fight he's got with his friend at EAA. The word around here is he's rescheduled one of his trips (the one to Mexico) until April, but with the condition that his staff and supporters can give him some positive things to report to stem his current hemmorage of blood. Do you think the rest of the Council is proud of the fact that Mayor R2D2 just told the press that their efforts to balance the budget in the past few years was basically a bunch of tricks to fool the public? Mayor R2D2 was part of that council. Hahn took almost 1 3/4 years to turn it to crap, Antonio has done it under 1 year.
Eric, I suspect you'll be a better guy to work for.
Who is Eric poster?
I don't know anyone in political arena by this name.
6:01 PM
Yeah, like every political consultant out there, Kam Kuwata is also crooked, but not stupid. His name won't come up in this investigation. However, he does have some very good information and evidence on Antonio. Maybe it would be wise for Ricardo to subpoena him, just in case.
What type of information does Kuwata have on mayor?
7:41
Pure Bull Shit!!!
You are full of SHIT
6:01 PM -
Kam Kuwata must have a lot of baggage. I'm not trying to divert attention away from Ludlow/MAV, but Hahn also received a lot of help from labor. In fact, during the Mayoral election, SEIU 434B really went out of their way to support Hahn, not only dumping truckloads of money on his campaign, but also a lot of manpower. AFSCME Council 36 also did the same. I remember asking an AFSCME walker how many volunteers were out on GOTV weekend, and he laughed, telling me that they were getting paid $10.00/hr.
We all know Hahn was the Pay-To-Play Mayor, but does anyone have any ACTUAL dirt on this guy? He could very well join Ludlow (and MAV later).
8:13
Must have been some good shit that Kuwata had for the mayors to delete it so quick.
Its outrageous the level of corruption.
Martin Ludlow
Antonio Villaraigosa
now Hahn
What the hell happened in Los Angeles. Are politicians ignoring ethics? Seems so.
Hey now,, maybe we'll get somewhere. This woman is the one who is going to make the difference. What an ignorant fool to mention Romero as the widow !
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-burke27jul27,0,6837597.story?coll=la-home-center
"Unbelievable, unconstitutional, totally lacking in professional standards of legal representation and a mockery of what the criminal (or for that matter civil court practices) justice system should be in a Western, civilized nation."
The same can be said for Los Angeles County, and/or many other areas where Black people reside. Just like other areas, few if any elected Black leaders, elected officials, the NAACP, and/or others speak up in behalf of the truly innocent, the truly Black oppressed, etc.
.........a multitude of salutes to Judge Arthur Hunter, Mrs. Esther M. Lofton, and/or the minute few in the Black community who are not sell outs, sleazy, unethical, co-conspirators in the oppression of the truly innocent, etc., etc.
.........Furthermore, If the Reality of it Could Speak.............
http://africanamerica.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/79160213/m/4551060424/p/3
http://www.askheartbeat.com/talksmack/index.php/topic,1200.0.html
http://www.nvo.com/peoplesvoice/senator/
http://africanamerica.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/64170254/m/7081026233
http://africanamerica.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1551033683/m/47670645/p/7
http://africanamerica.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/64170254/m/3631041534
http://africanamerica.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/64170254/m/3671031404
In Contemporary Times the Enslavement of the Black Community Rests with the Black Community Itself!
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