Alvin Parra is Back! This Time in Lynwood
The LA Wave reports that by a 3-1 vote during a special meeting, the Lynwood City Council hired Alvin Parra and Roland Aranjo of Milagro Strategies to conduct an outreach program and survey to solicit community feedback on the controversial development that is now being called Angeles Fields.
Milagro Strategies was first suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Fernando Pedroza at a cost of $57,000 in July.
Milagro Strategies was first suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Fernando Pedroza at a cost of $57,000 in July.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 8/31/2007 12:45:00 PM
29 Comments:
Zuma Dogg did not post the #1 Alvin comment. Guess somebody still doesnt like Alvin. Too bad you have so much time to waste. You must be the same guy who dislikes Zuma Dogg every day, on every post.
Apparently you're not reading the blog. I do and have been since it started. You keep saying the blog is history but its still here!
Wow, it sure seems that $57,000 for conducting a survey and outreach is a lot, particularly for a project that doesn't go before the voters.
It sure seems like a lot of these politicians are giving away a lot of taxpayer dollars for nothing.
I deleted a comment where someone posted using the name "zuma dogg" and implied that Alvin paid me through paypal, which is not so. (Alvin never paid Zuma Dogg any money by paypal or in person.)
I don't know anything about the project Alvin is working on, or the people involved, but I'm sure his involvement is going to provide a lot of valuable knowledge and will help them a lot.
(You can laugh all you want. Don't confuse running against a political machine for city council with someone's knowledge of the field. I'd pick him over anyone mocking him, anyday!
Good luck to Alvin. The people he is working for are lucky to have him. I spoke to him when he was running for city council. Even though I did not live in his area, he still took the time to listen to my concerns. How rare is that? City councilmembers may listen with one ear and it goes out the other. Good Luck Alvin, hope you win city council next time.
6:42
thats why he lost! he needed to be spending his time with the voters. what a loser.
Aren't the folks that gave Alvin this NO-BID contract the same corupe elected officials that:
Lynwood City Council members face corruption charges
Accusations leveled at two current, two past members.
City News Service
COMPTON -- Two Lynwood City Council members and three former councilmen are scheduled to be arraigned today for allegedly misusing more than $100,000 in public funds by paying themselves to attend meetings and charging personal expenses to city credit cards.
Zuma, dont you know the same people that hired Alvin's 2 man company are currently under investigation for cruption? look into that...........PLEASE!!!
Lynwood City Council Members Jailed, Released On Bail
Five Are Charged With Misappropriation Of Public Funds.
POSTED: 4:16 pm PDT April 13, 2007
COMPTON, Calif. -- Two current and three former Lynwood City Council members spent a good part of Friday the 13th in jail.
The five were in court on charges of using city credit cards for personal expenses, including a $1,500 tab at a strip club in Guadalajara.
Their arraignments were postponed, but the judge ordered them taken into custody.
Current City Councilman Louis Byrd and former council members Armando Rea, Arturo Reyes and Ricardo Sanchez were each released from jail this afternoon after posting bail.
Current City Councilman Fernando Pedroza's status was not immediately available.
The five were each handcuffed in court when Compton Superior Court Judge John J. Cheroske ordered them to be remanded pending $150,000 bail each.
Arraignment was scheduled for May 15 at the defense's request.
The five were charged Wednesday in a felony complaint for arrest warrant with one count each of misappropriation of public funds.
The five allegedly misappropriated the public monies under several different schemes, including charging personal expenses on city credit cards.
"This case is another example of PID (the Public Integrity Division) aggressively investigating and prosecuting schemes for self-enrichment by elected officials at the expense of hard-working taxpayers," District Attorney Steve Cooley said yesterday.
The four-year investigation into the council's handling of funds was launched on April 15, 2003, when a city manager who had been placed on leave approached Dave Demerjian, head deputy of the Public Integrity Division.
Faustino Gonzalez told Demerjian about a trip he had taken in May 2002 with Reyes, Pedroza and Byrd for a "sister city" conference in Guadalajara, according to the criminal complaint.
While in Mexico, Gonzalez said he and Pedroza went to a "gentlemen's club," where they ate and drank and Pedroza secured a private room where one of the club's dancers entertained him, authorities said. At the end of the evening, Pedroza and Gonzalez received a bill for about $1,500, which was paid with a city credit card and never reimbursed, according to court papers.
In a follow-up interview, Gonzalez also alleged misconduct by other Lynwood officials.
District attorney's investigators interviewed Reyes, who alleged that council members were being paid to attend meetings of two city agencies -- the Lynwood Public Finance Authority and Lynwood Information Inc.
The LPFA issues bonds for the city and the Lynwood Redevelopment Agency, and the other entity was created in 1981 to keep residents informed through a newsletter, according to Nielsen.
The council members allegedly authorized themselves to be paid $450 per meeting.
In 2000 and 2001, council members earned up to $40,000 annually in addition to their council pay from both LPFA and LII meetings, which translates to about 80 to 90 meetings annually, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Their City Council salaries are limited by state law to about $10,000 annually, according to prosecutors.
"We contend the work they were doing on these agencies was part of their council work, and they weren't allowed to pay themselves extra fees," said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.
On May 11, 2004, D.A. investigators and other law enforcement agents served search warrants at Lynwood City Hall and at the homes of various council members.
They seized about 50 boxes of material, including a wide variety of financial statements documenting "numerous individual instances of misappropriation of which the District Attorney had not previously been aware," according to the complaint.
The alleged crimes were not discovered sooner because the district attorney does not have a mandate to systematically review the business of the city of Lynwood or any other local government, according to the complaint.
Copyright 2007 by NBC4.tv and KNBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Lynwood Defies Order To Hold Recall Vote
AR Articles on Non-Whites in Charge
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Keep Greed Alive (Dec. 2001)
Uncivil Wrongs (Sep 2001)
More Phantom Racism? (Oct. 2000)
New York (Atro)city (Feb. 1996)
Racism Everywhere (Aug. 2000)
Chicago Still Stewing (Sep. 2001)
Tragedy or Farce? The Return of Marion Barry (Nov. 1994)
More news stories on Non-Whites in Charge
Hector Becerra, Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2007
A battle over the integrity of the election process is coming to a head this week in Lynwood, where the City Council has defied the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder and refused to set a date for a recall election targeting four of its members.
The registrar-recorder’s office concluded in June that there were enough signatures on recall petitions to force a special election for the four officials, two of whom were recently indicted on public corruption charges.
But when Lynwood’s elected city clerk tried to certify the recall petition, the City Council voted to strip her of all election duties, appointing its own election official to take up the matter.
The city clerk gave the petitions to the Sheriff’s Department, which has rejected the City Council request to review the documents.
{snip}
The county registrar-recorder has set its own recall election date for Sept. 25, but the council is refusing to call the election. A Superior Court judge will hold a hearing today to consider a request by recall leaders to force the city to call an election.
{snip}
City officials are firing back, arguing that the recall petition might include fraudulent signatures. Mayor Louis Byrd said the county was exceeding its authority.
{snip}
Lynwood, a city of 100,000 south of Los Angeles, has had a contentious political history.
In April, five current and former council members were charged with using public funds to boost their salaries and pay personal expenses. Byrd and Councilman Fernando Pedroza, the two current council members indicted, vehemently denied the allegations.
The four council members targeted by the recall effort are Councilwoman Leticia Vasquez, Councilman Alfreddie Johnson Jr., Byrd and Pedroza. The only council member not being recalled is Maria Santillan, who frequently opposes the others on council votes.
Vasquez said the people pushing for the recall are failed political candidates bent on wresting control of the city. She also said the registrar-recorder’s office did not check the validity of the signatures.
{snip}
Four years ago, Lynwood officials also resisted a recall, in a case against ex-Mayor Paul Richards, who subsequently was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for corruption.
“They’re trotting out the same exact thing,” Woocher said. “Back then they also tried to get access to the signatures.”
Kareem Crayton, an assistant professor of election law and political science at USC, said the developments in Lynwood were bizarre. He said it was unusual that the registrar-recorder’s wishes would be defied without an apparent legal maneuver.
{snip}
Original article
Email Hector Becerra at hector.becerra@latimes.com.
Damn! are these the guys that Alvin is hanging around now. Tell me it ain"t so Zuma Dog.
You told me he was all about the people Zuma Dog, what happen?
you think he might of been lying?
Zuma tell me ain't so!
tell me it ain't so!
OR IS IT?
So Mr. Parra is now looking to displace over 100 families? Mr. Grassroot, Mr. John Lennon "Imagine" more like Mr. i Lied or better yet Mr. Im going to kick your butt out on your @$$, babies and all.
"Zuma, dont you know the same people that hired Alvin's 2 man company are currently under investigation for cruption? look into that...........PLEASE!!!
August 31, 2007 10:05 PM "
I know Zuma, I know Alvin. Who is Alvin's #2?. What do you know that we dont know that YOU think we should?
During the camapaign Zuma you said that Alvin was looking out for people who might be displaced by a development project in Boyle heights. I guess you are OK now with him helping out the city of Lynwood do this to poor people? why dont you go after him now? are you going to respond?
"So Mr. Parra is now looking to displace over 100 families? Mr. Grassroot, Mr. John Lennon "Imagine" more like Mr. i Lied or better yet Mr. Im going to kick your butt out on your @$$, babies and all"
Mr Parra is going to hire a group of people of all languages represented by Lynwood to ask between one and ten questions.
Mr Parra is not going to "kick butt" or "put people out" Mr Parra and his staff will ask questions, compile them, and provide the results to the Council.
THE COUNCIL OF LYNWOOD WILL DETERMINE WHAT IT MEANS!
10:29
are you kidding me? did you not read the articles? you think they wanted to pay him $57,000 to tell them they shouldnt build the project?
Are you that dumb or is this Alvin posting?
10:29
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL..............
Alvin get back to formating your weak ass questionair, they are paying you to bring home the project for the MAN! SELL OUT!!!
Birds of a feather lay together.
Alvin P = Corupt Lynwood Councilmen
Read the articles!!!!!!!!
Zuma PLEASE comment on the company Alvin is keeping now a days
Ok OK it seem like there are a lot of Alvin haters< where are the Alvin supporters? we need to hear the other side because right now you are getting your asses handed to you.
You guys need to understand; if ZD likes the person, the corruption doesn't exist.
Those rocks have nothingunder them. Ask the Ace Ventura of Los Angeles politics, Zumma Perro.
10:55
so true and so sad Zuma.
Homer simpson of politics does it again Dohhhhh!!!!!
That's your boy Zuma.
Hey Alvin:
Can I get a little bit of the swag here? I've made you what you are today by glorifying you right here on Mayor Sam.
What have you done for me lately?
I can get down to Lynwood to sing and dance my support for you, but I need some gas money, and enough for coffee and a roll this morning.
How about a quick deposit to the PayPal account, ole buddy? Me 'n Matt are low on cash support.
Good luck tossing those vagrants out of their homes; let 'em all get vans to live in like me (and Matt). Hell, if it is good enough for us, it ought to be good enough for that scum.
Alvin has a company that provides services to cities; just like companies on the LA Business Network. Alvin's company was selected to write the questions (approved by who ever is in charge), set up the phone bank, make the calls, compile the results, and distribute a mailer.
$57,00 is not a lot of money,when you figure, setting up a call bank, hiring people on two shifts, compiling the data, compiling reports for the Council, a mailer, stamps, close down the phone bank, etc.
Look at any CD campaign on the Ethics Commission site and see how much a mailer costs.
9:27
He isn't qualified to write a check let alone a non-bias questionair.
He is just the scum of the earth, thats why his community of el sereno didnt vote for him and want him out of thier community.
He is crazy too just like his Milagro buddy Roland. I hear he is even going around saying he is running for President. How crazy is that, they can't even take thier own precicnt in a council race but are running for President. Illusional!!!!
"He isn't qualified to write a check let alone a non-bias questionair"
I hope that your comments about Alvin are typographical errors. If you really spell this badly, I doubt that you can write anything.
"and want him out of thier community."
"they can't even take thier own precicnt "
Just remember folks:
The Homer Simpson of Los Angeles basin politics is supported by the Ace Ventura of Los Angeles.
Zuma "Ace Ventura" Dogg can ferret out corruption wherever it exists, except under the rocks of those he is star-fucking at the moment.
"he is star-fucking at the moment."
Its fine if you dont like Parra or Zuma, but is this the only way you can express yourself? Try speaking well enough that someone will enjoy reading what you write; if not for pleasure, then to learn something.
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