Robert Urteaga shilling for Vernon Power Plant in CD 14??
Hot rumor for the hot days of late Spring in CD 14.Former Nick Pacheco operative and now Montebello Councilman Robert Urteaga was rumored to have spoken at St. Mary's Church on the behalf of the City of Vernon's "Southeast Region Energy Project".
A "bloggin veteran" of past CD 14 political spats, it seems that the new councilman just can't get CD 14 out of his system, but then who can't??
But with the City of Vernon offering jobs, cash, programs to the surrounding "City States" of the Southeast, it should come as no surprise that this would spill over into Boyle Heights.
Of interest will be the responce of the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN AS JOSE HUIZAR" who has taken a opposition position on the Power Plant.
Huizar joined with community members and environmental activists in a "funeral march" against the plant, but others in CD 14 such as Richard Alatorre and his "South Pasadena Associate" are on the payroll in Vernon.
Further, you have other members of the "Montebello Ruling Class" who have ties to CD 14 such as the "Chacon/Argumedo Machine" (Art Chacon, Board Member for Central Basin Water District) and Enrique Gasca (John Perez Campaign for Assembly) who are in position to influence public opinion on this project. BTW, it would be a good time for John Perez to take a position on this issue.
Never a dull moment in CD 14.......
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 5/19/2008 08:14:00 AM
14 Comments:
Perez lives in Hollywood, so why is he taking a position on a Vernon issue? Or does he just say what he's paid to say?
This demonstrates a good argument AGAINST term limits, at least for some parts of our $$ under-the-table city.
The harm that comes to CD14 from the paid shilling and lobbying by some of our most infamous former electeds - Art Synder, Richard Alatorre, etc. - AFTER they leave office is sometimes actually worse than the harm they did to us while IN office. (Snyder probably still holds the record for the biggest ethics fine in city history).
The district might be better off to keep them in office longer, so at least we can keep a better eye on the little tin horns.
Chacon/Argumedo machine???? Since when does tallying 1800 votes considered machine politics?
Besides, the City of Commerce - that hotbed of Chacon politics - already has an incinerator.
Huizar only fronted his opposition to the Vernon plant when he wanted to wrap himself in Monsignor Morretta's priestly garb. Moretta just wants to relive his prison opposition glory days which made Gloria Molina's career. I wonder if anyone has told Morretta that more than half of his parishioners work in Vernon.
Urteaga is just positioning himself for the inevitable - locally produced energy. Imagine cutting out Edison and securing another $150 per household per month for the city treasury.
Didn't Perez get the Sierra Club endorsement? So his position should be one against the power plant, yes? Perez is a true defender of green, a loyal conservationist!
Another one who fooled the community pretending to be helpful then turns out is the pr guy for Vernon Hector Elizalde and getting paid a fortune. When residents found out he lied to them they were livid. Hector has the nerve to show his face in the community still. He's an ex-staffer for Congresswoman Roybal Allard. All these people are slime of the earth.
It's my understanding you get Sierra Club endorsements when you keep non-green development out of the areas where the Club has lots of members (which means you can easily advocate putting it where they don't).
Greens are just NIMBY's wrapped in fig leaves.
It was my understanding that you get an endorsement by allegedly doing someone a favor (like promoting them from a secretarial position to an executive managerial position at DWP) or by trying to strong arm the endorsement by having private meetings to try to sway the vote. In other words, the endorsement isn't worth the leaf its printed on.
Guess who use to work for Tom Calderon??
By David Zahniser, LA Times, July 13, 2007
Environmental activist Angelo Logan once viewed former state Sen. Martha Escutia as a champion on health issues, someone who sought to reduce the amount of air pollution produced by the trains that roll past the low-income communities southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
But these days, Logan and Escutia are on opposite sides of a clean-air fight, taking part in a furious last-minute lobbying blitz over a $450-million power plant proposed by the tiny industrial city of Vernon.
Escutia, a Los Angeles attorney, and two other former elected officials who have represented communities near Vernon — former Assemblyman Tom Calderon of Montebello and former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre — have been at the center of the power plant campaign, lobbying elected officials in favor of rules that would spur construction of the 914-megawatt facility.
That political firepower indicates just how high the stakes are, not just for Vernon but also for a handful of other power plants in the planning stages across the region. That clout has discouraged the environmental groups who are waging their own fight against the plant.
If they "pick up a phone and they make a call, they can get a lunch with just about anyone. That power doesn’t fade away," said Logan, executive director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.
Hint, he used a Republican to run his campaign for.....
Meanwhile, the local chapter of the California School Employees Association, equally repelled by Villaraigosa’s takeover talk, offered a dual endorsement to Arellano and Gasca for its 7,000 members.
Gasca, who spent three years as an aide to former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, has tried without success to circulate a petition opposing a municipal takeover. He argued that voters who respect Villaraigosa should not assume that the next Los Angeles mayor will be so savvy about public schools.
“What if the next mayor wants to be the pothole queen?” said Gasca, in a veiled reference to Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who backs Gárcía. “What if they want to make transportation or tourism their top priority?”
What about Clean Air??
I've been waiting for a new string all day. Can you please post something new?
Maybe something like the fact that the budget was passed by City Council HOURS ago.
Using Snyder and Alatorre as an argument against term limits is a poor choice. Both of them were run out because law enforcement was on their tails. Whenever you see Councilmembers like Bob Farrell, Dave Cunningham, and Richard Alatoree leaving office for no apparent reason, you have a pretty good idea that it's part of a private plea bargain.
As of May 14, 2008
TOTAL DELEGATES
Delegate Definitions
Barack Obama
Pledged: 1612
Superdelegates: 297
Total: 1,909
Hillary Clinton
Pledged: 1443
Superdelegates: 275
Total: 1,718
CNN.Com
If anyone from the Westside were to try to lobby to stick the lower-income communities in Southeast L.A. County with this power plant, they would be run out of town on a rail and would be excoriated for their representation of those who were seeking to carry out this "environmental injustice."
So, the developers instead bring in former Latino elected officials to sell the environmental injustice. And that is somehow supposed to make it o.k.!!!
MONTEBELLO - A fight over a trash contract turned to mud slinging when a group opposed to the plan put materials from a City Councilman's criminal record on the Internet.
In 1998, Councilman Robert Urteaga pleaded no contest to grand theft of personal property totalling $30,000, according to court documents.
"When I ran for office, I knew eventually someone would dig into my background and dig this up," Urteaga said. "I just don't think that this incident happening 10 years ago is a true reflection of who Robert Urteaga is."
Read more here:
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/ci_10731844
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