"Weekly of Record" takes aim at City Hall
If one could read the thoughts behind the eye lids of one Antonio Ramon Villar, one may find a few choice words directed towards LA Weekly News Editor Jill Stewart, broken into verbal fragments that begin with AHHH.Once again Stewart and her current group of scribes dare to go where the sadly- missed Herald Examiner would once venture and the "OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET" only viewed from across the intersection with cocktails.
Whether it is the DWP, Chief Bill Bratton, the density fantasies of Councilman Ed Reyes, Planning Director Gail "Suds" Goldberg or "Friends of Numero Uno Markets Founder George Torres", they all are fair game for the scribes at the "Weekly of Record".
Scribe Daniel Heimpel gets double byline honors with his stories on the DWP's lawsuit and smack down by a judge regarding transfer of money to the City of Los Angeles's General Fund, and another judge hitting the city with an adverse ruling regarding its "Density Bonus Program".
Scribe Patrick Range McDonald deconstructs LAPD Chief Bill Bratton's premise that the City of Angels crime stats are on par with the mid-1950ies.
Scribe Steven Leigh Morris guides us through former City of Los Angeles Planning Commissioner Jane Usher's missive on the follies on one Gail "Suds" Goldberg.
Lastly, Jeffery Anderson, who has made many "ports of call in the world of free press", gives us his retrospective on the guilty verdict of Numero Uno Market Founder George Torres and his possible ties to the cities political community.http://www.laweekly.com/2009-04-30/columns/george-torres-numero-uno-no-more-but-even-after-his-racketeering-conviction-questions-remain-about-which-l-a-political-and-business-figures-were-influenced-by-his-money/
This passage should provoke some thought.....
Yet the jury heard enough to reach a speedy decision: Torres was convicted on almost every count, including his attempt to bribe former L.A. City planning commissioners Steven Carmona and George Luk to secure a zoning permit.
Still, the question remains, how many other public officials were influenced by Torres’ money? How many other L.A.P.D. officers got close enough to Torres to arouse suspicion? The indictment states that an L.A. City Councilman appeared to be waiting in the wings to receive bag money from Torres, via Carmona and Luk.
Who could that have been? Is that person still in office?
Hint, was this possibly current city office holder councilman in 2004??
Labels: bill bratton, dwp, gail goldberg, George Torres, jane usher, Jeffery Anderson, jill stewart, mayor antonio villaraigosa
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 4/29/2009 11:08:00 PM
12 Comments:
More tongue-tying non-sense from Red Spot. And good job linking to a newspaper story once again while adding nothing. But, if you have something to say or a name to drop, just spit it out. You are worse than Captain Jack.
red spunk, i thought you said you needed to have a sense of humor. where is YOUR sense of humor now, garlic breath?
We know who the "bag man" is. However, we still elect a corrupt Mayor and his "bag of tricks".
It is always a good laugh to imagine some dope like RS sitting at his computer, checking the "This Day in History" listings and hoping that they'll be seen as ingenius for going to the History Channel's website and You Tube.
Pink Dot makes Phil JennerJane look like. No, that's a bad comparison. Nobody is a bigger twit than Phil. They all make Zuma Dogg look like a fourth place mayoral candidate.
You guys should just get jobs. and let the city officiials run the city if you could do better, you'd have their jobs.
so all of this writing red spot is just your way of saying that you like the la weekly? that seems to be all you are doing with providing old links to stories we already read.
Cqpt. JACK/Dan Wright seems to be kind of silent lately, too busy doing his devious deeds mayhaps?
ANSWER
L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca told a Congressional Committee investigating the Clinton Pardongate scandal involving L.A. businessman Horacio Vignali that Torres was a reputable businessman. A Torres associate told investigators he saw Torres hand stacks of money to then-councilman Mike Hernandez, and that former councilman Richard Alatorre appeared to be getting favors from Torres
WHY HASN'T THE MEDIA MENTIONED ANTONIO'S TIES TO DEVELOPMENT DOWTOWN DEALS WITH VIGNALI DRUG DEALER. WHY DIDN'T LA WEEKLY STATE ANTONIO GOT CAMPAIGN $$$$ FROM GEORGE TORRES?
Forget the media, where's the movie?
FRAUD AND CORRUPTION
Searight has yet to show his full hand, but the indictment also accuses Torres of major tax fraud—alleges he skimmed $500,000 a year from his own stores’ cash registers, and extorted money from illegal immigrants who worked for him or whom he thought stole from him. The indictment also states that Torres attempted to bribe public officials—in one case attempting to bribe former L.A. City planning commissioners Steven Carmona and George Luk into securing approval for a beer and wine permit at his Alvarado Street store. In addition to a $15,000 check, the indictment states, Torres gave Carmona a GMC pickup truck and free use of his downtown condo on West 6th Street so that Carmona could qualify as a resident of that district to become a planning commissioner. In a 2004 conversation, recorded on a wiretap, Carmona and Luk agreed to ask Torres for an additional $10,000. The government claims the pair would give that money to an “unidentified official in the Los Angeles City Council” in return for support of Torres’ alcohol permit.
A 2007 Los Angeles Times story also reported that a career prosecutor in the office of City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo received pressure from Delgadillo, in 2001, to drop criminal charges against Torres for an improper demolition of low-income apartments. The prosecutor wrote in a memo, “Rocky said he was getting a lot of pressure about this case.” Torres ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor in the demolition case.
When a friend chides Torres about seeking favors from public officials, a wiretap transcript shows him responding: “Hey, pimp! What the fuck? Let me tell you something. If I did it the right way, I’d be broke, you know? You know what’s up, pimp?”
Torres’ talk appears to be more than just idle boasting. According to recently unsealed investigative reports, Albert Del Real, a convicted drug dealer, former Numero Uno employee and brother of Raul Del Real, says he saw former L.A. City Councilman Mike Hernandez receive “stacks of money” from Torres in the 1990s. Then-City Councilman Richard Alatorre brought his vehicle to Torres’ warehouse to get serviced, leading Del Real to tell investigators he believed that Torres, who did not provide automotive services, was doing favors for Alatorre.
Alatorre and Hernandez, neither of whom returned calls for this story, have never been charged with wrongdoing in connection with Torres. They remain City Hall fixtures. Alatorre, who pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion in 2001, is an influential lobbyist and board member of L.A.’s Best, a nonprofit that operates out of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office. Hernandez is assistant chief of staff for Councilman Bernard Parks and Councilwoman Jan Perry.
SOUNDS LIKE MORE SPECIAL INTEREST GAME PLAY DOWNTOWN.
Hernandez is not chief of staff for any City Councilmember, no less two of them. In order to help pay the bills, they both hired him part time to help with certain projects and efforts.
Kind of sad in a way that he couldn't find real work.
Find real work??
Hernandez inherited dozens of property from his mom when she passed. His mother was a pioneer in the bail bond industry, especially in the Latino community. She go those properties from all those people that skipped bail.
He didn't have to work especially after he kicked his cocaine habit. I wonder if those bags of cash weren't actually bags of coke.
What is Dan Wright always talking to Mike Hernandez about at the council meetings? You can see them talking on camera during the long shots. Would love to know why those two are always talking.
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