Ethics? We need no stinking ethics at 200 Spring Street

 What happen to the pledge for ethics and transparency in your mayoral administration?

As a public service we provide this link back in time when an Parke Skelton and La Antonia Times crafted "Progressive Hero from City Terrace" told us to dream of a better ethical future at 200 Spring Street. Now some six years later, the stark reality is that the City of Los Angeles is broke, both fiscally (as now Mayor Villar told a Valley Town Hall Meeting last evening) and ethically as the latest stories of nefarious conduct breaks in the local media.  

Former City of Los Angeles Building Inspector Hugo Gonzalez followed the lead of former colleague Raoul Germain and pleaded guilty to FBI bribery charges. But the guilty pleas of both Gonzalez and Germain are not the final act in the corruption scandal at the Department of Building and Safety. One person with knowledge of the FBI's investigation hints that certain elected officials are the next to come under scrutiny in this growing scandal. After all, if an inspector can retaliate against a property owner at the behest of an elected official, then they can cease and approve a project for a price.

 Mayor Villar's lead appointment to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) Beatriz Stotzer's business dealings has garner recent attention from the likes of KCBS David Goldstein, the Los Angeles Times and now the District Attorney's Office of Public Integrity. For those who thought that better days were ahead after the termination of Rudy Montiel, lets remember that questionable dealings from the likes of Councilman Jose Huizar's crony Gusatvo Valdivia were going on way before the hiring of Montiel.

For City Councilwoman and aspiring Congressional Candidate Janice Hahn, her Republican Opponent Craig Huey is wasting no time in demanding that the "Splash of San Pedro" release all documents pertaining to all possible connections or usage of the discontinued DOT Gold Card Program. Maybe it is the Gold Card Controversy and her links to Mayor Villar that prompted Splash to drop "Los Angeles" from her ballot designation and refer to herself as an "Local City Councilwoman" on the ballot for the July 12 Runoff Election for the 36th Congressional District. Lucky for Janice (and us?) that she has a chance to flee the "Reign of Villar" before 2013.

Your thoughts..............
Scott Johnson in CD 14.