The work of Councilman Huizar's "Image Consultant" Ed Headington?

 Photo of Mayor Villaraigosa by Ed Headington at Councilman Huizar's Campaign Kickoff.

 Ed Headington (behind Councilman Huizar's Communication Director Rick Coca) at El Sereno Sign Dedication

 Ed Headington talking to Councilman Huizar at El Sereno Sign Dedication.

LA County Labor Federation Leader Maria Elena Durazo photo by Ed Headington at Councilman Huizar's Campaign Kickoff.

In Tuesday's Morning briefs post, we quickly questioned why our former Mayor Sam blogger and noted media consultant Ed Headington, would want all traces of his name removed from the infamous Michael Trujillo email ( we should note that LA Weekly's Jill Stewart took note of Headington in her post on Trujillo's vile email). We noted Headington's "consulting contract" with Councilman Huizar that place him at events such as the El Sereno sign dedication, pictured above. But some have opine that Headington's work may have cross over into Councilman Huizar's Re-election Campaign, as Headington's photos from Huizar's Campaign Kickoff might suggest (we should note that there is no record of Headington being paid for campaign work). 

After the jump, we disclose information that was provided to us during the recent CD 14 campaign that raises more questions whether Headington was "Edward 121", who was engage in "editing or sanitizing" Councilman Huizar's Wikipedia page. Thus, if  "Edward 121" is indeed Headington, then one must question why public money was being use for Huizar's campaign efforts.  

Lik“Sockpuppet”: Taxpayer-Paid Edward Headington

Huizar’s Wikipedia page has been sanitized in the last couple months by a user named “Edward121.” All of his edits, made between December 3, 2010 and January 5, 2011, can be viewed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Edward121; the user hasn’t contributed to any articles besides the one on Huizar. While we have no hard evidence of the actual identity of this user, we suspect it to be 37-year old Edward W. Headington, of Granada Hills.

paid by taxpayers since February or June 2010
On June 28, 2010, Huizar and Headington both signed a “Consulting Services” contract, which was approved by the City Council; it agreed to pay him $27,000 for six months of work, from June 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010.
1. As requested by the Councilmember of the Fourteenth District, the Contractor shall:
(a) Manage the Huizar Forum Series
(b) Integrate New/Traditional/Social Media.
2. The term of this agreement shall commence on June 1,2010 and shall terminate on November 30, 2010.
3. The City will pay the Contractor $4,500 per month ($3,500 for the media component and $1,000 for the forum management) and using its own equipment in the execution of many of these tasks and responsibilities.
(http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinecontracts/2010/C-117596_c_7-20-10.pdf)

While no extension of this contract beyond November is online, we believe that it has, in fact, been extended. Huizar’s office notices for the Huizar Forum continue to list Headington after this date (e.g., http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventllr=nllfpadab&oeidk=a07e34a2fsob7ca5dc8&oseq=a02ckeg2pjlcq2); he has posted Huizar press releases as recently as January 7, 2011, http://www.headingtonmediacenter.org/; and Headington’s own LinkedIn page lists his current occupation as “Consultant for Councilmember José Huizar,” a position he’s held since February 2010 (rather than June 2010).

Experience
Consultant
Councilmember Jose Huizar
Public Relations and Communications industry
February 2010 – Present (1 year)
Launch and management of Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar's Reform Forum Series.
(http://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardheadington)

Note that Headington has never been paid by Huizar’s campaign committees. (and as of May 5, 2011, does not appear on Councilman Huizar's most recent expenditures report via Ethic Commission)

specializes in “Image Management”
Headington’s Headington Media Group says that it specializes first and foremost in “Image Management,” “to smooth out rough edges and add personal polish.”

IMAGE MANAGEMENT
Fortune may favor the bold but opportunities are sometimes lost when substance is not married to style. Much of what people perceive today as success is largely due to the time put in to smooth out rough edges and add personal polish. Your image has an impact on everything you do—often before you’ve done anything at all or spoken a word. You and your employees are ambassadors for your business and what they say, wear and do are a reflection upon your company. HMG can provide you with both etiquette and image management skills to create lasting impressions on every client—new, old and prospective. Whether your needs are large or small, Headington Media Group can help you reach your personal and professional goals. Don’t project the wrong image. Contact us today!(http://www.headingtonmedia.com/services/imagemanagement.html)

Headington also offers to help clients optimize their use of new media; note also that his City contract was primarily to “Integrate New/Traditional/Social Media.”

New/Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogging, Podcasting, New Sites, Search Engine Optimization, etc. (http://www.headingtonmedia.com/services/publicrelations.html)

whitewashing Huizar’s image
In Edward121’s first edit, this passage....

Huizar also serves on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board of Directors, which oversees transportation planning and operations for the County of Los Angeles. Huizar is running for re-election to the City Council in the March 2011 election. His opponent is businessman, Rudy Martinez. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

...became this:

Huizar also serves on the (MTA) Board of Directors, which oversees transportation planning and operations for the County of Los Angeles, , and chaired the Education Coordinating Council for the past five years—a multi-jurisdictional organization composed of school districts, cities, county departments, and the courts, which seeks to improve the educational outcomes for foster and probationary youth. Huizar is running for re-election to the City Council in the March 2011 election. One of his opponents is businessman, Rudy Martinez, who, like failed Republican candidate Meg Whitman, is self-funding his own campaign. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

And he added this:

Education continues to play a role in his public life and he gives out awards and scholarships annually to deserving elementary, middle school and high school students in his district. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

He then completely omitted what had been the section on the investigation into his “consulting” for the Voter Improvement Program; this section was never reverted and so is still absent. In his comment to the edit, Edward121 said “There were never any charges made or wrongdoing; the federal stuff is just campaign mudslinging.”

Frderal Investigation: In August 2009, it was reported by the LA Times that federal investigators were examining whether a labor-affiliated nonprofit group improperly funneled consulting fees (up to $30,000) to Councilman José Huizar, between 2003 and 2004 while as a Los Angeles Unified School Board member, and also against former Board of Education member David Tokofsky. Investigators wanted to determine if these consulting fees were used as a "slush fund" to reward allies. By September 2009, Federal investigators closed the investigation and cleared him of further review. However, José Huizar declined to comment on the nature of the consulting work or the exact amount he was paid. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

In the section about Huizar’s Ethics fine, this section....

Huizar's attorney claimed these errors were a result of an administrative error.(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

...became this:

Huizar's attorney said these errors were inadvertent and a result of an administrative error. According to an Ethics Commission report, Huizar's office provided information to the commission "confirming that the consulting and research expenditures were not used for campaign purposes (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=400283570)

Then, on the evening of December 24, 2010, Edward121, without comment, entirely omitted the section on Huizar’s Ethics violations (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=404062411). Several minutes later, he added a criticism to the sentence about Martinez:

One of his opponents is businessman and one-time reality TV star, who is largely self-funding his own campaign and also faces questions regarding "Badgegate."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=404063132)

On January 5, 2011, after another user reverted the section on Huizar’s Ethics violation, Edward121 added the clause which is still there, that Huizar had been “completely exonerated.” Of course, this user had added this mitigating sentence in the first place

According to an Ethics Commission report, Huizar was completely exonerated after his office provided information to the commission "confirming that the consulting and research expenditures were not used for campaign purposes."(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Huizar&diff=prev&oldid=406042044)

In the comment to this edit, Edward121 wrote: “This is somewhat of a baseless charge given that he was completely exonerated. The entire paragraph is unnecessary but it should be noted he was exonerated if you insist on leaving it in.”

a second, or the same sockpuppet?
Another user who made a number of recent sanitizing changes to the page, all on November 26, 2010 — or shortly before Edward121 started making his changes — was not registered, and thus did so only under the IP address 24.24.178.17; that user has also made no edits other than to Huizar’s page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/24.24.178.17). This user entirely (and repeatedly) omitted the “Federal Investigation” section and the “Ethics Fine” sections, as well as all reference to Martinez as Huizar’s opponent. Edward121 would also delete both the Federal Investigation and Ethics Fine sections.

The IP address appears to be based (very approximately) near Canoga Park, or just a few miles from where Headington lives in Granada Hills; see http://ip-address-lookup-v4.com/lookup.php?ip=24.24.178.17. However, the IP address doesn’t match the IP addresses associated with his headingtonmedia.com and headingtoncabal.com websites.

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