Mayor Villar donor faces $184,000 in fines for illegal donations from Ethics Commission

** Afternoon Update: Hugh gets maximum fine from Ethics Commission. From the Times, "Commissioner Marlene Canter asked Hugh’s attorney, Kenneth P. White, whether or not someone had asked Hugh to carry out his money-laundering activities. White refused to answer and said later that Hugh had deliberately made a choice not to seek a lower fine in exchange for “cooperating against someone else.”

Mayor Antonio Villar at Councilman Huizar's Campaign Kickoff.

As a public service in political education, we provide these two political oxymoron words "Villar' and "ethics". This in light of Los Angeles Times David Zahniser story on the Ethics Commission proceedings today which may levy up to $184,000 in fines on Koreatown Developer Alexander Hugh for illegally donating $18,000 to Mayor Antonio Villar's 2009 Mayoral campaign. We should also note that Hugh has been indicted by the County Grand Jury but prosecutors state they have no evidence that Villaraigosa knew of Hugh's activities. But who did have numerous meetings with Hugh as reported in a previous story on this issue?

As David Zahniser reported in an April 30, 2011 story, "Between June 2008 and July 2009, then-Villaraigosa Deputy Chief of Staff Jimmy Blackman scheduled at least five meetings with Hugh, including two dinners, according to his appointment calendar. Blackman is now chief of staff to Councilman Dennis Zine".

Someone might want to ask Blackman what was discussed in those meetings.

Your thoughts..............

Scott Johnson in CD 14