Fun Photos of AD 40: It's Almost Over Folks

Laurette Healey can't spell:

Bob Blumenfield goes for the naughty vote:

Blumenfield/Berman: "Beyond the Envelope"

The controversy continues for Assembly candidate Bob Blumenfield as the issue of a questionable independent expenditure committee set up by his father Michael Blumenfield and employer Congressman Howard Berman.

Linda Sutton, a writer and active supporter of Blumenfield opponent Laurette Healey said "Of course, we have to really IMAGINE that there is no coordination between the campaign and the father across the street and the employer of 18 years. This IS a stretch, but, hey, can we really IMAGINE THIS???"

"the actions of the Blumenfields go far beyond the envelope as it is usually interpreted"

The Sister City had the opportunity to speak with a veteran of several campaigns who knows a thing or two about campaign finance law. Our source told us that "the actions of the Blumenfields go far beyond the envelope as it is usually interpreted. On just about every campaign where it has been an issue, the rules on coordination have been applied to mean that you can barely even have a social conversation with anyone affiliated with an IE. If one Blumenfield said to the other something as simple as 'We aren't getting much support east of the 405', that could be a violation. And if the parents were canvassing, they certainly know where the campaign is investing time and resources."

Is the District Attorney investigating?

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Thursday

Joe Mailander opines that AnVil's coming junket to the Holy Land could be aimed at raising his profile among the area's Jews with the prospect of a Zev Yaroslavsky mayoral run looming over the horizon. Despite what the spinners say, there's blood in the water and it will be a crowded field.

More billboard nonsense, this time in Echo Park. The Eastside Chicken Girl takes Eric Garcetti to task for not getting rid of billboards homeowners have put up on their properties. Now it may that these billboards are against zoning and that needs to be rectified. But in a free market world homeowners should be allowed to monetize their property (and yea I expect to hear that Alger nonsense when you buy a house you buy a community. Bullshit you only get the dirt in between the property lines.)

If you need help on deciding on how to vote on Props 98 and 99, who to select for District Attorney, County Supervisor and a number of judgeships, Walter Moore has some recommendations for you.

Elson Trinidad has been writing about LA on the internet for over a decade (just like me; check out a proto version of this blog from the Riordan era). In his latest blog posting Elson chronicles the recent history of the East Hollywood community he's been leading for years and how its starting to get some recognition in the local streetscape.

There's more than just the usual suspects running for Assembly in the 40th Assembly District; blogger Kender does a great profile of Republican candidate Armineh Chelebian. For those five or six Republicans who do live in that District I highly recommend you vote for Armineh and NOT for her opponent Ken Sherman!

Bernard Parks announces that he has received the endorsement of a majority of the members of the Los Angeles City Council in his race for a County Supervisor seat. Bernie has the support of Councilmembers Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry, Tony Cardenas, Janice Hahn, Tom LaBonge, Bill Rosendahl, Herb Wesson and Greig Smith.

The Laurette Healey Players

It's always fun to take a look at the junk mail politicians flood your mailbox with this time of year. The brochures seek to make the office seeker look like a real person, out with the peeps and "in touch" with what you need.

One candidate however has decided that a campaign worker can easily "play the part" of at least a few "roles." See our Google Presentation below.

Marcia Davalos is a Democratic activist and a high level official within the campaign for 40th Assembly District Democratic Candidate Laurette Healey. She's good at astro-turfing for the campaign and though she's donated over $4,000 to the Healey campaign she has been paid nearly $35,000 for her services. (See Google Spreadsheet below or click here.)

This isn't the first time people have found Healey to be "creative." It makes you wonder what kind of smoke and mirrors she will use if elected to the Assembly.

So When Is Coordination Not Coordination?

If you support a candidate for office in California you can raise money on their behalf and receive contributions in excess of the maximums allowed for one individual to donate directly to a candidate. You can then campaign on their behalf, print brochures, run TV commercials, make phone calls, etc. provided there is no coordination between your independent expenditure committee (IEC) and the candidate's campaign itself.

Normally IECs are formed by unions, associations or other special interests that want to elect a certain candidate. In this situations it is easy to maintain the "wall of seperation" between the IEC and the candidate.

However one controversial IEC of late is one formed by the father and employer of a candidate. Bob Blumenfield is running for the Democratic nomination for the 40th Assembly District and his father political consultant Michael and employer Congressman Howard Berman have donated over $100,000 to the younger Blumenfield's campaign and claim there is no coordination. Though many wonder how an IEC run by the father and employer of a candidate could truly be considered independent.

More alleged evidence of coordination between the IEC and the Blumenfield campaign surfaced Monday as Blumenfield's parents were reportedly walking precincts for the campaign in an area surrounding the Blumenfield campaign office. A voter in the area received a personally signed campaign brochure from Blumenfield's parents, a scan is below:

FLASH: Daily News Endorses Waldman, Pavley

Though he has to sit first through a verbal spanking from the MOLDY GREENSHEET OF RECORD, 40th Assembly District Candidate Stuart Waldman garners the endorsement of the Daily News, a significant victory for the former Chief of Staff to Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and current seat holder Lloyd Levine.

Though the News is disgusted by the spat between Waldman and chief opponent Bob Blumenfield over Blumenfield's questionable campaign financing, they gave the nod to Waldman based on his past experience and their hope once in office he'll put all this behind him. The paper also stated that fellow candidates Laurette Healey and Dan McCrory "just aren't viable candidates."

In a related story, the Daily News endorsed Levine's opponent for the Democratic nomination for the 23rd State Senate District, Fran Pavley. The News compared Levine to Blumenfield saying the Assemblyman's "tenure has been more about serving himself than the Valley."

Voters in both races go to the polls June 3rd.

Mayor Sam Scoops The LA Times; More Charges Against Blumenfield

More of the news before it happens here on the blog. We reported last week about Fair Political Practices Charges filed against 40th Assembly District candidate Bob Blumenfield by the campaign of fellow AD40 candidate Stuart Waldman. The Waldman complaint alleges illegal laundering of campaign funds by Blumenfield's father, political consultant Michael Blumenfield and the younger Blumenfield's employer, Congressman Howard Berman. Blumenfield, Sr. and Berman are accused of funneling additional campaign funds to an independent expenditure committee (IEC) that is campaigning on the candidate's behalf. Under the law individuals can contribute larger amounts to these committees than they can to individual candidates provided there is no coordination between the independent committee and the candidate. Typically these committees are formed by unions, political groups and other special interests who favor a given candidate and want to ensure their election. It is not at all common for these committees to be formed by family members and/or employers in that it's difficult to maintain the wall of separation necessary to deflect charges of coordination.

A few days after our story the LA Times picked up on the thorny issue of the Blumenfield independent expenditure committee. The article mentions "Observers say they've rarely seen a candidate's family run a campaign outside the control of the candidate, although in 2001, five brothers and other relatives and friends financed a $10,000 radio ad campaign on behalf of Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge."

The latest twist in the AD40 saga includes yet another complaint filed with the FPPC against Blumenfield. According to the Waldman campaign, a television commercial (below) released by the elder Blumenfield's IEC that features video allegedly shot by the campaign.

Corruption in AD 40 Race? Charges filed Against Blumenfeld and Healey

We all know how shady local politics are but Assembly candidates Laurette Healey and Bob Blumenfeld are quickly becoming the poster children for alleged shady dealings.

First off, we've become aware of a complaint filed with the State Labor Commissioner by a person employed by the campaign to secure Laurette Healey the Democratic nomination for the 40th Assembly District seat being vacated by Lloyd Levine. The individual claims that they were to be paid $3500 a month for their services. Three weeks into the engagement the campaign worker was asked to sign a contract. They asked if they could time to have a lawyer review it. When the worker told the Healey campaign there were elements of the contract they could not agree to; the campaign allegedly refused to pay the individual for work performed prior to the request by the campaign for a contract. To see the complaint filed against Healey, click here.

The other bad little kid in the AD 40 Democratic race is Bob Blumenfeld. A third candidate in the race, former AD 40 Chief of Staff Stuart Waldman, has filed charges with the Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that Blumenfeld's employer, Congressman Howard Berman and Blumenfeld's father, political operative Michael Blumenfeld created an independent expenditure committee - the Santa Monica based "Valley Democrats for Change" - as method to launder contributions from Berman and the elder Blumenfeld to the candidate's account. If this allegation is correct, Berman and Blumenfeld would be in violation of campaign laws which limit the amount an individual can contribute to a campaign. According to the complaint released by the Waldman Campaign, Berman and Blumenfeld reached this limit last year. Additionally, the law prohibits independent expenditure committees from working in concert with the candidate; Waldman's complaint details and alleges involvement and coordination from Berman and his staff in the Blumenfeld campaign.

In a related story, bad news for the man Waldman, Healey and Blumenfeld are seeking to replace. Levine's opponent in the 23rd Senate District Democratic race, Fran Pavley, is running 2-1 ahead of Levine in recent polls.

Blumenfeld's "Stacking the Room" Comes to Head Tonight

40th AD Democratic candidate Bob Blumenfeld got caught with his pants down around his knees trying to "stack the room" (his words) to gain the endorsement from two different Democratic organizations. In both instances the candidate failed and no endorsement was given.

Linda Sutton writing at Calitics captures the next site in the circus tour, the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club. According to Sutton, the father of our favorite backstabbing nanny bachelor (you know who) bought at least 80 memberships (and hence votes) putting them on his credit card just before the deadline hit. The fun starts tonight.

In the meantime, Blumenfeld's opponent Stuart Waldman announced an endorsement that didn't require a credit card, that of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

Mayor Sam's Afternoon Hotsheet

One of the arguments for allowing illegal immigration is that those who sneak over the border for a better life do "the jobs Americans will not do." But a major problem that illegal aliens can not help with and in fact may make worse is the growing shortage of skilled labor in California. As baby boomers retire, there are fewer doctors, nurses, computer progammers, etc. while at the same time the rise in population caused by illegal immigration creates more demand for these services. Ernesto Cortes Jr., Southwest regional director of the Industrial Areas Foundation, told the Temple Daily Telegram, “Right now we’re headed toward becoming a Third World city."

We need more police officers! There's compelling reasons for police officers to join other departments than LAPD. So the City has offered $5000 signing bonuses to new officers and $10,000 bonuses to officers who transfer from other departments. Mercury Insurance kicked in $1 million to help with it. But now the Clowncil wants to end the program (and spend the money elsewhere I guess).

You might think I'm shilling for the billboard companies, but I have no issue with the signs, especially if they're electronic ones put up along the freeway or in entertainment districts like Hollywood, NoHo, Downtown, etc. They might be too ugly for the Anglo Westside but if folks downtown want them or in other areas, let them do it. We don't need suburban blue-hair cranks telling us what to do in other parts of the City.

Mayor Gavin Newsom's fiance sounds like a bright chick. Jennifer Siebel planned to change her voter registration from Republican to decline to state. However, she instead registered with the right wing American Independent Party. Maybe he should have stayed with the 19 year old.

Just like the City, British bankers are seeing their expense accounts sliced. Most notably cut is reimbursement for trips to strip clubs and brothels (note to American readers: those are generally more accepted in Europe than in the US.)

Stuart Waldman picks up an endorsement from a teacher's union.

We don't hear much about NIMBYs in Beverly Hills but of course they have them in spades. They're against a new hotel on the site of the Beverly Hilton; though probably you'd have to live there to afford it. Swimmin' pools, movie stars.

Waldman Racks Up More Support

The Stuart Waldman for Assembly campaign reports, after interviewing all three major candidates in the 40th AD race, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the candidacy of the former Chief of Staff of Assembly Member Lloyd Levine and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

Press coverage is finally kicking in on Jamiel's Law. I corresponded earlier with Jamiel Shaw, Sr. who has been quite busy with interviews. Unfortunately, the behavior of some of our City Council members to the appearance today by the Shaw's in chambers was quite disturbing. Not daunted, the Shaws will continue on in suport of Jamiel and Jamiel's Law.

Joe Mailander has an excellent piece that touches on something we've been saying for a while but he puts it better - the Mayor is scared to death of a conservative populist movement in the City and it may find it in the anger over gang violence that is motivating the Jamiel's Law campaign.

The Daily News takes to task some Clowncil members who are also hoarding millions of dollars of taxpayer money that should go back to the general fund during the budget crisis. Chief among the hoarders is everyone's favorite "George W. Bush of LA" Zuma's friend Tom LeBong who says he has to hold on to the money so he can "deliver for his district." Is there a bigger clown on the Clowncil than LeBong? You tell me.

NIMBY/CAVE/BANANA types normally fight against condos, stores and other nasty things near their homes. I didn't think it was possible but we have a new monster in LA, the NIYBY - not in your backyard! Busybody Westside White Guys and Gals from Holmby Hills, Brentwood, et - including Wacko Jacko - al are protesting construction of an electronic billboard miles away in South LA. The billboard is supported by the local residents and the local Clowncilman because it will generate funds for much needed parkland in the area. Let's hope the South LA'ers tell the WWGGs to go to hell.

Fellow Mirthala Banger Fabian Knucklehead Nunez is holding onto $4 million meant to support Democratic candidates and the unions want it back. A spokesman for the disgraced, termed-out Assembly Speaker said nuts to you, "We don't question how labor runs its operations. It's unfortunate they don't offer the same consideration to the speaker."

I've reported on the nutty security cameras Clowncil people are squeezing Neighborhood Councils for. Many of them wind up broken due to a lack of maintenance. Our favorite ex-motorcycle cop turned Councilman Dennis Zine makes an excellent point: arrests deter graffiti, not cameras.

Stuart Waldman has yet again nabbed more big name endorsements as he rolls to the Democratic nomination for the 40th Assembly District. This time, among more unions, he picks up the support of two current Assembly Members he'll work with - neighboring seat holders Paul Krekorian and Anthony Portantino.

Blumenfield Suffers Party Defeat

Bad news for Democratic 40th Assembly District candidate Bob Blumenfield who was dealt a significant rebuke by the California Democratic Party during its convention this past weekend. Nearly 60% of Democratic delegates at the state convention overturned Bob Blumenfield’s endorsement recommendation, leaving the state party with a ‘No Recommendation’ position in the 40th Assembly District.

Blumenfield's opponent Stuart Waldman's campaign issued the following statement:

"The endorsement reversal on the convention floor was historic; such a turnaround has only occurred three times in the past decade. The vote was brought to the floor after Waldman’s team of volunteers successfully collected over 460 delegate signatures – far more than the 300 needed – in less than 5 hours. Waldman said, 'This was a rejection of Blumenfield’s back-room deal politics that allowed him to stack the local caucus vote with over 20 brand-new delegates. I am pleased that rank and file Democrats recognized my years of service to the party and voted to keep the California Democratic Party out of this race.' Calitics.com blogger “Robert in Monterey” wrote that the rescinded AD 40 endorsement was evidence of 'a huge divide between the party grassroots and the Sacramento leadership in particular.'"

The Waldman campaign, having received the endorsement of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, quickly claimed the support of the Democratic rank and file over Blumenfield and decried the "backroom politics" that failed to engineer an endorsement for the Congressional aide.

Is Laurette Healey Challenged When It Comes To Counting?

We've covered before 40th AD Democratic Assembly Candidate Laurette Healey's reported inability to properly account for campaign expenditures but what happens when you catch a candidate in an outright falsehood?

In an email to supporters, Healey claimed to have received the highest amount of contributions in the race. Yet, as noted below, Secretary of State figures show that distinction belongs to her opponent Bob Blumenfield who raised nearly half as much more than Healey. When it comes to cash on hand though Healey only has about a third the bank account of Blumenfield and a fourth that of other opponent Stuart Waldman.

However, according to state records Healey has spent nearly twice as much as Blumenfield and another $20K more than Waldman.



Maybe that's what she really meant - she spent the most, not earned it. Not the kind of person I want in charge of the state budget.

Jack Hoff's "This Just In!": Easter Bunny Endorses Waldman For AD40

Breaking News: In a late-Sunday night speech to The San Fernando Valley Progressive Christian Democrats Between The Ages Of Five And Six, a tired Easter Bunny endorsed Stuart Waldman for Assembly District 40...

...at least, that's what the Waldman camp claimed after reviewing the enclosed videotape.

From Jack Hoff's "This Just In...!"

Laurette Healey: Republican?

Well she was. Of course now Laurette Healey's a Democrat as she runs for her new party's nomination for the 40th Assembly District.

The more I think about her campaign the more I get confused as to how confused she may be. First, as a new Democrat, Healey reportedly tried to vote in the wrong Assembly District in a state party endorsement session. Then, as we reported, a video disected all kinds of confusing and crazy stuff in Healey's campaign finance reports including the fact that Healey's campaign had spent more than it brought in.

The one thing I'm not confused about is that we had heard for some time Healey used to be a Republican. And now we know for sure.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

Good news for local Democratic Assembly Candidate Stuart Waldman. He's received endorsements from both the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 36. If you're interested in seeing another battle between Waldman and the other candidates seeing the 40th Assembly District nomination, there's one tonight in West Hills.

You'll be paying more for water soon if the Metropolitan Water District has it's way. The agency's board will consider a 14% hike this week.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is said to be quietly making plans to run for Governor in 2010. Other potential entries into the race include Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown (we told you this months ago) former candidate Steve Westly and of course our own Antonio Villaraigosa, though the Mayor's gubernatorial chances are fading fast.

Eventually government gets with the 20th Century (yes I meant to say 20th Century). Even though there are things like e-mail and wikis, the California Assembly has hung on to a one hundred year old rule that held off amendments on a bill for 30 days in order to give the state printing office time to print the proposed bills. Originally, the Assembly would have to recess until the printers caught up. About fifty years ago the rule was changed to at least allow the Legislature to meet and discuss other business while bills were being printed. Now, the author of the bill can make what are called "author amendments" during the 30 day period. The new rule only applies to the Assembly and not the State Senate at this time.

Video: Laurette Healey's Shady Campaign Finances?

AD 40 Dem Debate Shows a Lot About The Candidates

Joe Mailander had a great piece covering last Sunday's debate in what could be the only exciting Assembly race in California, that is the contested race for the Democratic nomination for the 40th AD.

Among the front runners are longtime Valley fixture and veteran Assembly staffer Stuart Waldman, newcomer and Congressman Howard Berman protege Bob Blumenfeld and former Republican Lesbian turned current Democrat Lesbian who votes in the wrong Assembly District for Democratic party endorsements Laurette Healey.

There's one other guy in the debate who's running whose name I can't remember and it doesn't really matter, he's not going to win.

In this clip of the debate, we see how Blumenfeld stumbles and bumbles his way through an answer to question; his biggest issue is that somehow it's unethical that Waldman and Healey have both spent their own money on their campaign. Healey, who could probably use some of the same advice Zuma Dogg gave to Hillary Clinton, comes off angry and pompous and is critical of Blumenfeld's and Stuart's "youth." The other guy who doesn't matter says nothing. At the end, only Waldman answers the question and shows a true grasp of the issues in the District based on decades of actually working and living there - and he does so in an affable, confident, calm matter certainly contrasting him with the other three candidates.



While watching Blumenfeld, it occurred to me he reminded me of someone: the neurotic television producer from Murphy Brown, Miles Silverberg, portrayed by actor Grant Shaud.