Happy Tax (Levy) Day to "Private Citizen/ Campaign Consultant (and tax dodge?)" John Shallman

Happy Tax Deadline Day to All as we ponder whether the Campaigns of Mike Feuer and to a lesser extent, Wendy "The Embraced Villar Greuel", are accessories to crafting consulting contracts with "Private Citizen/ Political Consultant" John Shallman, that enable him to dodge any outstanding tax issues (for now)?

What did the LA Times say about Shallman's secret consulting contract with Mike Feuer?

First, there are the troubling implications of the unusual financial relationship that Feuer had with his political consultant, John Shallman. Feuer and Shallman agreed that rather than pay Shallman his full fee as the race unfolded, Feuer would give him a sizable bonus at the end of the race, provided that Feuer won. There’s nothing inherently wrong with an incentive bonus, but in this case, it allowed Feuer to avoid an important aspect of Los Angeles’ campaign finance scheme: To receive matching funds (at taxpayer expense), candidates for city attorney have to agree, in writing, not to exceed a spending limit; in the first round of the city attorney race, that limit was $1.259 million. Feuer spent $1.212 million, so if he had been paying Shallman, he almost certainly would not have been eligible for the matching funds, the not-trivial sum of $300,000. It’s possible that Feuer had no idea that his arrangement with Shallman would have this effect, but it’s fishy enough to be worthy of an investigation, as well as enactment of further rules to prevent a recurrence of the situation. **  Especially, considering when you add in Shallman's past and current tax issues ...........  

 A Copy of "Notice of Tax Levy" against John and Lani Shallman, sent to a previous campaign.

"Private Citizen/ Political Consultant" John Shallman Defense Attorney Andrew Cowan.

Maybe Shallman's Barrister Cowan can enlighten us whether the root reason for secretive consulting contract understanding between his client and City Attorney Candidate Mike Feuer, was predicated on the candidate being an willing accessory to helping Shallman dodge pending tax issues (for now), while reaping a windfall ($300,000+) of public financing for his campaign? Just a thought (in question form) and we welcome a response from both Shallman and Feuer.

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14

Morning Briefs on the Los Angeles Political Machine for Monday

Introducing a new Mayor Sam Feature: "Outttakes from the Jurisprudence File of a Private Citizen/ Political Consultant", John Shallman.

Hola and great Monday morning to all in Ciudad de Los Angeles!

There would be no better way to begin our morning brief than with a “Private Citizen/ Political Consultant” John Shallman “Jurisprudence Outtake” from the Pulitzer Prize nominated Los Cerritos Community Newspaper via its investigated reporters Randy Economy and Brian Hews.

They report exclusively that City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has file a 200+ page motion that outlines further allegations of fiscal fraud originating from Shallman‘s consulting work in Trutanich‘s fail bid for District Attorney.

We excerpt the following below.

The motions allege that Shallman “grossly mismanaged and squandered campaign funds, and otherwise engaged in questionable and unethical practices.One of the instances cited in the motions alleges that Shallman hired Patricia Duchene of RED Mailing to print and mail campaign advertisements to 254,000 voters, charging $146,160.72.  The suit contends that if Shallman had done the mailings “in house” the cost would have been significantly less. The checks written to Duchene by Shallman total $164,344.21, while the Duchene invoice is for only $146,160.72.In addition to RED, the attorneys have documentation that shows checks written by Shallman to vendors for payment of services with Shallman asking for reimbursement later. Some of those reimbursements did not match the original check. “Usually you submit a check request to the campaign, and the campaign writes the check,” said one local CPA, “this is not good business practice and lends itself to abuse.”Shallman is the chief political consultant to current Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel who is embroiled in a heated four-way race for Mayor of Los Angeles with former Federal Prosecutor Kevin James and Los Angeles City Council Members Jan Perry and Eric Garcetti.

Its safe to say that “Jurisprudence Outtakes via a Private Citizen/ Political Consultant“, will be a regular feature of mayor Sam in the weeks ahead , with diligent attention being paid by a certain “Barrister Cowan“, a given.

** The consulting prowess of the “Private Citizen/ Campaign Consultant for Wendy “The Villar Greuel” was the subject of generous story budgeting from the Old Gray Collective Hag on Spring Street (LA Times moniker). The resulting trifecta of coverage was a godsend to the Kevin James Campaign as the Times reported on the “Greuel, Noguez Connection”, the high number of Mayor Villar associates supporting The Villar Greuel Campaign and uber liberal feminist Senator Barbara Boxer’s endorsement of the Villar Greuel.

** For those discerning observers of LAUSD, a gauge on the success (or lack of) of  Mayor Antonio Villar’s “Partnership for Education”, can be ascertain via this story on Roosevelt High School by Gloria Castillo in the Eastern Group Publications. Hint, not all is well within Mayor Villar/ School Board President Monica Garcia’s supposed stronghold.

** Change is coming to the Horseshoe in City Hall come July and it may not bid well for fiscal sanity, as a mad rush of termed out Sacramento politicos, are seeking a public sector pay raise.

** We want to offer our condolences to the family of longtime political operative/lobbyist William “Bill” Orozco who passed away in his sleep last week. He was 63 years old.

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

A Formal Reply from John Shallman's Attorney Andrew Cowan

Mayor Sam receives formal "Cease and Desist Letter" from Democratic Political Consultant John Shallman's Attorney Andrew Cowan.

** Blogger's note: In response to a blog missive posted here yesterday regarding Democratic Political Consultant John Shallman, the Mayor Sam Blog received the following "Cease and Desist Letter" from Gallo LLP Attorney Andrew Cowan, on the behalf of Mr. Shallman. In the spirit of openness, transparency and the First Amendment Right to Freedom of the Press, we post the letter below for your review. As the letter below states, Mr. Cowan is representing Mr. Shallman against a lawsuit filed by former client City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. For the record, the post that is the subject of Shallman's protest, was not a statement of fact by this writer, but merely an exercise in ascertaining the veracity of an email received by myself (** which was partly validated by Shallman's Attorney Andrew Cowan). Further, this writer has never endeavor to slander the Shallman Family, but merely reported on the recent work of Lani Shallman's "West Coast Public Affairs Business". In closing, this blog writer will continue to comment factually in the future on Mr. Shallman's political work and accord him (or his chosen attorney) the right to rebuttal---Scott Johnson.

 "Private Citizen/ Political Consultant" John Shallman

 John Shallman's Attorney Andrew Cowan of Gallo LLC

 Page 1 of Shallman's "Cease and Desist Letter".

Page 2 of John Shallman's "Cease and Desist Letter".

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14