LACCD says goodbye to Art Gastelum and FTR International over Shoddy and Fraudulent work at Mission College

Art Gastelum's political friends can help only so much when the smell of corruption becomes too toxic

With a looming criminal investigation on the horizon, the LACCD Board of Trustees unexpectedly took action to terminate the contracts of Irvine based construction company FTR international and the politically connected construction management firm Gateway Science and Engineering, which is owned by Art Gastelum.

For months since the LA Times series of exposes on the massive problems within the $5.6 Billion dollars LACCD Construction Program, the issues surrounding the construction of the Allied Health Building at Mission College, has been the poster child for what happens when you mixed political connections and construction. 

But as LACCD moves to disassociate itself from toxic political smell of Art Gastelum, the connected contractor is not going out quietly as noted by the times.Gastelum strongly criticized Marez's role in the recommendation to terminate his contract, saying she was "running around wild trying to protect her job.".

Marez is the same Christine Marez who worked for Gastelum and was hired by LACCD as its Inspector General, overseeing the construction program.

One can smell major CYA here and we should add this from the Van de Kamp Coalition as posted in the comment section of the times story.

Can Christine Marez be trusted with the records confiscated today?  Can District headquarters personnel be trusted with access to these confiscated records?  Is there a risk the Marez's real job is to sanitize the record before someone shows the connection between wrongful acts by LACCD Board members or LACCD Central Office administrators?  The Van de Kamps Coalition has seen thus far, only Inspector General reports where contrators are revealed as acting unlawfully and LACCD staff are shown as being ethical.  Are all of the IG's reports going to sanitize the personal involvement of Board members and high administrators?

Stay tuned but do not hold your breath.

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14   .

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday

Strange time for politicians and urine lately.  Mayor Villaraigosa has debuted toilets without water, a City Councilmember from New Jersey has eliminated the toilet altogether.  Steve Lipiski, a 44 year old Democratic Councilman from Jersey City allegedly urinated from a nightclub balcony on a group of churchgoers and was arrested Friday evening.  Lipiski has not admitted to the act though Sunday he declared he was swearing off alcohol.

This is one of the reasons we usually oppose big government spending bond issues.  On election day voters approved Proposition J which adds another $3.5 billion in taxpayer funded debtfor construction projects by the Los Angeles Community College District despite the fact that the District mis-managed the funds raised under it's last bond.  Now that J has passed, Ron Kaye reports that Community College trutees Kelly Candaele and Nancy Pearlman are holding seperate fundraisers at the posh LA City Club with a minimum contribution of $1000.  Who will be showing up for breakfast? The contractors who want to get a chunk of that $3.5 billion of course.

The fantasy that the LA River is actually a river continues.  The big issue is whether or not the river is "navigable." I am sure the "Michael Higby hates rivers" haters will come out in force but folks, it's a flood control channel.  Before that it was a little creek that overflowed and flooded horribly during the occasional rain storms Southern California gets.  In prior years, devastating floods destroyed many LA communities until the Army Corps of Engineers built Southern California's amazing flood control system.  Beyond just indulging silly fantasies, the bigger concern is that potential for massive fraud, waste, abuse when it comes to taxpayer dollars being sought for "river" development and the impact on private property near the river.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday

From GetLiberty.org.  Used with permission.

The Expo Light Rail line from LA to Culver City has hit a roadblock.  A California Public Utilities Commission Judge has ruled against the authority building the train and their desire to have two at grade crossings near Dorsey High and Foshay Learning Center.  Community activitists as well as the LAUSD argued that these crossings would be dangerous to children walking to school and the judge agreed, ordering the Expo Line authority to construct bridges at the crossing adding perhaps $18 million and three years to the project.  The Commission itself will have the final say in November.

A Glassell Park community forum turned into a debate on the fate of the Southwest Museum and a controversial plan to use funds from a bond measure to fund facilities for the Los Angeles Community College at the Museum.  Though the District denies this, activists say that the Southwest is included in an LACCD "wish list" of projects should the measure pass. 

Like Mayor Villaraigosa, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has managed to pass his own version of shady term limits extension but he didn't have to bamboozle the voters to do it.  The New York City Council voted 29-22 (God damn, could you imagine having 51 CLOWNCIL MEMBERS?) to extend his (and their) terms by another four years, despite the fact that Big Apple voters have twice passed term limits meaures capping the Mayor and Clowncil at two four year terms.  Dang and we thought our Clowncil was shady!

An attorney for John McCain's wife Cindy has sent a protest letter to the New York Times for their recent hatchet job story on Cindy McCain.  That's part of the usual bloviating of campaigns though it does seem unfair the Obama Times would dredge up McCain's past but not look at Mrs. Obama's background, of which there are some questions.  That being said the more disturbing issue of the whole affair is that the writer of the story - Jodi Kantor - scoured the Facebook profile of McCain's 16 year old daughter Bridget and contacted classmates of Bridget McCain in order to dig up dirt on the McCains.  Incredible.

And fnally, Britney Spears has decided what she's going to dress up as for Halloween: herself.  Brit's going to put on a bald wig and trick or treat as her old crazy self a few years ago. 

Outtakes from the Red Spot Institute for Friday

Hands are out all across Washington D.C. as Wall Street and the "MSM" await the vote in the House on the "Bailout of ACORN, Democrats, and their cronies in the mortgage industry".

***Vote was yes, Democrats are having "diarrhea of the mouth" in congratulating themselves in bailing out this massive public fraud that was the mortgage scandal.

Back on the left coast, the "Kennedy Republican" has completed his political de-evolution from "Populist Hero" to "Pandering Pauper".with his plea to the feds for a "little scratch" that totals $7,000,000,000.

A thought that the "Kennedy Republican" might want to ponder from the "Sinking Buick" of his "tenure" as Governor, is declaring a "Regulation and Tax Holiday" to stimulate some "redness" into the blue-ailing California economy.

The Los Angeles Times, aka "THE OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STRRET" says "NO" to LAUSD"s $7,000,000,000 bond proposal Prop Q (uesidillas for Monica), while giving a "YES" to the Los Angeles Community College District bond proposal Prop J (acking public money to turn the Southwest Museum into a college campus).

Then check out the spin on the Southwest Museum's "Line Item" in the bond proposal,

The debate about this sensible measure has been sidetracked by one of its proposed projects, the construction of classrooms at the Southwest Museum, currently undergoing a much-delayed renovation. Museum partisans, who are fighting to see it reopen, have alleged that supporting Measure J would transform the museum into a campus. That's not true. The district is only setting aside funds should space become available. If that happens, classrooms would supplement the museum, not replace it, and building them would represent an entirely legitimate use of this small portion of the bond proceeds. That neighborhood disagreement should not be an excuse to scuttle a measure so important to the entire Los Angeles area.

Nice of the Times to remember that there is a "Southwest Museum Controversy".

.....and lastly, David Zahniser has a little diddy on an out-going department head who wanted to have a "BIG" party as he transition from city employee to future shill for businesses who seek investments from the city employees retirement fund, aka LACERS.

One can say that you must be on the fast track to becoming a "Big Shill" if you get Richard Alatorre and Goerge Pla (your new boss) to attend.