HACLA's Ken Simmons to appear before City Council on Tuesday

Grandstanding alert tomorrow via Councilman Dennis Zine and Controller "Valley Greuel"

Blogger's Notes: According to KCET via their second expose of the dysfunctional HACLA Corporate Culture, City Councilman and City Controller Candidate Dennis Zine has called HACLA former Acting CEO Ken Simmons to appear before his City Hall committee hearing tomorrow at City Hall. Yet, lets not lose sight that corruption at HACLA goes back beyond the time of Rudy Montiel and Ken Simmons as "Fraud Watcher" posted this on Mayor Sam recently---Scott Johnson.

The tragedy is that millions of dollars have been wasted by HACLA from 1996-2011 that should have been available for affordable housing.Instead the following failed the people and need to be held accountable by the people:

1. HUD and especially HUD OIG who failed to prosecute HACLA and in fact took criminal cases out of the hands of DA Cooley involving HACLA/Mayor&Councilmembers (Taracena cases).

2. HUDOIG/FBI who failed to interview any HACLA whistleblowers who had evidence against HACLA staff and failed to follow up on charges made in court documents.

3 Mainstream media- (especially LA Times) who failed to report HACLA whistleblower cases and the millions spent of federal and city funds persecuting Whistlblowers. By the way all whistleblowers settled their cases and their charges are still public records- media could have easily followed up on these serious charges and ended the Montiel administration years ago.

4. Mayor and Council at fault because they knew 2007 investigations involved possible involvement by some on council and supporters receiving illegal funds from HACLA via "questionable-non existent" contracts.Mayor did not change HACLA Bd until KCET TV report this year!

5. City Attorney office has spent millions defending HACLA practices and in fact had full time staff in charge of internal audit (?) and finances (?). Why did city Atty allow all of these millions to be spent this way? Dont Attys have ethics and know the difference that their ultimate clients are the citizens and not a questionable agency?

Yes the system of checks and balances broke down and while everyone in the system kept their jobs and got bonuses, yet many LA poor remain in substandard housing and millions missing. No one was held accountable but ethical whistlblowers were persecuted by the system (like Enron,Madoff Fast and Furious)

This Hacla mess was very preventable but it will take some guts-watch out for Jordan Downs and other developments follow the money/contracts--remember HACLA adm and BD have development/builder background and other HACLA devs.

In summary DA Cooley should take over any audit/investigation of HACLA inorder to avoid conflict of interest.

December 07, 2011 10:26 AM

Mayoral "double-speak" on HACLA

 Ooops! Caught in an act of political double-speak again.

Mayor Antonio Villar's HACLA Commission President "out source" the mayor's true knowledge of Rudy Montiel's $1.2 Million Dollars "Hush Contract".

We have a mayoral administration implosion in progress........

What started as a political exercise in sanitizing a dirty political scandal has now morph into a toxic clean up operation of Super Fund proportions. Make no doubt that the Mayor Antonio Villar Administration had choreograph the acts of sanitizing the most recent scandal at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), terminating commissioners of ill repute, terminating the highly-paid Executive Director Rudy Montiel, have the City Controller on stand by to conduct a "white-wash audit and asking an acting CEO to fall on the sword in the name of reform. But funny things happen when the role players don't stick to the political script.

First, someone leaks the details of former HACLA Executive Director Rudy Montiel's Golden Parachute/Hush Deal/Retaliation Settlement that netted the latest axed head of HACLA $1.2 Million, to the Los Angeles Times. This settlement between the mayor's HACLA commissioners and Montiel, prompted the Villar Administration to deny any knowledge of the settlement via Deputy Mayor Sarah Sheahan.

Second, in a flash of conscience, HACLA Commission President Mitch Kamin deviated from the script and told the Times "the mayor's staff was advised of the proposed terms." Further, Kamin stated ..........

"The mayor, when he appointed me to this position, asked me to move this agency forward and oversee a turnaround," Kamin said. "The settlement was part of that, and the mayor's staff was advised before the settlement was finalized. And I know we have his full support for the settlement decision (you may have lost future support after outing Villar)."       

Third, acting HACLA CEO Ken Simmons was asked by Mayor Villar "to fall on the sword and resign in the best interest of HACLA" . This after the latest KCET So Cal Connected expose on dubious financial spending under his watch. But Simmons only agrees to vacate the Acting CEO position and return to his original COO job. In addition, he confirms that the Villar Administration was involve in the settlement proceedings with Montiel, yet another deviation from script.

Fourth, now with both Kamin and Simmons straying away from the political choreograph conclusion, Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Szabo has to make this stunning admission

Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Szabo, was quoted by KCET-TV as saying the mayor was "absolutely aware and authorized the settlement in this matter," according to the station's website. Sheahan subsequently acknowledged that she had been "misinformed (or Sheahan was the only role player to stay on script)." 

Thus, it seems that "this political play" needs its conclusion crafted by some outisde investigated agency.

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

Mid-Day Briefs on the Los Angeles Political Scene for Monday

"Big Montiel is watching you in public housing".

Great bloated Monday and start to Rivalry Week in Ciudad de Los Angeles, as the City Council adjourns its high-salary proceedings for the annual junket to the "League of Municipal Fiefdoms Conference". Wonder if former City of Bell Administrator "Ratzo Rizzo" will host a workshop on municipal self-enrichment?

One person who is enriching himself courtesy of the taxpayers is Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA for short) $400,000+ Executive Director Rudy Montiel, who is quickly becoming the LA Times latest "poster bureaucrat" for public salary scrutiny.

Montiel, with his willing allies in City Hall, has attempted to franchise out HACLA's various housing projects and reap the financial windfalls of this endeavor. Thus, you get Montiel's current salary. But it is Montiel's actions against those who dare protest his efforts that is making Montiel the latest "paranoid bureaucrat". This in light of his actions that may cost the City of Los Angeles money in lawsuits by HACLA tenants, who faced wrongful-eviction for protesting Montiel's proposals.

BTW, we hear that someone in HACLA's upper management may have bail out the "connected non-profit Legacy LA", with a new home in the Ramona Gardens Projects. A source speculated that Legacy LA Executive Director Lou Calanche went to someone in HACLA and all of a sudden, a portable trailer was installed.

It should be noted that when Legacy LA was constituted, they had as an "advisor for redevelopment" Dalila Sotelo, who once was a Vice-President for the connected affordable-housing builder McCormick, Barron and Salazar. Sotelo now earns her public paycheck as an employee of CRA.

Can you follow the flow of money and public property, to the "connected-few" here?

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HACLA Rudy Montiel's "get rich scheme" garners unwanted attention

Mayor Antonio Villar (right) with his $400,000+ Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Rudy Montiel (left).

To say that corruption does not exist within the dysfunctional agency known as the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), is to say that Mayor Antonio Villar has been a "transparent and ethical beacon" at 200 Spring Street.

Simply, the state of public housing under the control of HACLA is a legal and dysfunctional trainwreck, with its corrupt toxic fumes polluting the political air at City Hall. But lets make no mistake here, this stench has been around for years.

Now with Ron Kaye's latest missive on HACLA Executive Director Rudy Montiel's scheme for self-enrichment and his actions against tenants who protested outside his Rancho Cucamonga "mansion",the "big shining light of investigation" is pointed again at HACLA and what will be the end result? Maybe much-needed reforms.

The HACLA's Public Housing Projects are gang-infested fiefdoms that breed future generations of gang members and foster dependency on the largess of government (ie. WIC, Food Stamps, Welfare, mixed with subsidize, sub-standard housing).

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