Daily Journal Exclusive on Federal Investigation involving Councilman Jose Huizar and former School Board Member David Tokofsky

** Notice to readers: We post the full Daily Journal article on the Federal Investigation of Councilman Jose Huizar and former LAUSD School Board Member David Tokofsky, with the kind and gracious permission of Daily Journal Associate Editor Evelyn Larrubia.

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By Ciaran McEvoy and Greg Katz Daily Journal Staff Writers

LOS ANGELES - Federal authorities are investigating Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar and former Los Angeles Unified School Board member David Tokofsky in connection with payments they received from a nonprofit group founded by late labor leader Miguel Contreras, the Daily Journal has learned.

The heart of the probe involves what, if any, work the officials completed for the roughly $30,000 in fees they were each paid while they were both sitting school board members, three sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said. At the time, school board members were paid about $24,000 a year for their official duties.

Authorities are also investigating whether the money for payments from Voter Improvement Program Inc. originated from entities that had business before the school board that the two officials could influence, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

It is legal for elected officials to earn outside income in addition to their public work. But it is illegal for them to receive personal income from outside sources related to the discharge of their official duties.

In an interview, Tokofsky said he was unaware that he was the subject of any federal investigation. He defended the money he received from the group, saying the work he did for VIP was legitimate. He declined to elaborate.

Huizar, who was contacted in person at his home, would not comment. He later issued a statement through a spokesman saying he "would be willing to cooperate with any inquiry."

It is unclear when or whether an indictment will come down. Some sources said criminal charges may be close, but others indicated prosecutors may ultimately decide not to file a case.

Witnesses have recently been called to testify before a grand jury. Thom Mrozek, spokesman with the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, declined comment.

Several sources told the Daily Journal that documents were filed under seal in February and March asking a judge to remove Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian from prosecuting the case because of his political history as a Republican candidate for the California Assembly.

In 2000, union-backed Democrat Dario J. Frommer defeated Missakian in a hotly contested race for the 43rd Assembly District in the Glendale-Burbank area. Secretary of State campaign finance records show that the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor donated directly to Frommer's campaign -- and also made a donation to VIP for its efforts to get Frommer elected.

Frommer served in the Assembly from 2000 to 2006 and was its majority leader from 2004 to 2006.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder declined to disqualify the prosecutor from the case, several sources said.

LAUSD records show Huizar and Tokofsky both reported receiving payments from VIP for amounts between $10,000 and $100,000 in 2003 and 2004.

Tokofsky filed his 2003 report, which disclosed his personal income from VIP, a year late, in 2005. He paid a $100 fine for the late disclosure, which he documented in his report for 2004.

While Huizar and Tokofsky were not the only consultants hired by VIP, sources said the timing and payment amounts were similar enough to arouse suspicion. It was unclear what either did for the get-out-the-vote organization.

The payments to Huizar and Tokofsky stopped after Contreras died in 2005, the same year
Huizar was elected to the city council. Tokofsky left the school board in 2007 after deciding not to seek a fourth term.

Sources said the investigation into Huizar and Tokofsky spun off from a broader look at VIP that has been going on for years.

The organization was founded in 1997 to register and educate voters as well as campaign for ballot initiatives. Contreras, head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, was chairman of VIP's board of directors until he died in 2005.

VIP, which identified itself as a fundraising and political advocacy organization, attracted scrutiny several years ago for its political activism on behalf of union-backed causes and candidates. It solicited money from entertainment conglomerates, energy companies, unions and others, some of whom later said they thought the funds were strictly for voter education drives.

Unions are forbidden from taking employers' money in their fundraising. VIP, which was not a union but was founded and run by prominent union organizers, raised money from employers.

The group also appears to have done political work. Antonio Villaraigosa, for instance, hired VIP to provide phonebanking for his failed 2001 mayoral run, records show.

In 2005, then-state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, came under fire for accepting $35,000 a year from VIP for consulting work. He subsequently cut his ties to the group.

VIP dissolved in 2006 and its remaining funds were transferred to Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, records show. Among VIP's board members was Madeline Janis, LAANE's executive director.

"It was a group that had a mission and a purpose," she said of VIP. "Hundreds of volunteers knocked on doors in south L.A. and East L.A. to get people to vote."

Janis declined to comment on the investigation.

Missakian was also involved in the prosecution of former Los Angeles City Councilmember Martin Ludlow, who resigned as head of the labor federation in light of embezzlement allegations in 2006. The case was prosecuted jointly by the U.S. attorney's office and Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Authorities accused Ludlow of scheming with the head of Service Employees International Union Local 99 to pay workers for Ludlow's city council campaign out of union coffers. The pair were alleged to have falsified union records and fabricated documents.

Ludlow, who was the federation's political director under Contreras, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate federal labor laws that prohibit embezzling from a labor organization.
ciaran_mcevoy@dailyjournal.com
greg_katz@dailyjournal.com

Excellent job by Ciaran McEvoy and Greg Katz.

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

Councilman Jose Huizar under Federal Investigation: "Who knows what ??"

"What does Henry Casas know about Monica Garcia and Jose Huizar and vice-versa ??"

After former CD-14 Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa became Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005, he annoited a young, political newcomer in the person of then, LAUSD School Board President Jose Huizar, to succeed him in CD-14.

And with the assemble resources against him and some follies from his campaign staff, former Councilman Nick Pacheco was trounced in his attempt to return to his former office, by the person who had been a former supporter, Jose Huizar.

Now in 2009, Councilman Jose Huizar has many in CD-14, who bothered to vote, contemplating their past support of Huizar in light of today's disclosure of the Councilman's latest ethical concerns, as noted this afternoon on the LA Times "LA Now Blog Site". and updated version this evening.

Federal investigators are examining whether a labor-affiliated nonprofit group improperly funneled consulting fees to Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar and former Board of Education member David Tokofsky, sources close to the investigation say.

The inquiry is looking into payments of about $30,000 each to Huizar and Tokofsky by Voter Improvement Program Inc., a nonprofit group headed by local labor leader Miguel Contreras, who died in 2005. Investigators want to determine if Contreras was, in effect, using the nonprofit as a “slush fund” to reward allies, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because the investigation is ongoing and confidential. The inquiry reportedly extends beyond the two officials whose names have come to light.

Tax filings from 2004 state that Voter Improvement spent $93,054 on "nonpartisan voter registration, get out the vote, voter education and ballot measure advocacy." But this amount was dwarfed by $233,038 spent on consulting fees. These included $35,000 a year once paid to former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.

The fees to Huizar and Tokofsky were paid in 2003 and 2004—when both were on the city’s elected Board of Education.

As part of the inquiry, a federal grand jury summoned current school board President Monica Garcia to testify, but she has not agreed to appear. Garcia, considered a witness rather than a suspect, could agree instead to an interview with prosecutors under a promise of limited immunity, a source familiar with the probe said.
Garcia served as chief of staff to Huizar during his five years on the school board, from 2001 through 2005. She also worked as his campaign manager during his initial and successful City Council bid in 2005.

Now its time for questions and possible linkage to current figures and events.

First, what connection does this investigation have to Councilman Huizar's last ethical missteps involving research on former School Board Member David Tokofsky, who was also named in today's Federal probe ?? Could it be that this secret research on Tokofsky was to detemine how much David knew about this scheme by Contreras and how to us it against Tokofsky in future elections ??

Second, how much did ex. Councilman Jose Huizar Deputy Chief of Staff Henry Casas, who was charged with Domestic Violence, know about these past ethical questions and did his knowledge influence Huizar's retention of Casas until recently ??

Third, are current Huizar's staffers engage in a campaign to discredit Casas in light of his supposed knowledge on Huizar's past alleged, ethical lapses ??

Fourth, in this week's National Night Out Event in CD-14 at the newly rebuilt Hollenbech Police Station, why are community stake holders commenting about Councilman Huizar's rapid departure after learning of the on-site presence of Henry Casas ??

Further, it was rumored that Huizar bacame agitated when a female staffer notify the Councilman that "Henry Casas was in the house". Why would Casas presence cause disconfort for the Councilman and why ??

Fifth, why is Monica Garcia in Mexico and retaining legal counsel ??

........and for the record, when ask to comment on this by Times reporters, Huizar refused.

Something feels that there will be more names associated with this before final, legal resolution.

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

Mayor Sam Exclusive!! David Tokofsky meet the Hazard Park Advisory Board, "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN INVESTIGATING OTHERS AS JOSE HUIZAR", exposed again!!

Interesting e-mail making the rounds in CD-14.

Apparently a group called the Hazard Park Advisory Board got under the skin of Southwest Society Member/Legacy LA Front Person Jenny Krusoe and she went whining to fellow Southwest Society Member Jose Huizar.

So what recourse does the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN AS JOSE HUIZAR" undertake in dealing with this situation?

Its seems that despite the denials that were stated in this e-mail, the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN INVESTIGATING OTHERS AS JOSE HUIZAR" orders his Boyle Heights Field Director (who shortly after resigned to pursue other employment) to investigate Jenny Krusoe's complaints further.

One must wonder if the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN INVESTIGATING OTHERS AS JOSE HUIZAR" even bothered to attempt communicating with the members of the Hazard Park Advisory Board to get their side of the story.

It was this type of behavior that led to the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN INVESTIGATING OTHERS AS JOSE HUIZAR" being fined $15,000 for using campaign funds to "secretly research" former LAUSD Board Member David Tokofsky policy decisions.

With this sort of behavior, maybe it is now time to investigate and question whether the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN AS JOSE HUIZAR" is misusing tax dollars in needless acts of "creepy investigations" of his own constituents.

Makes you wonder who will be lurking in the shadows tonight for the Mayor Sam's Bash in Highland Park.

***Is the Mrs. Huizar expecting # 4??***

The "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN RESEARCHING AS JOSE HUIZAR" faces more Ethics Fines.

Maybe the "Southwest Society" did or would help to pay for this.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 7:56 AM PDT, August 12, 2008 (link here for the full story)

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is scheduled to vote today on whether to issue nearly $15,000 in fines against Councilman Jose Huizar, after investigators determined that he improperly used a fundraising committee to conduct political research on former school board member David Tokofsky.

Huizar has already created two legal defense funds, which allow him to collect private contributions to pay the fines.

Under a proposed settlement with the commission, Huizar would pay $9,318 stemming from his decision in 2006 and 2007 to use his so-called office-holder account to pay the firm Varoga and Rice to perform research on Tokofsky, who was weighing a fourth run for the school board at the time.

Office-holder committees are designed to help city politicians communicate with or otherwise serve their constituents. Under the city's ethics law, such committees are prohibited from spending money on consulting, research and polling in the 12 months leading up to an office holder's election. Huizar was initially elected to the council in a special election in 2005 and was reelected in 2007.

Huizar attorney Stephen Kaufman (what do Kaufman and Villar cousin John Perez have in common??) said his client had accepted full responsibility for committing "administrative errors" and has already collected the contributions needed to pay the fines.(wonder who will get the favors for donating??)

This quote from Tokofsky is hilarious.

"There's a lot of creepiness to this," Tokofsky said. "A lot of people think when they give money to the office-holder account it will help the local Boys and Girls Club, so I'm sort of shocked at what the office-holder account ended up doing."

Let me guess that the revolving door for staffers coming and going will need lubrication in the very near future......

****One person who made it through the door is Huizar's former Planning Director Jessica Wethington McLean who is now the Executive Director of Huizar's "Bringing Back Broadway Initative".

She was profiled in Saturday's "Downtown News", where she engages in some one on one Q & A on her plans.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday

Though the pro-Villar spinners on Mayor Sam are convinced no one, no how can beat Mayor Villaraigosa in next year's election, Joseph Mailander joins the chorus of voices who are not convinced the Mayor is invincible.

On a tour for campaign contributions in Florida, Mayor Villaraigosa criticized President Bush for neglecting the poor. Of course it took embarrassing the Mayor on his junket to Israel to get him to clean up the trash in neighborhoods where poor people right here in Los Angeles live.

Speaking of trash residents in a few select Los Angeles neighborhoods will be part of an experiment in recycling food waste. The participants will receive two gallon, green plastic buttons in which they will be expected to place organic waste including food and yard waste. The contents of which will be used for composting and perhaps later for creating methane gas for fuel.

Enrollment in LA Unified is down and many schools are under capacity. However the District plans to continue building more schools at a cost of nearly $600 per square foot.

"Sober Living" homes for alcoholics and drug addicts are causing a stir in many residential areas. Residents who live near the homes whose purpose are to transition those who have undergone rehabilitation into normal life say that the facilities - private homes that can house up to twenty individuals - are drawing people who smoke, curse and make like miserable for the neighbors. On the other hand supporters of the home say they're a necessary tool to help get addicts off substances.

Former School Board Member David Tokofsky says that Los Angeles County is lacking leadership and priorities when it comes to spending tax money. More and more taxes and bonds are passed but the County is not receiving its fair share nor is anyone doing anything about according to Tokofsky who is now an educational consultant. Though he as no plans to re-enter politics, in a bizarre statement Tokofsky even suggests that LA County secede from California.