Good Friday, March 21, 2008
The Editor, WatchOurCity.com
U.S. Attorney
Disbands L.A.
Public Corruption
Unit
Good Friday, bad public policy.
Unbelievably Bad news for the public.
Terrificly good news for local corrupt public
officials. Crucifixion and death of the Public
trust.
Huntington Park, CA - The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles
has disbanded the public corruption unit which
prosecuted local high profile cases such as city of South
Gate's Treasurer Albert Robles and Lynwood's mayor
Paul Richards.
The L.A. Times reports Thursday that Thomas P. O'Brien,
head of the L.A. U.S. attorney's office, ordered the
dismantling of 17 attorneys last week who were
dedicated to prosecuting public corruption cases.
O'Brien's official reason for the dismantling? Alice in
Wonderland logic at best, Orwellian logic at worst:
Disband the public corruption unit in order to increase
production of more public corruption cases. How to put
this delicately, what the F$%#?
Truly a head scratcher. Any freshman college student
taking Logic 101 can instantly recognize that O'Brien's
argument does not hold water: the argument is not
sound nor valid. This is shocking use of logic for a U.S.
attorney, in charge of 230 other attorneys no less, and
curiously backed by his home office in Washington D.C.
on top of it. He knows better, of course.
This smells of the same foul cauldron of reasoning
served to justify firings of U.S. attorneys, an effort
facilitated by discreditedAlberto Gonzales, former U.S.
Attorney General, who preferred being a lapdog rather
than a watchdog. Gonzales claimed under oath in
Congressional testimony that he had no recollection of
critical decisions leading to the firings. Perhaps O'Brien
may one day claim he had no recollection as well as to
why he pulled such knuckle-headed logic.
John Q. Public is not being served well here.
Exacerbating the disturbingly faulty logic, and adding
insult to injury, the U.S. attorney further states to the
Times that "he was arranging for lawyers from the Justice
Department in Washington to come to Los Angles and
conduct training sessions on how to handle such
specialized prosecutions". Hmmm. The common and
reasonable understanding is that the 17 public corruption
unit attorneys are already specialists, begging the
question, why do U.S. attorneys, with years of specialized
experience, public corruption in this case, need specialty
training? It is like sending a stellar big league baseball
team back to the Triple "A" farm league to learn the
basics as punishment for a slow season start. Not
sound management practice, either.
The U.S. attorney's specious argument simply boggles
the mind, serves to give a sigh of relief to corrupt public
officials here in the small corrupt southeast L.A. County
cities, and his actions send a clear message broadcast
on the scoreboard: Public trust = 0; public corruption = 1.
Which team are you on Mr. O'Brien?
Only a few months into his appointment as head of the U.
S. Attorney Central Division, O'Brien was "confirmed by
the U.S. Senate" on October 4, 2007 then sworn in on
Friday, October 5, reports the Metropolitan News Service.
His territory covers the counties of Los Angeles,
Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa
Barbara and San Luis Obispo and employs a total of 230
attorneys, the second largest contingency next to the
home office in D.C.
O'Brien joined the local U.S. attorney's office in 2000 and
was in charge of the Criminal Division for over two years.
Some history. Curiously, O'Brien's previous job was with
the
L.A. County District Attorney's office where he headed the
Hard Core Gang Division. During his L.A. County D.A.'s
office stint, O'Brien knew the then Deputy D.A. Steve
Cooley, who would in 2001 win enough votes to become
the D.A. The state's Republican Party was instrumental in
helping Cooley win by the endorsement it gave via the
Party's Endorsing Committee. A key member of the
committee, then Party Secretary, was a politically
ambitious Huntington Park council member who would
be picked that same year by President George W. Bush
as his 41st. U.S. Treasurer, a ceremonial position given
to political hack appointees.
It gets even more curiouser. Steve Cooley has been
under the microscope lately with reports by the L.A.
Weekly of using his district attorney post as political
muscle and to enrich his friend. Under Steve Cooley's
watch, the cities of Cudahy, Maywood, Bell, and Bell
Gardens and Huntington Park have witnessed a dramatic
rise in political corruption, with Cooley's top investigator,
once retired, endorsing the very same public officials he
was investigating for corruption. Someone
recommended that city of Cudahy officials hire Cooley's
pal, ex- D.A. Robert "Bob" Philibosian as their criminal
defense attorney to battle public corruption allegations
presented by Cooley's office. Philibosian makes millions
of dollars on the deal and his clients were curiously not
found guilty.
So, how far fetched is it for U.S. attorney O'Brien to be
reluctant to investigate fellow Republicans? Hmmm.
Very! And to lessen the chances of that ever happening,
simply disband the highly specialized public corruption
unit and call into question their experience and batting
average. Cooley ran for public office on a Republican
ticket.
When O'Brien was sworn into office, he stated that he
looks "forward to maintaining this office’s long tradition of
prosecuting some of the most significant cases in the
nation.”
President George W. Bush appointed O'Brien to the
position, fresh on the heels of the U.S. Attorney firing
scandal.
President Bush also appointed in 2001 a local
councilwoman from Huntington Park to be the nation's
41st. U.S. Treasurer. That would be Rosario Marin, a
state Republican aparatchik now running California's
largest state agency, the Consumer Affairs Division, a
political appointment granted to her by the Governor, who
has a fetish for "Hot Latinas" ("Gov. Schwarzenegger
apologizes for saying Latina was "very hot", L.A. Times,
Sept. 9, 2006).
WatchOurCity.com has extensively documented the
blatant public corruption that takes place in the local
cities of Bell, Maywood and Huntington Park, with
information backed by the public record. Million dollar
contracts were curiously awarded by Rosario Marin's
slate in Huntington Park to her very close and intimate
friends.
But those actions will no longer be investigated since
many high-level Republican political folk have the
potential to be implicated. Rosario Marin's favorite
protege in Huntington Park was convicted of Grand Theft
of public funds, a felony, yet he never served jail time. He
too was a Republican. The conviction was kept a secret
by Steve Cooley's District Attorney's office. This was done
to protect Cooley's friend, Rosario Marin. Marin can now
rest assured that no one will be sniffing around this hot
Latina or her corrupt band of elected officials and
campaign contributors turned city contractors. Rosario
and her team are well protected.
Any cursory review of public records, campaign
contribution filings and contracts issued can easily
connect the dots on the blatant public corruption in these
cities with Rosario Marin calling the shots in Huntington
Park. But now, not one of the 17 public corruption unit U.
S. attorneys will be around to do any digging like
watchOurCity.com has done. Rosario Marin's main
protege in Huntington Park, councilman John Noguez,
recently asked for $50,000 in campaign contributions
from the developer of a charter school in the city in
exchange for project approval. John Noguez himself was
the subject of an investigative report by the L.A. Weekly:
he admitted that he is not legally John Noguez, but yet
successfully ran for public office, and it's O.K. by Steve
Cooley. Noguez's first campaign manager in 2003 was
Marin's lackey, the would-be convicted felon. Noguez's
second campaign manager in 2007 was Mario Beltran,
the Bell Gardens councilman who was caught cutting
multi-million dollar deals for city contracts with federally
convicted business men. And the top Latino state
Assemblymen and Senators offered moral support to
Beltran.
Noguez also actively requested contributions from
owners of Downtown L.A. historic core properties who
donated a total of over $3,000 in campaign contributions.
On the face of it, this seemed O.K., except when one
considers that Noguez's full-time job with the L.A. County
Assessor's office is to assess the value of the very same
properties owned by his political contributors. Highly
questionable, wouldn't you agree?
But John Noguez, or whatever his real name is, has
nothing to worry about; no one in the U.S. Attorney's office
will be looking into public records of his anytime soon.
Good Friday celebrates crucifixion and death, in this
case, of the public trust. May the Public Corruption unit
resurrect again.
_______________________________
See following reports by investigative journalist Jeffrey
Anderson:
August 16, 2006, L.A. Weekly
"The Steve and Bob Show"
"Every criminal defendant needs a good lawyer. Better if
the lawyer is a close personal friend of District Attorney
Steve Cooley".
February 21, 2007, L.A. Weekly
"The Town the Law Forgot"
"An L.A. ’burb is mired in gangs, cartels and south-of-the-
border-style politics".
October 4, 2007, Los Angeles City Beat
"Mario's Tow Truck Troubles"
"A state senator comes to the aid of a pal facing legal and
political problems in Bell Garden".
The Editor, WatchOurCity.com
U.S. Attorney
Disbands L.A.
Public Corruption
Unit
Good Friday, bad public policy.
Unbelievably Bad news for the public.
Terrificly good news for local corrupt public
officials. Crucifixion and death of the Public
trust.
Huntington Park, CA - The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles
has disbanded the public corruption unit which
prosecuted local high profile cases such as city of South
Gate's Treasurer Albert Robles and Lynwood's mayor
Paul Richards.
The L.A. Times reports Thursday that Thomas P. O'Brien,
head of the L.A. U.S. attorney's office, ordered the
dismantling of 17 attorneys last week who were
dedicated to prosecuting public corruption cases.
O'Brien's official reason for the dismantling? Alice in
Wonderland logic at best, Orwellian logic at worst:
Disband the public corruption unit in order to increase
production of more public corruption cases. How to put
this delicately, what the F$%#?
Truly a head scratcher. Any freshman college student
taking Logic 101 can instantly recognize that O'Brien's
argument does not hold water: the argument is not
sound nor valid. This is shocking use of logic for a U.S.
attorney, in charge of 230 other attorneys no less, and
curiously backed by his home office in Washington D.C.
on top of it. He knows better, of course.
This smells of the same foul cauldron of reasoning
served to justify firings of U.S. attorneys, an effort
facilitated by discreditedAlberto Gonzales, former U.S.
Attorney General, who preferred being a lapdog rather
than a watchdog. Gonzales claimed under oath in
Congressional testimony that he had no recollection of
critical decisions leading to the firings. Perhaps O'Brien
may one day claim he had no recollection as well as to
why he pulled such knuckle-headed logic.
John Q. Public is not being served well here.
Exacerbating the disturbingly faulty logic, and adding
insult to injury, the U.S. attorney further states to the
Times that "he was arranging for lawyers from the Justice
Department in Washington to come to Los Angles and
conduct training sessions on how to handle such
specialized prosecutions". Hmmm. The common and
reasonable understanding is that the 17 public corruption
unit attorneys are already specialists, begging the
question, why do U.S. attorneys, with years of specialized
experience, public corruption in this case, need specialty
training? It is like sending a stellar big league baseball
team back to the Triple "A" farm league to learn the
basics as punishment for a slow season start. Not
sound management practice, either.
The U.S. attorney's specious argument simply boggles
the mind, serves to give a sigh of relief to corrupt public
officials here in the small corrupt southeast L.A. County
cities, and his actions send a clear message broadcast
on the scoreboard: Public trust = 0; public corruption = 1.
Which team are you on Mr. O'Brien?
Only a few months into his appointment as head of the U.
S. Attorney Central Division, O'Brien was "confirmed by
the U.S. Senate" on October 4, 2007 then sworn in on
Friday, October 5, reports the Metropolitan News Service.
His territory covers the counties of Los Angeles,
Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa
Barbara and San Luis Obispo and employs a total of 230
attorneys, the second largest contingency next to the
home office in D.C.
O'Brien joined the local U.S. attorney's office in 2000 and
was in charge of the Criminal Division for over two years.
Some history. Curiously, O'Brien's previous job was with
the
L.A. County District Attorney's office where he headed the
Hard Core Gang Division. During his L.A. County D.A.'s
office stint, O'Brien knew the then Deputy D.A. Steve
Cooley, who would in 2001 win enough votes to become
the D.A. The state's Republican Party was instrumental in
helping Cooley win by the endorsement it gave via the
Party's Endorsing Committee. A key member of the
committee, then Party Secretary, was a politically
ambitious Huntington Park council member who would
be picked that same year by President George W. Bush
as his 41st. U.S. Treasurer, a ceremonial position given
to political hack appointees.
It gets even more curiouser. Steve Cooley has been
under the microscope lately with reports by the L.A.
Weekly of using his district attorney post as political
muscle and to enrich his friend. Under Steve Cooley's
watch, the cities of Cudahy, Maywood, Bell, and Bell
Gardens and Huntington Park have witnessed a dramatic
rise in political corruption, with Cooley's top investigator,
once retired, endorsing the very same public officials he
was investigating for corruption. Someone
recommended that city of Cudahy officials hire Cooley's
pal, ex- D.A. Robert "Bob" Philibosian as their criminal
defense attorney to battle public corruption allegations
presented by Cooley's office. Philibosian makes millions
of dollars on the deal and his clients were curiously not
found guilty.
So, how far fetched is it for U.S. attorney O'Brien to be
reluctant to investigate fellow Republicans? Hmmm.
Very! And to lessen the chances of that ever happening,
simply disband the highly specialized public corruption
unit and call into question their experience and batting
average. Cooley ran for public office on a Republican
ticket.
When O'Brien was sworn into office, he stated that he
looks "forward to maintaining this office’s long tradition of
prosecuting some of the most significant cases in the
nation.”
President George W. Bush appointed O'Brien to the
position, fresh on the heels of the U.S. Attorney firing
scandal.
President Bush also appointed in 2001 a local
councilwoman from Huntington Park to be the nation's
41st. U.S. Treasurer. That would be Rosario Marin, a
state Republican aparatchik now running California's
largest state agency, the Consumer Affairs Division, a
political appointment granted to her by the Governor, who
has a fetish for "Hot Latinas" ("Gov. Schwarzenegger
apologizes for saying Latina was "very hot", L.A. Times,
Sept. 9, 2006).
WatchOurCity.com has extensively documented the
blatant public corruption that takes place in the local
cities of Bell, Maywood and Huntington Park, with
information backed by the public record. Million dollar
contracts were curiously awarded by Rosario Marin's
slate in Huntington Park to her very close and intimate
friends.
But those actions will no longer be investigated since
many high-level Republican political folk have the
potential to be implicated. Rosario Marin's favorite
protege in Huntington Park was convicted of Grand Theft
of public funds, a felony, yet he never served jail time. He
too was a Republican. The conviction was kept a secret
by Steve Cooley's District Attorney's office. This was done
to protect Cooley's friend, Rosario Marin. Marin can now
rest assured that no one will be sniffing around this hot
Latina or her corrupt band of elected officials and
campaign contributors turned city contractors. Rosario
and her team are well protected.
Any cursory review of public records, campaign
contribution filings and contracts issued can easily
connect the dots on the blatant public corruption in these
cities with Rosario Marin calling the shots in Huntington
Park. But now, not one of the 17 public corruption unit U.
S. attorneys will be around to do any digging like
watchOurCity.com has done. Rosario Marin's main
protege in Huntington Park, councilman John Noguez,
recently asked for $50,000 in campaign contributions
from the developer of a charter school in the city in
exchange for project approval. John Noguez himself was
the subject of an investigative report by the L.A. Weekly:
he admitted that he is not legally John Noguez, but yet
successfully ran for public office, and it's O.K. by Steve
Cooley. Noguez's first campaign manager in 2003 was
Marin's lackey, the would-be convicted felon. Noguez's
second campaign manager in 2007 was Mario Beltran,
the Bell Gardens councilman who was caught cutting
multi-million dollar deals for city contracts with federally
convicted business men. And the top Latino state
Assemblymen and Senators offered moral support to
Beltran.
Noguez also actively requested contributions from
owners of Downtown L.A. historic core properties who
donated a total of over $3,000 in campaign contributions.
On the face of it, this seemed O.K., except when one
considers that Noguez's full-time job with the L.A. County
Assessor's office is to assess the value of the very same
properties owned by his political contributors. Highly
questionable, wouldn't you agree?
But John Noguez, or whatever his real name is, has
nothing to worry about; no one in the U.S. Attorney's office
will be looking into public records of his anytime soon.
Good Friday celebrates crucifixion and death, in this
case, of the public trust. May the Public Corruption unit
resurrect again.
_______________________________
See following reports by investigative journalist Jeffrey
Anderson:
August 16, 2006, L.A. Weekly
"The Steve and Bob Show"
"Every criminal defendant needs a good lawyer. Better if
the lawyer is a close personal friend of District Attorney
Steve Cooley".
February 21, 2007, L.A. Weekly
"The Town the Law Forgot"
"An L.A. ’burb is mired in gangs, cartels and south-of-the-
border-style politics".
October 4, 2007, Los Angeles City Beat
"Mario's Tow Truck Troubles"
"A state senator comes to the aid of a pal facing legal and
political problems in Bell Garden".
WatchOurCity.com
In The Public Interest
The California First
Amendment Coalition
salutes
WATCHOURCITY.COM
with its
2004
BEACON AWARD
See the L.A. Times
Report on
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Amendment Coalition
salutes
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WatchOurCity.com
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
U.S. Attorney in L.A.
Thomas P. O'Brien
Thomas P. O'Brien
| A courageously innovative, muckraking web site that focuses like a laser on the political, financial and legal shenanigans of the local government California First Amendment Coalition |
Copyright © 2008 Torrance Daily Breeze
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Editor, WatchOurCity.com
City Attorney
Francisco Leal
A Cancer of Corruption
in Huntington Park,
Maywood, Commerce,
and Now Carson
"No city should have to go through what we
went through with this guy. He was a cancer
to the city", a report from Saturday's Torrance
Daily Breeze newspaper, March 22, 2008.
WatchOurCity.com has been reporting about
the Harvard trained city attorney and his
corrupt practices in local Southeast L.A.
County cities. Rosario Marin, head of the
State's Consumer Affairs Division, former
U.S. Treasurer and ex-Huntington Park
councilwoman, directed her protege city
council slate in Huntington Park to award Leal
the city attorney contract in closed-door
session without competing bids; John Noguez
was showered with thousands of dollars in
campaign contributions from Francisco Leal.
The closed-session vote in favor of Leal was
led by Marin's favorite two proteges, Edward
Escareno, now a convicted felon, and
councilman John Noguez.
This just as the Feds have dismantled
their Public Corruption Unit last week.
See the editor's "CUT ME IN", a collection of
short stories inspired by Francisco Leal tactics.
See report in the Torrance Daily Breeze:
Daily Breeze Newspaper
By Gene Maddaus, Daily Breeze Staff writer
Daily Breeze, A - A lawyer with a reputation for
shady political dealings has been courting
Carson City Council members as they seek to
hire a new city attorney.
Francisco Leal, who serves as the city attorney
in Maywood and Huntington Park, has met with
all three members of the council majority.
Leal's associates also contributed $3,800 to
Councilman Mike Gipson's campaign for the
Assembly in November. Arturo Fierro, an
attorney who works for Leal, gave $900 while
his wife, Maria Fierro, contributed $1,000.
The council voted to put the city attorney's
contract out to bid in January. It was a surprise
move and passed on a 3-2 vote over strident
opposition from Mayor Jim Dear and
Councilman Harold Williams. The bids are due
Monday.
At the time, members of the council majority
gave only a vague rationale for the decision,
saying it would be "healthy" to go through the
bid process and would ensure greater
"transparency."
But a source who attended a meeting between
Leal and Gipson in November said the decision
came at Leal's urging.
At the time, Gipson was struggling to raise
money for his campaign for the 55th Assembly
District. He would go on to lose that race to his
better-financed opponent, Warren Furutani.
According to the source, Leal made repeated
offers to bundle contributions for Gipson,
beginning in late October. Ultimately, Gipson
met with Leal and Fierro at the Sizzler restaurant
in Carson in mid-November.
At the meeting, Leal urged Gipson to put the
attorney's contract out to bid, according to the
source who attended. Gipson said he had no
control over the votes of the two other majority
members: Councilman Elito Santarina and
Councilwoman Lula Davis-Holmes.
Leal told Gipson not to worry because he had
already secured their votes.
"If you've already got their votes, I'm in," Gipson
said, according to the source.
Gipson said he would not bring up the issue
before the special Assembly election, which
was held Dec. 11. But he said he would do so
after the new year, the source said. The
attorney's contract appeared on the agenda of
the council's first meeting in January.
A few days after the Sizzler meeting on Nov. 21,
Gipson received the $900 contribution from
Fierro and $1,000 from Fierro's wife, according
to campaign finance records.
On the same day, Gipson received $1,000 from
Ruth Castro, a former school board member
from Alhambra. While on the board in 2003,
Castro voted to hire Leal as the district's
counsel. Gipson took another $900 from Johnny
Leal, who was listed as a "courier" with "Leal
Courier Services."
The source said all four contributions were
bundled by Francisco Leal, who insisted that
his name not be used on the contribution
reports.
Contacted about the contribution, Arturo Fierro
said he met Gipson once.
"We were at the same place," he said. "I don't
remember what we talked about."
Fierro said he decided to contribute to Gipson
because "I liked him as a candidate."
Gipson said he had met Leal, but could not
remember the circumstances of the meeting or
what was said. He said he had no recollection
of the four contributors, including Arturo Fierro.
"If he's an attorney, and they will compete, that
will not at all have any bearing in terms of my
judgment on who to select," Gipson said. "Just
because they supported me in the state
Assembly seat doesn't mean it's going to
compromise me or influence me."
Santarina said he had met Leal through his
friend, Dhyan Lal, who is the superintendent of
the Lynwood Unified School District. Leal has
worked as a contract attorney at Lynwood
Unified.
Santarina said Leal and the superintendent are
good friends, and that he has met Leal socially
in the recent past.
"I am friends with everybody," Santarina said. "I
will always base my decision on objective
things. If it is Leal, or Malcolm X, or whoever,
nothing is going to influence my decision. When
the time comes I will make the right decision for
the city of Carson."
Davis-Holmes said she, too, had an
"introductory" meeting with Leal.
"I told them we're going to interview the best
firms," Davis-Holmes said. "I don't know
anything about him. I cut those conversations off
real quick."
The council's minority members, Williams and
Dear, said they had not been introduced to Leal,
and had no idea whether he was interested in
the Carson job.
"I have not met with any attorneys at all on this,"
Dear said, noting that he still opposes going to
bid on the contract. "I think it's unnecessary and
a waste of taxpayers' money."
Leal did not return calls seeking comment.
Over the past decade, Leal has developed a
reputation for getting involved in the politics of
small cities in order to acquire or retain
contracts for lobbying and legal services.
According to reports in the Los Angeles Times
and other newspapers, Leal and his associates
have often threatened to finance recall
campaigns against their political opponents.
Leal is also known for contributing to his allies'
campaigns.
"He becomes like a sixth council member, in a
way," said Robert Fierro, a councilman in the
city of Commerce, who is no relation to Arturo
Fierro. "That's the way he works. He contributes,
he makes people happy, and they vote for him."
Leal has generally worked in the small, heavily
Latino cities southeast of Los Angeles. Legal
contracts in those cities can be worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars. Because Carson is
larger and it has a very active Redevelopment
Agency, the legal contract there is thought to be
more lucrative. It is perhaps worth as much as
$1million.
Leal was fired from the city of Commerce in
2005, when a new council majority took control.
Leal submitted about $126,000 in invoices to
the city, which the council decided not to pay in
the belief that the bills were inflated.
Leal sued, and the city countersued, alleging
that he had violated state conflict-of-interest
laws by taking Commerce on as a client of his
lobbying firm, Legislative Advocacy Group.
Ultimately, Leal agreed to an out-of-court
settlement. His claims were dropped and he
agreed to pay $70,000 in legal fees to the city,
said Eddie Olivo, the city's new attorney.
Leal did not pay the settlement amount,
however, causing Commerce to file another
lawsuit to collect the attorneys' fees, plus
interest. A few weeks ago, Leal delivered a
cashier's check for $175,000 to the city, Olivo
said, ending three years of legal wrangling.
"He did a lot of wrongdoing here," Councilman
Fierro said. "No city should have to go through
what we went through with this guy. He was a
cancer to the city."
gene.maddaus@dailybreeze.com
The Editor, WatchOurCity.com
City Attorney
Francisco Leal
A Cancer of Corruption
in Huntington Park,
Maywood, Commerce,
and Now Carson
"No city should have to go through what we
went through with this guy. He was a cancer
to the city", a report from Saturday's Torrance
Daily Breeze newspaper, March 22, 2008.
WatchOurCity.com has been reporting about
the Harvard trained city attorney and his
corrupt practices in local Southeast L.A.
County cities. Rosario Marin, head of the
State's Consumer Affairs Division, former
U.S. Treasurer and ex-Huntington Park
councilwoman, directed her protege city
council slate in Huntington Park to award Leal
the city attorney contract in closed-door
session without competing bids; John Noguez
was showered with thousands of dollars in
campaign contributions from Francisco Leal.
The closed-session vote in favor of Leal was
led by Marin's favorite two proteges, Edward
Escareno, now a convicted felon, and
councilman John Noguez.
This just as the Feds have dismantled
their Public Corruption Unit last week.
See the editor's "CUT ME IN", a collection of
short stories inspired by Francisco Leal tactics.
See report in the Torrance Daily Breeze:
Daily Breeze Newspaper
By Gene Maddaus, Daily Breeze Staff writer
Daily Breeze, A - A lawyer with a reputation for
shady political dealings has been courting
Carson City Council members as they seek to
hire a new city attorney.
Francisco Leal, who serves as the city attorney
in Maywood and Huntington Park, has met with
all three members of the council majority.
Leal's associates also contributed $3,800 to
Councilman Mike Gipson's campaign for the
Assembly in November. Arturo Fierro, an
attorney who works for Leal, gave $900 while
his wife, Maria Fierro, contributed $1,000.
The council voted to put the city attorney's
contract out to bid in January. It was a surprise
move and passed on a 3-2 vote over strident
opposition from Mayor Jim Dear and
Councilman Harold Williams. The bids are due
Monday.
At the time, members of the council majority
gave only a vague rationale for the decision,
saying it would be "healthy" to go through the
bid process and would ensure greater
"transparency."
But a source who attended a meeting between
Leal and Gipson in November said the decision
came at Leal's urging.
At the time, Gipson was struggling to raise
money for his campaign for the 55th Assembly
District. He would go on to lose that race to his
better-financed opponent, Warren Furutani.
According to the source, Leal made repeated
offers to bundle contributions for Gipson,
beginning in late October. Ultimately, Gipson
met with Leal and Fierro at the Sizzler restaurant
in Carson in mid-November.
At the meeting, Leal urged Gipson to put the
attorney's contract out to bid, according to the
source who attended. Gipson said he had no
control over the votes of the two other majority
members: Councilman Elito Santarina and
Councilwoman Lula Davis-Holmes.
Leal told Gipson not to worry because he had
already secured their votes.
"If you've already got their votes, I'm in," Gipson
said, according to the source.
Gipson said he would not bring up the issue
before the special Assembly election, which
was held Dec. 11. But he said he would do so
after the new year, the source said. The
attorney's contract appeared on the agenda of
the council's first meeting in January.
A few days after the Sizzler meeting on Nov. 21,
Gipson received the $900 contribution from
Fierro and $1,000 from Fierro's wife, according
to campaign finance records.
On the same day, Gipson received $1,000 from
Ruth Castro, a former school board member
from Alhambra. While on the board in 2003,
Castro voted to hire Leal as the district's
counsel. Gipson took another $900 from Johnny
Leal, who was listed as a "courier" with "Leal
Courier Services."
The source said all four contributions were
bundled by Francisco Leal, who insisted that
his name not be used on the contribution
reports.
Contacted about the contribution, Arturo Fierro
said he met Gipson once.
"We were at the same place," he said. "I don't
remember what we talked about."
Fierro said he decided to contribute to Gipson
because "I liked him as a candidate."
Gipson said he had met Leal, but could not
remember the circumstances of the meeting or
what was said. He said he had no recollection
of the four contributors, including Arturo Fierro.
"If he's an attorney, and they will compete, that
will not at all have any bearing in terms of my
judgment on who to select," Gipson said. "Just
because they supported me in the state
Assembly seat doesn't mean it's going to
compromise me or influence me."
Santarina said he had met Leal through his
friend, Dhyan Lal, who is the superintendent of
the Lynwood Unified School District. Leal has
worked as a contract attorney at Lynwood
Unified.
Santarina said Leal and the superintendent are
good friends, and that he has met Leal socially
in the recent past.
"I am friends with everybody," Santarina said. "I
will always base my decision on objective
things. If it is Leal, or Malcolm X, or whoever,
nothing is going to influence my decision. When
the time comes I will make the right decision for
the city of Carson."
Davis-Holmes said she, too, had an
"introductory" meeting with Leal.
"I told them we're going to interview the best
firms," Davis-Holmes said. "I don't know
anything about him. I cut those conversations off
real quick."
The council's minority members, Williams and
Dear, said they had not been introduced to Leal,
and had no idea whether he was interested in
the Carson job.
"I have not met with any attorneys at all on this,"
Dear said, noting that he still opposes going to
bid on the contract. "I think it's unnecessary and
a waste of taxpayers' money."
Leal did not return calls seeking comment.
Over the past decade, Leal has developed a
reputation for getting involved in the politics of
small cities in order to acquire or retain
contracts for lobbying and legal services.
According to reports in the Los Angeles Times
and other newspapers, Leal and his associates
have often threatened to finance recall
campaigns against their political opponents.
Leal is also known for contributing to his allies'
campaigns.
"He becomes like a sixth council member, in a
way," said Robert Fierro, a councilman in the
city of Commerce, who is no relation to Arturo
Fierro. "That's the way he works. He contributes,
he makes people happy, and they vote for him."
Leal has generally worked in the small, heavily
Latino cities southeast of Los Angeles. Legal
contracts in those cities can be worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars. Because Carson is
larger and it has a very active Redevelopment
Agency, the legal contract there is thought to be
more lucrative. It is perhaps worth as much as
$1million.
Leal was fired from the city of Commerce in
2005, when a new council majority took control.
Leal submitted about $126,000 in invoices to
the city, which the council decided not to pay in
the belief that the bills were inflated.
Leal sued, and the city countersued, alleging
that he had violated state conflict-of-interest
laws by taking Commerce on as a client of his
lobbying firm, Legislative Advocacy Group.
Ultimately, Leal agreed to an out-of-court
settlement. His claims were dropped and he
agreed to pay $70,000 in legal fees to the city,
said Eddie Olivo, the city's new attorney.
Leal did not pay the settlement amount,
however, causing Commerce to file another
lawsuit to collect the attorneys' fees, plus
interest. A few weeks ago, Leal delivered a
cashier's check for $175,000 to the city, Olivo
said, ending three years of legal wrangling.
"He did a lot of wrongdoing here," Councilman
Fierro said. "No city should have to go through
what we went through with this guy. He was a
cancer to the city."
gene.maddaus@dailybreeze.com