| Posted 9-8-05 7:00 a.m. AB 11 Becomes California Law (Click here to see full report) Governor Schwarzenegger signs AB 11 into law on September 6, 2005. (see full report) Click here to see new State law in its entirety Posted 8-31-05 7:00 a.m. Council Member Juan "John" Noguez Gives Pinocchio a Run for his Money Contributions Limits for All, None for Juan (See full report) Post AB 11 Posted 9-19-05 7:00 a.m., The Editor, WatchOurCity.com Huntington Park, CA - Thank goodness for public records...... and television. The City held its annual "El Grito" event on September 15, 2005. Channel 22, an NBC affiliate, was the official television station airing the event. The celebration cost the city tens of thousands of dollars in public funds for this one day event, including fireworks. Honoring one's history, is fine. But at what cost? And who ends up paying for public funds that go up in smoke? A well connected private business group gets free public cash, no strings attached, while basic services for families, children, youth and senior citizens have that much less to do without. Last year the city spent $30,000 in public money for the same event. The private business group Meta 2000 is once more the recipient of the this seemingly free cash, courtesy of their buddies in city council. Nobody audits Meta 2000 for its use of public funds. This year, the free public cash to Meta 2000 was more than $30,000. The hope is that all The attention the city gets with this televised event reaches far and wide, and into Mexico. Who benefits and is served well from all the attention? Meta 2000 benefits with cold hard public cash that no one audits; and the vainglory of city council members is well served. How much more attention do city council members crave? May they get all the attention they desire, and more. The California Legislature certainly paid attention. The State Assembly and Senate most recently passed on to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk Assembly Bill Number 11, which he signed on September 6, 2005 to become California law. The law puts a cap on extreme salary abuse by elected officials who create commissions for the principal purpose of circumventing State mandated limits on their base salaries. The State Senate version of AB 11 makes particular mention of Huntington Park elected officials as an extreme example of salary abuse, thus crystallizing the need for AB 11. The Los Angeles Times and the San Gabriel Valley News also paid attention, as well as De La Torre, the State Assembly member from South Gate who authored AB 11. However, according to Huntington Park's City Clerk, council members will continue to get their regular "extreme salary abuse" pay until the end of the year. Which council members will get hit the hardest with drastic salary cuts? Post AB 11 Effect Mayor Ofelia Hernandez: She has been unemployed for many years. Council pay is her only salary. AB 11 will hit her the hardest. There is currently tropical storm Ophelia brewing in the Atlantic. Huntington Park's Ofelia is more like a low-level depression. She has done her PR damage here too. Mario Gomez: Gomez claimed he was a successful business man when he ran for public office in 2003, on the troika slate that included Ofelia and John Noguez. He publicly claimed in a recent council meeting that AB 11 would hinder his ability to pay for his kid's education. He must have padded his resume to claim such great business acumen in his campaign material; he expresses dependence on public funds to keep him financially able to send his kids to school. Did Gomez then exaggerate his business qualifications for public office? John Noguez is not rich. He just made some pretty good real estate investments. It helps that he is an L.A. County Assessor and knows a thing or two about property values. Ethical values and family values, well, that's a whole 'nother question. He can survive tropical storm AB 11 unscathed. He may be not as generous with other people's money, though, especially if other people's money is coming out of his pocket. Perhaps the student Mariachi group at Middleton Elementary School will not be as lucky post AB 11 as he was with them in December 2004 with a $300 donation from his campaign contributions piggy bank. The Two Elbas Elba Guerrero is a working mom. Its nice to have some extra household cash around, but she doesn't need it. AB 11 will not dent her lifestyle. Besides, her husband can pick-up the slack, a hard working gentleman with good old hard working ethics and values. Although it's a mystery why he would let his wife be mentored by John Noguez, her political sugar daddy, dashing any hopes for independent action on her part. We've yet to see Guerrero become the "Voice of the People" as she promised to become on campaign material. One things' for certain: Noguez has her ear and her vote. After all , he paid for her campaign, despite limits on campaign contributions that he himself imposed. Elba Romo is the overachiever of the group. The Stanford grad is single with 3 jobs: she teaches high school science in the nearby city of Paramount, sells houses on the side, and is a part-time pain in the butt during city council meetings. She is reportedly an even bigger pain in the derrier to the Los Angeles Unified School District, but that's a story for another time. Elba Romo is definitely learning well from her mentor Rosario Marin. And by the way, if she was looking for attention, she got plenty of it during the televised "El Grito" event last week: she looked mighty attractive on the small screen. This Elba's got that look of studied defiance, Jalisco style. Surely Rosario Marin must have impressed upon her that she could count on the nearly $40,000 yearly salary for a part-time job. The inner spoiled rotten child may want to throw a tantrum at AB 11. AB 11 pulls the welfare rug out from under the feet of hungry elected officials who seemingly could care less about the public trust and use of public funds. It seems also that "Public Benefit" has a perverse meaning to council members here: it is them and their buddies who most benefit from the public. Yours in service, The Editor, WatchOurCity.com |
WatchOurCity.com
In The Public Interest
In The Public Interest
Home * Ethics Principles * Travel & Cell Phone Expense Watch
Council Salary Watch * Contracts Watch * City Watch Archives
Campaign Promise Watch * Campaign Contribution Watch
Contact Us * Terms of Use
Council Salary Watch * Contracts Watch * City Watch Archives
Campaign Promise Watch * Campaign Contribution Watch
Contact Us * Terms of Use
| Home * Ethics Principles * Travel & Cell Phone Expense Watch * Council Salary Watch * Contracts Watch * City Watch Archives Campaign Promise Watch * Campaign Contribution Watch Contact Us * Terms of Use Copyright © 2005, WatchOurCity.com, All rights reserved |
Notes from the editor - Archive
Notes from the Editor Archived Files: June 8, 2005 August 4, 2005 August 22, 2005 August 31, 2005 Sept 8, 2005 Sept. 19, 2005 |
