Thursday, November 1, 2012
Page 11
SNIPPETS (Column)
ADDA Endorses Lacey; Jackson Photos Removed From Noval Website
Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced yesterday that she has garnered the endorsement of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys in the district attorney’s race.
A campaign press release says:
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys (A.D.D.A.), the union representing rank-and-file prosecutors in Los Angeles County, voted overwhelmingly to support Jackie Lacey in the race for Los Angeles County District Attorney.
“I am extremely grateful and proud to have the support of my colleagues in the District Attorney’s Office,” Lacey said. “They, more than any other group, understand the value that my broad range of courtroom and leadership experience will bring to the job. They also know my reputation as a proven leader and a prosecutor with integrity. I look forward to continuing a positive relationship with their association. The rank-and-file deputies are my heroes and I want nothing but the best for them.”
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys is the collective bargaining agent for the nearly 1,000 deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles County. Its members overwhelmingly voted to support Lacey as their next leader in a plebiscite election.
Lacey has been endorsed by many labor organizations, including two others comprised of District Attorney employees—the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (A.L.A.D.S.), which represents the office’s approximately 300 peace officers, and the Service Employees International Union (S.E.I.U.) Local 721, which represents most of the office’s nearly 800 support staff members.
Lacey has referred to herself as the “labor candidate” in the race.
•Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson’s likeness had appeared on the Facebook blog of the Victorino Noval Foundation—but photos of him have been removed on the heels of a controversy.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Oct. 20 that Jackson had been at a May 7 fundraiser for him at the home of Noval, a convicted felon (mail fraud and tax evasion), and reproduced a photo from Facebook of Jackson posing with Noval.
Jackson’s camp disavowed awareness of Noval’s past. The contributor had changed his name, after the conviction, from Victor to Victorino, it noted.
Lacey issued an Oct. 20 press release saying it was Jackson’s job to check up on contributors.
Jackson’s strategist, John Thomas, was quoted in the Times story as saying that the event at Noval‘s home was not a fundraiser, but simply a Cinco de Mayo party. That was a lie, Lacey claimed on Oct. 23, producing this invitation which Noval had e-mailed to friends on May 2:
Lacey provided a link to the Facebook page with the Noval photo album. In the album were photos of Jackson making a speech.
Also in the album—from earlier parties—were photos of a bevy of scantily-clad women whose appearance hinted at remuneration having been provided to them for being there.
The Times on Oct. 27 reported that Lacey, too, had an ex-convict among her contributors. She disclaimed knowing of it.
The Facebook link that Lacey provided to the press and on her website no longer works, though it is otherwise possible to locate what has been pared to 12 photos from the May 7 event.
Neither Noval nor Jackson responded to a query yesterday concerning removal of the photos of Jackson.
•Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, yesterday said in an e-mail to persons supporting his bid for the post of Los Angeles city attorney:
Recently there’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of severe cuts and changes to the office of Los Angeles City Attorney.
It’s common knowledge that under Carmen Trutanich, the City Attorney’s office is in crisis. The office staff has been decimated. Most of its lawyers endure thirty-four unpaid “furlough days” a year. Morale is at an all-time low. There is tremendous tension between Mr. Trutanich and L.A.’s other elected officials, many of whom complain it can take more than a year for Mr. Trutanich to write a law. That’s costing the city money and jobs. Making matters worse, Los Angeles’ Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) reports:
•Mr. Trutanich is overspending his budget for outside, private-sector lawyers by $3.7 million.
•Under Mr. Trutanich’s leadership, payouts for lawsuits—money that would be better spent on hiring police officers or firefighters—also are over budget.
The CAO now proposes slashing an additional fifty attorneys from the office—more than 10% of its remaining lawyers.
With all the controversy surrounding Mr. Trutanich’s mismanagement, it is imperative that taxpayers get a close look at how he’s run things through a full audit conducted by Los Angeles’ City Controller.
Angelenos deserve a complete accounting of exactly how Mr. Trutanich uses taxpayer resources and whether his office fulfills its responsibilities under the City’s Charter. A comprehensive audit would reveal ways to refocus the office’s resources on key priorities—like the timely drafting of laws to promote job growth and economic development—and improve fiscal management.
•City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s camp, in a posting on its campaign website, has a response to a Los Angeles Times article.
It begins:
“The LA Times Saturday wrote that it was a ‘tough week’ for Trutanich because Villaraigosa and a couple of City Hall lawmakers took potshots at the city attorney. Trutanich’s integrity scares the living daylights out of these guys, and now these same misguided souls want to gut the city attorney’s office. They want a lapdog City Attorney who’ll rubberstamp whatever they do.”
The posting then quotes campaign communications director John Schwada as saying:
Not a great week for Trutanich? Actually, more a terrible week for common-sense.
The mayor & his followers are on the wrong side of history. Bell, Vernon & other cities prove what happens when a city attorney is a hireling of mayors & councils & rubber-stamps their actions, legal or otherwise. Cities following this model are now in financial chaos, their leaders going to jail.
Delays in getting material from the city attorney’s office? Trutanich’s office has churned out more ordinances than his predecessor – with 175 fewer staff. By many performance measures, it is doing more with less. Under Delgadillo administration, the office saved the city from $30m in damages by winning 21 of 32 civil liability cases (’08-’09); Trutanich won 24 of 27 such cases, saving the city $90m (’11-’12). Trutanich has cut outside counsel costs from $25m to $6.2m; collection of bad debts and taxes owed the city have gone up – from $2.6m to $7.8m; recovery of consumer-environmental penalties up – from $1.9m to $8.5m.
Trutanich is too independent for some at City Hall. He let his office be audited, setting a painful precedent for other electeds; he defied insiders by demanding taxpayers be reimbursed for the Michael Jackson funeral costs; & he sued a city pension bd’s vendor for $95m for making illegal, risky bets w/ our tax dollars while the bd’s political apptees napped. He’s a watchdog, not a lapdog.
•Senior Assistant City Attorney Eduardo Angeles has a website promoting his campaign for city attorney but has not been releasing statements. In response to an inquiry, he said yesterday in an e-mail:
“I have withdrawn from the City Attorney race for 2013 since Nuch decided to seek reelection. I will revisit the race again if the office becomes an open seat in the future.”
That leaves one other candidate in the race: private practitioner Greg Smith. He has not issued any statement since Oct. 11.
•The Pasadena Bar Association’s Probate & Trust Law Section on Nov. 19 will hold a noon lunch meeting featuring attorneys Cris K. O’Neall and Michael T. Lebeau as speakers.
Their topic will be “Potential Property Tax Pitfalls for Probate Practitioners.”
The event will take place at the University Club of Pasadena at 175 North Oakland Avenue.
The cost to attend is $35, payable at the door, with no credit cards accepted.
Reservations are required and, according to a meeting announcement, “must be received NO LATER THAN 12 o’clock noon on Friday, November 16, 2012.”
Reservations can be made by e-mailing the association at pasadenaprobate@hotmail.com.
Copyright 2012, Metropolitan News Company