City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, Who Vowed to Not Seek Higher Office, Says He'll Run for District Attorney

Carmen Trutanich

City attorney Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich, who said he wasn't interested in seeking higher office during his 2009 campaign, has officially thrown his hat in the ring by announcing that he would run for District Attorney.

Trutanich said that he changed his mind because current DA Steve Cooley decided not to seek a fourth term, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. He told the paper, "I love my job as city attorney, but I can't do my job to protect residents—nor can our local police and sheriffs—without a crime fighting partner in the DA's office."

Despite his earlier campaign pledge, the announcement wasn't surprising. Trutanich's exploratory committee has already raised $1 million, more than other candidates, including Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson and Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo, The Daily News reported.

So where does Trutanich stand on the issues? Here's a brief (and by no means comprehensive) round-up of his stance on recent issues from art supply store promotions to civil disobedience.

On drugs: Trutanich is against you knowing what kind of drugs Demi Moore is doing, because of patient privacy issues. He does want to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

On civil disobedience: Trutanich has been admittedly harsh on protesters. After Occupy L.A.'s eviction, he said that he wanted to sue Occupy L.A. for all the imaginable damage to the city. But long before Occupy was on the scene, activists engaged in civil disobedience noticed that Trutanich was bringing criminal charges against protesters that would have typically been infractions. His spokesman told Neon Tommy: “We’ve certainly upped the ante a bit. Criminal charges are being filed. There was an unwritten rule that [civil disobedience] charges were treated like an infraction. You’d pay a fine and be off to the beach.”

On bikers' rights: Trutanich helped craft a city ordinance against harassing cyclists. The new ordinance created a fine of $1,000 for anyone who harassed, threatened or assaulted a bicyclist.

On supergraphics: Trutanich has really gone after supergraphics, suing sign installers and property owners who put up signs without a permit.

On art supply store marketing tactics: He was against Aaron Brothers' back-to-school promotion that offered pen-and-paper art kits marketed as "graffiti starter kits" because it celebrated an art form that "threatens the quality of life for our city’s residents simply for commercial gain." Aaron Brothers actually stopped the promotion, because of the pressure from Trutanich and others in City Hall.

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By Emma G. Gallegos in News on February 9, 2012 11:30 AM 0 Comments

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David_Barron

In high school we used to ride our 10-speeds from Boyle Heights to the beach with-out bike lanes. For my safety, I didn't blow through stop signs or red-lights and didn't use the left-turn lane to make a left turn. I knew I didn't have the power of a motor vehicle, so I would yield to motor vehicles.

I campaigned for Trutanich, plastered my vehicle with 3'x6' banners and phone banked at his campaign office using my cell phone.

I'm concerned that he promised to finish his term as city attorney and not run for another office. I'm just as concerned that Villaraigosa and city council cut his budget which made him less effective in protecting and prosecuting on our behalf. However, he did cut cost and did balance his budget from the previous city attorney who left an unbalanced budget.

Mayoral candidate Deputy DA Alan Jackson is a strong and qualified DDA who successfully prosecuted Phil Spector in his murder case. Jackson declared himself as a civil servant of the people? We have met twice. He's impressive, both professionally, and with customer skills. I like that he's a notch below Chief DA. I believe he would not even hesitate to prosecute elected officials.

I'm concerned that County Supervisor MRThomas, who wanted to spend a million dollars on his office remodel, has endorsed Chief Deputy DA Jackie Lacey for DA.

I'm still trying to reach "Nuch" to talk about improving two areas in city government that would help contribute to more efficient enforcement and less use of the taxpayers money.

david barron, facebk