Results tagged “cityattorney”

The fifth draft of Los Angeles' proposed medical marijuana ordinance (the first draft was submitted in April of 2008) will be discussed at a joint city council meeting this morning at 8:30 a.m. Since 4th draft, which we saw in late October, was released, some changes have been made. Most notably, the City Attorney's office "deleted the unnecessary requirement that collective members provide their names to the City as part of the registration process," says a letter to the City Council. "Their names will continue to be maintained in the collective's own books and records."

This is local government at its finest, folks. Last year when then-City Countroller Laura Chick tried to audit then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a lawsuit against Chick was brought forth. At issue? Chick wanted to audit the City Attorney's workers compensation program, but Delgadillo balked, throwing a lawsuit in the way. More broadly, the question being asked in the lawsuit, does the elected City Controller have the power to audit another elected official?

You know those mobile billboard trailers that line streets for days at a time, taking up parking and generally looking ugly fugly? While the city can't outright ban them, they can enforce the 72-hour parking ordinance, which states that vehicles and trailer parked in the same spot for more than that time can be towed.

In the process to make L.A. Live a reality, AEG has been going through the city for permits and approvals for eight years. Now with a moratorium on billboards upheld by a judge, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is fighting the installation of six digital billboards at the new 14-screen Regal Cinemas theatre, set to open on Wednesday. Today, the LA Times editorial board chimes in on the issue:

And the War of Words over use of taxpayer money for the Michael Jackson memorial continues.... “If going after your money is being a bully, then I’m a bully; I have no problem doing that,” City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said in speech to members of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at City Hall. “We wasted a lot of dough on the Michael Jackson memorial. We wasted a lot of money."

A big fight has been brewing between City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and AEG, which owns L.A. Live in downtown. Earlier this summer, Trutanich came to a city council meetings and announced that there were "civil and criminal aspects" with tax payer money being used for the Michael Jackson Memorial. He was mum in public about said crimes, but AEG President Tim Leiweke alleges the City Attorney has been bullying the company around, according to a big story in the L.A. Times today.

The newly proposed ordinance--the fourth to be considered--is reported to be the most strict version yet. "Under the measure, the shops will be open only from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., will be allowed to have only five pounds of marijuana on hand and no more than 100 plants," says the Daily News. "Also, all the marijuana provided must have been grown by the collective." Additionally, locations not following city rules will be forced to shut down immediately. But the proposal is not without potential controversy and lawsuit fodder. Dispensaries would be required to hand over the names of members and providers to police, owners of new locations will have to notify neighborhood councils and the city council, the sale or manufacture of edible marijuana treats will be banned...

Last year, then-City Controller Laura Chick wanted to do a performance audit on then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office. Delgadillo successfully blocked it with a court order, but the fall out over private attorney fees for Chick, totalling $200,000, has lingered. The most recent tentative court ruling was pushed yesterday another month so Greuel and Trutanich can work things out.

A controversial new proposal by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich would give law enforcement the okay to arrest taggers without actually seeing them tag--just the act of "hanging out" together on the street would be enough to haul them in. But those objecting include the ACLU, who call the idea "unquestionably unconstitutional," according to the LA Times. Police, too, aren't sold on the idea, and many other critics wonder if putting more youth into the criminal system--particularly without an actual crime--will do more long-term damage than good, particularly because there aren't enough programs in place to help these kids better their lives.

It's been more than a year since a proposal to ban smoking in outdoor dining areas was brought forth as an idea. Now, the City Attorney's office has written the draft ordinance, which is scheduled to be reviewed tomorrow by a City Council Committee.

"I want to have an aggressive agenda and hit the ground running," said Carmen Trutanich, who will become LA City Attorney on July 1st, to the Daily News. He plans to name a transition team and develop an agenda for his first 100 days in office. Not only that, he's opening his doors to Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel for a department audit, something current City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and former Controller Laura Chick sparred about. "I spoke to (Controller-elect) Wendy Greuel about having her come in to give me a base line on what we need to do. I will follow her with my own auditors to confirm with another set of eyes on what needs to be done."

Come July 1st, there will be some new blood in city hall. After a nasty race, Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich tonight won the race for City Attorney, announced the LA Times in a breaking news alert. He faced current 5th District Councilman Jack Weiss. As of midnight, Trutanich had over 55% of the vote with 76% of precincts reporting, according to the LA County Recorder-Registrar/County Clerk. Trutanich had the endorsement of Sheriff Lee Baca, but not LAPD's Chief William Bratton, who he will closely work with on the job.

It's frowned upon for police chiefs to endorse candidates during campaigns. But so far, Chief William Bratton has endorsed candidates appearing on next Tuesday's ballot, including City Attorney hopeful Jack Weiss. “If Weiss gets in, he is going to owe Bratton,” warned former Chief Daryl Gates in an LA Weekly story by Daniel Heimpel today. That would be a "real problem since one of the city attorney’s purported jobs is to rout out corrupt cops, including police brass," the Weekly notes.

Top Sheriff Lee Baca had endorsed both candidates Jack Weiss and Carmen Trutanich for LA City Attorney, but today he only supports one. “I can no longer remain silent about the reckless disregard for the truth that Jack Weiss has brought to this race," Baca said in a statement distributed by the Trutanich camp. "Mr. Weiss’s latest television commercial is desperate and an insult to the principles of the American legal system, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Obviously, Mr. Weiss doesn’t respect the truth or our justice system that guarantees a fair trial for everyone. The radical portrayal in his twisted commercial against Mr. Trutanich undermines public trust for the fairness and integrity required by our courts. The lawyers in the City Attorney’s office need a leader who will honor all facets of the justice system.” Ouch.

The two most contested local battles on the May 19th ballot will be over City Attorney and the seat for Council District 5, which roams from the Westside to the Valley. In the latest reporting period for campaign contributions and expenses, which ended April 4th, the money races are neck and neck, found the LA Times.

Daily News columnist Rick Orlov yesterday took a look at outgoing City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's last eight years in office. He notes that despite the accomplishments, the public tenor does not reflect that and it got off to a bad start day one. "When [former Mayor Richard] Riordan left office, former City Attorney James Hahn became mayor and felt he did not need the advice of Delgadillo, then the newly elected city attorney. And when Villaraigosa defeated Hahn, he hired his own attorneys. Ultimately, Delgadillo was never able to immerse himself in the ins and outs of City Hall politics." On May 19th, Los Angeles will vote for a new City Attorney, choosing between 5th District Councilmember Jack Weiss and LA County prosecutor Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich.

On City Attorney Candidate Jack Weiss's unexpected low numbers at Tuesday's election: "It's a blow -- there's no way around that. He had the most money, the most mailers and definitely the most TV time," said Jaime A. Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs to the LA Times. "For someone with this kind of name recognition, the backing of the mayor and police chief, to not break 40% means he's seriously wounded." Weiss will face off with Carmen Trutanich in the May 19th election. Tutanich has the backing of boys at the county--Sheriff Lee Baca and District Attorney Steve Cooley.

As the March 3rd municipal election approaches, expect to see more debates between candidates fighting for the more heated seats such as City Controller and Attorney. On February 12, the regional Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils is hosting a candidates forum. Everyone vying for a school board, controller or attorney seat is attending except one person. You probably would have guessed it without the headline or photo, it's 5th District Councilmember Jack Weiss, who is well-known for being the most absent and unreachable politician in the city and was subject of a failed citizen's recall attempt.

The funny thing is, its City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo that is trying to stop accountability and transparency. He is suing to halt City Controller Laura Chick from auditing his office over how the city settles workers compensation cases, something that costs millions with lots of outside legal counsel hired.

The story of Rocky Delgadillo, his wife Michelle and their troubles, which began last summer, is getting deeper and thicker. It was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday that the FBI was investigating and today the LA Times exposed a more in-depth story saying that the investigation focuses in on Michelle, the companies that have hired her on contract and her own home-based consulting business that she "failed to file state tax returns and operated for years without a required city tax registration certificate."

One of L.A.'s most unique and important centers for poetry, literature, and art, the non-profit center Beyond Baroque, may be in danger of losing its lease. According to an email sent out by the group's Board of Trustees, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo would like to begin the auction process for the building, offering it up for other non-profits to bid on. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl had promised to extend Beyond Baroque's lease for another 25 years, but this new move by Delgadillo threatens to ruin the whole deal for the literary non-profit. As the website states, this "uncertainty is threatening grants, programming and our entire future."

Santa Monica is getting ready to put a drastic bag ban measure on the table next week. Previous musings about a state-level ban have made waves already this year, and the movement by the public to carry reusable bags is steadily gaining momentum.

Calling it the "double bubble" where Decline-To-State/Non-Partisan voters had to ink a Democratic bubble at the top of their card in order for their ballot to count, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo called on the Los Angeles County Registrar and California Secretary of State to review and make sure the intent of everyone's vote counted.

As reported earlier today, Los Angeles is America's favorite city to own a Bulldog as a pet. With the high concentration of the breed and their close relative, the pit bull, there's bound to be a few bad seeds. And when we say that, we do not mean the dogs. From CBS2:

Police arrested a 55-year-old man after the Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force found scarred pit bulls and equipment related to dog-fighting at a property in the Hyde Park section of Los Angeles, authorities said.

Continue reading "Pit Bull Ultimate Fighting Championship Broken Up"

It seems the Valley isn't the place to be if you're a gang-affiliated criminal.

In El Salvador there are two prisons that are purely devoted to two gangs that originated in Los Angeles. How did this transnational network come about? Deportation for one. When a gang member serves a sentence in California and then deported to their home country, the gang business moves with them. Bruce Riordan, director of anti-gang operations in the LA city attorney's office told the New York Times that, "these gangs are the new and emerging organized crime in America."

Our city attorney is never a bore. Adding to the very long laundry list of questionable moves, such as not paying utility bills, for Rocky Delgadillo, the LA Times uncovers the story behind his legal battles that those very moves caused him. Times writer David Zahniser finds that Delgadillo has three defense funds, which he best describes as "when politicians run into legal trouble, it's not unusual to see them open a defense fund, a move that allows them to pay their lawyers using money raised from private contributors."

Yesterday at a press conference with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard regarding the renewal of a Sister City relationship, Mayor Villaraigosa went off topic, but with good reason: water woes could be ahead, according to the Daily News. With the fires, extreme water drought and light snowpack this year, water is tight. Earlier this summer, the mayor made a call for the public to voluntarily reduce water use, hoping for a 10% decrease (even...

On Monday, not many people in Los Angeles knew the name Jack Chiang, a city planner overseeing a project in Valley Village. Then on Tuesday, The Daily News published the Department of Planning staffer's name. Come Wednesday, the LA Times caught on. Why all the sudden popularity? Sometimes when you pick up the phone and dial a number, you call the wrong person and leave a message.A Los Angeles City Council panel voted Tuesday...