“The more I learn, the more troubled I am. It’s clear that people feel obligated to give to charities when there
are people in positions of power who are asking for the money.”
I wish everybody was getting that “troubled” feeling like Robert Stern, president of the nonprofit Center for Governmental Studies, is. There’s a lot to be troubled about in all aspects of the way City Hall does business and Dave Zahniser in the Times uncovered a fragment of what is going on all the time.
His story, actually played on P. 1 of all places, connects the names of mayoral pals and moneyed big shots Henry Cisneros
and George Pla 
among others to the ethics investigation of Robert Aguallo Jr., who retired as general manager of the city’s $10 billion employee pension fund in May.
Arguallo took a job in April with Cardinal Americas, Pla’s firm that had received help from his agency only two months earlier. And he was shameless about personally dunning beneficiaries or wannabe beneficiaries of investments from Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) for contributions up to $10,000 for his March 17 retirement party at the exclusive California Club downtown.
The 400 emails obtained by Zahniser “show LACERS employees performing an array of party-related tasks, such
as choosing the menu and reviewing the inscription planned for a
commemorative ‘whisper cut’ crystal bowl.”
The event raised $150,000 with two-thirds going to a “Robert Aguallo Jr.” scholarship to be administered by the Robert Toigo Foundation, a nonprofit that helps minorities get jobs in finance.
At least 16 companies bought tables that benefited or stood to benefit from LACERS, particularly from a program Arguallo developed to help minority and other companies that normally can’t raise the kind of $10 million investments that he helped provide.
Among those paying the $10,000 for tables was Palladium Equity Partners, which got a $10 million LACERS commitment for its efforts to capitalize on “the overall Hispanization of the U.S. society;” the real estate fund CityView run by mayoral pal and fund-raiser Henry Cisneros, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary who got a $25 million LACERS commitment; Cordoba Corp.,
the George Pla company that runs Cardinal Americas, the start-up fund that got a
commitment of $10 million through Aguallo’s initiative and now employs him.
board agreed to give it a six-month extension after Aguallo
asked Pla to help him beef up his
party’s guest list by persuading former Los Angeles City Councilman
Richard Alatorre, now a City Hall lobbyist, to attend.
“Please let me know if you need help with the mayor,” Pla said in an email.
Deputy Mayor Sally Choi — the person
named as Aguallo’s replacement — received a complimentary ticket. “I
can assure you that no investment decisions were at all based on what
may or may not have happened at that retirement party,” she told the Times.
There
are many other insider connections but don’t expect much to happen
under the rules City Hall has written that make what happened illegal
only if you could prove the donations were directly linked to city
favors. Don’t expect Henry Cisneros, George Pla or anyone else involved
to say anything different than Sally Choi said.
As Arguallo’s attorney Fred Woocher put it so bluntly: “I don’t get what the big problem is. It happens all the
time. If you want to raise money for a charity, you pick an honoree and
then you use that person to hit up anyone they know that has money.”
Non-profits are the new frontier for political corruption. No need to sully one’s hands taking brown paper bags of money inside City Hall. Instead, the “enthusiastic donor” gives a bundle of money to a “charity” that has really really high administrative expenses. The corruption occurs when the administrative salaries are going to family members of elected officials. Thus, the money makes it way to the elected official without the tawdry paper sack of money.
The IRS shuts down only a handful of these fronts for political corruption.
Who are the beneficiaries of this Foundation? Are any children of the non-profit’s board or management?
Unlike most foundations of this type, neither the board members, staff nor donors are on its web site. It appears to be a very secretive organization.
George Pla’s Cordoba Corp. has had its hand in the city cookie jar way too long, with Alatorre’s help — I remember seeing it on everything from sanitation and construction equipment, to being linked to (poorly done/ essentially wasted) LAUSD payroll systems some 15-20 years ago. Weren’t they also involved in the Hollywood subway debacle, where the street caved in and subway walls for found to be built thinner than code to save money for the firms involved? This Eastside Latino clique gives all of them a well-earned bad name, and it’s hard to believe that they’re still at it all these decades later. It’s probably hard for even well-intentioned Latinos to get rid of them, though, since like a cancer I’d wager they’d do anything they can to hang onto their life source.
There are too many construction contracts going out around the city to builders, contractors and others just because they get preference as “minority owned” and have connections to someone like Alatorre or Pla. Look at the case in Zine’s district where one such firm was hired to repair a sidewalk but only ripped up the old one, laid asphalt instead, and after ruining the street for months so many merchants complained that the mess found its way into the Daily News and Zine finally took action to hire a new firm to lay sidewalk. That alone cost taxpayers an extra $500,000. How many such cases are there around the city?
Tyrone Freeman of SEIU and his cronies are of course the worst examples of misusing a non-profit to “employ” family members. It’s one thing to put family members on City Commissions (like Alarcon and Cardenas are currently doing) if they actually do the work and have respect of their peers, and it’s political practice everywhere to reward those who’ve helped you with “plum” appointments or well- paying jobs. But when you start having these people get huge contracts for being “minority owned” when they’re not even qualified and have a history of failure, that’s waste we just can’t afford. Now that “minorities” are a majority, and blue collar and middle class citizens are the minority in L A, the city must award contracts to the BEST candidate regardless of race or color.
The TOIGO Foundation is one of the best of its kind. Corporate dollars flow from everywhere around the country because of this fact…not because of Aquallo, per se, but because of the Foundation’s mission. While perhaps it is true that 501c3 ethics should be reviewed, in the case of David’s LA Times Story today, there may be a story there BUT to use the Toigo Foundation the “fall guy” is clearly a miss as I have heard countless people comment on today. To the commentators “minority becoming the majority”…this seems like back-tracking affirmative action rhetoric. David is a very talented writer but today’s story is premature, at best.
The ends justifies the means. Right, 4:24 PM? Some even find positive justification for Hitler’s doings. What a sorry perspective.
There is nothing “premature, at best” about Zahniser’s article. You need to read it again with the understanding that “pay-to-play” is unethical, at best.
LA City Hall = A Culture of Crime
A Culture of Crime = An Environment Where Criminality Thrives
Judicial Watch – Henry Cisneros
Investigation Website Regarding Henry Cisneros Quietly Surfaces
… former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros. In 1994 the Department of Justice received press reports concerning then HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and a woman with whom he had a prior relationship, Linda Medlar. …
Missing Mayor Traveling With Clinton On City Hall Dime
… in contrast with the former mayor of San Antonio, Henry Cisneros, who lied about payments to his mistress, filed incorrect tax returns, …
Ousted HUD Sec. Federally Investigated
… before. In 1999 Bill Clinton’s housing secretary, Henry Cisneros, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about payments to his former …
Hillary Silent on Clinton Presidency’s Latest Cover Up
… killed a tax fraud case against cabinet member Henry Cisneros , who admitted in 1999 that he had made secret payments to a mistress …
Hillary’s Law Firm, Senate Democrats Keep Barrett Report Bombshells Under Wraps
… to his investigation of former Clinton cabinet member Henry Cisneros was finally released today. As is so often the case, what was included …
So Long and Thanks for All the Reports
… investigation into Clinton’s tax-evading Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros? Cisneros eventually pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI …
Housing Secretary Under Investigation
… before. In 1999 Bill Clintonâ??s housing secretary, Henry Cisneros, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about payments to his former …
Presidential Aide Tight With “La Raza”
… Kerry, Bill Clinton’s scandal-plagued Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros and Attorney General Janet Reno. …
Judicial Watch
http://www.judicialwatch.org/search/node/henry+cisneros
It’s the Mexican Oligarchy!
Do you always delete negative comments Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
How ignorant are you people?
Oh wow, they had a dinner and City people helped to plan the event, HOW EVIL!?!?!
Are you serious? Who gives a sh*t.
Did you hear they invited their business colleagues? HOW EVIL!?!!?
Well who the f*ck else would you invite?
Obviously none you run a business. This is the real world. We network and invite those in our network to events and use any encounter as an opportunity to create meaningful relationships. If we can gain rapport with someone on a personal level, we will be much more inclined to trust them on a business level. That’s human, not sinister.
Now you can get back to your conspiracy theories.