Why is anybody surprised?
Richard Alarcon, the City Councilman who is charged with representing parts of the northwest San Fernando Valley without bothering to live there – and repeatedly lying about it!- has been dancing on the ethics line throughout his political career.
Looks like he got caught stepping over it this time.
Way over it.
In some respects, it’s kind of sad. Early on, Alarcon, as a young aide to Tom Bradley, seemed to epitomize the kind of idealism that part of the Valley desperately needed.
Then things got ugly — really Brunoesque ugly! You’ve got to screw up bad to be criticized by Cardinal Roger Mahony, but Richard Alarcon holds that distinction – and, in this dog’s opinion, what he did to get slapped by the cardinal wasn’t his worst sin.
Alarcon stole an election by smearing a guy as a racist. He didn’t get charged for that crime – even though he later confessed. And the guy who got hurt did the right thing and let the matter drop when it threatened to destroy relations between Latinos and Jews in Los Angeles.
The only thing uglier than Bruno is race baiting – and Alarcon won an election that way.
The year was 1998. Here’s how The Dog Trainer summed it up back then:
“Perhaps no local race turned out nastier this year than the June primary battle in which Alarcon eventually defeated Richard Katz for the Democratic nomination for the 20th District seat.
“The contest was marred by accusations of race-baiting, quarrels at the county clerk’s office and lawsuits.
The day of the primary, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony took the unprecedented step of publicly criticizing Alarcon for sending literature featuring a photo of Mahony administering Holy Communion to him.
“At the time, Mahony said the mailer incorrectly implied that he endorsed Alarcon, and he asked Alarcon to never use his photo in future campaign literature.
“Alarcon won the primary by 29 votes and advanced to become the Democratic candidate …
“But it’s a win that came at a still-untallied price.”
Anybody ready to start a tally?
The Dog Trainer went on to describe why Alarcon won what might have been the nastiest race in recent LA history.
“Most notable was a mailer issued by Alarcon’s biggest supporter, state Sen. Richard Polanco (D–Los Angeles), and written by Alarcon campaign consultant Richie Ross.
“The mailer falsely linked Katz to a 1988 incident in Orange County in which Republican candidates posted guards around voting booths to intimidate Latinos.”
Katz was actually on the opposite side of that dispute. In a part of Los Angeles that was going through a historic demographic shift, there really wasn’t a more damaging slur.
The race baiting managed to dwarf an earlier controversy in the race that centered on Alarcon taking a home improvement loan from the wife of a developer.
Now, a dozen years later, a man who people thought could be a new kind of leader in a changing LA, is facing prison.
And Katz? He’s the guy Antonio — first Latino elected mayor of LA — trusts most to guide his transportation policies, from Metrolink to the MTA’s 30-10 plan. Kind of ironic, huh? The reasons are painfully obvious.
But you gotta laugh, too. Katz once got a lot of crap when he ran for mayor in 1993 for suggesting we turn the LA River into a freeway. He didn’t see its scenic qualities, and, well, the traffic was really bad. Now he may be happy it’s still got water.
Sun Tzu’s Art of War: “If you stand by the river long enough, you will see the bodies of your enemies float by.”
Woof!.
Interesting how that name Richie Ross keeps coming up over the decades.
Hey Pal,
Wanna take a walk down to the L.A. River’s edge with me? Now that one is half-down, maybe if we sit there long enough chewing on some old bones we’ll see the other 16, 25, 30 or 47 float by on their way to jail.
Defeating a lot of them in the next couple of elections would work, too.
Grrrrrrr
Your Pal,
G.
THis is the tip of the iceberg into the corruption that has been going on in city hall for decades. Remember Ron you put the question out there whether or not Cooley would have the cajones to go after a Latino politican. I think the timing couldn’t be better given what has happened in City of Bell. Latinos are fed up with their “Latino corrupt politicians” Now if Cooley really wanted to win with a slam dunk he should investigate the whole damn council horseshoe especially all the Latino politicians. Constituents know what’s been going on but no one has really heard them yet. No one thought they would get Martin Ludlow who was the fall guy for the union. Go get them Cooley!!!
Anybody remember the quote from The Touch of Evil?
“Your future is all used up….”
Steve Cooley has my vote! Nice to see this corruption finally being addressed. GREAT JOB! Now go after the rest of the corrupt COUNCIL MEMBERS.
“If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment-as well as the prison.”
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Ch. 19
That’s an interesting window into Alarcon. I recall hearing he did some sleazy campaigning, but was unaware of what the sleaziness was about.
I remember hearing people say that if you wanted to know which office was Katz’s, it was the one with objects flying out the window. Apparently/allegedly, he had (has?) a temper. Regardless, what Alarcon did was despicable.
What I find worse than living one block outside his district was his apparent attempts to redraw district lines for personal gain. ‘Too bad that’s not a crime.
On the flip side (not that this exonerates him), isn’t it strange that a candidate who lived for years one block outside a district is less qualified (in the eyes of the law) than one who moves (from miles away) into a district right before registering as a candidate?
Laws are funny that way.
Would it have been better to stay in the district house, and risk you family’s safety or move close to that district and represent from a “reasonable” distance?
What is that saying about your ability to make your own district safe enough for a family to live in?
How many families, in that council district, have endured break-ins and/or burglaries without moving out of the district?
What was the rate of these types of break-ins, in this council district, before and after Councilman Alarcon took office?
WTF??? Are people in Panorama City really as ignorant as they are behaving. They had a press conference to support the crook Alarcon knowing he’s been indicted on 24 felony counts. IS ANYONE HOME? Some of these so called leaders are the biggest crooks and no doubt Alarcon did political favors for them. THey are embarrassing themselves and will be in city council today praising this low life, classless, Mexican Mafia thug who abused and threatened many people. Alarcon has anger management issues. How can tahe Panorama Neighborhood Council be speaking out for this thug?
7:41. You are so right. Typical behavior in minority districts. Watch for Waters` supporters comimg out soon. I hope they nail the thug.
7:41:
I wondered who the people “supporting” Alarcon at that meeting were. So I found out. Short version: cronies. Long version: “Daily News Alar-Cons Its Readers,” http://waltermooresays.blogspot.com/2010/08/daily-news-alar-cons-readers-re-gravy.html
If Alarcon wanted to live in the house that was in his district, don’t you think he could have had the LAPD outside 24/7 to make sure he was safe? His alabi make no sense.
Cooley will get my vote when the Mayor is behind bars.