Sometimes you have to do some work, like watching videos showing what the people you put into office do and say when confronted by their failure.
Somtimes you have to read between the lines, see through the posturing of their public performances and think for yourselves about what it all means.
This is one of those times. It is that important if you want to understand how far and wide the HACLA scandal runs, how pervasive the corruption goes. how complete the incompetence of your elected officials is.
Hauling Housing Authority figures before them to answer questions about the scandal-plagued poverty agency, the City Council members did their best to deny and deflect all responsibility.
It was a sorry show that shed little light and left unasked one of the biggest questions of all: How did HACLA go from the doghouse of receivership in the eyes of federal housing authorities to its highest performer virtually from the President Obama took office and appointed L.A. official to high posts in the Housing and Urban Development Deparmtent?
Here’s a rundown of the lengthy hearing:
THE HERO: ARNIE CORLIN WATCH VIDEO
Arnie Corlin is an apartment owner, manager of Section 8 buildings and a community activist who works closely with the police and the Watts Task Force and low-income tenants in HACLA units. He has campaigned through the apartment owners association AAGLA for reforms of the agency, writing numerous articles exposing what was going on.
It was Corlin who alerted me to just how widespread the mismanagement of HACLA was four years ago,prompting me to meet with current and former officials, write about the scandal and talk to various professional journalists about what I thought was the city’s worst outrage because it victimized the most vulnerable people and sentenced them to live in slum conditions.
WANNABE MAYOR GREUEL PLAYS CATCH-UP WATCH VIDEO
Controller Wendy Greuel, a wannabe mayor who took a beating in writing last week from her highly respected predecessor Laura Chick and on Which Way LA? on Monday, released her audit of HACLA expense accounts on Tuesday, confirming what was already public knowledge for 11 days thanks to the brilliant reporting by KCET’s So-Cal Connected. You can also listen to her new self-serving video promo on her city website
Greuel did her best to dance around questions posed by Chick about why she didn’t do anything about HACLA during the past three years but faced not a single hard question from the City Council which accepted her feeble presentation just as her public relations advisers scripted it.
THE FALL GUY: HACLA’S KEN SIMMONS WATCH VIDEO
Kenneth Simmons, HACLA chief operating officer during most of Rudy Montiel’s reign of self-service and extravagance, served as interim CEO since March until Tuesday when he was replaced by the mayor by the head of the troubled city Housing Department, Doug Guthrie.
Simmons claims he told Montiel that hundreds of thousands of dollars in expensive lunches by staff, costly and unneeded travel, double dipping and expensive “incentives” to staff was wrong but felt his job was on the line so he shut up and signed the bills. He’s innocent, he says, and was smart enough to blow the whistle to law enforcement in the last nine months since Montiel was fired — a move that insures he is entitled to a handsome severance just like his former boss got with the same gambit.
THE KNOW-NOTHINGS; IGNORANCE OF THE COUNCIL WATCH VIDEO
During the lengthy hearing, various Council members displayed their total ignorance of what HACLA is, how it worked, where it’s money came from and all these scandals involving it over the years. Those were know-nothings hiding behind feigned — or worse — true ignorance.
WANNABE MAYOR PERRY PLAYS SOFTBALL WATCH VIDEO
The smart ones kept their mouths shut.Then, there was wannabe mayor Jan Perry who seemed really pleased with Simmons and HACLA except for the small matter that the Council has no direct authority over who benefits from the $800 million at its disposal every year. Perry, back up by Eric Garcetti, admitted she has been sitting on a protocol for two years that would have made HACLA accountable to the Council beyond just approving the mayor’s appointments to the HACLA oversight commission, itself active participants in the self-indu
lgent corruption for years.
lgent corruption for years.
THE SEVERANCE DEAL — HUSH MONEY FOR RUDY WATCH VIDEO
So why was Montiel paid off so handsomely to the tune of $1.2 million when his agency was in total disarray and scandal-plagued? Reluctantly, the City Attorney’s office and a private attorney offered an array of explanations: He had a contract; he was a whistleblower against the crooks on the commission’ he was wrongfully dismissed; it would have cost more to fight him. the city couldn’t defend its neglect and incompetence. Or maybe it was hush money. Take your pick.
THE SAVIOR — HACLA COMMISSION HEAD MITCH KAMIN WATCH VIDEO
The unfolding scandal, cause a lot more is coming (D. Zanhiser is working furiously),dooms Greuel`s Mayoral ambitions. It could not have happened to a more deserving failure.
I think when the history books are written for this era, it will be identified as a time when American local, state and federal governments lost sight of the public interest that they are supposed to serve. More and more people understand the corrupting influence of campaign contribution money to public officials like the California Attorney General, the Los Angeles District Attorney, and the City Controller. These elected officials have obligations to serve the public interest by vigorously investigating and prosecuting fraud, waste, and malfeasance. But they are asleep at the switch and wrongfully allowing the corruption to fester and bloom due to their flacid protection of public interest principles.
For this reason, none of them, particularly City Controller Wendy Greuel, should go on to higher office. Instead, they should hang their heads in shame on the town square.
Kiss Mayor Greuel adios. She should go back and run for reelection. Easier, but not sure thing either anymore. Her incompetence caught up with this “catch-up”artist.
LA Weekly caught up with the catch-up artist. Let the games begin!
“borders on fraudulent spending”…..???
“(Simmons) felt his job was on the line so he shut up and signed the bills.”
Oh please–Simmons must know that he would have been protected under CA law if he refused to commit an illegal act, violate public trust, etc.
They better not pay him off; just like they shouldn’t have paid Rudy off.
Blowing the whistle because, like Rudy, he knew he’d be caught is akin to a thief, knowing he’ll be found, turning himself in. The thief still serves time and is not paid off. Less time served if the thief cooperates and turns others in. That’s the gist of what Rudy and Simmons did—nothing more–no pay offs deserved, none should have been given.
‘Still wondering who in the City Attorney’s office advised them to pay off Rudy. Is there legal recourse available to get that money back?
City council morons always pretend to be on the side of the people and question AFTER THE FACT. Don’t insult our intelligence because we all know you are corrupt people who need to be banned out of Office. I haven’t seen much on local tv news about this but I have received tons of emails on this scandal. HOORAY FOR ARNIE CORLIN the HERO for the People. Finally what he’s been fighting against HACLA for years is paying off. Good job Arnie.
The only way I will see that you, people, are outraged if you vote out just one incumbent in LA being it City council, state legislature, congress etc. since the same crooks get your nod of approval all the time and dumbos like Hahn get promoted, I don’t really get a warm and fuzzy that you people are outraged by this and other scandals.
Not so sure about Kamin yet.
Picking Guthrie for HACLA was not a wise choice at this time.
This back and forth on who is to blame is ridiculous. The Council and Mayor are lacking oversight. Plain & simple. Should Gruel audit every department? Absolutely! Abuse has taken place in many departments, for the past several years. The cty has thrown away public money consistently by paying off general managers who are unfit to manage. WHY are we paying them off?It’s ony attended to when someone goes to the media. It seems the solution to these departmental/city problems is to create commissions and oversight advocates who are truly looking out for the best interest of the public and taxpayers monies. Who is the Mayor appointing to these commissions? Where is the justice? I hope the federal government checks into this and every other aspect of the city of LA’s mismanagement. This is just the tip of the iceberg and the current politicians are playing with money that doesn’t belong to them but to us, the people. Enough is enough
This back and forth on who is to blame is ridiculous. The Council and Mayor are lacking oversight. Plain & simple. Should Gruel audit every department? Absolutely! Abuse has taken place in many departments, for the past several years. The cty has thrown away public money consistently by paying off general managers who are unfit to manage. WHY are we paying them off?It’s ony attended to when someone goes to the media. It seems the solution to these departmental/city problems is to create commissions and oversight advocates who are truly looking out for the best interest of the public and taxpayers monies. Who is the Mayor appointing to these commissions? Where is the justice? I hope the federal government checks into this and every other aspect of the city of LA’s mismanagement. This is just the tip of the iceberg and the current politicians are playing with money that doesn’t belong to them but to us, the people. Enough is enough
Great post!
1:52-It doesn’t matter who the commissioners are. Under the present Charter they serve at the pleasure of the mayor—not the people.
8:13 p.m.- Then it was upto Gruel to prove that they are citizen commissioners who are equally responsible to the community they are supposed to represent. By seeking permission from the Mayor, Gruel has proved she is an incompetent Controller and even more unfit to be Mayor.
Patrice McConnell was terminated late Friday. Hear there may be three more senior staff fired this week.
It’s a shame that no one has looked into the fact that the HACLA lacks even the most rudimentary internal controls. Under Rudi’s leadership, the Office of Internal Control was shot and killed, leaving a gaping wound where accountability should have been. Someone needs to look deeply into the fact that several directors, supervisor’s and even an attorney responsible for monitoring and investigating fraud, waste and abuse of resources at the HACLA were all fired under questionable circumstances. I mean, THEY were fired! Let go, terminated, walked out, humiliated, dismissed. Yeah, the people who actually fought fraud were deemed expendable. Go figure. Employee fraud and misconduct was reassigned to Patrice McConnell’s control and authority. Many, many complaints about all manner of bad conduct by employee’s went unpunished. Even since Rudi’s departure, there are illegal activities occurring at management level and above that leave you just shaking your head. And what does the lone sworn officer at HACLA do about any of this? Well, it would help if he didn’t travel so much or attend some many conferences, or receive so much training. I’m just saying.
I was one of those investigators (supervisor) who was fired for no reason. When OIC was doing what they were hired to do, we rec’d a lot of information on employees that were possibly doing fraudulent activities at HACLA. Some of the suspects were upper management. They knew that OIC staff had integrity and that they were professionals and the investigators in the unit would not “look the other way” when an allegation was forwarded to them. We knew once HR stop OIC from investigating allegations of employees misconduct that corruption would replace internal controls. That was too bad because there are a lot of honest employees working at HACLA.
It’s a shame that no one has looked into the fact that the HACLA lacks even the most rudimentary internal controls. Under Rudi’s leadership, the Office of Internal Control was shot and killed, leaving a gaping wound where accountability should have been. Someone needs to look deeply into the fact that several directors, supervisor’s and even an attorney responsible for monitoring and investigating fraud, waste and abuse of resources at the HACLA were all fired under questionable circumstances. I mean, THEY were fired! Let go, terminated, walked out, humiliated, dismissed. Yeah, the people who actually fought fraud were deemed expendable. Go figure. Employee fraud and misconduct was reassigned to Patrice McConnell’s control and authority. Many, many complaints about all manner of bad conduct by employee’s went unpunished. Even since Rudi’s departure, there are illegal activities occurring at management level and above that leave you just shaking your head. And what does the lone sworn officer at HACLA do about any of this? Well, it would help if he didn’t travel so much or attend some many conferences, or receive so much training. I’m just saying.
3:28 – This story is repeated in each & every city department under this corrupt Mayor. Filthy scum is in-charge of every city department.