City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, however, has continued to solicit and accept over $100,000 in contributions even after winning the election and taking office. And at least $75,000 of that money went straight into his pockets, to repay loans he made to his own campaign.
Among his contributors are lawyers in law firms that receive contracts from -- you guessed it -- the City Attorney.
Committee for the Primary Election
Some of the money Trutanich collected after taking office has gone to the campaign committee he set up for the primary election. It turns out he spent much more money during that campaign than he actually collected.
Between July 1, 2009 -- the day he took office -- and December 31, 2009, Trutanich received $110,225 in contributions.
On November 3, 2009, for example, he received $1,000 from Christine Essel, who listed her occupation as "Candidate." She was running for City Council at the time. He endorsed her.
On November 3, 2009, for example, he received $1,000 from Christine Essel, who listed her occupation as "Candidate." She was running for City Council at the time. He endorsed her.
Taking another example, six attorneys from a law firm called Lewis, Brisbois, et al., donated a total of $6,250 during this period. On November 2, 2009, the City Attorney's office entered a new three-year contract with the firm, whereby the City would pay $300 per hour for eight attorneys, and $250 per hour for a ninth.
Many other people contributed, too. Where did their contributions go? Well, $75,000 went right into Trutanich's pocket. You see, he had loaned his campaign $75,000, and chose to use these contributions to repay those loans.
Another $3,500 went to Regency Outdoor Advertising -- a billboard company.
Committee for the General Election
After taking office, Trutanich has collected contributions not just for the committee he formed for the primary election, but also for the run-off election. He spent more money than he collected in that race, too.
Between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, he collected $74,079 in contributions for his general election committe. However, that committee still had over $150,000 in unpaid bills at the end of 2009.
Contributors included several lawyers from a law firm called Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer, LLP in New York, New York. Why would they care whether an Los Angeles City Attorney repays his campaign debts?
Office-Holder Account
Since taking the oath of office, Trutanich has received contributions not just for his campaign committees, but also his "office-holder" account. During the first three months of 2010, Trutanich collected $54,400 in contributions for this account, and spent $59,323.52.
Three lawyers with a law firm called Albright, Yee & Schmit each contributed $1,000. The firm has several contracts with the City Attorney's office, to provide legal services.
Rick Caruso and his wife each gave Trutanich $1,000 during this period. American Airlines gave him $1,000. Paramount Pictures kicked in $1,000. Van Wagner Communications, LLC, an outdoor advertising company, gave him $500.
Where did all this "office-holder" money go? Trutanich paid $25,000 of it to Shallman Communications, a public relations firm. By the way, it's the same PR firm that is suing City Councilman Bernard Parks for allegedly breaching his contract to pay for services rendered in connection with one of his campaigns.
Why is a sitting City Attorney accepting contributions to pay a public relations firm? Can someone explain that to me?
Trutanich shelled out another $10,000 to J. Bird Distributing, LLC, which, according to the company's website, offers "[i]ntroductions to key people to facilitate the placement of products" along with other services.
What If Anything Does It Mean?
Unlike Villaraigosa, who failed to disclose his receipt of tickets worth tens of thousands of dollars, Trutanich has complied with the laws requiring disclosure of the tens of thousands of dollars he has received since taking office.
But do we really want our elected officials -- and, in particular, the attorney who is supposed to represent our interests -- taking money from the very people to whom they award contracts? Villaraigosa getting the tickets from AEG and others; Cardenas and Hahn getting contributions and services from LAX vendors;Trutanich accepting money from law firms getting City contracts -- that stuff just does not pass the smell test, does it?
And, even assuming we could live with the officials collecting money, do we want to let them collect money to pay public relations firms when they aren't even in a race for office? It's one thing to collect campaign contributions, but why are they collecting contributions for public relations when they aren't even in a race?
Perhaps the City Council should start thinking about strengthening our anti-corruption laws, aka our ethics laws. What do YOU think? Post a comment to share your thoughts.
Perhaps the City Council should start thinking about strengthening our anti-corruption laws, aka our ethics laws. What do YOU think? Post a comment to share your thoughts.
Business entities commonly pay politicians b/c govt. has much more impact, presence and financial influence than it probably should. If govt. wasn't "everywhere," people wouldn't stand to profit or be injured by its actions, so significantly. The need or desire to curry favors from office holders would be less pronounced (essentially, the Libertarian argument). As to the notion of waiting around for City Councilmen in our burg to take a stand for ethics - Huh? That would involve them ceasing practices and changing a system that works to their personal benefit.
ReplyDeleteThis is the difference between ethics and legality. Things can smell pretty bad without being illegal.
ReplyDeleteDoes doing things both ethically AND legally become a disadvantage against opponents who only concern themselves with achieving their goals by skirting the law?
Does the latter, statistically, prevail more times than not?
There's no way we can dislodge the criminal regime we have running out govt through voting.
ReplyDelete1- Seems Tru can't budget any better than the mayor or council. Ever hear of living within their means?
ReplyDelete2- All contribution listed have the stench of conflict of interest, but the most bothersome for me are the ones from the outdoor ad companies. Talk about being conflicted. Must be a real problem accepting money from the same people you're supposed to be going after for illegal billboards.
3- We've got to figure out a way to even the playing field and get the money out of political campaigns. I mean, how sick are you getting of Meg Whitman's ads? She's been running them almost nonstop since before last Christmas.
We need limits on the length of campaigns like they have in England and we need total public financing and a limit on how much a candidate can contribute to his own campaign if he has deep pockets. I don't see any other way to get the crime and influence out of the dirty political business.
3- Lobbyists should also be banned. Recent reports out of Sacramento prove they far too much influence, as in writing legislation in their own interest.
4- Strict term limits. One six year term for all offices. At the end of the term the elected official cannot run for another office for five years, nor can he go to work for a lobbyist or any company that does business with the city. But he can become a cop, paramedic or fireman.
Gill
ReplyDeleteNice job of getting this information out there.
In a story this morning about Alarcongate, it mentions three other councilmen who have legal defense funds, one of whom is Dennis Zine.
ReplyDeleteLet's suppose that a councilman with a legal defense fund is a good little boy -- hard to imagine, right? -- and never has to defend himself, what happens to the money in the defense fund account?
P.S. Just so we're clear, other elected officials downtown also have these office-holder accounts. Per the conclusion of my essay, I think we need to revisit the very concept of office-holder accounts.
ReplyDeleteThis particular essay focuses on Trutanich, but as you can tell from my prior essays -- including those linked above re Villaraigosa, Cardenas and Hahn -- he is by no means the only official downtown accepting contributions from people and companies doing business with the City. I think we need to reign that in as to ALL officials, not just Trutanich.
Thank you Walter for this information. . . . Very interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until Rick Orlov publishes it.
Noel Weiss
You're welcome. I doubt, however, that Rick Orlov will publish anything that isn't delivered to him in a press release from City Hall.
ReplyDelete