Results tagged “rockydelgadillo”

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?

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.

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.

To the astonishment of building tenants and just about everyone else, an illegal supergraphic went up last week on the same building that was used by the city as an example of the verboten advertisements. In late January, the building at National and Westwood Boulevard--then with a Tropicana supergraphic--was used as a press conference backdrop to talk about fire department safety concerns and how the city is looking to have stricter penalties.

              

Last week Wednesday, the city demolished a single family home in the Northeast neighborhood of Glassell Park. 3304 Drew Street, known as the "Satellite House," was the center of gang activity and drug trade in the neighborhood for the Avenues gang.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo today filed criminal charges against a billboard company and building owners over an illegal sign next to the 10 Freeway. Keep in mind, this is two days after the city held a press conference under the same exact sign saying they were revving up to fight if these don't come down.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo warned last month that he would start suing gangs and today he announced his first win, which is actually a first for any local government in California after a 2007 state law allowed prosecutors to go after gang assets. "This is a whole new front that we're waging against these gang members," Delgadillo said per the LA Times. "It's new to them, it's new to us, but it feels like we're winning."

Continuing the saga of fighting the thousands of illegal billboards in Los Angeles (to catch up on the controversy, watch this video), City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo today filed criminal charges against three property owners along the 110 Freeway near the LA Live/Staples Center area today for erecting illegal billboard support structures (see the map here). A construction company also was charged.

“Today, we’re sending a message to gang leaders across this city: If you break the law, we will not only find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars; we will also take away your money, your property, your homes, and your cars. And for the first time ever, we will return that money to the communities you have brutalized,” said City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo of lawsuits filed against 18th Street gang leaders. “As the gangs who terrorize our neighborhoods evolve, so too must we adapt our laws and our tactics to fit the times.”

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."

Now that California has ruled that gay and lesbian couples should have the freedom to marry, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is making sure that the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office does not allow employees to opt out of officiating gay marriages if they feel uncomfortable.

On Wednesday, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced that the city was suing Anthem Blue Cross for alleged illegal cancelations of health plan coverage. Then, on Thursday, the Schwarzenegger administration had an announcement of their own: thousands of rescinded plans of sick Californians will be investigated. It is considered to be the state's boldest move yet on issue, according to the LA Times.

For the second time, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is suing a health plan provider, the first being Health Net Inc. in February. Today, the announcement to sue Anthem Blue Cross of California and Anthem Blue Cross Life & Health came after launching www.protectingtheinsured.org, a city website to "law enforcement investigation regarding denial of health insurance claims or coverage due to unlawful, fraudulent or unfair practices." The website lets consumers directly make complaints to the city.

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."

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.

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

62-year-old retired LAPD officer Barry Bowman is now a very wealthy man - all because a dump truck hit him while he was riding his motorcycle in Northridge. The LA Times reports that a jury has awarded Bowman $15.7 million in his case against the city and city-contracted Tommie Wyatt Trucking for a collision that has left Bowman with brain injuries that require 24-hour care.

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."

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...

Home Depot is suing the city of Los Angeles because they didn't get what they wanted they say Councilwoman Wendy Greuel acted in a biased manner by helping neighborhood groups challenge the project while voting to require an environmental review. Greuel calls shenanigans in an LA Times article: "Is Home Depot and their lawyer suggesting that if a council member supports or opposes a project before it comes to the council, that there is...

Mayor Villa (will his soon-to-be-ex-wife really let him keep the Raigosa?) is proving to be quite the crafty politician this summer, weaseling his way through some rather public, personal crises. We can now add the Gopher Issue to the list of Tony V's lamest and greatest excuses. In spite of his call this summer for Angelenos to consciously conserve 10% more water, the LA Times scoured DWP records and found that the mayor and...

Photo by LAist Editor-at-Large Carolyn Kellogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

The LA Times has definitely had its fair share of scandals in the near past with firings and hirings. Yet recently, content wise, the watchdog coverage of scandalicious politicians has been riveting. There is Mayor V and then there was the daily pounding of Rocky Delgadillo. The newest politician in the ring is 74-year-old 2nd district county supervisor Yvonne Burke who represents Watts, Culver City, Compton, South LA, Hollywood, Marina Del Rey, Inglewood to...

- City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo vs. District Attorney Steve Cooley. Ehhhh, both are whiners.

You may remember Rocky Delgadillo got himself into a bit of hot water in recent weeks over a series of highly publicized gaffes that culminated in the state Franchise Tax Board revealing that his wife, Michelle Delgadillo, had reneged on filing tax returns for her company (that's a big no-no). Other lapses included his using city resources for personal reasons and allowing his wife to drive his city-owned car without valid insurance or a driver's license.

- According to the LA Times, people who live next to trains and subways do not use them. - Eek! "From July 1 of 2006 to June 30 of this year, only 3.21 inches of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles — the lowest precipitation level since records started being kept in the 1880s." - After 80 mph driving and weaving on the Hollywood Freeway in March, actress Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill, Independence Day)...

- Gustavo Arellano, who writes the syndicated column “¡Ask a Mexican!” for the OC Weekly, is profiled in the New York Times. - Hollywood loves top cop Sheriff, Lee Baca. Now he faces questions over his handling of Paris Hilton. - From University of Virginia to UCLA, here comes Gene Block. - Summing up City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's last couple weeks. Photo taken at the UCLA Sculpture Garden by Zach Behrens for LAist.com...

- LAPD called out to protest in Leimart park today. CBS2 says it's a rally called "Choose Black America - Not Amnesty - Not Illegal Immigration." LAIndyMedia calls it a MinuteKlan march. Confusing! Better explanation at Daily News. - Come on, he was just trying to find a parking space. A genius in the LBC was charged yesterday with a DUI after hitting two people and 24 cars in Long Beach back in February....

Even when you are an dishonest person, a tiny bit of honesty can go a long way. LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo could have avoided a week of scrutiny if he only told the truth a week and a half ago when asked by reporters if his wife was using his city-assigned vehicle when it was damaged and paid for by the taxpayers. Instead, he avoided questions for a simple answer until the LA Times...