In conjunction with CaliforniaCityNews' seven year anniversary, we decided to take a look back at the most shocking and bizarre scandals of the past seven years. Ever since CityNews first launched, we have seen local politicians do a lot of crazy things, so it was hard to narrow it down, but we managed to make a list that we think highlights the best of the best. Let us know in the comments below if any of your favorites didn't make the list.
1. Bell city manager Robert Rizzo
The top scandal over the past seven years was unarguably the scandal in the city of Bell. Very few times in history does a defining moment so encapsulate what can go wrong on so many different fronts, but the city of Bell managed to pull it off. City manager Robert Rizzo, assistant city manager Angela Spaccia along with complicit city council members, a police chief and even a former mayor all acted in unison to plunder the largely immigrant working class community for personal financial gain. This story had everything – crooked cops, politicians on the take, horse racing thoroughbreds from ill-gotten gains, and of course a made for TV story on how reporters broke the saga.
The Bell scandal blemished the city manager profession and started a new era of public expectation in transparency and ethics. City staff salaries will forever be viewed with renewed scrutiny and the idea that local governments are sacrosanct in the minds of residents was lost. As the legal fallout continues to unfold and the small city tries to recover, much good work has been done by retired city managers (Ken Hampian most notably), private companies pushing financial transparency (OpenGov) and even lawmakers pushing for reforms (Assemblywoman Christine Garcia was elected to the legislature largely on calls for government reform).
The post-Bell era will be defined by greater scrutiny on public officials and servants at every level and should always serve to remind those in government about the need to weed out bad actors within a profession. Cities will be better for it in the long run but the process was torturous and embarrassing.
2. San Diego Mayor Bob Filner
Democrats rejoiced in the days following the November 2012 elections that saw a sizeable sweep of elected offices in California. For the first time in recent memory the Mayor’s office in the reliably Republican city of San Diego (the state’s second largest city) turned blue and Democrats felt that this was a tipping point showing just how far California was changing politically.
The joy was short lived, however, when only months into the tenure of Mayor Filner started to show deep and troubling problems. A senior staff member publicly stepped forward with distressing accusations of sexual harassment. The credibility and stature of the complainant could not be ignored and provided strength for another accuser to come forward. Then another…and another…and another. Within a matter of weeks the number of complaints and the wide range of victims left the city aghast, shocked and stunned at what was happening to "America’s finest city." State and National news services made Filner a mockery and the butt of late night jokes. Less funny was the emerging evidence that dozens of political, union and women leaders knew about Filner’s proclivities and abuse of women for years without saying anything and were even more reticent to speak out when he appeared to be the Democrats best shot at taking the Mayors seat. Filner’s fall from power proved to be a necessary reflective moment for many who prized political power over one person’s abusive behavior.
Not easy to be a bigger creep than Anthony Weiner, but Bob Filner pulled it off and resigned in disgrace as a result. Congratulations to Bob Filner for securing the number two spot in the Top Seven Scandals category.
3. Moreno Valley Councilman Marcelo Co
If you’re gonna sell out – don’t sell out cheap. We’re not sure that’s the best advice for public servants but it certainly is the advice followed by Moreno Valley city councilman Marcelo Co who was convicted of taking $2.3 million in bribes for voting to re-zone a developers property and significantly increase its value.
Now we’ve seen a lot of $20k and $30k shakedowns over the past seven years but to take it to this level is…well…brazen. Timothy Delaney, an FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, said Co took his duties "as seriously as if he was playing a game of Monopoly." Not exactly the kind of law enforcement testimonial you want on your re-election mailers.
Co was actually captured on video accepting the cash payment – yes, $2.3 million in cash – with a screenshot of the footage showing him at a table with stacks of money piled in front of him. In exchange for the money, prosecutors said, Co promised to deliver the votes on the city council to change the zoning of a parcel of land.
Now that takes Co-jones.
4. Rosemead Mayor John Tran
Also filed under ‘bribes and payoffs’ is the curious case of Rosemead’s former Mayor John Tran. Tran’s shakedown from a real estate developer – or rather a federal agent posing as one – wasn’t outside the realm of traditional payoffs ($38,000 to be exact). No, what Tran did to make our list was the witness tampering that followed.
Once Tran realized the feds were on to him he doubled back and tried to coach the witness (Real estate developer Tammy Gong) on how to shake the feds from their trail. Tran met the witness in a September 2011 meeting at a Starbucks in South Pasadena, telling her that she should say they did not meet recently and that she never gave him money, according to prosecutors.
He later lied to the FBI about the money, prosecutors said in court papers.
We’ll have another double espresso please.
5. San Marino Mayor Dennis Kneier's "Poopgate" scandal
There are a lot of ways to leave public office. Most tend to step off the dais with a proclamation and accolades from the community. Some slip quietly into the night. An unfortunate few leave in handcuffs (see previous scandals).
Then there’s San Marino Mayor Dennis Kneier.
Mayor Kneiers fall from grace began with a neighborly dispute over…dog poop. Clearly bothered by numerous instances of having neighborhood dogs leaving their business on his lawn, San Marino resident Philip Lao posted a “No Poop Zone” sign in front of his lawn in the tony southern California neighborhood.
Soon after Mr. Lao found a ‘packaged’ gift of dog material left on his walkway clearly left in response to his sign. He reviewed video from his homes surveillance cameras, which showed none other than the mayor tossing the bag. Soon after the incident, the video, which Lao shared publicly and even ran here on California City News, went – as they say – viral.
Caught between a poopbag and a hard place the Mayor resigned his mayorship in an attempt to quell the controversy and stop the unfortunate statewide and national attention on the embarrassed city better known for its wealthy residents than dog residual. Alas, that was not enough for the angered residents of San Marino…over 100 residents showed up to demand his resignation from the council which was summarily tendered in light of an ensuing recall effort.
One heckuva way to go, Mr. Mayor. Even in San Marino s#!t happens.
We’ve filed this under the ‘you can’t make this stuff up’ category.
6. Huntington Park Councilman John Noguez
This story could just have easily been a story for our sister publication California County News because the scandal unraveled after John Noguez left the Huntington Park City Council and was elected the LA County Tax Assessor, but Noguez high profile in city circles (Past President of the Los Angeles League of Cities) and the fact that much of the bad behavior he’s currently imprisoned for clearly occurred while he was a councilman makes this scandal qualify for both branches of local government.
Noguez is an affable, charismatic and optimistic person to all that know him (we here at CityNews know him quite well) that had a bright political future ahead of him. A sharp policy mind, telegenic good looks, impeccable dresser and unbridled ambition kept most of us wondering when he would make a move for legislative office or more – so we were not surprised when he announced the leap from Huntington Park city council to a countywide office of Tax Assessor. Now, Tax Assessor is hardly a controversial office and most folks don’t know what the office does or who has held it for the past fifty years but the largely ministerial and administrative position actually controls hundreds of millions of dollars in county revenues by determining the assessed value of properties that owners must pay on their real estate.
The Southern California political world came to a grinding halt when news broke about Noguez’ apparently direct involvement in reassessing the valuations on multi-million dollar properties downwards for campaign contributions. In fact, it appears that many contributions were solicited with an explicit promise to re-assess properties favorably.
Not good.
Even worse is that senior staff members in the department were encouraged (or coerced) into the bad behavior – depending on whose story you believed. It takes a lot of work to publicly fall as far from grace as John Noguez did in the office of LA County Tax Assessor – but, for the time being anyway…orange is the new black.
7. Maywood
In a 2010 LA Times article Maywood Councilman Felipe Aguirre said he considered his small city in Los Angeles County “The Santa Monica of the Southeast” – a place built on activism, a healthy distrust of the establishment and compassion for the less fortunate.
We tend to think Maywood has an even more striking resemblance to Deadwood.
With neighboring cities of Bell, Vernon, Lynwood and SouthGate, some might suggest Maywood couldn’t be anything other than the target of public corruption cases that have plagued the city over the last decade. In early 2010 they announced they were laying off almost the entirety of the cities workforce and outsourcing their service to the city of Bell. FBI investigations have focused on a number of corruption issues there – most notably two city deals tied to Felipe Aguirre and his allies or business partners.
An audit released in 2011 found that some city records were missing, meeting minutes had not been adopted for nearly a year and the city had not adequately accounted for some loans and city properties. In some instances, auditors said, the city also went against its own policies and gave contracts without competitive bidding.
But perhaps a NY Times article put it best when reporting on the bleak state of Maywoods recent history: “Four years ago, in what was probably the high-water mark of acrimony in Maywood, a deputy city clerk was arrested and accused of soliciting a hit man to kill a city councilman. The deputy clerk, Hector Duarte, was concerned that his salary might be reduced or his job eliminated during a previous round of bad fiscal times; he was sentenced to a year in jail and six months of anger management counseling.”
Deputy clerk trying to kill a councilman? Yep, you make the list of the top seven scandals of the past seven years.