Los Angeles Dragnet

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will have to remove his billboards from their current Ventura Blvd. location, a Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety inspector said.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan News Enterprise interviewed LADBS Inspector Luke Zamparini in a follow-up report to the Wednesday August 24 exclusive accusing Trutanich of violating his own laws against "off site" advertising. Although Zamparini stopped short of calling Trutanich a billboard criminal, his message was clear; the billboards have to go.

Dennis Hathaway, president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight, also agreed that it was wrong for Trutanich to have off-site advertising while there is a citywide ban. 

With City Attorney Carmen Trutanich now firmly committed to running for District Attorney in 2012, a number of frontrunners are being identified as likely challengers for the city's top cop slot which will become available in 2013. 

Trutanich will not be able to run for City Attorney regardless of the outcome of his DA Campaign as his failure to win the DA election guarantees that he will not be re-elected as City Attorney and success means he will vacate the Office in January 2013.

We now take a look at those who are believed to be in the running.

PAUL KREKORIAN

Los Angeles Councilmember Paul Krekorian (CD2) has stated that he's not interested in running for City Attorney, yet, but rumors persist that pressure is building to try to convince the popular Valley leader to change his mind.

Krekorian recently joined the City Attorney and Supervisor Yaroslavsky at a meeting of the Studio City Neighborhood Council, perhaps a sign that he is warming up to the idea and is counting on Trutanich to support his candidacy.

MIKE FEUER

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer almost became City Attorney when he narrowly lost to Rocky Delgadillo in 2001. He will be termed out of Sacramento in 2012, and is said to be "interested" in trying again.

Feuer is believed to be the top choice of democrat party leaders, and would be able to count on the same strong support from LA's Westside that will be critical to success.

JANE USHER

Rumors abound that Special Assistant City Attorney Jane Usher could throw her hat in the ring to replace he boss. Insiders say that Trutanich had been concerned that Usher could ultimately challenge him in 2013, but he is likely less concerned now that he is committed to run for DA.  

Usher is undoubtedly the darling of the Neighborhood Councils for her work on banning billboards and medical marijuana dispensaries, and her knowledge of the way City Hall works as been central to making up for Trutanich's shortcomings. Usher is a tireless workaholic with a sound grasp of planning issues, but little experience in criminal law, other than what she has learned in her time alongside her boss.

A spate of losses in discrimination lawsuits, low staff turnout at the recent third annual City Attorney Family BBQ, and widespread reports of rank and file disaffection can be traced to a case of deja vu all over again with City Attorney Carmen Trutanich.

They say that what goes around comes around, and it appears that the man who "is not looking for the next run" and who "does not talk politics at  his desk" has something of a rap sheet when it comes to poor employee relations; he oversaw, if not orchestrated, the defense of a wrongful termination lawsuit for Rocky Delgadillo. The Lynn Magnandonovan litigation not only cost the city millions in outside counsel's legal fees, but publicly exposed a lack of professionalism in the management of CIty Attorney's Office. Some might say that things have not changed under the current City Attorney's tenure.

Trutanich prefers not to talk about his brief tenure as a "Special Assistant" to his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo. Whenever questions arise about his first foray into city politics, he jokingly claims that he quit Rocky's administration when "the wheels started coming off Rocky's wagon," a laugh-line that his sycophantic audiences all too eagerly accept without question.

However, thanks to the almost daily stream of emails to our confidential tip line, some inconvenient truths about the man LA Times writer Steve Lopez called "LA's Hosni Mubarak" have emerged. One tip led us to an article published in 2006 by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center.

Few realize the TRUe extent to which "a defense lawyer known around Delgadillo’s office as “Nooch,” rotated in and out of his staff job on the 8th floor of City Hall" as the LA Independent Media Center reported.

"To say that Trutanich has juice with Delgadillo’s office is an understatement." The LA Independent Media Center said, continuing "In four months as special assistant city attorney, from July 1 to November 1, by his own account, he handled sensitive negotiations with the Coliseum Commission and developed a multimillion-dollar proposal for a Bureau of Investigation. He also allegedly blurred the lines in his “monitoring” of a lawsuit filed against Delgadillo and former chief deputy Terree Bowers, despite the city’s conflict of interest that led to the hiring of Baker & Hostetler."

The the LA Independent Media Center article not only provides some insight into the shameful Delgadillo administration, but it also shows the intimate association between the former and the current City Attorneys, perhaps explaining why, two years into his first term, many are saying that Trutanich is even worse than Delgadillo.

Read the full article at LA Independent Media Center.

Trutanich likes being the talk of the town, usually for grandstanding on serious crimes that he has no real connection to, and certainly no control. The most recent example was his claim to be prosecuting the Byran Stow beating at Dodger Stadium. "We’re moving forward with that case." was what Trutanich told a talk show radio host about a case that has nothing to do with him. 

But when attention-seeking City Attorney Carmen Trutanich tried to illegally divert a $2M settlement check to a political ally, he got another dose of the kind of publicity he doesn't like; a scathing critique in the Los Angeles Times.

Some TRU believers would like to think that Trutanich was simply unaware of the fact that the rape kit backlog no longer existed when he tried to give the $2M check to Sheriff Baca. Trutanich could be forgiven for not knowing the the facts about rape kits as his office does not prosecute rapes any more than it prosecutes the Bryan Stow beating.

Others, perhaps even those who once backed the San Pedro ambulance chaser turned career politician, see Trutanich's actions for what they TRUly were; an unethical, illegal and rather stupid attempt to give Sheriff Baca a $2M "thank you" for supporting his deceptive bid to become Los Angeles District Attorney.

While Baca might have appreciated the $2M payoff for trying to give Trutanich a get out of jail card from his sworn campaign promise not to run for District Attorney, it is highly likely that Baca did not appreciate the suggestion that he was party to an illegal "pay to play" scam perpetrated by Trutanich. Baca swifty responded by having his spokesperson say that Sheriff Baca was "unaware" of scam, and that Baca "would not comment" on the matter.

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley told the LA Times that Trutanich's attempted check fraud was "probably unlawful" and called it a "political ploy." 

Trutanich celebrated his birthday this past Friday and was presented with an excoriating write up at CityWatch were he was accused of "selective prosecution" by former CD4 candidate Stephen Box. 

Trutanich AM570KLAC Grandstands about Bryan Stowe Dodgers Stadium Beating by LA Dragnet

Los Angeles City Attorney Trutanich's grasp of reality became even more "bizzare" last week when he claimed on a radio show that he was prosecuting those responsible for the Bryan Stow Dodgers Stadium beating. When asked  "how's the prosecution going to proceed?" he said "We're moving forward with that case."

As the LA Times exclusively reported, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich attempted to persuade the County of Los Angeles to misappropriate a $2M Unfair Business Practices settlement check.

Trutanich hand delivered the check, perhaps to add emphasis to his request that the $2M should be diverted away from its lawful purpose; furthering consumer protection.

Instead, Trutanich tried to persuade the County of LA to give the $2M to Sheriff Lee Baca to help to clear the backlog of unprocessed DNA rape kits.

Sheriff Baca, purely coincidentally, has allowed his name to be used in support of a misleading "effort" to persuade Trutanich to run for Los Angeles District Attorney.  

Trutanich's actions, viewed in the light most favorable to him, reveals a shocking lack of legal knowledge, as well as an appalling ignorance of the current state of DNA rape kit analysis.

As to the lack of legal knowledge, he of all people should know that financial settlements of cases brought under Business and Professions Code 17200 and 17500, have to be used for consumer protection. The $2M check represented half of a $4M settlement that the City Attorney's Office had obtained for billboard violations. The law requires the settlement funds to be split 50/50 between the City and County agencies responsible for consumer protection. Apparently, the City Attorney was unaware of the law.

Ironically, when questioned, Trutanich's Chief Deputy sheepishly admitted that the City Attorney's Office was not using its $2M for DNA rape kit analysis, but rather for its lawful purpose; consumer protection.

But if a lack of legal knowledge isn't bad enough, the City Attorney was also, apparently, blissfully unaware of the current state of DNA rape kit analysis. The fact is that there is no current backlog of DNA rape kits, neither at the Sheriff's Department nor at the Los Angeles Police Department. Certainly, Baca would have welcomed an extra $2M, but equally certainly, he did not need it to clear a non-existent backlog of DNA rape kits. Perhaps the former plaintiff's attorney turned career politician should be excused from having all the facts about DNA rape kit analysis; after all, his office does not prosecute rapes, those are felonies prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office.

However, it could be said that Trutanich's blunder reveals more than a lack of legal knowledge and the facts about DNA rape kits. It could reveal a lack of ethics and a need to give the Sheriff a "thank you" for supporting his phony DA campaign. That would appear to be consistent with other ethical issues that have been raised regarding Trutanich; quite apart from his willingness to renege on his campaign promise not to run for District Attorney or other higher office, there are the false claims of "criminal aspects" surrounding the Michael Jackson memorial come to mind, as well as threatening to arrest elected officials and city workers over mistaken billboard issues.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich remained tight-lipped when questioned by Los Angeles Metropolitan News Enterprise reporter Sherri M. Okamoto about rumors that he had abandoned his personal dream to become LA's next District Attorney due to the City Council's recent vote of no confidence and the shocking revelations arising from the Martin Declaration scandal. Both raised doubts about Trutanich's fitness to run the DA's Office (the largest prosecutorial agency in the nation), however, the damaging findings of the Fire Commission Report would seem to leave little doubt as to his inability to effectively run as large a law office as the District Attorney's Office let alone be re-elected as City Attorney in 2013.

There was a time when no sooner had LAPD raided a gang or narcotics operation, than City Attorney Trutanich would be grabbing the podium and claiming credit for "busting" the bad guys. 

Plaintiff's attorney turned career politician Carmen Trutanich continues to explore deeper depths in terms of epic failure.

Thus far unconfirmed rumors continue to suggest that Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will withdraw his candidacy for Los Angeles District Attorney in 2012. Rumors first started appearing at the Mayor Sam political blog, followed by the Los Angeles City News, and the Dragnet.  

The basis for the rumors appears to be recent action by the Los Angeles City Council to "neuter" Trutanich's office by stripping him of control over the handling of legislation and liability defense. Councilmember Jan Perry led the Council in a unanimous vote to study ways that other municipalities obtain quality legal representation when their own City Attorney fails to deliver. The 13-0 unanimous vote was seen by many as a vote of no confidence in Trutanich's ability to run the second largest governmental law office in the County of Los Angeles, and an even bigger condemnation of his suitability for District Attorney.  

If the Council's vote of no confidence wasn't bad enough, hot on the heels of their slap in the face to the once popular San Pedro criminal defense attorney turned politician, came the shocking revelations of the Martin Declaration, a legal document filed by a deputy city attorney in which it was admitted that the City Attorney's Office was "unprepared" to handle representation of the City's affairs. Staffing cuts and a lack of resources attributable to Trutanich's management were apparently to blame.  

The embarrassing admissions in the Martin Declaration were said to be caused by the diversion of legal resources from the core mission of the City Attorney's Office, to pet projects which apparently lack for nothing. The implication was clear; if the matter is not important to the boss, it gets no attention. It's an implication that will resonate well with the City Council in their bid to curtail the City Attorney from injecting himself into policy making instead of legal representation.

The lies about the origins and provenance of the ACE Program had scarcely left City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's lips last month when the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office acted swiftly to present a revised version of the ACE Program containing hidden Grand Jury-like subpoena powers.

Barely a year has passed since Trutanich's original plan for his own Grand Jury was thwarted by the City Council. Although budgetary constraints were then cited as the reason for denying Trutanich powers that could be abused in the wrong hands, few doubted that fears of Trutanich becoming a modern-day McCarthy were truly behind the City Council's actions. But Trutanich wasn't going to take the loss of what he has characterized as a "valuable investigative tool" lying down (others saw it as an intimidation tool). Sources say that following the death of his Grand Jury plan, Trutanich secretly ordered his deputies to sneak similar Grand Jury-like subpoena powers into the ACE Program.

The Grand Jury-like powers are well hidden "in plain sight" at Section 11.2.09(b)6 of the proposed ACE Program ordinance. If enacted as currently written, Trutanich has granted himself the power to order the Administrative Hearing Officer (believed to be called "Judges" by Trutanich) to "subpoena witnesses, documents and other evidence"  in accordance with procedures he dictates.

Prosecutors Can Be ACE Judges Trutanich has made no secret of his plan to use his own prosecutors as Judges, and again, Trutanich has hidden that power "in plain sight" at Section 11.2.09(a):

The ACE Program ordinance does not define the term "Independent Administrative Hearing Officers" thereby giving Trutanich broad powers to appoint whoever he considers suitable to serve his needs.  If Trutanich believes that his prosecutors can be independent, then nothing in the ACE Program ordinance prevents that. Furthermore, Trutanich has the power to tell his "Judges" what to do and how to do it by developing his own "written policies." Regardless of the written policies, few would doubt that his "Judges" will grant any request he makes to issue subpoenas for "witnesses, documents and other evidence."

Coucilmembers Support Likely With Promise of Major Contribution To General Fund With Trutanich promising that ACE will provide a veritable cash cow of administrative penalties to swell the starved coffers of the General Fund, it is likely that Trutanich believes he has the eight votes he needs on the Council to get the ACE Program passed. The eight councilmembers that will likely  support the ACE Program are thought to be Zine, Hahn, Englander, Alarcon, La Bonge, Koretz, Huizar and Rosendahl. City Controller Wendy Greuel is also likely to give ACE her blessing.

Trutanich Gets The Last Laugh(s) In selling the 'eight' on ACE as a cash cow, Trutanich gets the last laugh on his enemies in City Hall, by neatly performing an end run on their previous efforts to deny him the power he so desperately craves.

But there's more to Trutanich's last laugh than simply out-smarting the City Council. The ACE Program can only live up to Trutanich's promise of being a cash cow if it is used against homeowners and small businesses. The scofflaws that Trutanich says he will pursue simply don't have the money to pay the fines, and there is little enforcement action in ACE that could have any meaningful effect on them.

But a crackdown on non-compliant yard fences (anything over three and a half feet in height) or replacement water heaters installed without permits, or small businesses who have un-permitted off-site advertising on their premises, now that would yield millions of dollars for the General Fund from the ACE Program.

Of course the outcry from voters would likely cause the Council to stop such crackdowns. And thus the promised cash cow will become the Trojan Horse that it really is. Trutanich gets his power, the General Fund gets nothing, and the Council gets egg on its face.

The McCarthy era abuse of grand jury-like powers proved to be perhaps even more dangerous and destructive to a free society than the evils McCarthy sought to defeat. With Trutanich's track record of bullying, thuggery, grandstanding and most recently, flat out lying, few would doubt that the powers he has sneaked into the ACE Program will enable him to be the next McCarthy.

Trutanich Lies About ACE Program on Kevin James Show - Adds Plagiarism To His Shame List

Reports that Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich lied about his ACE Program have raised questions as to whether  the man the LA Daily News once called "The People's Lawyer" should be re-named "The People's Liar." Reports accuse Trutanich of plagiarism, noting that his statement on the Kevin James Show that the ACE Program was something that he came up with when he became City Attorney was false, because it was actually based on a plan that Rocky Delgadillo's former Chief Deputy, Richard Llewellyn had initiated.

Furthermore, Trutanich lied when he said that he had shared his ACE Program with the cities of San Diego and Santa Monica; both already had their versions of an ACE Program before Trutanich became City Attorney. The following was published on Monday, June 27, 2011: Trutanich has been selling his "ACE" program to pretty much anyone and everyone who will listen. Usually Trutanich has a captive audience to pitch his ideas, right wingers who won't ask too many questions of LA's 'Tough Guy,' as long as he's their 'Tough Guy.' Trutanich has been doing the rounds of the Neighborhood Councils and Rotary Clubs selling his ACE Program (an acronym for Administrative Citation Program) like snake oil, and of course giving them the fast-sell on how he is being besieged to run for District Attorney. He gets the applause and adulation he so desperately craves from audiences who don't know how to question the fast talking former plaintiff's attorney. But when Trutanich's claims are examined in the detail that he dodges, his claims about his ACE are coming apart faster than the king's new clothes.  On Sunday, June 5, 2011, Trutanich spent an hour as the guest of KRLA 870AM's talk show host Kevin James. Trutanich launched into a series of serious misstatements and omissions regarding the ACE Program. Misstatements so egregious that 'lie' is the only word that fairly characterizes much of what Trutanich said. Here is a short segment from the Kevin James Show (you can listen to the whole program at the KRLA 870AM website), but pay attention to what Trutanich says about his ACE:

When Kevin James asked Trutanich to explain his ACE Program, virtually the first words out the City Attorney's mouth were false.

"This is an idea that I came up with, uhm, early, er, er, when I became, er, City Attorney." Trutanich said. Really? That would be news to Richard Llewellyn, Chief of Staff to Los Angeles Councilmember Paul Koretz. Not only was the idea for the program based on a January 15, 2010 motion by CM Koretz, but sources at the City Attorney's Office insist that the origins of the program came from Llewellyn himself, when he was Chief Deputy City Attorney under Rocky Delgadillo, long before Trutanich "... became, er, City Attorney." The history of the ACE Program can be traced back through the City Clerk's website, under file number 10-0085, where CM Kortz's motion can be downloaded.

Perhaps Trutanich simply misspoke? But no. There was no mistake. Scarcely had he stumbled through his plagiaristic opening lie, than he repeated the lie, and of course, embellished it a little more.

"This is, er, er, er, a program that when I came up with it, I shared it with other cities, and now San Diego has it, and it's working just fine, Santa Monica has it and it's working just fine, and there are other cities up north, up in northern California that have employed the same administrative code enforcement program." Trutanich said. How extremely generous of Trutanich to share his idea with other cities. Unfortunately, the truth is somewhat different. San Diego already had it's program in place, in force, up and running, long before Trutanich became City Attorney. In fact, early in 2010, Trutanich sent three of his senior Assistant City Attorneys to San Diego to meet with representatives from the San Diego City Attorney's Office to find out how the program worked.

Trutanich also left out a few inconvenient truths about his program, such as the identity of the so-called "administrative law judges" who will impose fines and penalties on the homeowners and small business owners who will likely top the list of ACE citations. The judges will be chosen by him. They will also very likely be Deputy City Attorneys who Trutanich will select to act as his judges. That's certainly not part of San Diego's program, in fact the jaws of the San Diego City Attorneys dropped in astonishment when they heard of how Trutanich is planning on giving his version of Due Process to the unlucky recipients of ACE citations. Trutanich did let a couple of truths slip past his lips when he was selling ACE.  One was that his ACE Program is really all about raising money on the backs of residents. The other is that the ACE Program will work "just like a traffic ticket." Yes, we all know how easy it is to fight a traffic ticket and how much money is raised that way. The last lie Trutanich was questioned over concerned the claims made that he had "busted" the 38th St. Gang. Sheriff Baca explained that Trutanich was a member of an anti-gang task force, and that gave the lie credibility. So far as we are aware, Sheriff Baca is not involved with the ACE Program, so it will be interesting to see if anyone would care to offer some equally lame excuse for more shameful grandstanding, lies and half-truths from Trutanich. Interestingly, Trutanich's lies about his ACE Program were made on the very same broadcast where Trutanich stated that one of the reasons for his hesitancy over deciding whether or not to run for District Attorney, was that his son had just come back from Iraq, injured:

It appears that, again, Trutanich was being economical with the truth. It certainly is a fact that his son was in Iraq, but not as a military combatant; he is an Assistant US Attorney. It is also rumored that the injury was a sports injury, although Trutanich has been silent as to that.