"it has been determined that probable cause exists to believe that City Councilmember John Lee (Lee) violated governmental ethics laws by accepting gifts in excess of the gift limit, failing to report gifts, misusing his City position, and aiding and abetting another person's misuse of a City position."
-- LA City Ethics Commission
Which City Councilperson has managed to avoid accountability for the same trip to Vegas that landed his former boss in jail?
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While it is understandable that the Justice Department wants to do everything possible to assure the public that it does not take sides in elections, its policy of not taking action in the months before an election does just that. Voters deserve to have access to all the information available before heading to the polls and not informing them that a candidate may have engaged in criminal actions deprives them of the ability to make a fully informed decision.
Election workers were still counting votes in the March 3, 2020, race for the Los Angeles City Council's District 12 seat when the Department of Justice announced that the person who had previously held the seat, Mitch Englander, had been arrested. Included in the charging documents was the description of a corruption-fueled trip to Las Vegas and the resulting coverup. Accompanying Englander on this trip was the person referred to as "City Staffer B".
Though unnamed in the government's documents, "City Staffer B" is widely thought to be John Lee, Englander's Chief of Staff and successor on the City Council. In the days following Englander's arrest, he was declared the winner of his re-election bid by a mere 801 votes. Had the voters known of the pending charges, there is a good chance that the lead may not have held up. Justice delayed was justice denied.
Instead of showing contrition, Lee refused to confirm that he was "City Staffer B". When Neighborhood Councils started asking questions, the City Attorney's office did everything possible to keep the subject off their agendas. In the Northridge West Neighbourhood Council, divisions over the issue were so bad that some members quit alleging targeted harassment by Lee's supporters.
Every time the headlines teased the arrest of another City Councilperson there was hope that "City Staffer B" would finally have to pay the piper. Instead, the public would just receive additional confirmation that the Council chambers are infected with politicians who put their own benefits above the needs of their constituents. Public service is a value that is sorely lacking in the City Hall of Los Angeles.
Apparently confident that what happened in Vegas would stay in Vegas, Lee has already declared that he is running for re-election. With a campaign fueled by $290,652 in campaign cash, most potential competitors have already been scared away and only one candidate, Michael Benedetto, has stepped up to run against him.
A press release from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission last week renewed hope that Lee will finally pay a price for betraying the public trust. Leaving no doubt that Lee is in fact "City Staffer B", the commission has alleged that Lee violated the law detailing "two counts of accepting excess gifts, three counts of failing to disclose gifts, four counts of misusing a City position, and one count of aiding and abetting the misuse of a City position". The next step in the process will be for the commission to select a hearing officer who will hold an administrative evidentiary hearing.
The commission was able to take action on this matter after the City Council finally filled vacancies on the Ethics Commission Board that prevented it from achieving a quorum. This follows a controversy that arose in August when the Council took the unusual step of rejecting the nomination of Jamie York, President of the Reseda Neighborhood Council, by City Controller Kenneth Mejia. Despite the fact that there was no public discussion, the vote to reject York was unanimous indicating that conversations about the vote probably took place behind closed doors violating California's Brown Act.
In York's place, the Council appointed Alex Johnson, who was the President of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) when they overturned the LAUSD and renewed the charter of the North Valley Military Institute (NVMI). Johnson was appointed to LACOE by convicted felon Mark Ridley-Thomas (MRT).
If Lee were an honorable man, he would finally come clean with his constituents and take responsibility for his actions. Instead of spending his time campaigning for re-election, he would commit his energy to ensuring a seamless transition for the good of his constituents.
If Lee were an honorable man, he would have very little company in the City Council chambers. His fellow council members have known about his misdeeds for years and have not made any push to remove him from office. Former Councilman MRT actually sued to keep his salary while serving a suspension pending a conviction on corruption charges. Kevin DeLeon was caught in a conversation with fellow Councilmembers that was not only rooted in racism but was a planning session for how to remove power from traditionally disenfranchised communities but refused to resign and is running for re-election. Former Councilman Gil Cedillo is suing over that same conversation claiming that he was harmed by having it recorded. If only someone had respected his privacy, his tolerance for racism would not have been exposed and he would be properly profiting off his sacrifice of serving on the Council where his annual salary was only $231,173.96.
His ego still bruised from his humiliating defeat to Kenneth Mejia in the November election, former councilman Paul Koretz gave his constituents a big "Fuck You" on the way out the door. His words and the applause they received should not have been shocking as the actions of the Council repeatedly prove this sentiment. Voters need to remember that when they go to the polls on March 5, 2024.
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