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2013 LA Press Club Award Winner for Best Investigative Newspaper in Los Angeles.
Serving Commerce and surrounding communities • 3,200 Homes Every Saturday • August 16, 2013 • Volume 1, No. 3 • HewsMediaGroup.com
Central Basin Corruption-Hews Media Group Exclusive Central Basin Water Ethics Committee to Investigate Board President Roybal
Director Chacon Claims ‘Life Threatened’ by Campaign Backer of Roybal, Vasquez
BY BRIAN HEWS AND RANDY ECONOMY
H
ews Media GroupCommunity News has received a copy of a response letter written by Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey that confirmed that Central Basin Municipal Water District Board President James Roybal leaked a confidential internal document to the Whittier Daily News pertaining to a closed session discussion about former Interim Chief Operating Officer Chuck Fuentes. The letter was in response to a complaint sent to the DA that alleged improper disclosure
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of confidential information approved in a closed session, which is a violation of Government Code Section 54956.9. The letter stated, “based upon a June 3 (2013) memorandum from (CBMWD GM) Tony Perez, it would appear the details of the agreement disclosed to the WDN were subject to confidentiality clause and were not to be released.” Fuentes was fired from the agency in December by a new voting Board majority that consists of Director Leticia Vasquez,
See ROYBAL page 8
James Roybal
Commerce Employee Stinnett Set to Cash in on City Council Relationships By Randy Economy and Brian Hews (Commerce) A group of vocal Commerce activists are criticizing a city job application process to hire a new Public Information Officer claiming that the position was essentially political payJason Stinnett back for the current city employee, Jason Stinnett, who was a political consultant to three current members of the city council. Stinnett, who is the Acting Public Information Officer for Commerce, now appears to be on the verge of receiving a new role in the City that will pay him anywhere from $6,600 to $8,800 per month in salary as well as full time benefit package that includes medical insurance, dental, vision, and retirement. Stinnett has been a strong force in
Commerce area politics for the past number of years and has worked in the past to get current city elected officials Lilia Leon, Tina Baca Del Rio, Ivan Alramirano, and Joe Aguilar into office. Stinnett in the past has also overseen a local political website www.savecommerce.org. The web site actively promoted the campaigns for Leon, Baca Del Rio, Alramirano and Aguilar, and others in the past, and criticized outside challengers who have sought public office in Commerce. “My concern is that this job is not open to anyone with better qualifications from outside of Commerce,” said Jamie Valencia a longtime community activist. “It appears more like rewarding your political friends who got you elected to office. We need someone who doesn’t have a bias view of the city.”
See STINNETT page 9
Leticia Vasquez
Hews Media GroupCommunity News investigation has revealed that Art Chacon, a Director at the Central Basin Municipal Water District in Commerce, had his life threatened by former convicted felon Ric Mayer just 24 hours prior to a controversial meeting that resulted in the firing of three top executives at the District in January of this year. In an interview with HMGCN from his Commerce home, Chacon said that Mayer, who is the owner of Golden State Consultants and R & M Associates, and who funded Leticia Vasquez’
and James Roybal’s campaigns, came to his home in January. Mayer handed Chacon a type written document instructing him to vote for the firing of then Acting COO Chuck Fuentes, Attorney Arnold Alvarez Glasman, and Assistant Ronald Belike. “Ric Mayer came to my home and handed me a piece of paper and instructed me to vote in favor of several items that were appearing on the agenda,” Chacon said. “After he handed me the document, Mayer told me ‘if I don’t vote this way…remember what
See CHACON page 8
Quarantine Declared in Artesia, Cerritos as Oriental Fruit Fly ‘Runs Rampant’ vegetables. Infestation occurs when the fruit flies lay larvae eggs within the flesh of the vegetation. The insect threatens numerous California crops although most The Oriental Fruit Fly is back in both Artesia and Cerritos prompting state offi- infestations occur in urban areas. The Oriental Fruit cials to take action on Fly is small – about Wednesday by declarthe same size as a ing a quarantine in the housefly – but is two communities. pure evil to farmers A quarantine zone in California. In the was also called for in 1970’s the pesky bug the Anaheim area of destroyed walnut, Orange County. cherry, grape, pepper State officials confirmed to Hews and tomato crops in Media Group-Com- Eradication efforts have begun to wipe Central California. Other zones munity News that “a out the Oriental Fruitfly in Cerritos include portions number of adult flies and Artesia. of cities including: and larvae have been Buena Park, Cypress, discovered on properand Stanton. The zone continues south to ties within the quarantine zone.” WestThe oriental fruit fly is known to damage over 230 different fruits and By Justin Cooley
See FRUITFLY page 9
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ROYBAL
Continued from page 1 Director Robert Apodaca and Roybal. In the letter, the District Attorney declined to take action on the disclosure, referring the matter back to the embroiled agency that has been a focal point of a massive investigation by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the past several months. The District Attorney cited the California Government Code 54963 that states “violations can result in disciplinary action against the employee who willfully disclosed confidential information and/or referral of the member to the grand jury.” HMG-CN has learned that, based on the response letter from the District Attorney, the CBMWD Ethics Committee will convene a meeting this Friday Aug 16 at 10 a.m. to investigate the allegations against Roybal. The Ethics Committee is composed of two District Directors, Phil Hawkins of Cerritos and Art Chacon of Commerce along with General Manager Tony Perez, as well as the agencies Human Resource Manager, Board Secretary, District General Counsel, and other district employees. If Roybal is determined to have violated any part of the state statues by the group, the matter could be referred to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the California Attorney General, or back to the District Attorney’s office for further action. “It is very clear that Roybal violated the code,” said one source inside the CBMWD that declined to be identified. “I cannot see the Ethics Committee not concluding that Roybal violated the code, and that proper action should be taken against him,” the source said.
If the committee does find Roybal in violation, he can appeal the decision within five business days, according to state code. Sources also tell HMG-CN that the Ethics Committee “will in all likelyhood submit its findings involving Roybal, along with any dissent, to the Board of Directors for action that could take place as early as next week.” “At this point I am outraged that an elected Director of the Central Basin Municipal Water District has blatantly broken the law,” Hawkins said in an interview with HNG-CN on Wednesday afternoon. Hawkins said he will ask the Central Basin’s attorney for “a list of options on what action we can take against Director Roybal.” “Roybal is an elected official. He is putting the district in jeopardy. We need to take action in this situation as soon as possible,” said Hawkins. “Once we have the investigation, we will determine if he should resign,” said Hawkins.
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“had no knowledge” of what “may or may not” have taken place between Chacon and Mayer. “This is the first time that I have heard about this situation,” Roybal told HMGCN on Thursday. Mayer along with political consultant Angel Gonzalez donated huge sums of money and were the two key figures responsible for getting Vasquez and Roybal elected. According to documents filed with the California Secretary of State’s Office both Vasquez and Roybal owe the two convicted figures more than $40,000 combined. Vasquez told state officials that she still owes Gonzalez at least $18,399 for campaign signs and mailing costs, more than eight months after being elected last June. Roybal owes $22,878 to Mayer in expenses. HMG-CN has been told by several sources that both Mayer and Gonzalez could be rewarded for their connections
the Assistant to the General Manager (Ron Bielke) and the Public Affairs Manager.” The document also called to “terminate all existing and current contracts to include service providers, consultants and other contracts deemed necessary by board. All contracts then terminated will be reviewed immediately by committee appointed by board president for recommendation for restatement.” HMG-CN has a copy of the document online at loscerritosnews.net Chacon said that he decided to talk about the situation after HMG-CN called him about the investigation and plans to file a report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as early as Thursday morning. “I got really concerned about my safety, and frankly, I am still scared about what Mayer said to me,” Chacon said. HMG-CN called Mayer at Golden State Consultants to response and as of press time on Thursday he had not responded. Director James Roybal said that he
Continued on next page
CHACON
Continued from page 1 happened to that guy in South Gate, and then he looked me in the eye and turned around and walked back to his car,” Chacon said. Chacon said, “Mayer could have possibly been reminding me of what happened to former South Gate Mayor Henry Gonzalez who was shot in the head after he left a city council meeting.” The document contained certain agenda items calling to “review, amend or terminate the COO’s position (Chuck Fuentes),
The note that was handed to Director Chacon by Rick Mayer, Chacon said Mayer threatened him if he did not vote to fire Fuentes and Bielke.
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with Vasquez and Roybal by being granted consulting contracts that could bring in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Since taking office on January 7th, 2013, in less than one month, Roybal and Vasquez joined ranks with long-time Director Bob Apodaca and created a new “voting bloc majority” at Central Basin. The three changed the Administrative Code and removed President Art Chacon from overseeing the Board just barely one week after he was seated for the position. Roybal is now serving as president of the five-member board. The three also immediately removed CBMWD Director and Cerritos resident Phil Hawkins from his long held seat on the board of the Metropolitan Water District. Hawkins served as chair of the important Real Estate and Asset Management Special Committee. Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe was angered about the recent decision to remove Hawkins from his key slot. “I’m very upset to see Phil removed from his MWD seat. Phil has been a tireless advocate for the Southeast area on water issues and his tenure means a great deal on such a large Board as the MWD. His experience as Chair of the Real Estate and Asset Management Committee will be missed,” Knabe said. “When reached by phone, Hawkins was equally as angry, “They removed me for no reason. It’s all about egos. We were doing a good job there; we were actually making money. Roybal was going to take my seat, but his school commitments prevented that, so now Leticia will be taking the seat, and she has zero experience.” Roybal as president is now in a powerful position, responsible for forming committee, items that will be allowed on the agenda, and what contracts are vetted and reviewed before they come to a vote.
STINNETT
Continued from page 1 In an interview with the Commerce Community News, Commerce City Administrator Jorge Rifa was asked if the PIO job was created “specifically for Stinnett.” Rifa paused and replied: “I understand the question. All I can tell you is it is my intention to basically put a recruitment process as requested by the city council, and I have done that.” “I will confirm that I will be responsible for deciding who lands the (PIO) job and that includes the final process,” Rifa said. Rifa did not want to elaborate on Stinnett’s employment at the City of Commerce. “I have no comment regarding Jason’s tenure other than to say he is our acting Public Information Officer.” Valencia was direct in his displeasure with Stinnett and the “back room deals that are being cut to take care of him.” Valencia said, “Jason has a bias view based upon the fact that he ran the campaigns for four current city councilmembers including Mayor Joe Aguilar, Vice Mayor Lela Leon, Councilman Ivan Alramirano, and Councilwoman Tina Baca DeRio. The public has the right to know what’s going on inside city hall and we deserve a public information officer who doesn’t have a political agenda of his own,” Valencia said. Stinnett did not return three phone calls requesting a comment for this article, and did not respond to an email sent to him this past week. Stinnett has indicated that he will be a candidate for the Central Basin Water District Board of Directors in 2014 and run against incumbent Art Chacon who is
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a longtime resident of Commerce. Valencia said that he is “deeply troubled” by Stinnett’s planned campaign. “It is obvious that Jason is using his position to leverage his own career in politics.” Valencia also voiced his dismay regarding a recent city bond campaign that he claimed Stinnett used “heavy handed” campaign tactics. “My concern is that this past voter approved AA Bond Measure was run with taxpayer funds and that Jason had a role handling that campaign effort,” Valencia said. “I feel that employees are scared of Jason because the way he helps the city council and the city council protects him. Jason manipulates city workers,” Valencia said. Another longtime city employee who has worked for more than 20 years in Commerce, who did not want to be publicly identified for fear of retaliation said, “the city of Commerce doesn’t need a full time Public Information Officer at this time, especially someone with a track record like Stinnett. Jason is the most influential person in Commerce; he is more powerful than all five city councilmembers combined. He is going to get this job based on his political power, not because he is the qualified,” the source said. Stinnett is also listed a Vice President of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, District #36 for Local 773 Commerce Employees Association. A member of the union, who did not want to be named, said “Jason plays both sides of the fence. Because of Jason, we got a lousy contract for the city workers.” “Jason is the Robert Rizzo of Commerce,” one other source said. “He isn’t likeable, he is politically savvy, but just watch your wallet.”
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FRUITFLY
Continued from page 1 minster Blvd. The CDFA will be following past Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principals in its eradication effort. The “male attractant” technique is method previously used in other quarantined zones that has successfully eradicated the pest. Workers will spray small patches of fly attractant mixed with pesticides 8-10 feet off the ground on streets and other areas. After consuming the pesticides the flies will die. For more information about the project call the department’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899. Maps of the treatment areas are available online at: www.cdfa. ca.gov/plant/go/FFmaps-peps
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FROM THE FROM THE WATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Lillian Lillian Kawasaki Kawasaki
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Lillian will be remembered for her kindness, dedication, and tenacious advocacy work Lillian will be remembered for her kindness, dedication, and tenacious advocacy work within and outside of the water community. She was a remarkable and extraordinary within and outside of the water community. She was a remarkable and extraordinary woman and an inspiration to all who met her. woman and an inspiration to all who met her. Lillian was a force of nature, continually effervescent, always cheerful, always on the Lillian was force of nature, effervescent, always always on the run,aand always interestedcontinually in what she could do to help others. Her cheerful, personality was a run, and always interestedconstant in what she could do to help others. Her personality was a and welcome presence at WRD. constant and welcome presence at WRD. The WRD Family and the environmental world will truly miss Lillian Kawasaki. The WRD Family and the environmental world will truly miss Lillian Kawasaki. BOARD OF DIRECTORS BOARD OFOne DIRECTORS WILLARD H. MURRAY, JR. Division ~ ROB KATHERMAN, Division Two LILLIAN KAWASAKI,JR. Division ThreeOne ~ SERGIO CALDERON, Division Four WILLARD H. MURRAY, Division ~ ROB KATHERMAN, Division Two ALBERT ROBLES, Division Five CALDERON, Division Four LILLIAN KAWASAKI, Division Three ~ SERGIO ALBERT ROBLES, Division Five
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