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Serving Commerce and surrounding communities • 3,200 Homes Every Saturday • August 2, 2013 • Volume 1, No. 1 • HewsMediaGroup.com
Central Basin Corruption-Hews Media Group Exclusive Firm With Calderon Ties Banked Thousands in Central Basin Contracts
Gil Cedillo Jr. Now Part of Wide-Ranging Calderon FBI Probe
BY BRIAN HEWS AND RANDY ECONOMY
GIL CEDILLO JR., SON OF LA COUNCILMAN GIL CEDILLO, MANAGED THE CONTRACT AWARD PROCESS.
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ocuments obtained by Hews Media Group – Community News confirm a Los Angeles based consulting firm, who acknowledged to HMG-CN a long personal relationship with the Calderon family, landed a lucrative public contract in November 2011 to help redraw political voting lines for the Central Basin Municipal
GIL CEDILLO JR., IMPLICATED IN SCHEME TO FUNNEL ILLEGAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CALDERON.
Water District, despite the fact that they were the least qualified and the highest bidder. Gil Cedillo Jr., hired in April 2011, oversaw the process despite having no experience in the field of redistricting. Cedillo Jr. was a former Field Director for Senator Ron Calderon. In the proposal, CBMWD “sought an expert consultant in the field of redistricting to assist in the process of analyzing the 2010 United States Census Bureau data and provide recommended changes to the District
See CEDILLO page 8
H
Gil Cedillo Jr.
The medals of Olympic champion Brenda Villa were on display at the City of Commerce Central Library, giving the community the opportunity to see upclose her treasured awards. Villa also visited the popular community facility this past week and visited with several friends, family members and fans. Villa started swimming with a club team, Commerce Aquatics, at the age of six, and followed her brother into water polo at eight years old. She made the girl’s Junior Olympic Team while in high school. At Bell Gardens High School, Villa played with the boys’ water polo team because her school did not have a girls’ team, and went
on to become a 4-time 1st team All-League, 4-time 1st team AllC.I.F. and 4-time All-American. Villa came to Stanford in
Olympian Brenda Villa.
See WATER page 8
Montebello Unified Enrolling Students in Pharmacy Technician Program
Olympic Medals of Brenda Villa Shown at Commerce Central Library By Randy Economy
ews Media GroupCommunity News has learned that the FBI’s investigation of California State Senator Ron Calderon is now looking into the role Gil Cedillo Jr., the son of Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, had in an alleged scheme to funnel illegal contributions from businesses to Calderon in exchange
for those businesses landing lucrative state contracts. In an exclusive interview with HMG-CN, a second FBI informant confirmed that the FBI, on multiple occasions, had interviewed the informant concerning Cedillo Jr.’s alleged role in the illegal contributions scheme that has been ongoing for a number of years. Previously, HMG-CN was the first to report on Gil Cedillo Jr.’s role with the Central Basin Municipal Water District, his six-figure salary, taxpayer-paid
1998 as the program’s most heralded recruit. Redshirted in 1999 and 2000 to train for the Olympics, she scored 69 goals her freshman year (2001) and was named the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Player of the Year. In the three seasons Villa played for Stanford University, she scored 172 goals. In 2002 she led her Stanford team with 60 goals to win the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship; they had finished second the previous season, the first year the competition was held. Villa was awarded the 2002 Peter J. Cutino Award as the top female college water polo player in the United States. Villa has been on Team USA since 1998.
See MEDALS page 9
By Brian Hews After launching its first Pharmacy Technician Class in April, Montebello Community Adult School is gearing up to offer the successful course once again this fall. The Pharmacy Technician Class, held at the Montebello Unified School District’s Ford Park Adult School Campus, is a 740-hour module course preparing students for entry-level employment as a Licensed Pharmacy Technician. Commerce residents are encouraged to participate and enroll in the program. The first class, which is still in progress, has a roster of 12 students. “We are absolutely thrilled to have a dozen students in our
first class, which is training and preparing students to take on a career in pharmacology,” said Dan Garcia, Adult School Principal. “They are also getting excellent experience at an affordable cost of $750, compared to the $3,000 other programs charge. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved.” Students who are enrolled in the program gain knowledge in all aspects of pharmacy practice, while training in a simulated pharmacy setting. Upon completion of the theory modules – including federal law, medical terminology, pharmacology, routes and formulations, aseptic technique and community pharmacy practice – students participate
See MONTEBELLO page 9
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CEDILLO
Continued from page 1 boundaries.” CBMWD accepted three bids for final approval. One from Golden State Consultants, owned by the late US Congressman and former California Lt. Governor Mervyn Dymally, another from Redistricting Partners, co-owned by Matt Rexroad, who at the time was a Yolo County Supervisor, and a third from a little known firm called DeAztlan Consulting, run by Tizoc DeAztlan. Dymally and Rexroad each boasted several large redistricting projects while DeAztlan had only five small projects. In an interview with HMG-CN, Rexroad said, “once we saw Dymally at the bid presentation, we knew right then we did not have a good chance, Dymally would probably win the bid.” Rexroad said his and Dymally’s presentation went well, each bidding $35,000 for their services. DeAztlan’s presentation, according to one source, “had a couple misspellings and also referred to census tracts as census tracks.” The bid for their services was $40,000. There was no way that any reasonable person who was in the room would have voted for DeAztlan,” said Rexroad. “We (Dymally and Rexroad) never heard of DeAztlan before this presentation and have not heard from him since.” DeAztlan Consulting was awarded the contract. After the presentation, one source told HMG-CN that they heard an angry Dymally say that, “the Calderons, using Gil Cedillo Jr., fixed the bid process and that’s why DeAztlan won the contract.” Additional documents show that this
was not the end of the gravy train for the DeAztlan Consulting family. Toni DeAztlan, Tizoc’s daughter and an attorney in Los Angeles, signed an agreement, with Cedillo Jr., who was listed as Project Manager, for “Election Selection Services” on November 2, 2011 for “no more than” $25,000. Ms. DeAztlan was paid the entire $25,000 in Dec. 2011. The contract called for “studying the cost/benefit of moving the Nov. 6, 2011 election for Districts 1, 4, and 5 to June 5, 2011.” DeAztlan recommended the move to June 5, which was implemented. That move benefited the now embattled CBMWD President James Roybal and Director Leticia Vasquez, who won their respective elections. But the money to DeAztlan did not stop there. An examination of CBMWD’s check register revealed Ms. DeAztlan received $8,300 in May and June of 2012 for “Consulting” and another check for $8,400 in October for “ConsultingElection.” HMG-CN has made a public records request asking for any documents, contracts, and emails related to the additional money paid to Ms. DeAztlan. HMG-CN was also told by sources that Ms. DeAtzlan has retained George B. Newhouse, a high-powered public corruption attorney with the firm Brown, White, and Newhouse, based out of Los Angeles. 80,000 unique visitors per month! Advertise on HewsMediaGroup.com Call 562.407.3873
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stop there. An examination of CBMWD’s check register revealed Ms. DeAztlan received $8,300 in May and June of 2012 for “Consulting” and another check for $8,400 in October for “Consulting-Election,” for a total of $50,000. HMG-CN has made a public records request asking for any documents, contracts, and emails related to the additional money paid to Ms. DeAztlan. The informant went on to say that the FBI is also interested in a transaction between DeAtzlan, who was the counsel for PALS, and Cedillo Jr., wherein Cedillo Jr. received payment for the purchase of his classic Impala car with several transactions of cash and checks, ranging in the amounts of $7,000 and up. In addition, they are looking into Cedillo, Jr. receiving gifts of Las Vegas trips, free cell phone, dinners at the swanky Dal Rae Restaurant in Pico Rivera, CA, stipend check payments, and help with the purchase of his family home in Monterey Park, CA.
WATER
Continued from page 1 $22,000 college tuition, and most recently his involvement with the awarding of questionable contracts to DeAztlan Consulting. But it now appears that the DeAztlan scheme was the tip of the iceberg. Cedillo Jr. who was Senator Calderon’s Field Director in the past, was the apparent “middle man” between Senator Calderon and local businesses who needed help obtaining contracts from the state. In return, these businesses funded trips and gave cash to Senator Calderon through Cedillo Jr. Part of the investigation centers around a Whittier-based company called PALS Supported Living Services. The FBI’s investigation into PALS is focused on trips to Las Vegas for Senator Calderon that was “supported” by PALS President Rodney Mojarro. HMG-CN has obtained more than 2,000 pages of court documents outlining the details of a civil case that involves PALS. In those documents, PALS paid Cedillo Jr. a ‘Consulting Fee’ of $569.40 per month between Sept. 2011 and Mar. 2012, the same time Cedillo Jr. was employed at CBMWD and getting paid over $9,000 per month. Those same documents show Toni DeAztlan receiving $4,680 from PALS for “legal services.” The date of the check was Oct. 25, 2011, eight days before Toni DeAztlan inexplicably landed a $25,000 “Election Services Contract” with CBMWD of which Gil Cedillo Jr. was the Project Manager. But the money to DeAztlan did not
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MEDALS
Continued from page 1 Although the shortest player on the US national women’s water polo team at 5’4”, Villa has been a prolific scorer at the international level. She scored 10 goals
for Team USA at the 2003 Pan American Games, which qualified the team for the 2004 Summer Olympics. As a 20-year-old, she led the US team with nine goals at the Sydney Olympics, where the Americans took the silver medal. She had a team-high 13 goals to lead the US to gold at the 2003 FINA Water Polo World Championship. In June 2004, Villa scored the first goal in overtime, her third of the game, and another in a penalty shootout, to propel the US team past Hungary and win the gold medal at the Women’s Water Polo World League Super Finals. She was the US women’s team top scorer with 7 goals in 5 games at the 2004 Athens Olympics, earning a bronze medal. Villa was team captain of the 2005 US national team coached by two-time Olympian Heather Moody, winning a sil-
ver medal at the FINA World Championship in Montreal. In 2005, Villa became assistant coach of the women’s water polo team at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California. The Falcons ended the season with a 21-11 record, a new school record for most wins in a season. She is now playing with the international club team Orizzonte “Gey-
monat” Catania (Italy). In March 2007 Villa led the USA women’s national water polo team in Melbourne, Australia, at the 2007 FINA World Water Polo Championships. Villa scored a total of 11 goals throughout the whole tournament helping team USA achieve first place naming them the 2007 FINA World Champions. In the 2008 China Summer Olympic games, she and the American team lost 8-9 in the championship game to the Netherlands and took home the silver medal. In the 2012 London Summer Olympic games, she and the American team won 8-5 in the championship game to Spain and took home the gold medal, the Americans’ first in 4 Olympics water polo competitions.
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Continued from page 1 in a 240-hour externship in an operating pharmacy. Classes begin on Sept. 4 and are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Enrollment is first come, first served. The $750 cost for the program includes textbooks, workbooks, and student identification badge and student liability insurance. The program is being offered at Ford Park Community Adult School, 7800 Scout Ave., Bell Gardens. Following in its tradition of offering new programs and classes, MUSD’s Adult Education Department in 2009 launched the Protective Services/Security Officer Program, which offers an overview of the criminal justice system and provides students with the skills and knowledge they need to become a state-certified security officer. Since its inception, more than 1,200 students have joined the program. The MUSD Ford Park Adult School is the only certified training program in the area that offers all Protective Services/Security Officer courses at a low and affordable cost ranging from $10 to $40 per class. Students are provided a general understanding of the security and protective services profession and participate in hands-on activities, including use-of-force scenarios, baton training, firearm instruction and qualification, the use of chemical agents (pepper spray), and other related and applicable courses. Upon successful completion of the courses, students can apply for state certification as an armed security officer through the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs.
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The Security course runs year-round with continuous enrolment, with the exception of August. “Our adult school program is such an important aspect of the services we provide for our community,” said Superintendent Cleve Pell. “For many of our adult students, these courses and programs represent a new beginning and we’re proud to see them succeed.” For registration inquires, call Ford Park Adult School at (562) 927-7759
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In In Memoriam Memoriam
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