Delgadillo receives notice of recall bid
Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, who has come under fire for using city resources for personal reasons, was served with a recall notice Tuesday.
Delgadillo has 14 days in which to respond to the papers, which were delivered to his office by Andrew Ahlering, a former county employee who is leading the effort.
After Delgadillo files a response and the city clerk certifies the petition, Ahlering will have 120 days to collect about 213,000 signatures from registered city voters before a recall election can be called.
In recent weeks, Delgadillo has been criticized for allowing his wife to drive his city-owned vehicle for personal errands. On one trip, she damaged the rear of the SUV, which Delgadillo initially had repaired at taxpayers’ expense. After the matter became public, he reimbursed the city for the repairs. Delgadillo has also acknowledged enlisting staff members to baby-sit his children and perform personal chores for him.
The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is investigating the allegations, initially raised in a series of Times reports.
But the State Bar of California has closed its inquiry into a separate ethics complaint made against the city attorney by a Whittier lawyer. Attorney Allen Wilkinson said bar officials noted, however, that they routinely monitor media accounts of alleged misconduct by lawyers and take action when appropriate.
“I’m focusing on the work the people of this city elected, and reelected, me to do,” Delgadillo said in a statement regarding to the recall notice. “I’m fighting gangs, slumlords, polluters and unscrupulous hospitals who dump their indigent patients. I am going to continue my fight to keep our neighborhoods and schools safe and secure.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
