Farrell’s Patronage Benefited Relatives, Friends

A wide range of relatives and friends, including a sister-in-law in need of work and a female companion, have benefited in recent years from the patronage doled out by longtime Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell.

In the past several months, Farrell has also used his influence in attempts to steer a $103,384 grant to a nonprofit job agency founded by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and to help his 74-year-old mother receive government assistance to repair her Los Angeles home, sources told The Times.

The beneficiaries include Farrell’s sister-in-law, Alice Y. Hayes, who was unemployed and facing a murder charge in 1981 when the councilman gave her a $21,000-a-year job, according to city payroll records. Hayes was convicted in 1985 of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her husband and was placed on two years’ probation. She quit her position as an aide to Farrell last year.

Windy Barnes, a woman companion of Farrell, has received $11,037 from the councilman’s political committees since 1985: $7,666 for fund-raising and $3,371 for “general overhead expenses,” city records show.

Barnes used $5,000 of the money to contribute to three political campaigns, including Mayor Tom Bradley’s race for governor, campaign records show. She received some money for entertaining as a singer at fund-raising dinners, said Vicki Pipkin, Farrell’s spokeswoman.

Under Review

Farrell’s activities are under review by the district attorney’s office, which has launched an inquiry to determine if the councilman has violated any criminal laws or conflict-of-interest codes. Prosecutors are scrutinizing disclosures that Farrell helped provide nearly $400,000 in real estate gifts, rental payments, campaign contributions and a government grant over the last four years to a small nonprofit agency run by his ex-wife.

The city has adopted policies prohibiting nepotism and favoritism, but there are no laws that specifically prevent council members from hiring relatives, city officials said.

Farrell declined to be interviewed. His attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., acknowledged Tuesday that, in hindsight, Farrell could have been more “mindful” about the appearance of favoring so many people who are close to him.

“I don’t think it is unethical; I don’t think it is illegal . . . “ Cochran said. “Bob Farrell sees his position as helping people in the 8th District.”

The biggest benefactors of Farrell’s patronage have been his ex-wife, Essiebea Farrell, and her two sisters.

In 1980, Robert and Essiebea Farrell founded the Improvement Assn. of the 8th District, which runs a small literacy and food distribution program in South-Central Los Angeles. Since then, the improvement association, with Robert Farrell’s help, has received $56,000 in political contributions, a $225,000 real estate gift intended for the city and a $53,105 city grant.

Councilman Farrell gave his sister-in-law a full-time position in November, 1981, when she was unemployed, the mother of infant twins and charged with murder in the Oct. 1, 1981, shooting death of her husband. Hayes testified that her husband’s jealousy and physical abuse led to the shooting.

‘Willing to Help’

While hiring Hayes was not “the smartest thing in the world,” Cochran said, “no one is saying that Alice Hayes is not qualified. On one hand, somebody could say, (Farrell) is a man who is willing to help individuals who have problems on occasion.”

Another sister-in-law, attorney Veronika D. Hayes, currently has a $10,000 personnel services contract with Farrell’s office, records show. She has received $6,000 so far.

According to City Hall sources, Farrell used his influence as chairman of the council Grants Committee in an attempt recently to funnel $103,384 in federal funds to a job-search program founded in 1985 by Waters. By trying to help steer the federal funds to Waters’ program, Farrell was counting on the prominent assemblywoman’s support in a possible recall election next year, these sources said.

Kerman Maddox, a candidate to replace Farrell on the council if the recall campaign succeeds, worked as a former aide to Waters.

Waters’ agency, Project Build, was named to receive $103,384 in federal grants intended to serve high-risk youths, even though the agency was not among the 14 job-training organizations that competed for a total of $400,399 in federal funds. A panel selected by the Community Development Department evaluated the proposals and ranked them according to an intricate scoring system.

Farrell’s committee approved the top two recommendations last month but skipped all the other applicants in favor of Project Build. In doing so, Farrell’s committee bypassed standard city procedures in awarding contracts, City Hall sources said. The funding of Project Build still must be approved by the city’s Private Industry Council.

Through his chief aide, Larry Wiggs, Farrell repeatedly urged officials at the Community Development Department and the city attorney’s office in recent months to quickly process his mother’s request in August for a government home repair loan, sources said.

Anna Delgado, Farrell’s mother, said she applied for the loan to make electrical and other minor repairs to the three-unit residence she owns in the Crenshaw District. Applicants must meet certain minimum-income levels to qualify for the loans, which do not have to be repaid until the property is sold.

Although his mother appeared to have qualified for the loan, Farrell withdrew the application in October when he learned that his fellow council members would be notified of the loan.

Douglas Ford, former general manager of the Community Development Department, recalled the councilman saying: “Thank you. I didn’t know that. We’ve got this recall (election) coming. I think I’ll hold off.”

Delgado said Tuesday that her son has not yet told her that he canceled the loan application.

“I never heard from (the city),” Delgado said. “I don’t know what happened. I just thought they had a whole lot of paper work and they hadn’t gotten around to it.”