Alatorre to Pay Fines for Ethics Violations

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre agreed Monday to pay thousands of dollars in fines--the maximum that state and local watchdog agencies can impose--for improperly intervening at City Hall to aid an event-planning firm founded by his wife.

In separate proposed settlements with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission, Alatorre admitted that he violated political reform laws designed to prevent elected officials from seeking special treatment from government agencies they oversee. In all, Alatorre agreed to pay $8,000 in penalties.

The Ethics Commission action against Alatorre is the first aimed at a sitting council member for alleged misuse of office.

The fines stem from Alatorre’s phone call last year to a top city charity regulator regarding Eventfully Yours, a small firm established by Angie Alatorre. At the time, the company’s fund-raising license had been canceled because of the firm’s failure to file financial information on its operations.

The councilman’s intervention, disclosed by The Times in July, led to an extension of a city license that allowed the company to collect at least $13,000 in fund-raising fees, despite failing to fulfill city permit requirements.

“The councilman used his official position to influence a governmental decision . . . in which he knew, or should have known, that he had an economic interest,” according to an FPPC statement of facts signed by Alatorre.

The Eastside lawmaker apologized Monday afternoon at a City Hall news conference for what he described as an “unintended” violation of the law.

He said he could not dispute that he had improperly intervened, but insisted that his motivation was to help a children’s charity--not his wife’s employer.

Specifically, Alatorre said he was trying to ensure that a major fund-raiser could be held for a charity that he helped create, the El Sereno Youth Development Corp. The event was being coordinated by Eventfully Yours, where his wife served as a key executive.

“My primary interest has always been to support the needs of youth and promote the rights of children in my community,” he told reporters.

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When peppered with questions about the propriety of his actions, the Eastside lawmaker grew testy. “I made a phone call, nobody twisted anybody’s arms to do anything,” he said. Alatorre then complained that he was a victim of unfair media coverage.

“Why is it there is a dual standard for me?” he asked, making a point of thanking supporters who have held a series of rallies protesting The Times’ coverage of issues involving Latinos, including Alatorre. “If you’re going to criticize me, criticize all the politicians.”

By agreeing to settle the cases, Alatorre avoided having to provide investigators with sworn testimony. Last month, he failed to comply with a subpoena, prompting an unprecedented court battle in which the Ethics Commission sought to force the politician to appear and answer questions under oath.

Monday’s announcements come as the state attorney general’s office presses ahead with a separate probe of Eventfully Yours, which failed to fully account for five years of charity fund-raising.

In addition, the inspector general’s office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is investigating the financial links between Eventfully Yours, the El Sereno charity, and another Alatorre-backed nonprofit group, Feliz Navidad Project Inc.

Alatorre, an influential MTA board member who helped shape the agency as its first chairman in the early 1990s, has personally helped raise tens of thousands of dollars in donations for the nonprofits from contractors and others with business interests at City Hall and the MTA. The charities exclusively hired Eventfully Yours, paying it more than $225,000 in fees in recent years.

Records released Monday as part of the state settlement indicate that agents with the MTA inspector general’s office--apparently in connection with their probe of the charities--had uncovered Alatorre’s improper intervention at City Hall last spring and referred the matter to the FPPC for further investigation.

The comparatively swift pace of the actions against Alatorre--the Ethics Commission probe, for example, began in July after The Times’ story on his charitable fund-raising appeared--spoke to the strength of the case against him.

At the center of the state and city inquiries was the veteran councilman’s contact with Shirley Flucus, former general manager of the city’s Department of Social Services.

She told The Times and investigators that she had warned Eventfully Yours in May that it could not proceed with a major fund-raiser for the El Sereno Youth group. Minutes later, she told the newspaper, Alatorre called and said: “Do me a favor. Give ‘em a break.”

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Though uncomfortable, Flucus said, she relented, agreeing to extend Eventfully Yours’ license because Alatorre pledged that the firm would quickly file required paperwork. Flucus noted her conversation with the lawmaker in a letter written at the time to Eventfully Yours. Despite Alatorre’s assurances, the company never submitted the required paperwork.

At the time, Alatorre’s wife had relinquished ownership of the firm to her sister. But she remained a key executive, earning, by the Alatorres’ account, $36,000 a year.

Richard Alatorre, at his news conference Monday, said he does not remember making contact with Flucus. But he added: “Based on recollections of those involved at the time, I cannot dispute that phone call was made.

“If this [license] extension request violated the law,” he said, “I apologize for this unintended result.”

While the penalties for Alatorre’s misuse of office are not the stiffest that have been levied against a local or state politician, they do represent the largest amount that can be imposed for a single violation under current laws--$5,000 at the city level and $2,000 at the state level.

A spokeswoman for Alatorre said he planned to pay the fines with money raised by a legal defense fund. She could provide no additional details, including whether the fund also would help pay Alatorre’s attorney fees.

In addition to paying the city $5,000 and the state $2,000 for his improper intervention, Alatorre will pay $1,000 to the city for failing to “completely and accurately disclose his wife’s income from Eventfully Yours.” The Times also reported in July that Alatorre had not fully accounted for his wife’s salary, an error that the councilman blamed on his bookkeeper.

The proposed settlements are expected to be formally approved Thursday by the Ethics Commission and next month by members of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.