New D.A. Unit Goes After the Corrupt

It didn’t take long for the district attorney’s new public integrity division to pounce on its first targets.

Only 6 months old, the unit charged with rooting out political corruption in Los Angeles County has raided city halls and searched officials’ homes at gunpoint. It has gained the authority to listen in on closed-door meetings of one school district.

And this week prosecutors filed a conflict-of-interest charge against Bell Gardens City Manager Maria Chacon, their first criminal filing against a public official.

In all, the division has launched 85 investigations--triple the number existing from the previous administration. Corruption targets have run the gamut, from school trustees to city officials to one of region’s most prominent politicians, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles).

Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley wanted his new unit to make a splash--and it has.

When he outlined the unit’s goals at a convention of city officials last month, some officials under investigation walked out.

“You could hear a pin drop,” said Cooley, who was interviewed in his 18th-floor office in the downtown Criminal Courts Building. “They know we mean business.”

But complaints are growing in some quarters. Some accuse prosecutors of singling out Latino officials, charging that crack-of-dawn raids by armed investigators are not used against white officials suspected of similar wrongdoing.

“That’s the kind of aggressive action that is usually demonstrated when going after high-risk felons: people who have murdered, or sold drugs, or [are] known to have a cache of weapons,” said South Gate Treasurer Albert Robles, who attended a recent meeting of Latino officials to address concerns about the unit’s tactics.

But many observers, including a number of prominent Latino officials, say such scrutiny of public officials is long overdue.

“This is not symbolism. There is substance behind this unit. . . . Something has to be done to restore trust in government,” said Fernando Guerra, director for the study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Searching out political corruption in Los Angeles County is a formidable task. The county is home to 88 cities, 32 water districts and 81 school districts, each filled with officials subject to laws governing conflict of interest, voter fraud and other issues. The Board of Supervisors and the MTA also fall under the public integrity division’s jurisdiction.

The unit was formed shortly after Cooley took office in December. It is staffed with six prosecutors, a sharp increase from the single prosecutor assigned to combat political corruption during much of Gil Garcetti’s eight-year tenure.

Cooley considers public corruption a significant problem and says it has grown worse over the years.

“The public is very cynical about government in Los Angeles. They don’t trust the process or the decisions in some communities,” said Cooley. “The ‘For Sale’ sign has to come down in some of these places.”

So far, the unit has focused mostly on conflict-of-interest complaints and alleged violations of the Brown Act, which requires elected officials to hold votes and most discussions in public.

Brown Act investigations already prompted two school boards to rescind earlier votes. One was a closed-door action by the Los Angeles Unified School District board involving the completion of Belmont Learning Complex. Another involved the Whittier City School Board’s closed-door discussion of a school site purchase.

Rep. Becerra Was Target of Probe

The most high-profile investigation so far involved Rep. Becerra, whose recent Los Angeles mayoral campaign was tied to a campaign of anonymous phone calls attacking a rival.

Prosecutors determined that no crime had been committed, but the controversy damaged Becerra’s standing with powerful local Latino leaders.

The Latino community has also been closely watching the division’s aggressive investigations in southeast Los Angeles County, where numerous city officials have been targeted or ordered to testify before the grand jury.

The most wide-ranging probes involve the city managers of Bell Gardens and Cudahy, both of whom are suspected of violating conflict-of-interest laws.

Chacon, Bell Gardens’ city manager, was to be arraigned today on one felony count. Prosecutors say Chacon, a onetime council member, improperly pressured some former colleagues to win appointment to the city manager post.

Cudahy City Manager George Perez remains under investigation.

In Huntington Park, prosecutors are investigating whether Councilwoman Linda Luz Guevara is really a resident of that city. Prosecutors have already filed charges against failed South Gate council candidate Richard Mayer, alleging that he was not a resident of that city. His case is pending.

The investigations are welcomed by many. Inspired by the probes, Huntington Park City Council members passed a measure requiring a two-year wait before former council members can be hired as city employees.

And some Bell Gardens residents were so happy that they cheered the prosecutor heading the Chacon case at a recent court hearing. Some elected officials say questionable behavior would never have attracted such attention in the past.

Not everyone praises the unit’s aggressive tactics, however. Complaints about alleged discriminatory practices are growing along with the list of targeted officials. Most of those expressing concern are the targeted officials or their supporters.

Guevara, a paralegal and two-time councilwoman, complains that her family was ordered out of the house with guns pointed at their heads.

Chacon said investigators barged in on her while she was in the shower.

Chacon was removed from the Bell Gardens payroll after prosecutors advised city officials that state law prohibits the compensation of officials under investigation.

But a judge ruled Tuesday that the law cited by prosecutors is unconstitutional because it violates Chacon’s right to a hearing.

Chacon and others doubt that white politicians from Beverly Hills or other wealthy communities would be subject to such tactics.

“They overdid it,” said Bell Gardens Mayor Ramiro Morales, a Chacon ally. The city officials “are not criminals, drug traffickers. To go into their homes that way . . . it was Gestapo-like.”

But other Latino leaders dismiss such concerns, saying there is nothing to suggest that the probes are racially motivated.

“I welcome the investigations,” said state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier). “People who have nothing to hide have nothing to worry about.”

Authorities say it is standard practice for investigators to enter a home with guns drawn while executing a search warrant.

“There was no forced entry at any home. There was no confrontation. There were no raised voices. There were no crying children,” said Steve Simonian, chief of the district attorney’s office’s bureau of investigations.

Cooley added that officials in the southeast part of the county were targeted in response to complaints--many from other Latinos. He also emphasized that investigations are underway in other areas where Latinos are not targets.

“This will be an equal-opportunity effort,” he said. “We will go where corruption is, and it’s a growth industry.”