Fresh Start for Scandal-Plagued City

South Gate’s new leaders were sworn in Tuesday, pledging to restore order in a city reeling from a Monday night meeting where outgoing Mayor Xochilt Ruvalcaba hit rival Councilman Henry Gonzalez in the face.

But they face an enormous task. The three new council members and city treasurer inherit a city government teetering toward bankruptcy, awash in political corruption investigations, and riven by deep political divisions.

Ruvalcaba’s punch, thrown at a jampacked council meeting and replayed widely on television news, broadened the split. City officials loyal to Ruvalcaba blame Gonzalez, saying he groped her breast. Gonzalez and dozens of others, including police, who witnessed the tussle, say the blow was unprovoked.

At least one thing is clear: Residents expect their new leaders to deliver the knockout political punch to Ruvalcaba, Treasurer Albert Robles and their two council allies, who were voted out of office in a recall election last week.

“We’ve lived under their dictatorship’s rules for two years and we’re tired of it,” said Norma Byllesby after ripping up the “Rules of Decorum” sheet posted outside council chambers at City Hall. The rules allowed Ruvalcaba to kick out people who clapped, whistled or spoke out of turn at raucous City Council meetings.

Byllesby and dozens of other jubilant residents gathered Tuesday afternoon to watch Superior Court Judge Ana Maria Luna swear in new council members Gregory Martinez, Steven Gutierrez and Maria Davila in a brief ceremony in the council chambers.

After Rudy Navarro took his oath as treasurer, Robles shook his hand in a gesture that surprised -- and repulsed -- many residents.

“It’s unbelievable that he can show his face after all the damage that he’s done to this community,” said Angel Colon.

Robles, 37, said that passing the torch to his younger counterpart reminded him of when he first took office 10 years ago: “The [political] transition was so smooth, it left me in awe,” he said. “I want Rudy to feel the same -- that democracy is a special thing, a sacred trust.”

The new council members, joined by Gonzalez and Councilman Hector De La Torre, plan to move quickly. Immediately after the ceremony, a special meeting was called for today, and among the items to be discussed will be Robles’ job as deputy city manager.

Robles was appointed to that $111,000-a-year post last May, just weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill two state legislators. A judge dismissed the case after a jury deadlocked. The new leaders kept a poker face about what they plan to do, but residents had few doubts.

“I hope they do what’s the best thing for the city: Rip Albert out at the roots,” said Frank “Pico” Rivera, a South Gate police officer who worked on the recall drive.

The next order of business, the new leaders say, will be to freeze spending and request a state audit of the city’s finances. The city’s reserve, which stood at $8 million last July, has been completely depleted, according to the city’s finance director. More than $1 million has gone to pay attorneys hired to defend Robles and his allies on criminal matters.

The new leaders take over as an FBI investigation of alleged political corruption reaches an important phase. A federal grand jury last week issued subpoenas to outgoing Councilwoman Maria Benavides and the city’s former government reorganization consultant, Lou Moret, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The nature of the probe is unclear, but a high-ranking law enforcement source said the FBI is investigating the former council majority’s approval of $4 million in federal loans and grants to a former business partner of Robles.

The new leaders have said they will cooperate with the federal probe as well as several investigations underway by the Los Angeles County district attorney. Investigators, they say, will be allowed access to city documents that the outgoing officials had tried to keep out of their hands.

Other decisions will be more difficult.

Gonzalez is uncertain whether the city can go ahead with giving away a house to the winner of the city’s dream home raffle. The raffle, which took place last month, was viewed by many as a ploy by Robles and his allies to buy votes before the recall election.

Residents have raised questions about the legality of the raffle, saying it amounts to a gift of public funds. And some doubt whether the cash-strapped city can even afford to build the $160,000 house.

While the new council attempts to sort out that and other city business, the aftershocks of Monday night’s tussle will continue to rock the city.

Even by South Gate’s rough political rules, the public scuffle was off the charts. Gonzalez, his cheek slightly bruised, spent much of the day answering reporters’ questions.

He said Ruvalcaba’s claims that he groped her breast were ridiculous.

“I’m old enough to be her father,” he said. “It’s a self-serving, fabricated story. She knows she’s in trouble and she’s trying to save herself.”

Police cited Ruvalcaba for misdemeanor battery and forwarded the case to the district’s attorney’s office. Ruvalcaba, in turn, made a citizen’s arrest of Gonzalez. Police who witnessed the scuffle and viewed an amateur videotape of the incident said they saw no evidence to support Ruvalcaba’s claim.

Ruvalcaba was not available for comment. But Robles said Ruvalcaba was acting to defend herself. He bemoaned the lack of “civil discourse” in the city, but said he hoped things would improve.

“Everybody lost, but I think Xochilt lost the most,” he said.