South Gate Gravy Train Runs Off the Rails

I’ve spent a lot of time in South Gate lately, and I share the city’s relief over the outcome of a recent recall election in which a heavy-handed majority on the City Council were ousted, along with their political boss.

The Jan. 28 recall vote, however, did not end South Gate’s troubles. And the political and legal turmoil that, for a time, made one small city very big news could yet spill over to other suburban cities in southeast Los Angeles County.

From Vernon to Compton, those cities were once L.A.’s blue-collar backbone. But as heavy manufacturing gave way to new industries, white families began to move away, to be replaced by Latino immigrants.

In barely a generation, cities like South Gate became 90% or more Latino. Political change followed, as Latinos began to win seats on formerly all-Anglo city councils and school boards.

There is a handful of lessons to be drawn here. For now, let me just sound a cautionary note to temper the enthusiasm Latino activists felt over the impressive size of the recall vote. It surely must be reassuring to non-Latinos that a majority-Latino city could look past blatant ethnic appeals and vote for good government by more than 80%.

Yet, what made South Gate an intriguing story were the deplorable shenanigans of a smart politico, Albert Robles, who tried to turn the town of 96,000 people into his political fiefdom. Robles was an ambitious aide to a state legislator when he moved to South Gate a dozen years ago, looking to take advantage of the city’s changing demographics.

Robles first got himself elected in 1992 to the City Council, a part-time position then paying $600 a month. Within five years he was elected to a local water agency board at $23,400 per year and then, in 1997, to the post of South Gate city treasurer, which paid $69,000. Last year, Robles’ council allies named him assistant city manager at a cool $110,000 a year. Note that I am focusing here only on government jobs Robles held simultaneously, not the millions of dollars worth of city contracts he steered to friends and former business associates.

Robles’ taxpayer-financed gravy train slowed down last month when his three council allies were ousted in the same special election that saw him recalled from the city treasurer’s post. The new council majority fired Robles from the assistant city manager’s job, but he is fighting the dismissal. He is still a board member of the local water district. And, no doubt anticipating they might be recalled, Robles and two of his council puppets -- Xochilt Rubalcava and Raul Moriel -- put their names on the March 4 ballot for open seats on the City Council.

Talk about sheer gall; but no con man is without audacity. At least the negative publicity about Robles’ tenure in South Gate will make it hard for him to repeat his scam in another jurisdiction.

More worrisome is the possibility Robles could become a perverse role model for those Latinos who want political power less to bring about change than for the financial rewards that may come with it. Robles’ recall at least shows that those who abuse public office eventually get their comeuppance, but his case was egregious. Others may not be so obvious.

Hundreds of Latinos run for local offices and most are idealists who want only to contribute to their communities. But what happened in South Gate makes me wary of any local elected official who insists that, to do his job right, he needs a big, fat raise.

Most local government jobs in California were created during the Progressive era specifically to be filled on a part-time basis by civic-minded people who would not rely on government for their sinecures. And that’s how it should stay.

Political con artists like Robles are few and far between, but all citizens need to ask hard questions of their officials -- and hang on to their wallets.