Reader-Friendly Guide May Help Foster Understanding, Indignation
HOT SEX HERE!!!!
Sorry, not really. That was a ploy to get attention, because it seems the public-corruption probe going on in Los Angeles City Hall isn't sexy enough to garner any on its own.
For the past few months, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley has led an investigation into allegations that city officials, commissioners and members of Mayor James Hahn's administration have been trading lucrative city contracts for campaign contributions -- a serious no-no that's also illegal.
But this story doesn't play well in the news, particularly on TV. It's tough to get a shot of the wink-winks and nudge-nudges. And those involved throw around so much jargon-laden speech it's no wonder the story can't compete with car chases, shootings and celebrity mishaps.
Here's what my nonjournalist friends say when I bring up the subject.
"Oh, really? That's great. Hmmm. So, who thinks Charlize Theron went a little crazy with the sunless tanning lotion?"
Here's the translation: "That sounds serious. But I have no idea what you're talking about. The skin condition of a movie star is of more interest to me than a tired old story about money influencing politics."
As a result, outside of a small group of City Hall watchers, journalists and political players themselves, no one seems to care that much about something that most certainly affects their everyday life more than the sexier news subjects.
I suspect that the reason this story has failed to rivet the public at large is because the terminology is inaccessible to the nonpolitical insider. With that in mind, I've put together a reader-friendly guide to some of the terms and definitions used in news accounts of this emerging scandal. Pass them out to your friends and co-workers who think public corruption is a club on Melrose Avenue.
Public corruption: When people holding public office use their position for personal gain. While that behavior is always unseemly, it is not necessarily against the law. For example, using your status as president, senator, mayor or whatever to sweet-talk some hottie at a bar into a date is not illegal. Using your position to force people to part with money to gain favorable treatment from a government body, such as getting a contract for collecting garbage, is.
"Pay to play": This is the type of corruption that's being alleged in the awarding of contracts by City Hall, including, but not limited to, contracts for business at the airport. Corporations are made to understand, either implicitly or explicitly, that they must cough up some cash for a campaign "donation" if they want a contract for city business.
For a real life example, think about what everyone knows about traveling to Mexico: If you get stopped by the federales for any reason such as a car accident, speeding or hitting a chicken, you will likely be forced to pay an on-the-spot "fee" to get off the hook. You know that money never makes it past the pocket of the guy who stopped you, but you pay it anyhow, because that's the way things work there.
City commissioners: In Los Angeles, some 50-plus government boards and commissions are supposed to be filled by activist citizens interested in bettering their city. In reality, many of the members are political appointees who have cozied up to the mayor and City Council president. This is especially true for the most powerful commissions, such as those overseeing the police, airports, harbor and Department of Water and Power.
These boards award multimillion-dollar contracts and set policy for their departments. You don't make it onto a commission without selling your soul, and -- until the practice was banned last week -- you couldn't stay there without selling favors to special interests.
Criminal grand jury: This is a group of regular people chosen by random through the regular jury pool and required to serve for 30 days, whether they want to or not.
The power of the grand jury to subpoena people and documents is the tool the D.A. is using to investigate the corruption charges. In addition to interviewing people, the jurors will troll through thousands of city files looking for evidence of foul play. Only if they survive the toil and tedium do they get to really have fun -- and hand down indictments.
bold!Fund-raising ban: On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council adopted a ban on fund raising for the city's 300-plus commissioners. That's a good thing for public integrity, but not so good for elected officials who raised a lot of campaign money this way.
The ban also means the end of a common practice of commissioners holding fund-raising parties for elected officials at which they "encourage" attendees to break out the checkbook. Nor will commissioners even be allowed to make suggestions as to whom to invite to such a shindig, because the implication is that they are setting them up for a donation.
Flip-flop: When he was city attorney, James Hahn supported banning commissioners from raising campaign funds. As mayor, Hahn said in December that he opposed the ban. Of course, no one has benefited from the practice as much as Hahn did during his campaigns for election as mayor and to defeat the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession movements.
But as the investigation heated up around him in late February, the city's top elected official changed his mind again. Surprise! Now he does support a ban, offering no explanation for his sudden change of heart.
Those are the basics, certainly enough to dazzle your friends at the next dinner party. But also hopefully enough for you to get annoyed that what's capturing so much time and energy in City Hall these days isn't fixing the sidewalks or making the city a better place, but the ins and outs of raising money for the sole purpose of getting re-elected.
When our city officials are handing over contracts to political buddies rather than the lowest bidder, that means there's less of our tax money to spend on things like police and fire protection. (On the upside, it could mean fewer parking-meter readers.)
I don't expect outrage, though some irritation would be nice. Americans have become so jaded by money-driven politics that many of us don't bother to participate. It's no surprise that turnout in Tuesday's election hit a historic low in California -- only 38.8 percent of registered voters came to the polls.
Still, we owe it to ourselves and families to get riled up periodically, shake our fists at elected officials and keep them from wandering too far down the path or putting money before public service. Cooley's investigation might not turn up any crimes, but it's already caused some reform of the fund-raising process, though not enough to really change the money culture.
Admittedly, it's not all that exciting a story next to the fall of Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnell marrying her girlfriend, Michael Eisner's rejection by the Mouseketeers or even McDonald's un-supersizing its offerings. So if it helps, next time you see a story about what's going on at City Hall, just imagine the mayor and council members in designer thongs and Harry Winston jewels. That's what I do.
Mariel Garza is an editorial writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. Write to her by e-mail mariel.garza@dailynews.com
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