Alatorre's back as unofficial lobbyist
The former councilman, who left under an ethical cloud, has returned as an unregistered advocate for companies seeking city business.
Former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre is
enjoying a second coming at City Hall.
Six years after he left the public stage -- his reputation
in tatters after admitting that he took cash from people
trying to influence him -- he has returned as an advocate
for companies seeking city business.
The gravel-voiced 64-year-old, a pioneering Mexican
American politician known as one of the architects of
Latino empowerment in California, is trading on his status
as an elder statesman. He is also an informal advisor to
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
On behalf of various businesses and unions, he has called
upon at least five City Council members and mayoral
appointees at the Department of Water and Power, the
Department of Recreation and Parks, the Planning
Department, the Housing Department, the Port of Los
Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports and the Community
Redevelopment Agency, according to interviews and
records.
But unlike dozens of other political professionals who do
such work, Alatorre is not registered as a lobbyist under
the city's open government law. Registered lobbyists must
reveal whom they work for and how much they are paid, or
they risk jail or fines.
Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the parks department,
said Alatorre has spoken with him six times over the last
year and a half about the city's park rangers, about a
company seeking to renew its golf concession and about a
charter school that wants to operate on parkland in El
Sereno. Mukri said Alatorre receives no special treatment,
calling the former councilman "just a lobbyist like anybody
else."
Sylmar neighborhood activist Bart Reed, who opposes a
project that Alatorre has discussed with at least one
council member, said community groups depend on disclosures
to show them how much of an advantage special interests
hold at City Hall. "Having that information about who's
lobbying . . . tells you what kind of uphill mountain you
may have," he said.
Alatorre did not respond to repeated requests by telephone
and letter to be interviewed for this report.
To many in Los Angeles politics, Alatorre has been a
legendary figure. He represented portions of the city's
Eastside in the state Assembly and on the City Council for
more than a quarter of a century, from 1973 to 1999. And he
built a powerful local political machine based in Boyle
Heights, spearheaded the redesign of voting district maps
to expand Latino representation throughout California and
doled out a career full of favors in the form of jobs and
advice.
Only once has the city Ethics Commission pursued someone
for failing to register as a lobbyist. When asked to
explain why, ethics officials said only that such a charge
can be difficult to prove.
Yet, in many ways, Alatorre has been in plain sight,
showing up at public meetings and walking the corridors at
City Hall. Five council members -- Richard Alarcon, Jose
Huizar, Bernard C. Parks, Jan Perry and Herb Wesson -- say
Alatorre has spoken with them over the last 18 months on
behalf of at least one of the following:
* Home Depot, which wants to open a store in
Sunland-Tujunga in a way that would avoid an environmental
review.
* The Las Lomas Land Co., which is trying to build 5,500
homes just north of Sylmar.
* The Engineers and Architects Assn., a city union that had
been in a contentious standoff with the mayor over pay.
* First Transit Inc., a city DASH bus service provider,
which was seeking a contract change.
Alatorre's earliest known City Hall client, in 2004, was
the Los Angeles Port Police Assn., which represents peace
officers at the harbor. Alatorre worked for the union when
its members sought to improve their retirement benefits by
switching from a general city plan to one used by Los
Angeles' police and fire departments. The switch required
City Council and voter approval, both of which were
obtained.
Association President Daniel Cobos said his union paid
Alatorre $7,500 per quarter for about a year and a half to
lobby the City Council and state government. "Because of
his lobbying we did get the support of the City Council,"
Cobos said.
The Ethics Commission law in effect then defined a lobbyist
as anyone who was paid more than $4,000 per quarter to
communicate with an official on behalf of a client. The
union's payments alone might have required Alatorre to
register with the city.
Since then, the law has changed. It now requires
registration by anyone who is paid, regardless of how much,
to lobby for at least 30 hours in a three-month period and
has at least one lobbying contact with a city official or
employee.
Alatorre's contacts with city officials continued in 2006,
when he met separately with two of Villaraigosa's airport
commissioners on behalf of Cable News Network. The company
wants to install TVs tuned to CNN in airport waiting areas.
He also spoke with one of those officials on behalf of
Prime Time Shuttle, which provides shuttle services to
airports.
By January 2007, he was representing California Cartage
Co., which wants the city to help it acquire land that
would probably involve the expansion of a redevelopment
zone in the community of Wilmington.
Lobbyist Barna Szabo said in an interview that he recently
recommended Alatorre to the company, which repackages goods
for shipment at the Los Angeles harbor.
Szabo, who also represents the company, said he suggested
Alatorre because the former councilman has a good grasp of
redevelopment and eminent domain law and extensive
relationships with city officials.
"He's very familiar with the council members," Szabo said.
"He obviously works closely with the mayor."
Alatorre also knows S. David Freeman, Villaraigosa's
appointee as Harbor Commission president, Szabo noted.
Freeman employed Alatorre at the suggestion of former Mayor
Richard Riordan when Freeman was DWP general manager.
Freeman announced at Harbor Commission meetings in January
and February that Alatorre had lobbied him on California
Cartage's behalf.
At some point in the last year, Alatorre also met with Ron
Deaton, the DWP's current general manager, on behalf of NTI
Group, a company selling a communications system, according
to a DWP spokesperson.
Villaraigosa-appointed board members of the Community
Redevelopment Agency, meanwhile, say Alatorre lobbied at
least one of them in August on behalf of Amerland Group, a
developer of affordable housing. The board subsequently
voted to give Amerland access to $8 million in public
grants and loans.
Other Alatorre clients have been disclosed in reports filed
with the Ethics Commission by the registered lobbying firm
of an old friend, former legislator Mike Roos. However, the
Roos records list Alatorre as a "consultant," suggesting
that he provided advice but had no contact with officials
that might constitute lobbying. City rules require that
individual lobbyists register even if they work in a firm
that is registered
In the first half of this year, Roos' lobbying firm
reported paying Alatorre $73,000 for consulting work
regarding CNN and:
* Bell Cab, which, Roos reported, is trying to "maintain
and improve" its relationship with the city;
* URS Corp., which has the contract to plan an expanded
LA/Palmdale Regional Airport;
* Delta Airlines, which is fighting a plan that could force
it to share its Los Angeles International Airport
terminal;
* Five-Star Parking, which has had an airport parking lot
contract.
Records show that Roos paid Alatorre about $100,000 for
consulting work for most of the same clients in 2006. Some
of it was for a separate client that Alatorre shared with
Roos consultant Frank Hill, a former Assemblyman convicted
in 1994 of extortion for taking $2,500 in cash from an FBI
agent posing as a businessman.
Alatorre's smarts and staying power over the years earned
him reverential treatment by some he is now seeking to
influence. Councilman Alarcon calls Alatorre "a strategic
master." Villaraigosa has characterized him as both mentor
and friend.
Their bond cemented in 1994 when the mayor's then-fledgling
political career was under attack. Villaraigosa had left
his wife and taken off with another woman on the night he
won a primary election for the Assembly.
The action stunned and angered supporters, including Los
Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who condemned him
for cheating on his wife while she was battling thyroid
cancer. But Alatorre, who had not even endorsed
Villaraigosa, was among the first to tell him he would
stand at his side, associates of both men said.
Alatorre's elective life ended five years later, when he
decided not to seek reelection while under personal and
professional clouds. A longtime political rival was suing
him for custody of his wife's niece, a child the Alatorres
had taken in when her mother died. The rival, Henry Lozano,
was the child's father.
In the lawsuit, Alatorre admitted to past alcohol and
cocaine addictions. A drug test ordered by the judge showed
recent cocaine use. The judge said Alatorre's credibility
was shredded but ultimately left the child in the
Alatorres' care.
At the same time, federal authorities suspected Alatorre of
extorting cash from the owner of a low-income apartment
complex in Boyle Heights. The businessman, Samuel Mevorach,
told the FBI he feared that if he did not pay up, Alatorre
might have him cited for building code violations.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Mevorach would
meet with Alatorre and a childhood friend at a restaurant,
then pass them an envelope of cash. According to the
affidavit, Alatorre also accepted a $13,000 new roof for
his house from the East Los Angeles Community Union while
it had a $2-million city loan for a development in his
district.
Ultimately, Alatorre pleaded guilty in 2001 to income tax
evasion for failing to report more than $40,000 in payments
from people trying to influence him in tax year 1996. He
was sentenced to eight months of home detention.
Even then, he retained supporters. Former state Senate
leader John Burton got Alatorre a $114,000-a-year job on
the state Unemployment Compensation Appeals Board.
Then-Mayor Riordan helped him get hired at the DWP as a
$7,500-a-month consultant.
"People were very forgiving," said Joe Cerrell, one of the
deans of City Hall's registered lobbyists.
david.zahniser@latimes.com
ted.rohrlich@latimes.com
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