CommentsCITY HALL--The big dogs are now officially running for Eric Garcetti's seat.
Joe Buscaino, the council member from district 15, who rode shotgun for years with Mitchell Englander in Public Safety Committee, looking away from or totally complicit with, dozens of dirty deeds and unwarranted fee hikes for Englander Knabe and Allen clients, is running on his usual "anti-chucklehead" platform.
Buscaino is a no-nonsense hothead who is pissed and damn it, you should be, too! He frequently calls out City Attorney Mike Feuer who faces his own legal troubles but is also running for mayor and has already raised over $400,000. (Photo above: Mayoral candidate Joe Buscaino, left, in discussion with current LA Mayor, Eric Garcetti.)
Kevin DeLeon and Mark Ridley-Thomas [MRT] are also contemplating a run. MRT has taken over the CD10 seat held by termed-out Herb Wesson and DeLeon has begun using the executive restroom in Jose Huizar's downtown CD14 office.
Buscaino, who is sometimes called Joey Buckets on account of a perceived low tolerance for unauthorized human excrement, has taken some bold steps like threatening to take LAUSD to court to get these damn kids back in class.
Bullying-by-lawyer, it should come as no surprise, is actually an important skill set for a big time local elected seeking higher office.
It was J. P. Morgan who said, but it could have been Mark Ridley-Thomas, "I don't know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell how to do what I want to do."
Here it is instructive to revisit a question raised in a prior article
Why did the Chief Executive Officer of LA County, Sachi Hamai, never filed a formal legal claim against the county?
The answer might shed some light on one of the most respected candidates. A man who can take a small powerful idea and bellow on about it for decades without interruption.
One possible reason that Ms. Hamai was reluctant to file a claim against her beloved county after 32 years of service is because of the cautionary tale of former Treasurer Tax Collector and County Counsel, Mark Saladino.
When Saladino clashed as county counsel with the board in 2015 over Supervisor Don Knabe's eligibility for something referred to as "leaving vacation" benefits, Mary Conway Wickham, was just coming on board as replacement county counsel.
She'd previously served several years as the executive director of the County Equity Oversight Panel which oversees investigations into alleged workplace discrimination and 18 years at county counsel, including advising the county on the federal consent decree over gender inequality in the Sheriff's Department.
As the new, but not-so-fresh county counsel, Wickham was the quicker picker-upper brought in to clean up the Mark Saladino mess and so immediately did as she was told, leave it to Skip, Louis "Skip" Miller ESQ.
The shot-caller was very likely Mark Ridley-Thomas who had clashed with Chief Executive William T Fujioka, Sachi Hamai's predecessor.
Mr. Saladino claimed he was pushed out and filed at least two lawsuits against the county alleging that Ridley-Thomas, in particular, had resented him because he'd resisted the Supervisors' attempts to use taxpayer funds to steer contracts to “unqualified law firms,” potentially violating conflict-of-interest law.
The lawsuit also contended that Ridley-Thomas had led a purge of county officials seen as too close to Fujioka, including Saladino.
Skip, who likes to work on the down low and the up high (both) did what any trusty first responder would do under the circumstances, he retaliated and capably extracted a "letter of contrition" from Saladino, sharing it with the LA Times and so the whole world.
"I now realize that I was unaware of all the facts and circumstances surround the events in question..." Saladino wrote. "I also regret making statements that some Supervisors believe caused them harm or embarrassment. I did not intend to act unethically.... Los Angeles County is an exciting and rewarding place to work, and I take pride in the many years I served as both a lawyer and as the Treasurer and Tax Collector. As I move forward into the next chapter of my life, I want you to know that my biggest regret is that my County career ended in this way, and that I will be remorseful until the day I die.”
Lovely. “Until the day I die... “ is a nice touch.
It's always smart to use sincere and heartfelt language in a faux apology, but did Saladino go too far over the top? Saladino recanted all of his allegations and agreed to pay the county $50,000 of his own funds.
The message certainly comes across--zero tolerance for anyone who would attack the Board of Supervisors from the inside.
Especially, county counsel who are disproportionately assigned to the work of doling out county injustice and thus vulnerable from multiple angles. Because the lawyers know where the proverbial bodies are buried, dissent from the sixth floor at Kenn Hahn requires an immediate 'scorched earth' approach. Someone has to protect the county family from the public and since lawsuits are growth industry.
"We love our county counsel," goes the logic. So, when they move on, like Andrea Ordin who retired and took a post on the LA City Ethics commission, or the forgettable long distance runner John Krattli, or slitherist, Richard Weiss, there is thunderous applause from the county bleachers. Even Mr. Ridley-Thomas, the 'raise the roof' admonisher knows who his lawyer is...
Up and down Grand Park employees understand that dissenting against the city or county 'family' and certainly any questioning of Mr. Ridley-Thomas's agenda, will be met with shock and awe and possibly Skip Miller.
Just ask the Sheriff.
Bullying-by-attorney is a high-value skill set necessary for any serious Mayoral candidate.
If sticking the public with legal bills for your own political gain were an upper-level class in local government, Mark Ridley-Thomas would get an A.
One enduring question we can ask MRT when he officially jumps in, how much taxpayer money did ole Skipper take to handle the removal of Mark Saladino's spine?