Comments@TheGussReport – At LA City Hall, nobody wore their arrogance more defiantly than then-LA City Councilmember Mitch Englander who, after serving as chief-of-staff to his predecessor Greig Smith, represented the northwestern-most portion of the City of LA in the San Fernando Valley’s District 12 from 2011 thru 2018.
To a man, the diminutive Chair of LA City Council’s important Public Safety Committee put on airs to appear more substantive than he was in reality, the most notorious incident being his failed attempt to claim on an election ballot that his profession was that of a police officer; a claim which was rejected by the courts. In that race to become LA County Supervisor, Englander raised the most money but finished in 5th place out of just eight candidates.
But that person was a far cry from the exhausted-looking Mitch Englander, now 49, who appeared at the United States Courthouse in downtown L.A. at 2:30pm on Monday for his indictment. His swagger and snark was gone as he faced six corruption-related counts that, if convicted on all of them, will send him away for as many as 50 years.
In federal prison, one must serve at least 85% of any sentence greater than one year. That’s the kind of time that should have an array of other City Hall employees and their connected friends shaking in their shoes.
Englander, the former lawmaker, waited out of sight while other cases were heard first and, when finally called, was largely hidden from the assembled media’s view by his attorney. What wasn’t obscured showed him dressed in a sport coat and dress shirt without a tie.
His terms of release on a remarkably lenient $50,000 bond include his agreement to turn over his seven guns as well as his recently renewed passport. He also agreed to not travel outside of California.
His wife, Jayne Englander, a real estate agent, was in attendance with at least one of the couple’s daughters and was reminded of the consequences of breaking these agreements. Her presence was notable because the allegations against her husband’s alleged selling of his office for free trips, envelopes of cash and casino chips, also included his alleged involvement with prostitutes.
While details of the case were not disclosed, another noteworthy part of the goings-on was the repeated admonishment that Englander was “not to communicate with any of his co-defendants,” though who they might be and how many there are, was not specified.
Still, those in-the-know might figure it out, as the government gave them pseudonyms that include Business Person A, City Staffer A, City Staffer B, Lobbyist A and Lobbyist B, Developer A, Developer B.….and L.A. City Councilmember A, who we know is someone other than Englander, who was referred to as “Defendant Englander” in the indictment.
It is unclear whether LA City Councilmember A is a current or former Councilmember. City Staffer A was a “special assistant” to City Councilmember A from June 2013 to January 2018.
The indictment handed down by the Grand Jury says in part that the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office conducted a federal criminal investigation into public corruption throughout the City of Los Angeles related to multiple suspected “pay-to-play” schemes. They investigated multiple city officials, land developers, investors, consultants, lobbyists and other close associates.
Englander abruptly left public office around the time of the FBI’s raid of his then-colleague Councilmember Jose Huizar’s home and offices. No charges have yet been filed in that case.
Let the sleuthing begin.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News, and the Los Angeles Times in its Sports, Opinion, Entertainment sections and Sunday Magazine, among other publishers. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.)
-cw
