continued...
In December 2007 this sparked telephone calls to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Region 3 Headquarters and to the Pasadena Parole complex and inquiries were made in an attempt to ascertain if the Sex Offenders were on active parole status and if so if they were in compliance with their conditions of parole.
These residents were simply told that others would contact them regarding their concerns. No one from either the Pasadena parole complex or Administrators from Region 3 Headquarters contacted the residents from the El Sereno Area.
Mark Overstreet a community resident and Neighborhood Watch Captain along with other
concerned residents of the 14th Council District made telephone calls to Councilman Jose Huizar's office and to Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor member Gloria Molina's office to investigate their findings.
Mr. Overstreet spoke with Jose Huizar's El Sereno office staff member Cecelia Alatorre and she stated "I will note it and get back to you". They did not seem to think it was a big concern for, based on the long time it took the councilman's office to get to residents.
They did not get back to the residents for over four months until they were aware of this article being published on THE VOICE. We spoke with neighbors in the area that were very upset to find out about the sex offenders down the street, one neighbor pointed out to a corner down the street, every weekday children from this neighborhood wait for the school bus to take them to Multnomah Elementary.
THE VOICE measured the distance from the corner to the house where the sex offenders were residing and it was less than seventy five feet away from where the sex offenders were residing! We knocked on the door of the residence and no one answered.
THE VOICE contacted County Supervisor Gloria Molina's East Los Angeles Office and we spoke with Susan Manriquez, a senior field deputy and she recalls speaking to David Vela the other senior field deputy regarding the concerns being voiced by residents of University Hills community about the sex offenders and she did confirm to THE VOICE that a letter was sent to Councilman Huizar's office to look into the matter a couple of months ago.
Councilman Huizar's office contacted Mark Overstreet on March 12th letting him know that they are working on the matter. THE VOICE had contacted Jose Huizar's City Hall office and shared with them the concerns of the residents about the lack of actions by and the demeanor of Ms. Alatorre.
The residents felt that staff member Alatorre was so removed from their concerns, she left them with a feeling that Councilman Huizar was not concerned with the welfare and safety of the El Sereno community. THE VOICE let them know that this was an unacceptable time lapse and that we were working on an article regarding sex offenders in the area and that this would be noted in the article.
Is it coincidence that shortly after our telephone call to City Hall, Mr. Overstreet received communication from Councilman Huizar's office that same day and informed him that they were still looking into the matter.
Our investigation finds that on January 2008 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) finally after several months of ignoring the community concerns, took action and ordered that over 60 sex offenders be immediately removed from two locations within the same community.
All of the offenders, many classified as High Risk Sex offenders were on active parole status and most were assigned to Pasadena and the Huntington Park Parole complex jurisdictions the same CDCR centers that this community first contacted several months before.
Of the 60 plus offenders removed from the area, 47 sex offenders were being housed at the Woodbridge Village Apartments located at 1900 block of North Marianna Avenue (formally known as the Marianna Apartments.) THE VOICE visited the Woodbridge Village Apartments website and found the following; Woodbridge Village Apartments are an ideal choice for today's busy and active lifestyles. Our Apartment Managers will be delighted to help you select an apartment that you will want to call your "home". Feel free to call our Rental Office today.
Behind the secured entry gates of Woodbridge Village Apartments, you will find a preserved environment, rich in natural landscape, exotic flowers, ample parking, sparkling swimming pool, gym with sauna, and quiet walkways. Enchanting sounds of nature, majestic trees and charming courtyards fill your world with tranquility.
Your mind is miles away, yet you're just minutes away from freeway access, the cultural events and entertainment of Downtown Los Angeles and the business centers of Wilshire area.
Spacious, bright apartments with all new carpet, tile and fixtures in great neighborhood. Gated and secure Woodbridge Village Apartments is a community in itself.
It is managed by Action Management Group which also manages six other properties located throughout the Los Angeles area and has been in business since in 1989 and has its headquarters in Encino, CA.
(This reporters opinion is that the person who wrote the above description has never visited these apartments or has been smoking CRACK for a long time! When we visited these apartments during our investigation the only natural landscape we seen were weeds growing over a foot tall, the exotic flowers were on the weeds, They fail to state that they allow sex offenders to be your neighbors.)
THE VOICE visited the apartments and spoke with Mirna Lazo manager of the Woodbridge
Village Apartments located at (See The Voice for address) and we videotaped her reaction to our investigation and she denied that any sex offenders have ever been living there. We asked her why she was offering housing to sex offenders right next to families with children? We asked her if the State of CA was paying them higher rates to house sex offenders here? Well to no surprise, she refused to speak with us and referred us to the management company based in Encino CA.
THE VOICE contacted Gordon Hinkle, Deputy Press Secretary with the CA Department of Corrections Rehabilitation (CDCR) in Sacramento, which oversees prison inmates which include Sex Offenders while they are in prison and that are released from prison on parole after serving the sentence imposed by the court system.
We asked Hinkle about the practice of offering higher rent payments for housing sex offenders? Hinkle stated "This does happen! but is at the discretion of each parole agent and is done on a case by case basis".
Many residents we spoke with who reside there did not want to be identified but were outraged of the practice of letting these sex offenders live next to them. They were going to alert other neighbors in the complex to alert them to be more vigilant of their children's whereabouts and not leave them alone. One resident stated "we have lived here for nearly 10 years, we are raising our kids the best we can, we are hard working individuals and it is just not fair for this to happen here, we already have enough problems with the gangs and drugs and parties on the upper lot on weekends, cars being broken into and now this". Areview of an E-mail obtained by
THE VOICE dated January 10th, 2008 sent by Chief Deputy Capril Anderson of the CDCR/Department of Adult Operations states that the paroled sex offenders were placed at the locations which were not in compliance with Jessica's Law, located less than 2000 feet from schools namely California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) which has two high schools on their premises which are County High School of the Arts, and MASS High School.
The email further states "administrators are directed to expedite the relocation of parolees assigned to your units who reside at this location and are subject to J Law. You are ask to provide verification that you have done so by email to both myself and Ken Ford (Chief Deputy Regional Administrator Region at lll) Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.
Signed Capril Anderson.
The number of paroled sex offenders residing at each of the locations were also out of compliance as per Jessica's Law and in violation of 3003.5 of the California Penal code.
The Penal code 3003.5 states that in a single family dwelling which has been classified as a Sober Living Home or referred to as a Drug Treatment program may house up to six sex offenders only, and an apartment may only house one sex offender, and a second one only of the second sex offender is related by family or blood. This was not the case at either the Borland or the Marianna residence's.
As per our confidential sources both locations were under the Directorship - Ownership of Lupe Barron. One source stated that at the location (see The Voice for address) parolees were sleeping in the front room and as many as 3-4 were sleeping in other rooms located within the residence. Other sources state that as many as 10-12 parolees were residing at the address all at the same time. The same can be said at the Marianna address for as many as 4-5 parolees were residing in each apartment at the same time. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation press relations officer Hinkle stated to THE VOICE that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation only became aware of the residence violations in January 2008 and immediately took actions to remove the sex offenders.
Inquiries made by THE VOICE have determined that Parole Administrators employed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were aware of the Jessica Law violations for an extended period of time and ignored them.
Also uncovered and confirmed by confidential sources is the fact that Lupe Barron is the Director and possible owner of several locations which house sex offenders for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and that all of the locations are located in the Los Angeles County Supervisorial District of Gloria Molina.
At one time Lupe Barron worked out of the Huntington Park Parole Complex where she was befriended by former Parole Unit Supervisor Norma Martinez (supervised parole agents assigned to the High Risk Sex offender case loads and a close friend and associate of LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina) and Eastern District Administrator Maria Franco. Most of the sex offenders parolees which resided and continue to reside in Lupe Barron's various housing locations are supervised out of the Huntington Park and Pasadena Parole complex's. Confidential sources have stated that District Administrators Maria Franco after the memo was issued to relocate the sex offender parolees advised parole agents not to relocate the sex offender parolees from the El Sereno locations. As confirmed by Hinkle the State of CA will at times pay up to five hundred dollars a week per parolee (sex offenders) for housing.
A review of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Jessica Law policy states that each location prior to the placement of sex offenders parolees need to be measured by a hand held GPS device as to insure that the locations are in compliance with the law. In relationship to the two El Sereno locations this was not the case. Parole Agent 2 Albert Rivera recently removed as the agent responsible in assisting field parole agents with appropriate housing for sex offenders had been previously assigned to the Huntington Park Parole Unit complex.
State Senator George Runner's office has requested an accounting/audit from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/ DAPO (Department of Adult Parole Operations) to show how much tax payer dollars has been paid to Lupe Barron for the housing of paroled sex offenders. It is estimated that the amount exceeds over a million dollars when you do the math.
To date the heads of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation James Tilton and Tom Hoffman have failed to assist field parole agents with obtaining suitable housing for paroled sex offenders.
Residents of the 14th District have already consulted attorneys and there is conversation that a class action civil law suit may be pending naming both local elected officials and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation / DAPO to and include parole agents, supervisors and administrators as the Defendants.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and local elected officials have turned their back on the community as they have failed to protect the welfare and safety of the community.
THE VOICE has uncovered Lupe Barron's Housing locations thus far to be: (See The Voice issue for address locations.)
Note all of the above are located in Supervisors Gloria Molina's area. Three of the locations are located in Councilman's Jose Huizer's jurisdiction. Registered sex offenders are required to update their registration information annually, within five working days of their birthday.
Some sex offenders must update more often: transients must update every 30 days.
When registrants change their residence address or become homeless (transient), they are required to update their registration information within five days with a local law enforcement agency, which forwards that information to DOJ.
DOJ updates the registered sex offender database on a daily basis based on information received from local agencies. THE VOICE investigation has discovered that even though it is mandated by law this practice is not being adhered to and no one is policing these agencies to make sure it happens.
Not every registered sex offender will appear on this Internet web site. According to the DOJ website approximately 25% of registered sex offenders are excluded from public disclosure by law.
DOJ's Sex Offender Tracking Program has been responsible for keeping track of registered sex offenders in California since registration began in 1947. California was the first state in the nation to enact a sex offender registration law. Due to its lifetime sex offender registration requirement and a population exceeding an estimated 35 million residents, California today has the largest number of registered sex offenders of any state.
We asked Hinkle, how many sex offenders do we have in CA? He stated "there are 100,000 registered Sex Offenders currently released in the State of CA." A key word we caught was registered.
When THE VOICE asked Hinkle about non-registered sex offenders he stated "there are MANY MORE in the state which are not-registered, these are parolees that are transients, never found a home or a place to reside and have avoided parole supervision". California correctional facilities and programs are operated at public expense for the protection of society. The CDCR state allocated budget for the fiscal year 2007 - 2008 was $9,776,618,000.
According to Hinkle "your local law enforcement agency in the Hollenbeck area the LAPD is contacted approximately 90 days prior to the release of a parolee which will be residing in their respective area of jurisdiction", Hinkle continued to say "this now becomes the liability of LAPD to track these sex offenders if they are not high risk".
The Department of Adult Parole Operations as per Hinkle currently has 1,826 Parole
Agents- PA1's (100% caseload agents), case carrying agents statewide. Those agents who are assigned to sex offender case loads either carry a 40:1 or a 20:1 High Risk Sex Offender case load. As previously noted each paroled sex offender is mandated to wear a GPS device.
THE VOICE has discovered through investigations that many parole agents do not track the GPS device on a daily basis, and this is a direct violation of Jessica's Law AB83. THE VOICE asked Mr. Hinkle about the non-compliance of Jessica's Law and he failed to return our calls.
Captain Blake Chow of the Hollenbeck Division told THE VOICE "recently Hollenbeck Police officers stumbled across parolees that LAPD was not aware, and came across this during a routine pedestrian stop near the intersection of Valley Blvd and Alhambra Avenue and discovered that there were 18 sex offenders on GPS system as of mid January 2008 located at the Star Light Inn (formally The Valley Inn) located at 4601Valley Blvd.
We had no prior notice by CDCR/DAPO on the placement of these offenders in the area" stated Captain Chow. Currently the Hollenbeck Region has between 800 - 1000 active parolees in the area "There is a lot of work ahead of us to establish better communication between law enforcement agencies in the state". There is a big discrepancy on how agencies communicate.
Captain Chow stated "Hollenbeck division has offered Parole agents who supervise parolee's who reside in the Hollenbeck area office space at the new Hollenbeck station to develop a systematic way to track these parolees and to enhance the partnership and communication between DAPO and LAPD."
A new LAPD division program named RACR (Real time Analysis and Critical Response was created and activated in January 2006. The new Hollenbeck station will have a central Real time Analysis and Critical Response (RACR) system that will track offenders of where they are at or where they have been on any given day. Last year the LAPD utilized the RACR system in the 77th Division. RACR utilized a GPS tracking system to successfully captured a sex offender within hours of a crime thanks to this new technology available to us today, otherwise this caper would have taken days, weeks or months or never been solved today stated Captain Chow.
In the City of Long Beach residents voiced similar concerns to City Council last month about an apartment house for registered sex offenders in their neighborhood and the Long Beach City Council just passed an ordinance to further protect the residence by adding daycare centers and beaches to enhance Jessica's Law to be included within the 2000 feet exclusion that prohibits sex offenders to be residing next to children. Long Beach City Council accomplished this in less than a month.
THE VOICE received documentation from Councilman's Huizar office regarding a motion that Huizar introduced to LA City Council to establish a sex offender data base for the City of Los Angeles in July 2006. We spoke with Captain Chow and he stated that this City database has not been implemented. However, currently REACT Registration Enforcement and Compliance Team is already in place and has an established 290pc sexual offender database for the City of Los Angeles.
The April issue of The Voice will be on newstands in East Los Angeles on Monday.
Back to LA Daily Blog
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
L.A. official steered work to relatives Nearly $800,000 in contracts, often with inflated prices, went to family and firms with political ties
From latimes.com
L.A. official steered work to relatives
Nearly $800,000 in contracts, often with inflated prices, went to family and firms with political ties, data show.
By Ted Rohrlich and Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writers
July 28, 2007
A high-level manager for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles directed nearly $800,000 in contracts to his brothers and three politically connected firms without competitive bidding or after rigged contests, a Times review has found.
The manager, Victor Taracena, oversaw more than 150 contracts worth about half a million dollars that went directly to companies his brothers created, contract files show.
Seven other contracts worth $289,000 were awarded to non-family firms, two of which had little or no expertise in the work they were hired to do.
These firms — all with ties to current or former Los Angeles City Council members from the Eastside — won their contracts in bidding processes fraught with irregularities. In one case, a losing bid was submitted by a nonexistent company. Other such bids came from actual companies which, when contacted by The Times, said they were surprised to learn that bids had been submitted in their names.
Some purported bidders did not correctly spell their own names. And legitimate firms said their stationery had been obtained under false pretenses or fabricated.
"No, no, no, no," said George Sihvonen, a civil engineer who, contract files show, bid unsuccessfully on several jobs. "I haven't submitted any bids…. Those are not my doing at all. Somebody else has used my name."
The contracts involved design and construction of facilities to accommodate disabled people: wheelchair ramps, toilets and grab bars in city housing projects.
In numerous instances, the city housing authority appears to have overpaid for the services, based on comparisons with its counterpart in the county.
The overpayments — amounting to more than $130,000 for toilets and grab bars alone — mean that scores of disabled residents may have to wait longer for their apartments to be made appropriately accessible, officials said.
The authority is responsible for providing housing to about 60,000 of the city's poorest families. Though governed by a commission appointed by the mayor, the authority is a free-standing agency primarily funded by the federal government.
Taracena, who was recently fired from his $104,000-a-year job after a housing authority investigation, declined to comment, but his attorney, Marshall Rubin, said his client denies any wrongdoing. He would not elaborate.
Officials at the authority said they had referred Taracena's case to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for possible prosecution.
David Demerjian, who heads the district attorney's public corruption unit, said no decision had been made on whether to file criminal charges.
The bid-rigging comes at a time when the housing authority is grappling with the consequences of a series of mismanagement and corruption scandals that three years ago had the agency on the brink of federal receivership. The agency no longer faces that danger.
Many agency leaders were swept out in the midst of a federal investigation into allegations of a kickback scheme. No kickbacks were proved.
The agency's current director, Rudolf Montiel, said he has spent much of the last few years working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to root out corruption. Dozens of staffers have been fired or placed on leave. Several have been referred to the district attorney's office for criminal prosecution.
Taracena, who was hired in August 2003 as a construction project manager, was given the responsibility of bringing the city's 15-plus housing projects into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. He was repeatedly promoted and by January 2006 placed in charge of all the authority's design and construction, reporting directly to Montiel.
Shortly after he was hired, according to contract files obtained under the California Public Records Act, he began steering jobs to family-owned construction and design companies. County records suggest that the companies did not exist until they began receiving contracts.
The firms — Pratt-Jennings-Holmes, Decker & Durden, Trevor and Associates, and So-Called Artists — are registered in the names of either Bennett or Diego Taracena, Victor Taracena's brothers.
Bennett Taracena declined to be interviewed. Diego Taracena did not respond to a written request for comment.
Contract files show that the brothers' firms won 94 out of the first 100 contracts that Taracena handed out. Most of the jobs were for just less than $2,500 — then the limit for jobs Taracena could award at his discretion without soliciting bids.
Although the contracts were small, the authority often paid far more than necessary.
For instance, the authority paid nearly $2,500 each to install 20 toilets for disabled people in projects around the city. By comparison, the Los Angeles County Housing Authority would pay about $620, said Geoffrey Siebens, a construction manager there.
Similarly, Taracena authorized installing grab bars in bathrooms of nearly 50 housing units, paying nearly $2,500 for most sets. Siebens said the county usually pays one-tenth that.
Moreover, records show that firms connected to Taracena's family sometimes double billed.
Early last year, to streamline the contracting process, the housing authority raised the limit that managers could award at their discretion to $25,000. For awards between that and $100,000, managers were required to solicit quotes from at least three contractors. Amounts higher than $100,000 required a more formal process involving advertising for bids.
About the same time, Taracena began awarding larger contracts not only to family companies but to the three politically connected firms on the Eastside, each of which received payments of just less than $100,000.
Representatives of two of the firms — the Estrada Courts Residents Management Corp. and Grande Vista Associates — denied any knowledge of rigged competitions. "I'm just happy that I got a contract," said Gustavo Valdivia, head of Grande Vista.
The head of the third, KV and Co., did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Estrada Courts group, a nonprofit run out of an Eastside housing project, received four contracts collectively worth about $95,000. Headed by Abraham Paez, it already had government contracts to provide security guards and day-care programs at some projects.
Paez became an important player in internal housing authority politics a few years ago when he, with former Councilman Richard Alatorre, helped oust a previous assistant director at the authority suspected of taking kickbacks from a contractor, although the kickbacks were not proved and she was not charged.
Alatorre also has served as a paid consultant to the Estrada Courts group and the housing authority.
Without construction and design experience, the Estrada Courts group subcontracted its work to firms Taracena recommended, Paez said. At least one of the subcontractors was Pratt-Jennings-Holmes, created by Bennett Taracena.
Grande Vista, headed by political consultant Valdivia, a former member of Councilman Jose Huizar's staff, landed a $98,895 contract.
And KV and Co. won two contracts worth $95,230. The sole contractor among the three firms to have design expertise, it is headed by a man named John Kanounji (misspelled as Janouji in the bidding documents).
The three contract winners share various connections, not just with City Hall, but with one another. For instance, Valdivia sublets an office from Paez's Estrada Courts group. Paez and KV have been clients of former Councilman Nick Pacheco, who is Paez's attorney and KV's registered agent.
For the larger contracts, Taracena appears to have created a complex paper trail suggesting he followed the protocol of soliciting the minimum three bids required.
Interviews, however, suggest the process was nearly always fixed to make sure the politically connected firms won.
"That's my stationery. But I didn't bid this at all," said construction company owner Dick Boranian, whose firm was listed as an unsuccessful bidder. Boranian said he had submitted his firm's stationery to the housing authority to win an earlier job. But on this purported bid his name was misspelled, appearing as "Bodijian."
Sihvonen, the civil engineer who insisted he did not bid, said the stationery used in bids attributed to his firm had the wrong address — one that did not exist. Sihvonen said he once employed Taracena and, over the years, Taracena had hired him for small private jobs not involving the housing authority.
Other people whose stationery was used had ties to the Estrada Courts group or Valdivia, the political consultant, rather than Taracena.
Estelle Campbell, an interior designer who owns the building where Estrada and Valdivia have their offices, was one of them.
Files show she submitted a losing bid for the job Valdivia won.
But she said she never bid.
"I'm appalled," she said when shown a copy of the bid made in her name. "Those slugs."
Campbell recalled giving some of her stationery to an Estrada Courts employee, Phillip Chavez, at his request. She said the request came after she and her partner spoke with Chavez about doing work with the housing authority. She never did any.
Chavez said he did not remember receiving stationery from her and had not submitted a bid in her name.
At least one of the losing bidders said he offered stationery to someone he thought was working on his behalf — Valdivia of Grande Vista Associates.
Ray Levert, who owns a construction firm in Downey, said he hired Valdivia to help him resolve problems related to a project in Whittier. Valdivia asked him, he said, whether he would be interested in obtaining housing authority contracts. He said Valdivia helped him bid. Levert said he would give Validivia estimates for jobs which, as far as he knew, Valdivia would refine and then submit to the authority on Levert's stationery.
Levert said he never won.
But records show Valdivia did — by underbidding Levert.
"Is that unethical?" Levert asked, when shown the paperwork.
Valdivia acknowledged that Levert was a client on an unrelated project in Whittier but denied submitting bids to the housing authority on Levert's behalf.
In one case, documents and interviews show, a company that bid repeatedly does not seem to have existed.
Files show that someone named "John Vargas" of "Vargas Designs" submitted bids and gave a Highland Park address. There is a drafting firm at that address, but the father and son who run it say they have never heard of John Vargas.
A review of public records also turned up no Vargas at that address.
The $2,500 toilet*
A comparison of expenses paid by the city and county housing agencies.
• Price per toilet paid by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles: $2,445.
• Price per toilet paid by the Los Angeles County Housing Authority: $620.
• Price per grab bar paid by the city: $2,000 to $2,500.
• Price per grab bar paid by the county: $250.
*Prices cover removal of an old toilet and installation of a new one that meets Americans With Disabilities Act standards in apartments in public housing projects. The city had a $2,500 ceiling for no-bid contracts that could be awarded by managers at their sole discretion.
Source: Los Angeles city and county housing authorities
An unreal bid
Housing authority files show this bid for about $100,000 in construction design work at three housing projects was submitted in the name of civil engineer George Sihvonen. But Sihvonen said he never made the bid. Other bidders for this contract listed in city housing authority records included: Republic Services Group, whose owner said he did not submit the bid. Estelle Campbell, who also said she did not submit the bid. KV and Co., whose bid was submitted in the name of a nonexistent executive. Vargas Designs, a company that apparently does not exist. West Coast United, whose owner said he submitted a bid through his political consultant, Gustavo Valdivia, an assertion Valdivia denied. Valdivia's firm, Grande Vista Associates, which won the bid. Estrada Courts Resident Management Corp., from whom Valdivia sublets office space.
L.A. official steered work to relatives
Nearly $800,000 in contracts, often with inflated prices, went to family and firms with political ties, data show.
By Ted Rohrlich and Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writers
July 28, 2007
A high-level manager for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles directed nearly $800,000 in contracts to his brothers and three politically connected firms without competitive bidding or after rigged contests, a Times review has found.
The manager, Victor Taracena, oversaw more than 150 contracts worth about half a million dollars that went directly to companies his brothers created, contract files show.
Seven other contracts worth $289,000 were awarded to non-family firms, two of which had little or no expertise in the work they were hired to do.
These firms — all with ties to current or former Los Angeles City Council members from the Eastside — won their contracts in bidding processes fraught with irregularities. In one case, a losing bid was submitted by a nonexistent company. Other such bids came from actual companies which, when contacted by The Times, said they were surprised to learn that bids had been submitted in their names.
Some purported bidders did not correctly spell their own names. And legitimate firms said their stationery had been obtained under false pretenses or fabricated.
"No, no, no, no," said George Sihvonen, a civil engineer who, contract files show, bid unsuccessfully on several jobs. "I haven't submitted any bids…. Those are not my doing at all. Somebody else has used my name."
The contracts involved design and construction of facilities to accommodate disabled people: wheelchair ramps, toilets and grab bars in city housing projects.
In numerous instances, the city housing authority appears to have overpaid for the services, based on comparisons with its counterpart in the county.
The overpayments — amounting to more than $130,000 for toilets and grab bars alone — mean that scores of disabled residents may have to wait longer for their apartments to be made appropriately accessible, officials said.
The authority is responsible for providing housing to about 60,000 of the city's poorest families. Though governed by a commission appointed by the mayor, the authority is a free-standing agency primarily funded by the federal government.
Taracena, who was recently fired from his $104,000-a-year job after a housing authority investigation, declined to comment, but his attorney, Marshall Rubin, said his client denies any wrongdoing. He would not elaborate.
Officials at the authority said they had referred Taracena's case to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for possible prosecution.
David Demerjian, who heads the district attorney's public corruption unit, said no decision had been made on whether to file criminal charges.
The bid-rigging comes at a time when the housing authority is grappling with the consequences of a series of mismanagement and corruption scandals that three years ago had the agency on the brink of federal receivership. The agency no longer faces that danger.
Many agency leaders were swept out in the midst of a federal investigation into allegations of a kickback scheme. No kickbacks were proved.
The agency's current director, Rudolf Montiel, said he has spent much of the last few years working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to root out corruption. Dozens of staffers have been fired or placed on leave. Several have been referred to the district attorney's office for criminal prosecution.
Taracena, who was hired in August 2003 as a construction project manager, was given the responsibility of bringing the city's 15-plus housing projects into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. He was repeatedly promoted and by January 2006 placed in charge of all the authority's design and construction, reporting directly to Montiel.
Shortly after he was hired, according to contract files obtained under the California Public Records Act, he began steering jobs to family-owned construction and design companies. County records suggest that the companies did not exist until they began receiving contracts.
The firms — Pratt-Jennings-Holmes, Decker & Durden, Trevor and Associates, and So-Called Artists — are registered in the names of either Bennett or Diego Taracena, Victor Taracena's brothers.
Bennett Taracena declined to be interviewed. Diego Taracena did not respond to a written request for comment.
Contract files show that the brothers' firms won 94 out of the first 100 contracts that Taracena handed out. Most of the jobs were for just less than $2,500 — then the limit for jobs Taracena could award at his discretion without soliciting bids.
Although the contracts were small, the authority often paid far more than necessary.
For instance, the authority paid nearly $2,500 each to install 20 toilets for disabled people in projects around the city. By comparison, the Los Angeles County Housing Authority would pay about $620, said Geoffrey Siebens, a construction manager there.
Similarly, Taracena authorized installing grab bars in bathrooms of nearly 50 housing units, paying nearly $2,500 for most sets. Siebens said the county usually pays one-tenth that.
Moreover, records show that firms connected to Taracena's family sometimes double billed.
Early last year, to streamline the contracting process, the housing authority raised the limit that managers could award at their discretion to $25,000. For awards between that and $100,000, managers were required to solicit quotes from at least three contractors. Amounts higher than $100,000 required a more formal process involving advertising for bids.
About the same time, Taracena began awarding larger contracts not only to family companies but to the three politically connected firms on the Eastside, each of which received payments of just less than $100,000.
Representatives of two of the firms — the Estrada Courts Residents Management Corp. and Grande Vista Associates — denied any knowledge of rigged competitions. "I'm just happy that I got a contract," said Gustavo Valdivia, head of Grande Vista.
The head of the third, KV and Co., did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Estrada Courts group, a nonprofit run out of an Eastside housing project, received four contracts collectively worth about $95,000. Headed by Abraham Paez, it already had government contracts to provide security guards and day-care programs at some projects.
Paez became an important player in internal housing authority politics a few years ago when he, with former Councilman Richard Alatorre, helped oust a previous assistant director at the authority suspected of taking kickbacks from a contractor, although the kickbacks were not proved and she was not charged.
Alatorre also has served as a paid consultant to the Estrada Courts group and the housing authority.
Without construction and design experience, the Estrada Courts group subcontracted its work to firms Taracena recommended, Paez said. At least one of the subcontractors was Pratt-Jennings-Holmes, created by Bennett Taracena.
Grande Vista, headed by political consultant Valdivia, a former member of Councilman Jose Huizar's staff, landed a $98,895 contract.
And KV and Co. won two contracts worth $95,230. The sole contractor among the three firms to have design expertise, it is headed by a man named John Kanounji (misspelled as Janouji in the bidding documents).
The three contract winners share various connections, not just with City Hall, but with one another. For instance, Valdivia sublets an office from Paez's Estrada Courts group. Paez and KV have been clients of former Councilman Nick Pacheco, who is Paez's attorney and KV's registered agent.
For the larger contracts, Taracena appears to have created a complex paper trail suggesting he followed the protocol of soliciting the minimum three bids required.
Interviews, however, suggest the process was nearly always fixed to make sure the politically connected firms won.
"That's my stationery. But I didn't bid this at all," said construction company owner Dick Boranian, whose firm was listed as an unsuccessful bidder. Boranian said he had submitted his firm's stationery to the housing authority to win an earlier job. But on this purported bid his name was misspelled, appearing as "Bodijian."
Sihvonen, the civil engineer who insisted he did not bid, said the stationery used in bids attributed to his firm had the wrong address — one that did not exist. Sihvonen said he once employed Taracena and, over the years, Taracena had hired him for small private jobs not involving the housing authority.
Other people whose stationery was used had ties to the Estrada Courts group or Valdivia, the political consultant, rather than Taracena.
Estelle Campbell, an interior designer who owns the building where Estrada and Valdivia have their offices, was one of them.
Files show she submitted a losing bid for the job Valdivia won.
But she said she never bid.
"I'm appalled," she said when shown a copy of the bid made in her name. "Those slugs."
Campbell recalled giving some of her stationery to an Estrada Courts employee, Phillip Chavez, at his request. She said the request came after she and her partner spoke with Chavez about doing work with the housing authority. She never did any.
Chavez said he did not remember receiving stationery from her and had not submitted a bid in her name.
At least one of the losing bidders said he offered stationery to someone he thought was working on his behalf — Valdivia of Grande Vista Associates.
Ray Levert, who owns a construction firm in Downey, said he hired Valdivia to help him resolve problems related to a project in Whittier. Valdivia asked him, he said, whether he would be interested in obtaining housing authority contracts. He said Valdivia helped him bid. Levert said he would give Validivia estimates for jobs which, as far as he knew, Valdivia would refine and then submit to the authority on Levert's stationery.
Levert said he never won.
But records show Valdivia did — by underbidding Levert.
"Is that unethical?" Levert asked, when shown the paperwork.
Valdivia acknowledged that Levert was a client on an unrelated project in Whittier but denied submitting bids to the housing authority on Levert's behalf.
In one case, documents and interviews show, a company that bid repeatedly does not seem to have existed.
Files show that someone named "John Vargas" of "Vargas Designs" submitted bids and gave a Highland Park address. There is a drafting firm at that address, but the father and son who run it say they have never heard of John Vargas.
A review of public records also turned up no Vargas at that address.
The $2,500 toilet*
A comparison of expenses paid by the city and county housing agencies.
• Price per toilet paid by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles: $2,445.
• Price per toilet paid by the Los Angeles County Housing Authority: $620.
• Price per grab bar paid by the city: $2,000 to $2,500.
• Price per grab bar paid by the county: $250.
*Prices cover removal of an old toilet and installation of a new one that meets Americans With Disabilities Act standards in apartments in public housing projects. The city had a $2,500 ceiling for no-bid contracts that could be awarded by managers at their sole discretion.
Source: Los Angeles city and county housing authorities
An unreal bid
Housing authority files show this bid for about $100,000 in construction design work at three housing projects was submitted in the name of civil engineer George Sihvonen. But Sihvonen said he never made the bid. Other bidders for this contract listed in city housing authority records included: Republic Services Group, whose owner said he did not submit the bid. Estelle Campbell, who also said she did not submit the bid. KV and Co., whose bid was submitted in the name of a nonexistent executive. Vargas Designs, a company that apparently does not exist. West Coast United, whose owner said he submitted a bid through his political consultant, Gustavo Valdivia, an assertion Valdivia denied. Valdivia's firm, Grande Vista Associates, which won the bid. Estrada Courts Resident Management Corp., from whom Valdivia sublets office space.
Monday, May 7, 2007
President George Bush & Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Los Angeles Needs You To Help Fix The LAUSD School System. (The Politicians Are Playing Politics.
To: President George W. Bush, Governor Arnold Scwarzenegger
Fr: Zuma Dogg
Re: Fixing the LAUSD (Los Angeles School System)
Dt: Now
Dear President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger,
I know you are both well aware of the current economic and social crisis in Los Angeles, California caused by the broken system called LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District).
Both of you know that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just spent the past year trying to blow that shady curveball Assembly Bill 1381 (Mayoral control of LAUSD, but it was so shady and unconstitutional (like most of what happens in Los Angeles City Hall, these days) that it got overturned in court (of course).
And now, newly appointed Superintendent David Brewer (who everyone seems to like, thus far) has basically delclared the school system is a COMPLETE disaster, beyone anyone’s wildest imagination.
And now that the Fabian “Nucklehead” Nunez AB 1381 school takeover bill has failed miserably, the politicians are trying to pick up the ball, but they are playing politics. And Zuma Dogg see NO solution in site.
Fellaz...I don’t have to tell you, Los Angeles is about one dropout away from having to be declared a FEDERAL DISASTER ZONE. I know LAUSD certainly should.
But the mayor seems to think just because the school system is more hazardous to public safety than a toxic waste dump -- that means HE should be able to take control. (Which is faulty logic.)
So here is an actual school reform motion, that Antonio Villaraigosa’s office is WELL AWARE of, as is Los Angeles City Council.
But LA City Hall is has kinda become the “Bad News Bears” of politics (see www.mayorsam.blogspot.com) and I wouldn’t trust them to subsitute teach first grade...let alone reform the largest local bueracratic mess in history.
So, can you please take a look at this and pick up the phone and tell these clowns running the City to stop collection campaign contributions for two seconds and DO SOMETHNG. ZUMA DOGG IS DELCARING THE LAUSD SCHOOL SYSTEM A LOCAL DISASTER AREA AND STATE AND FEDERAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATLEY. Just because it is a man made disaster, does not mean this is not a local, state and national emergency demanding your immediate attention.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LAUSD CHARTER SCHOOL REFORM PLAN
"ZUMA DOGG Videos on YouTube"
Official Blog: www.zumadogg.blogspot.com
Click this link to visit ZumaDogg's myspace page. REAL Political Activism humor. Borat meets Daily Show. "Zuma Dogg Fights City Hall"
Fr: Zuma Dogg
Re: Fixing the LAUSD (Los Angeles School System)
Dt: Now
Dear President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger,
I know you are both well aware of the current economic and social crisis in Los Angeles, California caused by the broken system called LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District).
Both of you know that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just spent the past year trying to blow that shady curveball Assembly Bill 1381 (Mayoral control of LAUSD, but it was so shady and unconstitutional (like most of what happens in Los Angeles City Hall, these days) that it got overturned in court (of course).
And now, newly appointed Superintendent David Brewer (who everyone seems to like, thus far) has basically delclared the school system is a COMPLETE disaster, beyone anyone’s wildest imagination.
And now that the Fabian “Nucklehead” Nunez AB 1381 school takeover bill has failed miserably, the politicians are trying to pick up the ball, but they are playing politics. And Zuma Dogg see NO solution in site.
Fellaz...I don’t have to tell you, Los Angeles is about one dropout away from having to be declared a FEDERAL DISASTER ZONE. I know LAUSD certainly should.
But the mayor seems to think just because the school system is more hazardous to public safety than a toxic waste dump -- that means HE should be able to take control. (Which is faulty logic.)
So here is an actual school reform motion, that Antonio Villaraigosa’s office is WELL AWARE of, as is Los Angeles City Council.
But LA City Hall is has kinda become the “Bad News Bears” of politics (see www.mayorsam.blogspot.com) and I wouldn’t trust them to subsitute teach first grade...let alone reform the largest local bueracratic mess in history.
So, can you please take a look at this and pick up the phone and tell these clowns running the City to stop collection campaign contributions for two seconds and DO SOMETHNG. ZUMA DOGG IS DELCARING THE LAUSD SCHOOL SYSTEM A LOCAL DISASTER AREA AND STATE AND FEDERAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATLEY. Just because it is a man made disaster, does not mean this is not a local, state and national emergency demanding your immediate attention.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LAUSD CHARTER SCHOOL REFORM PLAN
"ZUMA DOGG Videos on YouTube"
Official Blog: www.zumadogg.blogspot.com
Click this link to visit ZumaDogg's myspace page. REAL Political Activism humor. Borat meets Daily Show. "Zuma Dogg Fights City Hall"
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