Monday, December 26, 2011

OccupyLA uncovers inconvenient truths about Trutanich

From the Los Angeles Dragnet: Carmen Trutanich’s plan to use his position as Los Angeles City Attorney to sue OccupyLA protesters and bolster his campaign to become District Attorney, may have backfired even before it has started.



In what appears to be a response from the OccupyLA movement to Trutanich’s threat to bankrupt the protesters over the costs of the clean-up at City Hall, the OccupyLA website has started taking a look at where Trutanich is raising money, and why.

OccupyLA discovered that Trutanich is taking campaign donations from big money interests who rival to AEG’s plans to establish a world-class convention center and football stadium in downtown LA. AEG’s Farmers Field development would bring thousands of jobs to LA, but it seems Trutanich ‘likes the money’ of rival developers who want to locate the football stadium outside the City of Los Angeles in the City of Industry.

According to the OccupyLA website: “Among the many names listed, I found several executives (and one spouse) of real estate development and construction firms that made individual contributions to Trutanich’s campaign.”

05/13/11
John BurroughsConstruction Manager, Commerce Construction Co.
Trutanich For District Attorney 2012 Exploratory Committee
$250.00

05/13/11
Jakob AckermannDirector and Chairman of Commerce Construction Co LP, Majestic Realty Co.
Trutanich For District Attorney 2012 Exploratory Committee
$1,000.00

05/13/11
Gayle Garner RoskiArtist, Wife of Edward P. Roski Jr
Trutanich For District Attorney 2012 Exploratory Committee
$1,000.00

05/16/11
Edward P. RoskiPresident of Majestic Realty; Rated #163 on The Forbes’s 400 Richest Americans with a net worth of approximately $2.5 billion
Trutanich For District Attorney 2012 Exploratory Committee
$1,000.00
“It so happens that Edward P. Roski’s Majestic Realty Co. (along with Commerce Construction Co.) is also at work on its own stadium project in the City of Industry.” OccupyLA reports.
Trutanich has a long and bitter history with AEG. In 2009, Trutanich publicly accused AEG of ‘criminal aspects’ to their handling of the Michael Jackson memorial. The fiasco over Trutanich’s year-long ‘criminal aspects’ investigation has been well documented; it appears to have been nothing more than a cheap political stunt.

But the bad blood between AEG and Trutanich may well explain why the former 
ambulance chaser
plaintiff’s attorney turned career politician is so keen make friends with AEG’s enemies, even if it costs the City of LA much needed jobs and sales tax revenue.

One thing does appear to be certain. Trutanich’s attempt to generate publicity for his DA campaign by persecuting the OccupyLA protesters has caused them to turn their attention on him. In the process, the OccupyLA movement could well turn into his worst nightmare as they fuel the awkward questions about who is willing to pay Trutanich to become District Attorney, and why.

Trutanich might not like the ballot designation 'The 1% Candidate' that OccupyLA may award him, but he certainly looks like earning it.

&tc.

Monday, December 19, 2011

'Criminal Aspects' threat made by City Attorney Trutanich challenged

The Los Angeles Dragnet has published an article condemning City Attorney Carmen Trutanich for using the public arena to allege that there were 'criminal aspects' to AEG's handling of the Michael Jackson memorial.

A humorously crafted picture pulls together the 'criminal aspects' and sets the tone for an insightful and informative discussion on the way Trutanich apparently tried to manipulate the media into believing that there was a crime connected to the costs of the memorial service at the Staples Center.

The Dragnet suggests that Trutanich 'channeled' Joe McCarthy in his pursuit of media attention, basically concluding that Trutanich had no real evidence of any crime, but was willing to use innuendo and rumor to try to bully AEG into submission.

The article is the second in a series entitled "The Trutanich Scandals"which promises to be a regular feature on the Dragnet blog.