At Fremont and Orange (Photo – Melissa Michelson)
Alhambra has been plagued for years with the status quo establishment courting and being funded by the corporate class who have much to gain and little to lose by attempting to shape political outcomes in Alhambra.
By Melissa Michelson
In November 2020, Alhambran voters will have a chance to put an end to legalized corruption in Alhambra with a City Charter Ballot Measure that would implement campaign finance and election reform as well as increased transparency, including a campaign donation cap of $250 each per donor and a switch to by-district voting in the City. On June 2, and again on June 8, the City Council unanimously approved the first and second readings of agreed-upon revisions to the citizen-led ballot measure as part of a “consensus” bill, which would also add a ban on donations from developers. In the meantime, corporate favoritism has been alive and kicking in Alhambra.
Revolving Doors and Pay to Play
In 2016, Councilmembers Maloney and Mejia both were supported by Arman Gabay, the developer who wanted to put a Lowe’s on Fremont without going through a comprehensive environmental and traffic review or an Environmental Impact Report. Gabay was later indicted on federal bribery charges related to a City of Los Angeles corruption scheme. (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-30/beverly-hills-developer-bribery-case). Gabay donated $5,000 each to Maloney and Mejia’s campaigns; they both won, and they both approved Gabay’s development once they were on the Council.
Four months after they were elected, Councilmembers Maloney and Mejia, along with the previous corporate-friendly City Council, also approved a large development for a group of doctor-developers, TAG2, headed by Dr. Kenneth Sim. That approval allowed the doctor-developers to rip out 268 mature trees and a historic chapel on a 12-acre site at Valley and Marengo so they could build 125 condos, calling it “Woodhaven.” Several of the doctors from TAG2 sit on the board of the Alhambra Hospital, and Alhambra Hospital’s CEO, Iris Lai, sits on the board of Alhambra’s Chamber of Commerce. Lai is a frequent donor to establishment candidates, as are many connected with the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce. (Click for a list of donors to City Council candidates and the current board of the Chamber of Commerce).
In 2018, the TAG2 doctors also supported two corporate-backed Alhambra City Council candidates, Suzi Dunkel-Soto and Lara Tellez Gagliano, by prominently placing a banner for them on the construction fence surrounding their property and facing busy Valley Boulevard. Dunkel-Soto had approved their application for tree-demolition while chair of the Planning Commission in 2017.
Surprisingly, Dunkel-Soto and Tellez-Gagliano did not win a seat on the Council. Adele Andrade-Stadler and Katherine Lee did. This was no doubt an uphill battle, and it speaks to the level of frustration and contempt the Alhambra electorate has come to hold towards moneyed interests meddling in Alhambra politics. It is an anomaly when non-establishment, non-corporate backed candidates win an Alhambra election.
Uncontested elections are also a product of big money and its negative consequences in Alhambra politics, which discourages competition in Alhambra elections. Mayor Ross Maza’s race for his 2018 Council seat was one of multiple uncontested seats in recent years. Even so, long-time councilwoman Barbara Messina was his largest and only donor, giving him $1,392 upon her retirement from the Council. In return, Maza appointed Messina to the Planning Commission, where she sits with Dunkel-Soto.
Looking ahead
In August 2019, Elite -TRC LLC (Elite International Investment and The Ratkovich Company) started the formal application process by submitting a Draft Environmental Impact Report (D-EIR) with the City of Alhambra for approval of its 1,061 unit-development with 4,347 parking spaces on part of its 38-acre property behind the Alhambra business complex at Mission and Fremont. The D-EIR estimates that the development will bring 7,752 more cars per day into the area, and describes the traffic there as being unable to be mitigated. Whether the City of Alhambra rubber-stamps this mega-development remains to be seen, but The Ratkovich Company–which holds the seat of Vice President at the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce–has been another long-time contributor to Alhambra’s political elite. (More about “The Villages” development.)
Robert,
I have lived in Alhambra for over 30 years. The corruption in this city is beyond the imagination of the average person. Your comments looks like you are part of the group that has controlled Alhambra for so long. Your strategy is to make personal attacks. This is very low. I have read most of the articles linked here and the evidence is so obvious. Thanks to Grassroots Alhambra that has worked so hard to change this corrupt system in Alhambra. And thank you Colorado Boulevard for having a forum for discussion and local news. It is a blessing that we have this platform to inform the public. I signed the Grassroots Ballot Initiative to reform the campaign donation laws and have by district voting. This will change Alhambra and give opportunity to us little people without big money to run for office.
Laura Chen
Robert,
You had a lot to say about those of us trying to bring some transparency to our city government. I do believe you missed some important articles on corruption when you did your research. These might help to clear some things up for you.
Thanks
https://www.dailynews.com/2010/01/11/developer-convicted-of-bribery-seeking-project-approval-again/
https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2007/06/08/williams-admits-to-bribery/
https://chipjacobs.com/new-dad-everyones-a-critic-2/
https://www.alhambrasource.org/alhambra-councilwoman-messina-to-pay-14000-for-violating-the-political-reform-act
As a 27.5 year resident in North Alhambra, it is appalling to me that ColoradoBlvd.Net continues to allow guest columns that continue to only give half truths. Grassroots Alhambra has claimed corruption for the past four years and in prior years. Between Sean McMorris, Eric Sunada, Michael Lawrence and yourself, you have made many with public information requests, spoke at council meetings accusing staff and council members of corruption and Eric wrote a complaint letter to HUD. Not ONE formal charge from a District, State or US Attorney has been filed against the City of Alhambra for any corruption or council members when they were in office. Alhambra is not a Bell, Maywood or Hawaiian Gardens. Eric Sunada brow beat the council for years about Alhambra not spending HUD money appropriately and when he received a letter from HUD stating Alhambra only a couple of minor infractions, he resigned from the HUD Commission when the city was cleared. Is it sour grapes since he both lost his Water Board and City Council election? Melissa you continue to write and only tell half of the story. What you forgot to mention in your article was that over forty (40) trees were transferred or donated to Ramona Catholic School across from the development by the developer. You also failed to mention due to your lack of negotiating skills, that the developer agreed to place over 750 trees within the new development once completed, where you wanted them to save beetle bark and diseased trees that could have been deadly to the residence and school children nearby. Thirdly, you talk about the development on Fremont that Grassroots killed with the help from the no build attorney from San Diego area. I hope you are proud on not allowing over 250 jobs to be created where Lowes committed to hiring at least 50% of Alhambra residents and would have contributed over $400,000 in sales tax revenue. You mention Gabay was charged and you make it seem it was in 2020. Gabay was actually arrested in May 2018 over two years ago and no charges have been filed. You fail to mention the bribe was to a LA County employee for a project in Hawthorne and nothing to do with Alhambra at all. Let’s also clear one thing up as well. You endorsed Adele Andrade-Stadler and Andrea Quezada-Lofthouse and did not support Katherine Lee. You make the inference you were supporting her when you had lawn signs for the other two candidates on your front lawn. Melissa maybe you should pay more attention to your teaching ability and students at Pasadena City College since you are at a 2.1 rating out 5 for Rate My Professor. Seventy-five percent of the students say you are awful and your grammar is terrible. But then again, you are protected by the union and can not show up to work and go protest to defund the police per your Facebook page. When you write an article be fair and balanced and not one-sided.
Robert, you got it all wrong (no surprise). Corruption is not solely a measure of how many indictments have been doled out (and indictments have been doled out in Alhambra), but also the amount of shady stuff that happens under the purview of democratic institutions and the law. If the cops and DAs and state and federal politicians and agencies responsible for keeping Alhambra politicians in check are also corrupt or unwilling to investigate out of fear of blowback on them or because of personal relationships with the Alhambra politicians in question, then corruption runs wild. And that is indeed part of the problem in Alhambra. They get away with corruption so why should they stop engaging in corrupt behavior? Furthermore, corruption is as much, if not more, an ethical concept as a legal one. Regardless, this writer has already laid out the corruption case and basically responded to all your nonsense in the below article:
https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/former-alhambra-councilwoman-dares-public-to-find-corruption-so-we-did/
Brad, shows you do not know much about how DA’s, AG’s US AG work. LA County District Attorney has a Public Integrity Unit that investigates all referred corruption, unethical, Brown Act violations and anything to do with the operation of a city. If Alhambra was as corrupt as the nay sayers keep on saying, then the DA would investigate. The only one the LA County DA is investigating right now is Councilwoman Adele Andrade-Stadler for Elder Abuse & Fraud. Everything I wrote about is accurate and correct. Believe me I got it right sir.
Robert Contreras, I need to weigh in again on your misinformation that obfuscates issues that are far too important. The level of corruption is not measured by which agency has or has not jurisdiction. Let’s take your example that cites the level of activity at the LA county district attorney’s office as a measure of malfeasance. While the DA’s purview includes Brown Act violations and felony bribery, which Alhambra has several under our current city attorney’s watch, it does not cover violations of the city’s own charter and municipal code. For example, violations on the competitive bidding process of large contracts or zoning rights that are regulated by our own ordinances are not covered by the DA and must be handled by the state or grand jury. Violations that require higher level of agency involvement beyond the county DA do not make them any less significant. In fact, they can be the most serious and hence require the most scrutiny and legal expense. For example, civil rights violations often require federal or state-level enforcement requiring a year or more of process. In Alhambra’s case, there is one that has been most hurtful, and that is its voting system. Although we are a majority-minority city where nearly half the households are of lower income, the more affluent people vote at higher rates than poorer people of color. There are reasons for this, such as scarcity of time for the working poor, and it is true that we can all do better to get out to vote. But it’s unconscionable that the city exploits this by giving each voter five extra votes, amplifying this asymmetry to where it can permeate across the entire city. That, Mr. Contreras, is structural racism. And it is a root cause of how a select few can continue to profit at the expense of a majority that continues to fall behind in an ever degrading environment.
Robert Contreras, you misstate several items that require correction to such a degree that you lose legitimacy and the courtesy of a response. But because the public needs to know, especially in these times, I will respond to your mis-characterization of the city’s “victory” with regard to the federal HUD funding committee. The letter I submitted to HUD is one step in the process that documents the misuse of funding and, perhaps more importantly, the structural impediment to the public’s by-right participation in the planning of these funds based on the federal objectives, which is to help uplift our lower income and vulnerable population. No other city committee is given the focus and autonomy toward this end. The city’s own municipal code states that members of the committee must be representative of this duty by either themselves belonging to lower income groups, being a person of color living in such an area, the vulnerable (handicapped, elderly), or belonging to a business or civic group concerned about the program. It also gives power and independence to this committee to set its own meeting times and agenda and directs city officers and staff to “cooperate with and furnish all reasonable and necessary assistance to the committee.” But city management and city council have deliberately denied the public’s right to set the agenda and meeting times. Meetings are cancelled and held so infrequently that funding allocations are fait accompli. It is this denial of the public’s right that allows significant amounts of this funding to repeatedly go to broken windows policing and ineffective housing programs that reward the protectionist homeowner and real estate industry instead of the very people for whom the funding is intended: the 50%+ of the population that is of lower income and people of color. Neither HUD nor the county DA enforce violation of the city code such as these. But complaints must be filed with them as the case proceeds to the grand jury, which is the direction provided by the state AG’s office. The question is not why I resigned from this committee. It is how can anyone continue to serve on it when it’s either ignorance at best or a condoning of the malfeasance at worst. Your comments are revealing in that they clearly come from within the system, telling of a lack of remorse or contrition. This provides a data point that only reinforces the structural problem and its urgency for correction.
I would like to subscribe to your on line CB at $16. I greatly appreciated Melissa Michaelson’s informative and well written article about what is happening to Alhambra’s living space and the uncaring manipulation of it by moneyed elites who seem to see our living spaces as nothing more than piles and piles of cash. Her article was well complemented by Eric Sunada’s Article as well.
What an outstanding piece of reporting. Melissa Michelson please do a similar “follow the money” piece on Pasadena.
Thank you! Please share the article and maybe others will be inspired to do so and more outlets will also be inspired to publish them. There’s simply not enough written and published about legalized corruption.