Politics
Edited by David Lowell
State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, and candidate for LA County Supervisor, says his opponent … City Councilman and former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks … has violated state law for political gain by accepting thousands of dollars from Metro Transit Authority contractors while a voting member of the MTA Board. Ridley-Thomas has asked the District Attorney to conduct a Public Integrity probe.
 In his letter to Steve Cooley … LA County DA … Ridley-Thomas says that public records show that “while sitting on the Board, (Parks) accepted more than $20,000 in contributions to his campaign … from contractors and their agents, officers, employees and family members who currently do business with the MTA or have done business with the MTA during the last four years.”
In so doing, Ridley-Thomas says, Parks “raises serious questions amid telltale signs of political wrongdoing at best and a shakedown at worst.”
Here’s the way Soulvine columnist Betty Pleasant analyzed and commented on it in Thursday’s Wave Newspapers.
COP, ARREST THYSELF! — In launching his fall campaign for election to the Board of Supervisors last weekend, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas called upon the MTA inspector general to investigate his rival, Councilman Bernard Parks, for unlawful MTA campaign fundraising, and urged a swift probe of more than $21,000 in contributions that Parks, a member of the MTA Board of Directors, accepted from MTA contractors.
In response to Ridley-Thomas’ further calls for Parks to resign from his MTA post, the councilman’s chief of staff — his son, Bernard Parks Jr. — is quoted in Saturday’s L.A. Times, thusly: “We have done nothing wrong and would be interested in seeing Mr. Ridley-Thomas identify these $21,000 contributions with more specificity.” I don’t know about Ridley-Thomas, but I love a challenge. Specificity? Actually, I can specify $21,800. Here you go:
First, the law: California Senate Bill 89, entitled “Limits on MTA Contributions,” was enacted in the 1997-98 legislative session and established the following ethics laws, which are still in effect today: “Neither the owner, or employee, or any member of their immediate families, of any construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm or any company, vendor, or business entity seeking a contract with the authority shall make a contribution of over $10 in value or amount to a member, alternate member or employee of the authority, or to any member of their immediate families.
“No member, alternate member, or employee of the authority, or member of their immediate families, shall accept, solicit, or direct a contribution of over $10 in value or amount from any construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm or any company, vendor or business entity seeking a contract with the authority, currently doing business with the authority or have done business with the authority during the past four years.”
According to Schedule A of California Form 460 filed by law by the Bernard Parks for Supervisor Campaign, the candidate received monetary contributions in 2007 from the controversial MTA contractor Tutor-Saliba Corp., which today is still involved in settlements for questionable work done on the Red Line subway. Tutor-Saliba is currently constructing the new LAPD headquarters and the corporation has contributed $18,000 to the Parks campaign through its executives and their wives.
Ronald Tutor, general contractor, gave $1,000. Gerald Brown, the firm’s vice president, gave $1,000. On the same day, his wife, Patricia Brown, gave $1,000. Mark Fischbasch, another vice president, gave $1,000. On the same day, his wife, Rosemary Fischbasch, gave $1,000. James Foster, equipment manager for Tutor-Saliba, gave $1,000. James Frost, the company’s construction executive, gave $1,000, as did his wife, Nicole. Joseph Guglielmo, construction manager, gave $1,000 and so did his wife, Ardis. Michael Kerchner, another vice president, and his wife, Carolyn, gave $1,000 each, as did Business Executive Roger Sexton and his wife Diane. Executive Robert Lewis gave $1,000, as did David Randall, the corporation’s senior vice president. Tutor-Saliba’s CFO, William Sparks and his wife Vicki contributed $1,000 each in January, as recorded in Parks’ 2008 contributions documents.
Koar Development Group, LLC and Archeon International Group are jointly building a $160 million mixed-use project with MTA in Koreatown. Archeon gave Parks $1,000 in February and Koar’s CEO Edward Dong gave the councilman $500 in February. To continue, Gerard Orozco, vice president of MTA contractor URS Corp. gave Parks $1,000, as did Bruce Russell, engineer for MTA-contracted Carter & Burgess Inc.
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I believe I’ve provided sufficient specificity in detailing the blatant lawlessness of our former police chief — he who prides himself on his tough, law-and-order stanch, his disdain for any form of criminality, his intolerance for any bit of rule-bending, his penchant for gleefully throwing the first stone at anybody even accused of wrongdoing. Parks, the self-righteous paragon of law enforcement, has engaged in illegal activity for almost two years. He ought to arrest himself.
(Read the rest of Betty Pleasant’s column here .) (See list of donors and other comments here .) ◘
CityWatch
Vol 6 Issue 74
Pub: Sept 12, 2008
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