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THE VIEW FROM HERE - During the 2022 election season for Los Angeles Mayor, the two hot topics were the Homeless Crisis and LA Corruption. There was no substantive difference between Rick Caruso and Mayor Bass, except Mayor Bass did an excellent imitation of recently deceased Queen Elizabeth’s wave and smile. After her election, Mayor Bass jumped into the Homeless Crisis with gusto, but talk about LA corruption magically disappeared. Why?
Despite the hoopla about individual corrupt councilmembers, Los Angeles has no corruption problem. Rather, its problem is Corruptionism. The difference between alleged corruption, such as the dubious allegations against councilmember Curren Price, and Corruptionism is that the latter term means that the system itself is so corrupt that anyone participating in the system automatically is corrupt. The only way for an LA city councilmember to avoid being corrupt is to refuse to vote No on bad projects. In that case, due to retaliation by other councilmembers none of his measures will pass; he/she might as well stay home. (Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’ No vote on the city's $12.8 billion budget was not on a project.)
In 2006 the State amended Penal Code, § 86 to emphasize that vote trading among city councilmembers was criminal. One instance could earn a 4-year prison term. A bribe can be anything of value including cash, cars, vacations (like Supreme Court Justice Thomas enjoys) or abstract like another council vote. Councilmember #1's voting Yes on Councilmember #2’s project in agreement that CM #2 will vote Yes on CM #1 project(s) is criminal vote trading.
A Few Aspects of Penal Code, § 86 Merit Clarification.
1) City Council Rules that Everyone Must Vote Yes on Every Project
At LA City Council, it is required that every councilmember vote Yes on every project which another councilmember places on the city council agenda. Each councilmember agrees to vote Yes so that in return all the other councilmembers will vote Yes in his project(s). This requirement is why one councilmember can guarantee that in return for booty from a developer that the developer’s project will get unanimous approval. That is why it is called the One and Done Rule; developers need to bribe only one councilmember and the deal is done.
2) The Council’s Violation is Easy to Prove
Proof of a Penal Code, § 86 violation is the same as proof in other cases. For example, a staff member can be a whistle blower who produces proof that CD 14 voted Yes on CD 13's project in return for CD 13 voting Yes CD’s project. A corrupt business practice may also be established by the actions of the two or more councilmembers. As with the Mafia control of some trade unions, cases with eyewitness testimony is generally instrumental in gaining a conviction. Sometimes, however, the parties’ actions over time are sufficient to establish a criminal enterprise. With Los Angeles corrupt One and Done Rule criminal vote trading is mandatory. There are plenty of city hall personnel willing to provide oral testimony of the various conversations to show that councilmembers are trading votes rather than voting their own opinion about a project’s merit.
3) The One and Done Rule:
For the few Angelenos who do not know how the One and Done Rule functions; here’s a review. Each city council is required to vote for any project which another council member places in the city council agenda. The fact that every project passes with unanimous approval is proof that there is a vote trading system since the odds of 10,000 projects would all receive unanimous approval with the One and Done Rue is less than 1 in Infinity. Defendants are welcome to counter the allegation of showing that the odds of getting 10,000 heads in a coin toss is 1 in 2^10,000. The number is so large that the English language has no word for it. Mathematically, it may be written “two raised to the ten thousandth power (2 to the 10,000th power).
The real-life result of LA Corruptionism is that every project which tears down poor people’s homes (rent controlled apartments and small homes) decimate the housing supply for the poor. Developers replace the poor people’s homes with market rate housing. In other words, an elderly person living on social security paying $350 month rent in 2007 would be evicted and his unit would be replaced by a unit renting for $750.00. While some poor could find alternate housing by paying 50% or more of their income for housing, by living with relatives, or by living in illegally constructed garage conversion, many became homeless. As the years rolled by, percentage of homeless proportion of criminals, the mentally ill, and seniors increased as they were less likely to find any place to live. By the late 2010's, the criminally insane were roaming LA streets and subways. If a person with a criminal record or who is mentally unbalanced gets a Section 11 voucher, landlords are not obligate to rent to them.
The City Council’s Criminal Enterprise under Penal Code §86
Decades before the 2022 election season, Los Angeles City Council was eyebrow deep into illegal vote trading. Mayor Bass inherited the system and no one during the mayoral election admitted that the entire system was inherently criminal. Since the election no one has even hinted that the vote trading system should be abolished.
How a Highly Visible Homeless Population Benefits Developers
Back during Garcetti’s first term as mayor, it was obvious that highly visible, increasingly dangerous homeless population benefited the developers by stampeding the voters to pass expensive measures to house the homeless. Measures HHH and JJJ in 2016 are one example how the scam worked. The measures promised to building housing for the homeless with funds which the City would borrow from Wall Street and then loan to developers. After the projects were completed, the developers would claim bankruptcy and the bankruptcy judge would wipe out the developers’ debt to the city. Because the city had borrowed the money from Wall Street, the city taxpayers have to repay Wall Street. Next, the kindly bankruptcy judge would erase the requirement that any of the units had to be for poor people (low rent=low profit), thereby making the entire project market rent, i.e., Not Affordable).
The HHH JJJ scam disintegrated in Los Angeles due to the Sunnyslope case where Ninth Circuit, which covers California, ruled that any developer who borrowed money to construct “poor people’s home” could not get rid of that obligation in bankruptcy. (See Sunnyslope Why developers did not want HHH JJJ funds as Sunnyslope.)
It took Garcetti Administration some time to invent new scams to fleece the public; generally, they are proposals to building Affordable Housing where the government pays the developers 2 to 4 times the actual construction costs. There are a host of other scams not germane here.
What Can Karen Bass Do?
Construction dumps billions of dollars into the LA economy each year. If construction significantly slows, the city will go bankrupt. Los Angeles has become like a Narco-drug State which has become addicted to the profits of the drug money. On the other hand, we see that corruptionism bankrupts the city. Although there is a way to end the corruption, [there’s] no one to Restructure City Hall
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles-based attorney, author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
[This article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily those of this publication. Readers should verify facts independently and consider other perspectives.]
