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Note: Emails can be found at the end of this story, click on the image to view in full screen or click on link to go to website.
By Brian Hews
In January of this year Los Cerritos Community News sent a public records request to Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel asking for emails between Greuel and her top campaign advisors John Shallman and Rose Kapolczynski, including emails from Brian D’Arcy head of the IBEW, a major campaign contributor to Greuel’s campaign between Jan 2009 to Jan 2010.
Eighty-two days after the request, which by law should have been answered in twenty-four days, Greuel sent a letter to LCCN threatening to sue the newspaper. Included in that letter Greuel stated, “your request was voluminous and encompasses tens of thousands of pages.”
This past Monday, ninety days later, LCCN received documents responsive to the request. The total consisted of just 130 pages and strangely there were no emails between Greuel and D’Arcy, who have met several times in the past two years.
“We were told there were tens of thousands of pages, and that was the reason for the delay. Then we only received 130. You have to question why Greuel took so long to gather 130 pages,” stated Brian Hews, President of Hews Media Group, and Publisher of Los Cerritos Community Newspaper.
After looking at the emails Hews and his team began to realize why Greuel delayed the release.
“The emails confirm that Greuel is running her mayoral campaign out of the Auditor/Contoller’s Office of Los Angeles using taxpayer resources, a clear violation of California state law,” he said.
“The emails document in great detail how Wendy Greuel is using one of the most powerful offices in the City of Los Angeles to leverage campaign support, coordinate political events, and garner major endorsements from some of the biggest political forces in Southern California,” said Hews. “It is no wonder she attempted to delay the request as long as possible.”
In addition to communicating with her campaign managers, she often included another Shallman operative, Dave Jocobsen. Greuel also copied or forwarded the emails throughout the city office, and to all of her key employees such as Chief Deputy Controller Claire Bartels, Deputy Controller of Government Relations Daniel Tarica, Press Contact Shannon Murphy, Adminstrative Controller Elaine De Leon, and Executive Assistant Yvette Rojas.
Courting Influential Players
One of the most influential political players in Los Angeles is attorney David Fleming. Fleming said in an email to Greuel April 19, 2011 that he would not be endorsing her for mayor by telling her “Wendy, after a good bit of soul searching I have decided to join Dick Riordan in endorsing Austin Beutner for mayor. I wanted you to know this before it is announced tomorrow.”
Fleming then tells Greuel in the same email that, “I will send you money and tell people who ask me about you how much I think you’re great leader. But having worked so much with Austin over the past year is the main reason I felt I must support him at this time. Best wishes, Dave.”
After Beutner dropped out of the campaign, Fleming, who is of Counsel at the high-powered Los Angeles law firm of Latham and Watkins, switched his allegiance to Greuel and is now one of her most ardent backers.
Several emails between Shallman and Greuel also discussed how to garner the support and endorsement of California State Assemblyman Isidore Hall who represents a wide swath of South Los Angeles. Hall is considered to be one of the key leaders in Sacramento and influential in the African American community.
On August 10, 2010, Greuel tells Shallman in emails that Hall had cancelled “another meeting” with her. “FYI· this is the 3rd time” (Hall cancelled). Administrative Controller De Leon intercedes in the email discussion between Greuel and Shallman by stating, “received an email that his flight from Sacramento is delayed and they don’t know what time he’ll make it into town.”
Greuel also used her city email and staff members to coordinate campaign support meetings with John Mack, President of the LA Urban League as well as with Julie Butcher, president of the local SEIU 721, who is considered to be one of the most influential and powerful leaders inside the Los Angeles union movement as well as with other campaign donors.
Greuel also courted support from Gisselle Acevedo (Franco), CEO of Para Los Ninos in Los Angeles. Ms. Acevedo said in the email, “I am so honored to support you, trust me I will give you lots more money, use my name anywhere and everywhere.”
In an email between Kapolczynski, Shallmann, and Jacobsen, Greuel is esctatic that she got the endorsement of Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, and asked if “we should announce the Cindy Miscokowski, Head of Los Angeles Ports, endorsement.”
Office-Wide Coordinated Effort
In May, 2012, Kapolczynski and Greuel communicated back and forth about an article that was being written in the Los Angeles Times regarding the progress of her campaign for mayor. “Terrific,” Kapolczynski tells Greuel. “It is a gift at this point in the race to have a piece like this describing you as having momentum and playing the hot hand. Obviously good work on your part threading the needle at the forum. It also gives us some clues on things we can work on the “vision thing” and what he perceives as the other candidates’ strengths.”
On Dec. 6, 2012 Gruel forwarded an email from Pyllis Pires, a prominent teacher at Stanford University, that contained a resume of an Obama campaign worker to Kapolczynski for vetting.
Greuel also sent a note to Shallman, Jacobson, Murphy, and her husband Dean Schramm on January 13, 2013 about an invitation to participate in an event sponsored by California Common Cause. Greuel told her , “I sent you an earlier email about (the) Common Cause event at city hall tomorrow…and this being the anniversary of Citizens United… anything we should be prepared for (or should I) · stay quiet, (or), go on the offensive?”
Another email sent to Greuel from “Jules” highlighted an LA Weekly article on the proposed high-rise building on Hollywood and Gower. “Without getting into specifics, (Eric) Garcetti was the one that approved it.” Greuel forwarded the email to her team saying, “we need to be prepared for the issues at the Hollywood (Mayor’s) forum on the 19th of Sept., who is taking the lead to get ready for this one?”
Jules email on Hollywood property
Ethics Violation?
In one of the most egregious communications, which can be questioned as a possible ethics violation, Greuel emails the city of Los Angeles Preliminary Financial Report for 2011-2012 to Kapolczynski, Shallmann, and Jacobsen. The email was sent out at 7:41am, two and a half hours prior to the scheduled presentation to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council and before giving the document to the City Clerk.
Attempts by LCCN to contact Ms. Greuel for comment have repeatedly been denied.
Link to email documents, click here.
Emails cited in article click on image below.
Entire email document, click on image below.
When over the top democrats are involved the chicanery, lies, deceit, unethical and downright illegal activity is a virtual free for all.. Rules and laws are meaningless to them -wining is EVERYTHING and they will do ANYTHING to achieve it. Witness the obamanation! This nightmare in DC should NEVER got into the FIRST election had their been a competent and objective media, but the lame scream media then transformed itself to a propaganda arm of the democrat party and has sadly never returned. Thank heaven for LCCN and while not perfect, Fox news. For at least alternative views and not the liberal line of BS and pabulum fed to the masses of low and NO information voters that seek only free taxpayer supported stuff from their elected officials. Go for it LCCN I hope this sheds a BRIGHT light on Wendy in places she DIDN’T want any lights..
-I am no fan of Eric by any means but Wendy is so far in bed with the corrupt employee unions and the other ones one only sees chaos and LOTS of money changing hands in a regime owned and operated by her and her lemmings. There are no financial ADULTS in charge anywhere in LA city government .. it is only a matter of time before the insolvency word is mentioned.. The piper is waiting in the wings to be paid.. and the citizens of LA city will pay dearly for their inattention to reforming city government..
Wendy Greuel – Audit yo’self
Interesting. Have you ever thought of doing the same sort of digging into Garcetti? Imagine the gold mine of corruption, chicanery and self-dealing you’d uncover there! How about Garcetti’s ties to a convicted felon, and refusal to turn over his tainted campaign contributions? How about Garcetti accepting the support of that racist right-wing bigot, Kevin James? Come on, Economy, you could REALLY make a name for yourself if you went after REAL corruption– instead of imagined.
Poochy or should we call you John Shallman or Jacobsen or Rose. The newspaper did pull records on Garcetti and found nothing in his calendar unlike Greuel. I guess you missed that edition airhead. Greuel is campaigning on taxpayers dollar stick to the message instead of shooting the messenger…she took 90 days to repsond the law says 24
Sorry, I’m none of the above, “Anon,” (or should I call you Randy Economy, or Eric Garcetti, or Snark Snarkly?) The name IS Poochy. And yes, I did miss your FOIA request for Eric Garcetti’s EMAILS, which was what this article was about. Any airhead would know that’s what I was replying to, not to your previous Greuel smear campaign.
This is GREAT INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING!
This SAYS it ALL…
“Los Cerritos Community News sent a public records request to Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel asking for emails between Greuel and her top campaign advisors John Shallman and Rose Kapolczynski, including emails from Brian D’Arcy head of the IBEW, a major campaign contributor to Greuel’s campaign between Jan 2009 to Jan 2010. “The emails document in great detail how Wendy Greuel is using one of the most powerful offices in the City of Los Angeles to leverage campaign support, coordinate political events, and garner major endorsements from some of the biggest political forces in Southern California,” said Hews. “It is no wonder she attempted to delay the request as long as possible.”
Hey Randy– like your story on Greuel email. remember, if they are using city email for political purposes it is a potential violation of both the CA Political Reform Act and City Ethics Act. No body talking about that – yet.
I listened to David Cruz on KTLK-AM 1150 this afternoon at 3 p.m. talk openly about this article, and he also announced that he was officially pulling his endorsement of Wendy.
David Cruz is a smart man. This isn’t about emails, it is about a CLIMATE of political GREED and CORRUPTION at all levels of government and the arrogance of power.
Great job, Los Cerritos!
My Friend Randy Economy is doing another outstanding job of exposing corruption in Los Angeles, this time it is mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel–the best candidat that the unions can buy.
If Bill Clinton was truly onboard with Miss Wendy he would have been there in the beginning and not wait till she was up against Sir Eric Garcetti.
Amazing detail in these emails.
Isn’t that the truth, but so is Garcetti. I don’t like either one of them.
Wendy’s campaign is also wsing a woman’s body to sell her as “a woman candidate” in the Mayors race, and that is wrong.
Wendy Greuel also needs to stop promoting herself as the right person because she is a woman. It doesn’t mean she’s the best person for the job. Stop using sex to sell.
Loved those emails….and her calendar you published MONTHS ago. This “woman” is a total mess
I was at a coffee house this afternoon and was listening to the David Cruz Show on KTLK who was “talking up” this EXACT article.
Cruz PULLED his SUPPORT of Wendy, and I sat there with the rest of the people ion the coffee shop and we all just shook our heads.
Amazing turn of events. Everyone is talking about these emails. This Wendy must be a real witch to work with. She has placed her entire staff in legal hot water.
Wendy cares about Wendy and SCREW THE REST of US!
This is WHERE WENDY broke the law…and this is WHY
MAYOR ANTONIO needs to DEMAND an INVESTIGATION….
“The most egregious communications, which can be questioned as a possible ethics violation, Greuel emails the city of Los Angeles Preliminary Financial Report for 2011-2012 to Kapolczynski, Shallmann, and Jacobsen. The email was sent out at 7:41am, two and a half hours prior to the scheduled presentation to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council and before giving the document to the City Clerk.”
Congrats on the huge scoop!
Sneak Peek of City Financials to Shallman Is Unethical and Unprofessional April 24, 2013 by Paul Hatfield
According to an e-mail thread published by the Los Cerritos News, Wendy Greuel sent her campaign manager John Shallman an advance copy of the city’s annual financial statements.
That’s right – before the public had a chance to glimpse the results, John Shallman had the report in his in-box.
Gee, do you think she could have at least cc’d Eric Garcetti so both campaigns had the information in hand simultaneously? Oh, what about the mayor and the rest of the City Council? It shows just how little Greuel thinks of the public and its elected representatives.
Greuel should be investigated for bypassing proper public disclosure. Deputy Controller Claire Bartels should also be questioned about her role. After all, this information is confidential until officially released.
According to the City of Los Angeles Governmental Ethics Ordinance
SEC. 49.5.3. Confidential Information. No current or former officer or employee
of the City shall use or disclose to any other person for pecuniary gain or personal advantage or privilege, confidential information acquired by him or her in the course of his or her official duties.
Wendy needs to answer for this.
** In a potential Mayoral Campaign blockbuster, the Los Cerritos News will be releasing emails between the Wendy “The Villar Greuel Campaign and the likes of IBEW’s Boss Brian D”Arcy.
According to Los Cerritos News Group Reporter Randy Economy, the news group will be releasing emails between the Wendy Greuel Campaign and DWP Union IBEW officials. The LCCN had requested the emails via a California Public Records Act request. ** Late Morning Update: You can read the Exclusive LCCN story on the “Villar Greuel’s” Controller Office Email by linking here.
After receiving a letter indicating LCCN will file a lawsuit next Monday over a long and possibly illegal delay of a public records request, LA Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel’s Chief Deputy Controller Claire Bartels emailed indicating the records were ready.“It was a very short response, we waited 87 days to get the records,” said LCCN Publisher Brian Hews. ” They said the records are ready, no mention of which request the records related to, or even how many pages were included, which is the information you traditionally get when you make this type of request.”Greuel’s office indicated they mailed the documents to LCCN attorney Kelly Aviles, who will forward to LCCN on Monday.LCCN sent the requests January 23, 2013 and asked for any emails between Brian D’Arcy head of the powerful IBEW and a huge campaign contributor, campaign managers John Shallman, and Rose Kapolczynski and only Greuel for two years between Jan 2011 and Jan 2013.The second request asked for emails between 12 people, LCCN, and only Greuel, with a time frame of only two weeks, Jan 11, 2013 to Jan 22, 2013.Under Government Code 6253, Greuel had 24 days to respond to the request.On day 82, after several communications between LCCN, Aviles, and Greuel, her office turned to the Los Angeles City Attorney to further delay the request. In the letter Greuel “took issue with the assertions,…and under no circumstances is our office delaying records, your conclusion is inaccurate and unfounded.” It went on to state that the request “was voluminous” and encompassed “twenty-eight categories” and could be “tens of thousands of documents.”“How can there be “voluminous documents” and “tens of thousands of pages” when the emails I asked for are between D’Arcy, Kapolczynski, and Shallman,” said Hews. “In her letter Greuel is admitting voluminous correspondence with the head of the IBEW, a huge campaign contributor and her two campaign directors during regular business hours.”
An excerpt from the LCCN Exclusive story.
Ethics Violation?In one of the most egregious communications, which can be questioned as a possible ethics violation, Greuel emails the city of Los Angeles Preliminary Financial Report for 2011-2012 to Kapolczynski, Shallmann, and Jacobsen. The email was sent out at 7:41am, two and a half hours prior to the scheduled presentation to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council and before giving the document to the City Clerk.Attempts by LCCN to contact Ms. Greuel for comment have repeatedly been denied.
LA City Controller Wendy Greuel’s mayoral campaign came under scrutiny this afternoon after a Cerritos newspaper published emails showing the Controller soliciting campaign contributions, discussing endorsements and communicating with campaign staff during office hours using her official lacity.org email address, in apparent violation of Los Angeles’ Ethics laws.
In January, the Los Cerritos Community News sent a public records request to Greuel’s office asking for any emails between Greuel’s office and campaign managers John Shallman and Rose Kapolczynski, as well as emails from Brian D’Arcy, the head of IBEW Local 18, whose SuperPAC, Working Californians, has spent millions in support of Greuel’s mayoral campaign.
According to LCCN, Greuel’s office initially balked at the records request saying it “was voluminous and encompasses tens of thousands of pages”, but relented after the newspaper sent a letter on April 12th threatening to file a lawsuit.
In the end, LCCN received only 130 pages of material, including dozens of emails sent to and from various campaign staff and contributors using Greuel’s official governmental email address during normal business hours.
Campaign consultants I talked with said such activity violates section 49.5.5b of the LA Municipal Code which states:
“No City official or employee of an agency shall engage in campaign-related activities, such as fundraising, the development of electronic or written materials, or research, for a campaign for any elective office or ballot measure
during the hours for which he or she is receiving pay to engage in City business or
using City facilities, equipment, supplies or other City resources.
“The emails confirm that Greuel is running her mayoral campaign out of the Auditor/Contoller’s Office of Los Angeles using taxpayer resources, a clear violation of California state law,” said Brian Hews, President of Hews Media Group, and Publisher of Los Cerritos Community Newspaper. “The emails document in great detail how Wendy Greuel is using one of the most powerful offices in the City of Los Angeles to leverage campaign support, coordinate political events, and garner major endorsements from some of the biggest political forces in Southern California,”
Greuel campaign spokeswoman Laura Wilkinson characterized the email exchanges using Greuel’s governmental email address as “inadvertent”.
“As Controller and as a candidate for Mayor, Wendy Greuel has worked 18-hour days for quite some time. She inadvertently forwarded a few emails when using her personal iPad or iPhone and most of the emails were for scheduling purposes or as an FYI including documents that were scheduled for public release,” Wilkinson said in a written statement.
However, the emails, which you can read below, include numerous conversations between a Who’s Who of political players in Los Angeles, Greuel’s campaign staff, campaign contributors and the staff of the Controller’s office discussing a variety of topics – from scheduling issues to campaign contributions to Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s endorsement. Most of the published emails include time stamps that place them within normal business hours.
During the campaign, Greuel has tried to portray herself as the best candidate to root out “waste, fraud and abuse” in City Hall, and in recent days stepped up her attacks against opponent Eric Garcetti, attempting to tie him to developer Juri Ripinksy, a convicted felon, and also claiming Garcetti had taken “illegal” votes on a Clear Channel billboard settlement.
A poll released by the LA Times on Sunday showed Garcetti leading Greuel by 10 points.
I find it highly peculiar that there is not even one email from Brian D’Arcy that donated over $2.5 million to her. There should have at least one email that says “Wendi, do you like the new commercial we did for you?” . Can you say “SCRUBBED EMAILS”.
We completely agree, so did our attorney.
Did anyone happen to make a public records request for the email server back up tapes/files, during the time period in question?
All servers are backed up (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) I’m sure is the reason many politicians like in Cerritos prefer to use personal email accounts.
The general meaning of ethics: rational, optimal (regarded as the best solution of the given options) and appropriate decision brought on the basis of common sense. This does not exclude the possibility of destruction if it is necessary and if it does not take place as the result of intentional malice.*^
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