May 19, 2025
By Brian Hews
Actions of the Huntington Park City Council and City Manager have once again spotlighted concerns about governance, nepotism, and misuse of public funds in the embattled East Los Angeles city.
Last Thursday, a questionable item appeared on the Huntington Park City Council agenda for its Monday, May 19, 2025, meeting—an outreach contract that, if made public, would raise serious ethical and legal concerns.
And now the item is gone, or is it?
The item was a contract to be awarded to Principia Group, LLC, a consulting firm owned by Mario Beltran, a longtime political operative and former Bell Gardens Councilmember who has faced multiple legal challenges over the past two decades.
In 2021, LCCN reported that Beltran was charged in a 34-count felony complaint filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The case involved widespread corruption in Maywood, where Beltran and others were accused of bribery, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds.
According to the DA’s complaint, Beltran’s company, Principia Group, orchestrated fraudulent canvassing efforts and submitted falsified recall petitions in a scheme that undermined democratic processes and diverted public resources.
The DA alleged that Beltran and his associates operated a “pay-to-play” operation in Maywood over a span of several years, receiving public contracts in exchange for political support and favors. Principia Group canvassers were reportedly caught forging signatures in a recall campaign to benefit former Maywood Mayor Ramon Medina.
As a result of the investigation, Beltran entered a plea agreement and is currently on probation.
Yet, despite Beltran’s history, Huntington Park City Manager Ricardo Reyes placed the item on the May 19 agenda, recommending a nearly $58,000 taxpayer-funded outreach contract be awarded to Beltran’s Principia Group.
The agenda with the Beltran item was posted on Thursday, May 15, for tonight’s HP City Council meeting. However, according to sources and documents, the agenda was pulled, and a new agenda was posted without the Beltran item.
________________________
The original agenda posted on May 15
________________________
Agenda currently on HP website with the Principia item removed.
________________________
The posting would violate the Ralph M. Brown Act, which dictates that any city council agenda must be posted 72 hours before the meeting. If an agenda is changed, the 72-hour clock starts over. The entire agenda was also changed.
But LCCN has learned that City Manager Reyes may still attempt to approve the Principia contract using his increased spending authority, which was approved at the April 7, 2025, City Council meeting. The 3-1 vote, with Mayor Arturo Flores and Councilmembers Eddie Martinez and Jonathan Sanabria voting yes, and Councilmember Karen Macias voting no, increased Reyes’ spending threshold from $15,000 to an eye-popping $100,000.
The increased spending authority allows Reyes to approve contracts up to an unheard-of $100,000 without any public scrutiny or bidding process.
No city near Huntington Park comes close to the threshold; the closest is Norwalk at $39,500; many do not exceed a $25,000 spending limit.
Critics also point out that the original agenda item lacked key financial disclosures, such as the contract amount and duration. These omissions raise further transparency concerns, especially since the broadband and outreach contract could be redirected toward political purposes—namely, fighting the ongoing recall campaign against Councilmember Arturo Flores, a City Manager Reyes ally.
On top of all the foregoing, Reyes has a conflict, failing to disclose prior personal interactions with Beltran or the long-standing connection between Beltran and Reyes’ wife, Evet Reyes, who worked under Beltran for over 20 years. Texts to Evet Reyes asking about the relationship went unanswered.
“Why aren’t these efforts going to one of the many qualified local nonprofits who actually worked on the broadband advocacy?” one source close to the issue asked. “Why is the City Manager awarding public money to someone with a criminal record tied to voter fraud—and who happens to be his wife’s mentor?”
Contact Brian Hews at [email protected] or follow @cerritosnews.bsky.social
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.