An A-Plus in Fund-Raising
Teacher unions-backed candidate rolling in the dough
The law firm that sponsored Huizar’s event was registered as a lobbyist for 53 clients at City Hall in 2005, including downtown developer Geoffrey Palmer — creator of the Orsini and Medici apartment complexes, who has sparred with Councilman Ed Reyes over affordable housing and the unpermitted demolition of an 1880s Victorian. Huizar said he had not seen the flier and said it should have mentioned his other council committees, not just the one that deals with lucrative development projects.
“If you list all my committees, that will give a sense of what I’m interested in here at the City Council,” he added.
IN THE SCHOOL BOARD CAMPAIGN, the UTLA’s political prowess has extended far beyond fund-raising. On Monday, UTLA delegates flooded the endorsement meeting of the powerful County Federation of Labor, successfully denying the AFL-CIO’s endorsement of Garcia even though two-thirds of its federation’s endorsement board had recommended her. The move infuriated one union leader, who argued that the UTLA had disrupted the union’s well-established endorsement process.
Tyrone Freeman, who heads Service Employees International Union Local 434B, said he is open to a mayoral takeover and believes that L.A. Unified needs drastic change.
“What really disturbs me is that the interests of an individual union overshadowed the interests of working families in Los Angeles,” Freeman said. “You try not to blame the teachers, but when their representatives go against the best interests of working men and women’s representatives — two-thirds of the [endorsement] board — it raises an issue.”
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