For the city, the problem was quite different. L.A. was quickly falling behind other cities in converting its taxi fleet to hybrids. There was another problem for the city as well: Putting the taxi franchise out to bid would take time and cost money.
Once again, Ek supplied a solution that worked for the politicians as well as for his client.
The taxi companies agreed to "green" the taxi fleet. In exchange, they would get a five-year extension. There would be no bidding.
All Ek needed was a councilman to champion that solution. Enter Cardenas again. In June, he pushed to adopt the taxi companies' plan, even though he doesn't serve on the Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over the issue.
Two groups were not at the bargaining table: environmentalists and labor activists.
The environmentalists called the plan "greenwashing" and said the taxi companies were left to police themselves on the conversion to hybrids.
"They didn't provide too many details of the actual greening plan," says Adrian Martinez, a lobbyist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It seems like if you just mention hybrids, that's good enough."
Meanwhile, the L.A. Taxi Workers Alliance, a pro-labor organization, was pushing for a different system that would give greater power to drivers. Those arguments were enough to persuade Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to offer only a compromise two-year extension, during which the city could study a new system.
But it got nowhere with the council, which voted unanimously for the cab companies' plan.
"John Ek and his likes showed the power they have at City Hall," says Hamid Khan, co-founder of the Taxi Workers Alliance.
After that deal came the taxi-dispatching contract at LAX. Authorized Taxicab Supervision, which is a partnership of the nine cab companies, has had the dispatching contract for 20 years.
In 2007, Controller Laura Chick issued a scathing audit of Authorized Taxicab, finding that cash payments to the partnership's board members had been documented improperly. She also described many other concerns and recommended the contract be put out to bid.
It was, and Authorized Taxicab won.
One of the losing bidders, Gateway, took a page out of Host's playbook and alleged the selection process was flawed. But this time, Ek was on the other side. Gateway's allegations went nowhere.
The contract proposal went for approval by the City Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which is chaired by Hahn. Bill Rouse, Yellow Cab's general manager, testified that Authorized Taxicab had cleaned up its act in the wake of the controller's audit. Ek sat at his side throughout the hearing. Gateway's protest was barely mentioned. Hahn and Bill Rosendahl voted to give the company a 10-year extension.
The week before the hearing, Rouse gave $1,000 to Hahn's congressional campaign. Ek gave $5,000.
Ek had won again, and observers were taking note.
Ed Roski hired Ek in January to help lure the NFL to the City of Industry. AEG was making waves with its rival proposal for a downtown stadium. Roski needed Ek to help present his case.
"He's well respected by the council," says John Semcken, vice president of Majestic Realty, Roski's firm. "They trust him. They know he's not going to lead them astray."
Publicly, Majestic officials have said they won't do anything to try to stop AEG's project. But privately, it's a different story.
Ek raised concerns about the AEG proposal by giving council members a five-page list of 44 questions, which L.A. Weekly has obtained.
Any doubts about Ek's clout were erased shortly after he distributed his list to council members. Councilman Rosendahl issued his own list of questions about the AEG proposal — and his list bore a striking resemblance to Ek's. In fact, many questions are taken verbatim.
Majestic: "Will the stadium developer agree to never sell/refinance the project until the bonds are paid off?"
Rosendahl: "Will the developer agree to never sell/refinance the project until the bonds are paid off?"
Majestic: "The L.A. Auto Show controls the entire convention center nearly the whole month of November; will we have football or the L.A. Auto Show?"
Rosendahl: "The L.A. Auto Show occupies the entire Convention Center nearly the whole month of November, which is football season. How will the two coexist?"
Majestic: "Given the passing of Prop. 26, would a 'ticket tax' require voter approval?"
Rosendahl: "Does the new Proposition 26 require that the proposed ticket tax be approved by voters?"
Those are fine questions, deserving of answers. But that was even finer lobbying.
(Rosendahl's spokesman, Tony Arranaga, denied that the councilman had drawn upon Majestic's questions. "We have not spoken with Majestic," Arranaga said.)
Once again, both parties' interests had been served. Majestic got to pose a bunch of hostile questions about a rival stadium, without seeming to interfere with AEG. And Rosendahl got to be an aggressive defender of the public purse. Times columnist Steve Lopez praised his "inquiring mind." Rosendahl never had to acknowledge that his research was provided by Majestic's lobbyist.
But what can you expect? Over the last couple of years, City Hall lost 2,400 veteran employees to early retirement. Council offices tend to be staffed by 20-somethings who can't hope to know the issues as well as experienced lobbyists do.
"Ek is so close to Councilwoman Janice Hahn that he practically serves as a freelance chief of staff. Hahn's staff members bring their problems to him, and he offers solutions that work for her, and for his clients."
And to think, there are actually voters out there who support Hahn.
Maddaus seriously got the facts wrong on the taxi stuff. Authorized Taxicab Supervision has been at LAX for over 30 years, not 20. They've been there that long because they've done a great job. The "scathing" audit by Laura Chick over four years ago was simply mildly critical, as anyone can see if they bother to read the original audit, which is on line at the LA City Controller's website. Hamid Kahn is a gadfly. The "LA Taxi Workers Alliance" is a farce with no support among taxi drivers.
This article is about a person (Ek) who is perceived to have won the right of the nursing home to install solar panels on their property. In fact, this organization did everything legally, checking every step of the way to make sure that what they were doing was within the law and permits could be obtained. They didn't do it to beat a deadline, they did it to "go green" and to save an enormous amount of money on their electric bill every year. They didn't go around the laws but took each step in good faith. What they did wasn't wrong or deceitful and it causes no harm to anyone, but may even be a forward step in the use of solar energy in the very near future.The only reason they ultimately called a lobbyist was because they did not really have experience working with the city. And the whole complaint was initiated by only one neighbor.
We all have rights. My next-door neighbor wants to add a second story to his house, and one of his neighbors has complained loudly. Yet, he needs the additional space for his family and has done everything to follow the law, and even tried to talk to these people. Should his rights be forfeited because someone else just doesn't like what he is doing?
We may disagree with our friends and neighbors but let us respect their rights as we would hope they would respect ours.
So the next time you are passing through LAX and you spend 50% of the cost of your ticket on a cup of coffee and a stale muffin, just thank Carmen 'the Clown' Trutanich for preserving "lousy" food and high prices.
Good job Gene you covered and touched on almost everything out there. I know you held back... more to come I guess?
John Ek was the "lobbyist" the Autry Museum hired to try to get its permits to expand in Griffith Park instead of renovating the National Register of Historic Places Southwest Museum building in the Arroyo Seco to exhibit the Southwest's collections. There are times that the overwhelming voice of the people can overrule even the most influential of lobbyists -- and that was the case. That time Ek did not "get his way" -- and the Autry's grandiose plan to destroy the Southwest Museum was defeated. Even Janice Hahn voted against her "little chief of staff."
It is people like Ek that create the aura of corruption at City Hall. He can take all of his money and power, but it won't keep him from going to hell when his time on earth is over.
I also question Rosendahl's sincerity on this matter - He tried to have it both ways by criticizing the proposed Football stadium, but walking out for the City Council vote on the Stadium so that they would have enough votes to expedite through without a second vote one week later.
That action along with Koretz and Rosendahl's vote on Playa Vista warrant an investigation.
Although I find the article very believable that Rosendahl was being a mouthpiece for a lobbyist in the same way that Zine and several of his colleagues were for Ron Tutor in his attempt to upset a contract for LAX, I am also concerned about the out-in-the-open, corrupt nature of AEG's relationship with the Mayor and some members of the City Council.
The City of Los Angeles should really be investigated for its handling of Land Use approvals and the use of Federal funds by an outside agency such as the FBI. In the end, the City Council should be operating under a consent decree much like the LAPD was operating under in the 1990s after a series of criminal activities were exposed.
This article is as ignorant a piece of reporting as most newscasts presented by Fox News.
In essence, the author has created a nexus of evil shrouded behind those those big, menacing closed doors of government with zero solution to the systematic problem in local politics. I am slightly more stupid after reading this garbage.
You want the real story??? Most people are stupid. Period. That's the story.
When I say most people, I am including our elected officials. They are human and can't possibly maintain the bandwidth to know everything about everything. They don't have the insight as to things like the debt side of the equation (construction costs, finance/Time Value of Money), nor the equity side. They DON'T have the information at hand to make informed business decisions. (You offered that little tidbit at the end, thx for the crumb).
Ready for the punchline? We need lobbyists. Yup, sometimes we can't find enough talent to put up w/ working in the City sector, so we need to import private to keep it raining. I don't know Elk or the Elks and I don't need to know them. But, I respect the guy's hustle. Your report says that he knows how to play the game and abide by their rules to effect change. Well I like creative people and deal with them as just that, people who solve problems.
Majestic has gone out of their way to take every possible step to address every shred of minutia related to building a stadium in the City of Industry. Hell, they even choose a site with little to zero envirnomental impacts in an 'industrial zone' where a Stadium SHOULD be placed. On the other hand, AEG has a history of using all our (tax payer) funds at their disposal, while also, diverting municipal, CRA and even lobbying for dollars set aside for affordable housing for street improvements along Fig. - Fact check me, go for it.
Majesic has site control (owns their land) while AEG would be GIVEN land from City of LA. Well, now they're talking land lease. Hah! What a joke! Wonder what this stadium looks like the final 30 years (the time frame on a capital budget depreciation schedule)? It will have zero AEG dollars invested for the final third of the investment horizon (based on standard 99Yr LL).
Here's an argument anyone should understand: What. is. the. worst. that. could. happen?.
What. if. the. downtown. stadium. fails?. It would set back all the work we've put in as Angelinos from the mid 90s onward, right back to when it was a wasteland. Don't be fooled AEG didn't create the resurgence of our downtown core, 'adaptive reuse' ordinance and a rising RE market did. We (Angelinos) get stuck with worthless Bond financing, we get stuck w/ servicing infrastructure on a failed project and we destroy our City Center with a hunkering stadium that impedes further growth to the East, on a SoCal - Macro level.
What. if. the. City. of . Industry. stadium. fails? Who the hell cares? We don't live there, its an industrial zone, there is little housing and that's the way industrial zoned land should remain.
I am an Angelino. I was born and raised in this City, traveled the world and I still love it. I want the best for it. What do you want for it?
Why haven't any of the losing bidders on the airport bidding sued? The process was obviously a sham ...
If you are talking about Tutor-Perini Corp, they can't sue. They entered into a settlement agreement with the City of Los Angeles because they were caught red handed cheating on their bid with LAWA for a new mechanical plant by changing a temperature constant in their bid.
In actuality, Tutor-Perini should be investigated by the LA County DA for their efforts in influencing the outcome of the Contract award after signing a settlement agreement.
But that won't happen because the LA County DA is too busy or too chicken to investigate. That is why the FBI should be involved in this type of investigation.
Three powerful people; Trutanisch, Hahn and Ek working hard fand successfully or causes not in the public interest. Wouldn't it be great to see what they could accomplish in the people's interest???
Although I find it difficult to read your comment, I do agree that Janice Hahn is very corrupt. Lobbyist Ek is no saint, but that is not his problem, it is a matter of good law enforcement and good reporting to expose this behavior - Thank you LA Weekly!
And Trutanich earned points with me when he went after AEG only to be knocked down by the corrupt and kiss-up Councilwoman Perry and her colleagues who joined her.
But Trutanich lost me when he announced his interest in running for DA and in his cooperation in protecting the Corrupt City Council, Mayor, CRA, and others when they clearly violate the law.
I also live in Monty Heights, the array is not that bad of an eye sore, especially if it contributes to lessening of one's carbon footprint. I think it's more about sore feelings than anything for the MHIA to still be harping on this; find something new and move on.
It's endlessly annoying to read that the Montecito Heights Improvement Association continues to denounce our beautiful solar array. How unfortunate that Ron Peyes views the world through such a narrow lens. I live in Montecito Heights and I see the installation as art that also functions to save energy. Christo could not have done it better.
You are missing the point. L.A. has very, very few protected hillsides. Why didn't the nursing home put the panels on their roof like every other 'clean energy' project? Secondly - I'm a member of MHIA - we objected yes to the 'eye-sore' and met with and tried to find a solution for the solar panels that didn't completely disrupt one of the few remaining open hillsides in L.A. After all, EVERYONE is all for solar energy - that isn't the point at all - Third - MHIA was also concerned about the 'process' or lack of process that Broadview took with this project. Not one single neighbor was notified that this was happening. I live next door to Broadview - No one knocked on my door. I stepped outside my door one day and bam - no more coyotes or rabbits on the hills, but big chunks of metal. Broadview claimed to want to be a good neighbor in MH, yet they never contacted one single person to say 'hey guys a gigantic installation of panels is going up on the hillsides that you worked so hard to protect'. The point of this article also highlights how intent Broadview was on destroying the hillside. Hiring a lobbyist to push it thru? Better to ruin a hillside that hundreds enjoy instead of placing the project on their roof? Nice work, Broadview how selfish can you get.
And you're (intentionally?) also missing (part of) the point. Some of us think it's beautiful, not an eyesore, not a ruined hillside. I enjoy that hillside more now than before. And, as I understand it, Broadview hired Ek because if the project got held up past a certain date, it would miss out on some government (or maybe utility) subsidy.
I live in Montecito Heights and I think the solar array is beautiful! I want to see much more solar power everywhere.
If the nursing home owns the hill side property, then they have the right to do what ever they want. It's there land! The rest of the people need shut the Hell up and mind their own business. The other thing is that lately most people have been bashing Union workers for their salaries and benefits, but yet this guy gets 30K for "two meetings, two letters and some emails". And they say Union jobs pay too much. Go figure?
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