Jeffrey Anderson

All About Us

The marquee of the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood hails Antonio Villaraigosa as “L.A.’s Next Mayor.” The candidate’s supporters lined up alongside the television vans resemble a nightclub crowd — young, attractive, hip. There’s a buzz that comes every four years, or, in this part of town, most Saturday nights......

Back to the Future Cop

Photos by Ted SoquiPeter Torres remembers the day he decided to become a cop. He was working as a community organizer in the neighborhood where he was born and raised, two miles south of downtown on the grittier side of the 10 freeway. One day in 1994, while helping students......

The Lid Comes Off

Photo by Debra DiPaolo The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, headed by business manager Brian D’Arcy, is leading the Department of Water and Power toward moral and fiscal disaster, according to a "for your eyes only" memo sent to Mayor Jim Hahn by a top DWP official. In......

The Second Coming

Photo by Ted SoquiThe kitchen light comes on at 5 a.m. in the house on top of Mount Washington, as city councilman and mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa scans the morning paper before stepping out into a light drizzle. Known as a tough East L.A. kid who grew out of poverty......

A Private Chick

As word of City Controller Laura Chick’s private house meetings with four top mayoral candidates leaked out last week, Deputy City Attorney Kristina Scott was asked whether Chick sought legal advice before arming Mayor Jim Hahn’s challengers with opposition research accusing him and his administration of flagrant mismanagement. Scott also......

End of Empire

Responding to persistent complaints from employees about shoddy products, Department of Water and Power general manager Ron Deaton suspended a $1.75 million contract with Empire Cleaning Supply this week. The DWP Board of Commissioners had approved a contract extension in December, despite scrutiny from Councilman Tony Cardenas, chairman of the......
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Secret Summits

Photo by Debra DiPaoloCity Controller Laura Chick called each of Mayor Jim Hahn’s challengers to her home last week for private briefings on the City Hall corruption scandal, the L.A. Weekly has learned. Chick presented a lengthy memo and her understanding of how Hahn’s administration allegedly used PR juggernaut Fleishman......

Revenge of the White Cops

The $2.4 million jury verdict against the city of Inglewood for disciplining two white police officers involved in the videotaped beating of black teenager Donovan Jackson was like a slap in the face. How could the two alleged rogue officers - Jeremy Morse and Bijan Darvish - be rewarded for......

The Miseducation of Ericka Griffin

Photographs by Ted Soqui Of all the memories from Ericka Griffin’s six-year career as a teacher’s aide and athletic director at Carlthorp Elementary School, one stands out. Griffin, a rare African-American faculty member at the exclusive private school, was on the playground one day in 2002 when she says a......

Cloning Dan Carvin

Next month, City Controller Laura Chick plans to begin an audit of law firms and officials who monitor them. With the city spending $29.6 million on outside legal help last year — double the costs of four years ago — Chick and several City Council members also want to set......