Antonio 'Finds' Records of His Freebies, Plans to Reveal Them Friday
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Thursday, 24 June 2010 13:24
Suddenly, on Thursday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he has found five years worth of documents showing who gave him gifts of free tickets, meals and wine for dozens of sports and entertainment events -- records he and his staff previously said they could not find or did not exist.
The mayor plans to release the records which cover an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in tickets alone Friday morning.
“Tomorrow, as some of you are aware, we will provide the documentation to support that,” Villaraigosa told a room full of reporters. “It’s five years' worth of documentation. You have to go through boxes and boxes of material. I stand by the idea that this is the entertainment capital of the United States of America and, yes, I am in the job of promoting our city and promoting that.”
Villaraigosa repeated his assertion that the gifts did not have to be disclosed to the city Ethics Commission because all of his actions are done in his capacity as mayor and so he was performing official or ceremonial duties, such as handing out a proclamation, or by his mere presence.
But the LA Weekly's Tibby Rothman spoke to Roman Porter, state Fair Political Practices Commission Executive Director, who questioned the mayor's interpretation of the law, which requires disclosure and bans politicians from accepting more than $420 in gifts per source per year:
"The state rules require a public official to perform a duty on behalf of [their city]. Merely being a public official is not enough to use this exception," Porter said.
The mayor is under investigation by the Ethics Commission and District Attorney Steve Cooley has opened an inquiry into possible violations of city and state laws.
The mayor’s office has acknowledged “inconsistencies” in the handling of his calendar, which included 81 sports or entertain events.
“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t performing an official function,” Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Szabo told David Zahniser in the LA Times.
Szabo said the mayor did not attend all 81 events and may have received free access rather than an actual ticket.
“If the mayor’s showing up at an event to perform an official duty, there’s no cost associated with it,” he said.
Suddenly, on Thursday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he has found five years worth of documents showing who gave him gifts of free tickets, meals and wine for dozens of sports and entertainment events -- records he and his staff previously said they could not find or did not exist.
