Add Huntington Park to the list of cities in southeastern Los Angeles County that have been shaken by allegations of political corruption.
Three of the city’s four council members were provided with recall notices at a special city council meeting Friday night. Two days after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office executed almost 12 search warrants linked to a multi-million-dollar allegedly misused corruption investigation aimed at building a $200 million aquatic center.
At the same meeting, the city’s lawyers submitted their resignation and the mayor threatened to leave and attempted to close the meeting. One woman was escorted by a pair of police officers to scream and speak out from the turn.
In a passionate speech, Councillor Arturo Flores, one of two city leaders who are not under investigation, argued that the recall efforts were spearheaded by consultants who were recently searched by the district attorney, along with the contractor, mayor, mayor and three current former councillors.
“I’m going to war for my community,” Flores said. “Let’s focus on researching failed pool projects. Let’s track millions of uncalculated money and restore local government faith and trust for people.”
The night event was 26-year-old Emmanuel Carreras Luedas. This was a tall, thin man with long, wavy, dark hair, sitting behind the council room.
Rudas was not a resident of the city. He lives in Gadahi, but like many young people in the southeastern region, he says he is tired of the political corruption that has long stunned the economic growth of several working-class cities.
The Southeast region consists of approximately 26 cities and neighborhoods between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. They are sometimes called Gateway cities because they serve as entrances to both counties.
At the heart of the area is around 12 communities, including Compton, Gadahi, Vernon, Commerce, Bell and Huntington Park. They sit between the 110 and 710 highways, two main commercial arteries connecting to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Proximity to the highways and industrial sectors has severely affected the health of large-scale immigration and the Latino population.
These same towns have been shaking by political scandals for decades, and lawmakers often refer to small areas as “corridors of corruption.”
The city includes Southgate, where someone tried to assassinate a councillor in the early 2000s. In 2010, the city of Bell was in the national spotlight when it was revealed that the mayor and several councillors received exorbitant salaries and used the town’s financial resources as their own personal bank.
Two years later, Cudahy, a 1.2-square-mile city, made headlines when the mayor, councillors and longtime administrators were arrested and charged in a federal bribery case. A photo of a councillor surrendered to federal agents after a long five-hour standoff spread across the country.
One town scandal, Vernon, was so epic that it inspired the season of HBO’s “True Detective.”
And now Huntington Park is on the list.
An investigation into the town’s alleged misuse of public funds allegedly claimed that city leaders were facing fever and legal issues surrounding the removal of former councillor Esmeralda Castillo, which they did not live in the city.
A copy of the warrant reviewed by the Times shows investigators are considering allegations of bribery, misappropriation of public funds, conflicts of interest, money laundering and conspiracy. The warrant also has Efren Martinez’s name under “Case Name.”
Martinez, who owns a unified consulting service, is the same consultant as the consultant found in his home and office searched by investigators last week, according to a statement from the District Attorney’s Office.
Martinez, who has run several times in the state legislative office, could not be reached for comment via the phone or company’s website.
It’s not the first time Martinez has caused a controversy in the city.
A Times investigation found that as a political consultant, Mayor Carina Mathias helped raise money for Martinez, who is scheduled to run for the state legislature in 2016, but he never ran.
Residents attended a special Huntington Park City Council meeting on Friday, two days after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office ran a search warrant at the homes of the mayor and three current and former council members.
(Ruben Vives/Los Angeles Times)
Some of the contributors were linked to companies that were awarded contracts by the majority of Macias and councils, including city bus services and dial allied operators, street sweeps, bus stop maintenance vendors, and towing companies.
The district attorney asked about Macias’ political consulting work, but did not pursue accusations against her. Macias claims she never did anything wrong.
In a statement to residents Friday, Macias said that city staff are working diligently with authorities to ensure that they receive all information related to the Aquatic Center Project in Salt Lake Park, which includes an Olympic-sized pool and synthetic soccer field.
Macias said environmental issues contributed to the long delays and held responsibility for “a small group of individuals who don’t want it to be completed.” She accused the media of spreading misinformation and said the city completed construction of the football field in 2021.
“For over three years, there have been countless meetings, testing, site surveys, restoration and environmental plans amongst city, state and county agencies, including Janice Hahn’s office,” Macias’ statement read. “Through this incredibly long process, our mayors and staff have done all the testing, restoration and planning that they need along with these environmental agencies.”
However, Councillor Jonathan Sanabria, sitting next to her and not under investigation, said the football field is part of the entire project.
It was Sanabria who was caught up in a fierce debate with the town’s city lawyer, Arnold M. Alvarez Glassman.
One by one, people spoke to council members and called on them to resign from office.
“I am embarrassed by what you bring to our city,” said longtime resident Vicente Carrera. “You don’t belong here. You belong to prison.”
Some young residents said they were scared to speak on behalf of their parents. Some expressed their dissatisfaction that once again elected officials were ahead of the residents, especially during the time when the Trump administration was undergoing a massive deportation.
German Rodriguez, 30, said he saw the current state of the park and upset him about how city officials handled the project.
“It’s so sad to see all this possibility there. Instead of using it entirely, you prefer to leave a big stain there,” Rodriguez said. “We could have done a lot in that space.”
After hearing the speakers, Ruedas, a resident of Cudahy, addressed the council. He spoke about how he witnessed the scandal unfolding in his town and nearby Bell. He said he wanted to go to college so he could go back and give back to the community.
But the scandal reminded me of the challenges he and other residents face.
“We are represented by people who seem to not care about anything other than ourselves,” he said. “It’s a story as old as it was in the ages, and frankly, I’m just tired of this broken record.”
As he spoke, he noticed Sanabria was smiling and called him.
“I’m happy,” Sanabria made it clear later in the meeting that she was happy to see the authorities reveal things and put people accountable for their misconduct.
But before that clarification, Rudas felt offended.
“If you’re going on this, that’s really sad too,” he told councillors. “I’m not happy with this happening. These are my community, this is people’s money. People are scared to go outside for an ice attack. Consider what’s going on here, consider resigning, and consider creating space for others.”
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