Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander was sentenced Monday to 14 months in prison for lying to federal authorities about his dealings with a businessman who provided him $15,000 in secret cash payments and a debauched night in Las Vegas. “There’s simply no adequate explanation as to how he totally lost his moral compass and committed this crime,” said U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. Englander, 50, is the first person to be sentenced in a sprawling federal investigation into corruption at Los Angeles City Hall. He pleaded guilty in July to scheming to falsify material facts, a felony. “I’ve hurt the very people I love the most,” Englander said at his sentencing.
Englander is not alone in the corruption at the city LA City council. Former Councilman Jose Huizar is awaiting trial on bribery, racketeering and other charges on allegations of shaking down developers seeking approval for major downtown building projects. A former deputy mayor to Mayor Eric Garcetti Raymond Chan, and Huizar’s special assistant, George Esparza have wither been found guilty or are pleading guilty.
The troubling part of this story is that the LA city council has the power to grant construction permits. The advice of neighborhood councils, made up of the citizens, is ignored. Those councils are advisory and have no power to do anything in their communities.
How can this situation be resolved? Power should be given to every neighborhood council to administer everything from street repairs to tree trimming to parking enforcement. The councils should not be advisory. That would require changes so the city charter. Since the council members see their positions as fiefdoms they will fight any change in their power.
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