D.A. RACE IN THE FINAL STRETCH

Here is our early handicap of the candidates based on what we know thus far:

CARMEN TRUTANICH (“Nooch”)
 

Is our early favorite. He’s raised by far the most money (approximately $1.5 million in 12 months), and has the most impressive list of endorsements.  He stumbled early with multiple hair-brained campaign goof-ups. But right now seems like the only candidate with enough fuel in his jets to get him over the finish line.  Seems to have broad support from Labor, Latinos and establishment types like California Governor Jerry Brown, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Pluses: Healthy fundraising, high name recognition, nice guy, a true independent: Minuses: multiple hair-brained campaign goof-ups; signed a pledge in November 2008 to not seek higher office.

Endorsements: California Governor Jerry Brown, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, The Mexican American Bar Association PAC. SFV Congressman Brad Sherman Congressman John Garamendi, L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster; Hawthorne Mayor Dan Juarez, National Latino Peace Officers Association. California Narcotics Officers Association, Latin American Law Enforcement Association, State Senators Darrell Steinberg, Ted Lieu, Kevin De Leon, Ron Calderon,  Lou Correa, and Gil Cedillo; L.A. City Councilmen Dennis Zine, Mitch Englander, Tom LeBonge, Joe Busciano, Bill Rosendahl, and Jose Huizar, San Francisco D.A. George Gascon, Orange County Sheriff, Sandra Hutchens, former Laker Shaquille O’Neal,  Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto, Redondo Beach Police Officers Association, El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero, Lancaster Mayor R Rex Parris, former D.A. Candidate and Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo, Los Angeles Port Police Association, Los Angeles General Services Police Association, Law enforcement Association of Asian Pacifics.

What the buzz is saying: He’s the candidate to beat. Fund raising and endorsements continue to pour in.  Most insiders expect he’ll win, if not in June, then in November.

Yes it’s true:  Attends black churches every Sunday.

JACQUELYN LACEY  (“Jackie”)

Running to be the first black woman to become District Attorney of Los Angeles. Lacey should poll ahead of Alan Jackson, Danette Meyers and Bobby Grace. She has the most seniority of them all. She has the endorsement of Steve Cooley (which so far hasn’t seemed to help her much.), and the L.A. Times.

Pluses: Currently serves as Chief Deputy in the office; Cooley& LA Times endorsements;     

Minuses: Support for Lacey has been tepid at best. Little to no name recognition. Cost the County millions defending her and Cooley’s union busting efforts; Perjured herself in a Federal Civil case.  

No war chest to promote her impressive endorsements. Fund raising has been anemic lately. Has only raised approximately $425,000 in 17 months. Her allegiance to Republican Cooley seems to turn off Democrats, and doesn’t seem to be helping much with Republicans.  Moderate Republicans will vote for Trutanich; Hard right-wingers will vote for Jackson. Handful of Cooley Republican friends will vote for Lacey.  Will split African American vote with Danette Meyers and Bobby Grace. Labor expected to spend heavily against her for past Union Busting tactics.

Endorsements: Current D.A. Steve Cooley. Former L.A. Public Defender Mike Judge, L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks; SFV Cong. Howard Berman; Michele Beals Bagneris, City Attorney of Pasadena; Barry Brucker, Mayor of Beverly Hills; Charisse Bremond Weaver, President of the Brotherhood Crusade, L.A. Times, Daily News (split with Jackson), Long Beach Press Telegram, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, PORAC (split with Jackson).

What the buzz is saying: Cooley endorsement doesn’t seem to be helping her. Turns-off Democrats and a lot of her natural base. Labor, Latinos and Democrats supporting other candidates. Could make it into the run-off.  

Yes it’s true:  Actual residence is outside L.A. County. Was on Trutanich Transition Team.in 2009.

ALAN JAY JACKSON

So far has run a puzzling campaign; raised a respectable $500,000 in campaign funds in over 18 months, but has appeared to burn through most of it several months before the first votes are cast.

Pluses: Several high-profile convictions; the only staunch Republican in the race. 

Minuses:  Is running as a Pete Wilson-Newt Gingrich Republican in a County that’s only 24% registered Republican. Has come out against Labor Unions, Latinos, and other Democrats. Has burned through 90% of campaign funds months before the first vote is cast.

Endorsements: Former California Governor Pete Wilson; L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich; State Senator Ted Strickland; Congressman “Buck” McKeon”; Long Beach City Attorney Robert Shannon, Police Associations from the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, Azuza, San Gabriel, Inglewood, and El Monte including retired Police Chiefs of El Monte, Conservative Radio Host Hugh Hewett

What the buzz is saying: Spent too much time and money attacking Trutanich and not enough raising his name ID.  Lacey will get more votes than him.  Will come in 3^rd.

Yes it’s true:  Recently married.

DANETTE MEYERS

Also running to be the first black woman to become District Attorney of Los Angeles.   Endorsements are tepid and fund raising is anemic. She beat out Jaquelyn Lacey for Democratic Party endorsements.

Pluses: Well-respected in the legal community. Former President of L.A. County Bar Association          

Minuses:  Little to no name recognition. Will split African American vote with Lacey and Bobby Grace. Anemic fundraising of $160,000 in over a year with very little left for the final two weeks of the primary campaign.

Endorsements:  Former L.A. County D.A. Gil Garcetti, Former Deputy D.A. John Lynch, Quincy Jones, Beverly Hills Police Officers Association; Stonewall Democratic Clubs, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood Democratic Clubs; Association of Deputy District Attorneys, National Woman Political Caucus, Culver City Democratic Club.

What the buzz is saying: Vendetta against Cooley and Lacey. Temperamental. Speaks her mind.  Might be looking to leverage her campaign to gain a promotion in the D.A’s office.  Has no chance.

Yes it’s true:  Fed-up with the Cooley-Lacey regime. Prosecuted Lindsay Lohan for necklace theft until case was kicked to Trutanich’s office.

BOBBY GRACE

Might be the most steady and consistent prosecutor in the race. Consistently gets convictions in high profile murder cases. Definitely has a bright future as a Prosecutor or in private practice.

Pluses: Nice guy. Good lawyer. Promising future.  Minuses:  Little to no name recognition. Will split African American vote with Lacey and Meyers. Raised less than $75,000 for campaign in over 17 months, which demonstrates anemic support.  Practically no campaign funds left.

Endorsements:  Rick Tuttle (former L.A. County Tax Assessor); Rita Walters, former L.A. City Councilwoman (9^th District), several prominent African American lawyers in private practice.

What the buzz is saying:  Won’t make it into the run-off.

Yes it’s true:  Has the most Facebook friends of any candidate.

JOHN BREAULT III

In every race there’s always one “joke” candidate. Think Pat Paulsen for President or Gary Coleman for California Governor. The beautiful thing about America is anyone with a filing fee and enough legitimate signatures can run for office.  John Breault III is that candidate in the 2012 primary for Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Pluses:  Blank slate. Deputy D.A. for 43 years. Public knows nothing about him.

Minuses:  No name ID. No funds to promote candidacy.

Endorsements:  None announced to date.

What the buzz is saying: 69 year old looney who’s about to reitre from the D.A’s office after 43 years. Probably wants to tell his grandchildren he once was on the ballot.

Yes it’s true:  Joined the office when Joe Busch was D.A

HAS DAVID BERGER'S BLOG OFFICIALLY SHIT THE BED???

What are you lookin' at?

Deputy District Attorney David Berger, a main henchman in the Steve Cooley-Jacquelyn Lacey smear machine, has officially "shit the bed."  Last week he posted several posts that were complete crap. We point this out to highlight that some blogs tell the truth, and some peddle complete fiction.

First, Berger posted some phony poll in the race for Los Angeles County D.A.  It was an "unofficial" poll supposedly conducted by an "unknown, unnamed, and unidentified group. " There was no data for sampling size, margin of error, methodology, or anything that a real poll would include. Berger simply invented the data. in order to disparage Lacey's competition in the D.A's race. The only fact Berger got right was that Lacey was losing the race behind Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, and Deputy District Attorneys Alan Jackson and Mario Trujillo.

Then, Berger claimed Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo was dropping out of the race for Los Angeles County D.A. because he was going to run for Los Angeles City Attorney.  Trujillo put out a statement saying "he was dropping out due to health considerations."

Berger ended the week with a totally fraudulent claim that FOX L.A's newsman Jeff Michaels ambushed Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich in a live televised interview last Friday afternoon. Jeff Michaels responded with a Twitter message that said "the interview wasn't an ambush." One examination of the  interview, which is available at http://www.myfoxla.com/  will show that Michaels asked topical questions and Trutanich tried to focus on the issues.

What's even more head scratching is that Berger seems to have aligned himself with David "Zuma Dogg" Saltsman, an admitted mentally ill blogger and candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles.

The lame stream media finds Berger has no credibility, and most reputable blogs won't go near him with a 10 foot poll. The only publication that references him is the Metropolitan News, and that's only because they're part of the Cooley-Lacey political smear operation. Just check out all their articles criticizing the ADDA (Association of Deputy District Attorneys), but nothing on all the lawsuits the County is paying for all of Cooley's & Lacey's union busting tactics.

It's one thing for an unemployed, mentally-ill, homeless chap to blog about various issues, it's quite another for a Deputy District Attorney who is an Officer of the Court, and a member of the State Bar of California to put out 100%  fabricated nonsense in an effort to spread disinformation and smear political opponents.

This may be another reason why change is needed at the highest levels of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

WILL MARIO TRUJILLO BECOME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY DISTRICT ATTORNEY???



We don't need no stinkin' Cooley.

 Community leaders all around Los Angeles are celebrating the fact that Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo could become the first openly gay District Attorney of Los Angeles County. Trujillo, who has two children from a former marriage decided to switch teams ten years after exchanging vows with his beautiful bride in order to pursue his openly homosexual lifestyle.

What makes Mr. Trujillo so unique is that a conerstone of his platform includes a pledge to promote more gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders into high ranking positions in the District Attorney's office. He has agressively sought and received the endorsement of many LGBT organizations, despite the advice of some of his former high paid consultants not to highlight this controversial issue.

As one member of his campaign told Dragnet L.A., "Look, he's here, he's queer, get used to it." Trujillo has told several audiences in recent months, "If I'm elected, I will open the doors to transgenders of all nationalities. They will serve in my administration, open and proud." Quite a bold statement for someone seeking the job of top prosecutor in a County the size of L.A.

The question buzzing through L.A. political circles is whether he can actually mount a serious campaign with a war chest close to $300,000. Time will tell.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Just back from a nice two week vacation on the Hawaiian Islands.

Thanks for all the hot tips everyone sent over the holidays. We’re investigating all of them and hope to be reporting on many of them in the coming days.

Just finished watching that freak show otherwise known as the Republican Debates.

The more these knuckleheads talk, the more President Obama’s numbers go up.

It seems the America public is getting an up close view of what these extremist wackos are all about, and running back to support the President in droves.

Has-been Mitt Romney can’t seem to crack the 25% mark.  In the Iowa Caucus he received a few less votes than that other has-been, Rick Santorum. *For fun, Google the word “Santorum”

All the newspapers in New Hampshire have endorsed everyone but Romney.  However, Romney was endorsed by Christine “I am not a witch” O’Donnell. She said, “Mitt Romney has been consistent since he changed his position on every issue.” So there! Can’t beat that endorsement.

Thankfully there weren’t any major headlines while we were away, except maybe “The Hollywood Arsonist. *We’ve already trademarked the name. 

Fire department furlough day

Several Deputy D.A.’s had to suspend their campaigns long enough to get back to work, and file papers against the man-child accused of these crimes.

Steve Cooley had to put down the booze, and sober up long enough to grandstand for the cameras and make sure the public could notice the similarities between him and the main-child. They’re both chubby, confused, glassy-eyed, etc etc.  I mean, if the shoe fits, which I’m sure it doesn’t……..

I won! Goodnight.

P.S. Expect Steve Cooley to declare victory in the District Attorney’s race any day now.  That’s right, you read it correctly. Once again, against the advice of his political consultants, he will probably down a couple of belts and publicly declare victory in the District Attorney’s race, similar to how he did it in the Attorney General’s race. This will not be good news for Jackie Lacey, Mario Trujillo or Deputy D.A. Alan “Jacko” Jackson, who’s still clearing the dung off his face after getting the Pete Wilson endorsement.  Cooley seems hell-bent on crushing Mario Trujillo and Alan Jackson’s campaigns any way he knows how. One would think sending Jacko Pete Wilson and John Thomas would do the trick, but Cooley wants to “finish him off” as Tony Soprano used to say.



That's the guy who ruined my campaign!

And speaking of John Thomas, it looks like his other big client, Kevin James has qualified for matching funds while we were away.

Well, whoop dee dew dah.!  Que the band! Stop the presses! Is this really BIG NEWS?



Thank you, but I'm not suppose to take checks on City property.

Kevin’s a good guy and could probably do a better job than the current occupant of the Mayor’s office, but right now his chances of qualifying for the run-off are slim to none.

Sure, he just passed the $150,000 mark in campaign contributions, however that only amounts to approximately $50,000 in cash on hand.  Considering the other candidates Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, and Jan Perry have raised over $1,000,000, and Austin Beutner can write himself a $5,000,000 dollar check, Kevin has a lot of catching up to do.

Those who enjoy political debates for entertainment purposes will enjoy Kevin debating all the City Hall insiders.  We wish him luck, and hope for his sake, he gets more votes than Zuma Dogg.

I'm a legend. Just ask me.

Also, it seems while we were away, the Occupy L.A. folks have gone from complaining that L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has put too much energy into prosecuting them, to now complaining that he’s not putting enough energy into prosecuting them. They need to make up their mind. They’ve gone from protesting financial inequity caused by Wall Street and the major banks, to whimpering about being arrested and having to go through the judicial process.  I hope Trutanich sentences these fools to watching a full episode of the TV show “Barretta”, and then making them write a hundred times on a chalkboard, “DON’T DO THE CRIME, IF YOU CAN’T DO THE TIME”, and keep your eyyyyyyyyyyeeee on the sparrow……...

and dats da name of dat tune!

Mario Trujillo bitch slaps Steve Cooley

We don't need no stinkin' Cooley

Too bad Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo doesn’t read this blog.  It wasn’t but 2 weeks ago that we posted our information about Steve Cooley’s political smear machine inside the District Attorney’s office.  Foolishly, Mario walked right into the buzz saw.

Last week the aspiring politician sent out a fund raising email asking potential donors to send him their Christmas money for his sputtering campaign. In the process, attempting to demonstrate he’s a “reformer” he threw in some lines about how the “District Attonrey’s Office” is fucked up (we’re paraphrasing), “and only he has” the cajones to turn things around. (still paraphrasing)

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Problem is, nobody was buying this crap.

See, Cooley and Mario Trujillo are part of the same management team, which has failed the citizens of LA County for over a decade. If Mario thought things were run so poorly, and reform is desperately needed, then what the hell has Mario been doing all these years?

The irony is Mario is a co-defendant with Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey in the anti-labor and anti-union lawsuits which were only partially settled against them, costing taxpayers at least $600,000 and probably millions more, not to mention the legal fees that taxpayers will have to pay for the private attorneys hired from the Jones Day law firm which will probably double that amount.

Mario hoped to raise money from a gullible and uninformed crowd by writing "I have seen how archaic and inefficient policies of the D.A.'s office have delayed justice for victims, wasted taxpayer money, and put our community at risk."

Does Mario’s "reform plan" include management personally paying for the damage they cause rather than “wasting taxpayer money” by sticking taxpayers with the bill? Then, to further embellish his dexterity at talking out of both sides of his mouth, Trujillo told the Met News, this fundraising e-mail was “not attacking the administration,”  and “in no way was it meant to be a criticism of my boss.” WTF?

Cooley spokesperson Sandi Gibbons was correct, when she called Trujillo’s two-faced comments "disappointing"?! One high-ranking official in the D.A.’s office has told the Dragnet, “It’s a shame Mario’s feeble campaign has resorted so quickly to throwing his colleagues under the bus. But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Mario’s role in Cooley’s union busting tactics included snitching on his colleagues who merely wanted labor representation in the D.A.'s office.  It’s obvious he’s now trying to distance himself from his co-horts, Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey.”  Question is, will the Latino and legal communities back a disloyal snitch?  Probably not. What’s your opinion?