Re: “Hawthorne Mayor Hit for $47,000 Debt”
Dateline Hawthorne – The promising political future of Hawthorne Mayor Chris Brown, the youngest ever to be elected to office here, continues to plunge into jeopardy.
A second round of revelations of alleged financial creativity has been uncovered by Daily Breeze reporter Sandy Mazza.
Exactly one week after Ms. Mazza exclusively revealed that the 32-year-old Mr. Brown, in the early stages of a re-election campaign, was in gathering hot waters over $47,000 worth of alleged eviction and unpaid bank loan debts, she documented far wider spread instances of alleged problematic finances.
Mr. Brown is the first African American mayor of this South Bay community slightly larger, geographically, than Culver City.
The Daily Breeze reported this morning that the mayor:
- “Has allegedly dodged debts to a charter airline service based in the city and campaign consultants who helped get him elected in 2013.”
- “Has been spending taxpayer funds freely during his 16 months in office, taking 30 trips around the country – some without documentation as to the purpose – and sneaking through a $20,541 remodel of his office, according to city officials and records obtained by the Breeze.”
Besides the $22,000 in airline flights that Mr. Brown has charged to the city the past 16 months, there are two instances of unique note:
The story of the remodeling of Mr. Brown’s office also involves imagination.
Said the Breeze:
“The remodel was buried at the end of a March10 staff report to the City Council about the demolition of two dilapidated Hawthorne Boulevard properties.
“On the fifth page of the report on the properties to be demolished is a ‘Proposal for Hawthorne City Hall City Treasurer Office Room Renovation.’ Typically, such a proposal would receive its own agenda item for Council consideration, and this one hardly was noticed by Council members, said Councilman Alex Vargas.“The proposal passed, but the work actually was done on the Mayor’s Office – not the treasurer’s, Vargas said.”
The second instant regards Mr. Brown’s background.
Mr. Brown “alternately has described himself to the public as a business owner, as self-employed and as a former mobile phone account executive, but has never provided proof of employment or evidence of his business.”
