[Editor’s Note: Forescee Hogan-Rowles, Mr. Parks’ opponent in the Tuesday, March 8, Los Angeles City Council election, often mentions Mr. Parks’ still unsettled donor dispute, which the letter-writer seeks to detail.]
February 16, 2011
The Honorable Kamala Harris
Attorney General, State of California
ATTN: CA Dept. of Justice Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Also EMAILED to: piu@doj.ca.gov
Dear Honorable Kamala Harris,
I write as a citizen who is troubled by the recent news that an investigation into the illegal donations accepted by Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard Clinton Parks from MTA contractors in his 2008 county supervisor campaign, was/is being covered up by the MTA’s inspector general office. (LA Weekly article, titled “MTA Hid Report on Councilman Bernard Parks’ Illegal Contributions”, dated February 3, 2011). The decision by MTA Acting Inspector General Karen Gorman to cover up the investigation instead of seeking prosecution when Parks’ illegal actions became known is a betrayal of the public trust.
I am also concerned that based on the facts reported in the article, the MTA’s inspector general office did not even conduct a thorough investigation. It seems as though the MTA inspector general’s office limited their investigation to the now confirmed and then-alleged $21,800 in illegal contributions, and did not even bother to review all of Councilmember Parks’ county supervisor campaign contributions. The $21,800 identified barely scratches the surface of Parks’ unlawfulness.
Among the multiple ethics laws Councilmember Parks has broken is California Section 130051.20 (also known as California Senate Bill 89 — Hayden), which prohibits MTA board members from accepting, soliciting or directing any donation over $10 from any business or business employee or their immediate family members who have contracted with the MTA or bid on an MTA contract. The text of the law is enclosed.
I have reviewed the Parks for Supervisor ’08 campaign records and cross-checked them with MTA website and Expo Line reports. Based on these records, it is clear that Parks accepted at least $75,050 from MTA and Expo Line Construction Authority contractors and bidders for his failed Supervisor’s campaign through January 2009, when he mysteriously stepped down from the MTA Board after his illegal actions became public. (Inexplicably, Parks still sits on the Expo Line Construction Authority Board, a subsidiary of MTA).
The $75,050 includes:
• $71,950 in contributions from contractors/bidders that had business dealings with MTA (and for some, Expo as well),
• $3,100 in contributions from businesses who only had contracts with Expo.
Parks also accepted at least $2,000 in illegal donations from MTA contractors for his 2007 Los Angeles City Council Re-Election Campaign while he was on the MTA Board. (L.A. City election campaign records are harder to track, given that only those above $100 are publicly accessible on the internet.)
In summary, simply from records that are available on the internet, Councilmember Bernard Parks accepted a minimum of 89 illegal and unethical donations totaling $77,050 from MTA and Expo Line contractors for his campaigns for office while he sat on the MTA board. I must emphasize that this number is a minimum, because I have not yet completed my review of all the Parks campaign records available on the internet, I do not have access to Parks’ L.A. City campaign contributions under $100, and I do not yet have information on the recent Expo contractors.
I am equally concerned that Councilmember Parks continues to accept contributions from MTA and Expo Line contractors for his 2011 City Council re-election campaign, including at least one of the improper donors to his county supervisors campaign, because he still sits on the Expo Line Construction Authority Board, a subsidiary of MTA that receives all of its funding from MTA.
To be frank, I am flabbergasted. Councilmember Parks has flagrantly broken our state’s ethics laws, and the response by the authorities put in place to prevent and prosecute wrongdoing has been to allow Parks’ lawlessness to go unchecked for over 2 _ years. Is this a “nation of men,” where one set of laws applies to the former Police Chief, while another set applies to everyone else? Or is this a “nation of laws,” where justice delayed is justice denied?
I urge you to prosecute this matter fully – immediately. A failure to act in the most expeditious manner possible will only lead to justifiable questions regarding the pervasiveness of the cover up. If you have any further questions please contact me via phone at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or email at xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx
Sincerely,
Carol Tucker
HAYDEN’S LAW (CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITES CODE SECTION 130051.20)
(a) (1) No construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm, or any company, vendor, or business entity seeking a contract with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall give to a member, alternate member, or employee of the authority, or to any member of their immediate families, a contribution of over ten dollars ($10) in value or amount. A “contribution” includes contributions to candidates or their committees in any federal, state, or local election.
(2) Neither the owner, an employee, or any member of their immediate families, of any construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm, or any company, vendor, or business entity seeking a contract with the authority shall make a contribution of over ten dollars ($10) in value or amount to a member, alternate member, or employee of the authority, or to any member of their immediate families.
(3) No member, alternate member, or employee of the authority, or member of their immediate families, shall accept, solicit, or direct a contribution of over ten dollars ($10) in value or amount from any construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm, or any company, vendor, or business entity seeking a contract with the authority.
(4) No member, alternate member, or employee of the authority shall make or participate in, or use his or her official position to influence, a contract decision if the member, alternate member, or employee has knowingly accepted a contribution of over ten dollars ($10) in value in the past four years from a participant, or its agent, involved in the contract decision.
(5) No member, alternate member, or employee of the authority, or member of their immediate families shall accept, solicit, or direct a contribution of over ten dollars ($10) in value or amount from a construction company, engineering firm, consultant, legal firm, or any company, vendor, or business entity that has contracted with the authority in the preceding four years.
(b) A member, alternate member, or employee of the authority who has participated as a decisionmaker in the preparation, evaluation, award, or implementation of a contract and who leaves the authority shall not, within three years of leaving the authority, accept employment with any company, vendor, or business entity that was awarded a contract as a result of his or her participation, evaluation, award, or implementation of that contract.
BERNARD PARKS CAMPAIGN DONOR RECORDS
Link to Bernard Parks for Supervisor donations: http://efs.lacounty.gov/public_search_results
Link to Bernard Parks donations (limited to donations of $100 and over) for Los Angeles City elections since appointed to the MTA Board through 2/14/11: http://ethics.lacity.org/disclosure/campaign/search/public_search_results
[img]1110|exact|LIST OF MTA & EXPO LINE CONTRACTORS & BIDDERS||no_popup[/img]
