Fighting Back, Brown Demands Apology, Retraction

Dateline Hawthorne — In an effort to address what he called numerous inaccuracies and untruths recently reported, Hawthorne Mayor Chris Brown today demanded an apology, an immediate retraction and correction from the South Bay newspaper the Daily Breeze, its parent company MediaNews and reporter Sandy Mazza after the newspaper published an article claiming the mayor misspent public funds.

Last Sunday the Daily Breeze published an article entitled “Hawthorne mayor piling up unpaid debts, racking up City Hall travel” which Mr. Brown said incorrectly claimed that he and the city of Hawthorne spent more than $22,000 on airline and hotel bills.

Documentation has been submitted to the Daily Breeze by the city of Hawthorne, “supporting the facts about the trips and expenses in question.”

Mayor Brown is insisting that the newspaper publish an immediate retraction of “the false statements made as well as a correction made in the same fashion that the original story was published on the front page of the newspaper with a title in large, bold print that preferably reads: ‘Hawthorne mayor didn’t do everything we told he did.’”

Mr. Brown said the story in question erroneously claimed he organized a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with federal lawmakers and other government officials.

While Mr. Brown did travel to Washington in his capacity as mayor to meet with lawmakers U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and government officials including the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and the Dept. of Transportation to seek funding for transportation and infrastructure projects in the city, he said he did not organize the trip, as reported by the Daily Breeze. Nor was he the only representative of Hawthorne who participated in the visit.

The trip was organized by Enviro Communications, Inc., retained by the Hawthorne City Council through a 5-0 vote to pursue potential funding opportunities through grants, loans, and other sources available at the federal, state, and regional levels.

Under the consultant’s recommendation and with coordination from Hawthorne’s city manager, the trip was planned with the hopes of laying the groundwork necessary to secure approximately $12 million in funding for various city housing, infrastructure and transportation projects in the coming years. These projects include — but are not limited to — redevelopment of the RFK Hospital into a proposed mixed-purpose facility that would encompass housing for disabled veterans, a skilled nursing home, an assisted living facility and an integrated medical facility.

Another claim made by the Daily Breeze was that Mr. Brown booked a two-night stay at the Hyatt the Pike, Long Beach, at the cost of $641 on June 20-22, 2014.

First, the booking was actually for July 20-22, 2014, the mayor pointed out.

Second, he added, a former City Hall employee authorized the charge of the city’s credit card instead of her own.  This employee stayed at the Hyatt and should have used her own credit card.  Mr. Brown said he never stayed at the hotel, had no knowledge of the booking. Subsequent to learning about the indiscretion, an apology email was received from the ex-employee to the city manager. The city is accepting repayment of the expenditure from the aforementioned employee.

The Daily Breeze reported that Mr. Brown “dined on more than $200 in sushi” while on a trip to New York.

The reality, said the mayor, is that the $200 expenditure was on meals for three people — Hawthorne City Manager Michael Goodson, Finance Director Rickey Manbahal and the mayor over a three-day stay on a trip to discuss a community energy aggregation program that would reduce the cost of electricity for the city, its residents, and business at the invitation of Good Energy.

Mr. Brown said the City of Hawthorne did not pay for his wife Hedako Brown’s air flight or hotel stay for the 83rd Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors because she did not attend the conference.

As for the “sneaky remodel of the Mayor’s office,” as referenced by the Daily Breeze:

Mr. Brown said a work order change allowing for necessary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act updates to the Finance Dept., Business Licensing Dept., and administrative offices was approved through a 5-0 vote of the City Council on March 10.  Construction lasted approximately two months and was clearly noted on the front page of related staff reports. There was nothing “sneaky” about it, the mayor said.

All of the mayor’s travel that was approved on the city manager’s credit card had a clear city purpose, according to Mr. Brown. Most trips were approved by the City Council through a unanimous 5-0 vote. This means that the City Council knew about it, and it was entered into public record, the mayor said.

“The Daily Breeze has been given the supporting documents proving that many of their claims were inaccurate,” said Mr. Brown.  “It is now up to them to do the right thing and correct their wrong.

“By correct, I mean make a retraction as well as publish a new story in the exact same fashion with the same fanfare they used in publishing their initial article with the erroneous information on the front page with the title in big bold letters: ‘Hawthorne mayor didn’t do everything we told you he did.’”

Mr. Brown added that “while I respect the Breeze for holding elected officials accountable, they cannot go on a witch hunt and publish outright lies.

“In last Sunday’s article that is exactly what they did. They owe my wife, the city of Hawthorne, and me an apology and a promise to do a better job of sourcing their information.

“If Ms. Mazza would have just asked for information and documentation in the first place instead of reporting from rumors, gossip and innuendos, a lot of this could have been avoided.”