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In recent days, opponents of the Millennium Hollywood project have scored hugely favorable media coverage of their fight, with nine stories appearing on six television stations (KCBS, KCAL, KABC, KNBC, KTLA and KTTV) and two radio stations (KPCC and KPFK) on Friday alone. In addition, the Wall Street Journal published a story about the controversial Millennium project that appeared in its Saturday edition, and the opponents’ attorney, Robert P. Silverstein, was interviewed on the “McIntyre in the Morning” show on Talk Radio 790 KABC earlier in the week.
The television and radio coverage largely focused on Friday’s news conference in which Millennium opponents urged the City of Los Angeles Ethics Commission to give top priority to a complaint that the Building and Safety Dept.’s handling of the Millennium project may have been compromised by a possible conflict-of-interest. Mr. Silverstein said the investigation deserved the highest attention of the Ethics Commission because of recent disclosures that the son of Building and Safety’s boss was working for the developer's chief advocate at City Hall, the law firm of Sheppard Mullin, while the project was being reviewed by the department.
On Sept. 9, an opponent of the project filed a formal complaint with the Ethics Commission calling attention to the possibility of a conflict-of-interest involving department general manager Raymond Chan while his department was reviewing the project’s earthquake issues. The complaint cited evidence that suggested Mr. Chan's son was working for Sheppard Mullin at least in February.
That complaint triggered an LA Times story on Sept. 18, in which an attorney for Sheppard Mullin confirmed that Mr. Chan's son had been a paid “student intern” at Sheppard Mullin between January and May.
Time to Unravel a Mystery
During Friday's news conference, Mr. Silverstein, who represents a city-wide coalition of 40 community groups opposed to the Millennium project, said: “In our opinion, the question must be asked: Did the son's paid position with Millennium's attorneys play a role in Mr. Chan's handling of the Millennium project and its troubling earthquake issues?”
At the news conference, the opponents also released a video interview they shot of Mr. Chan in which the general manager denied he was involved in the Millennium project until July, a claim patently contradicted by “smoking gun” emails that show he was involved at least as early as March 2012, fully 16 months earlier than he was admitting.
And incredibly, in that smoking gun March 16, 2012, email Mr. Chan and Sheppard Mullin attorneys were discussing “the Hollywood Fault line that could potentially be crossing the property,” the very issue at the heart of this scandal.
In the interview, Mr. Chan also conceded that he had not asked the Ethics Commission or the City Attorney’s office if his connection, through his son, to Sheppard Mullin, created a conflict-of-interest that should have caused him to excuse himself completely from being involved in his department’s review of the Millennium project’s earthquake safety issues.
Millennium opponents have filed a lawsuit alleging the city's environmental review of the Millennium project, involving construction of two skyscrapers (one of 39 stories, the other, 35 stories), failed to disclose the relationship of the Millennium property to the Hollywood Earthquake Fault. State geologist Dr. John Parrish told the City Council four days before City lawmakers approved the project two months ago today, on July 24, that he believed the active Hollywood Fault may run directly through the Millennium property.
Mr. Schwada may be contacted at john.schwada@gmail.com
