Thursday, November 19, 2009
Page 1
Trutanich Disavows Support of Delgadillo, Implied by Flier
By ROGER M. GRACE, Editor
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said yesterday he is not supporting his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo, for election as attorney general notwithstanding a flier representing that he will appear at a Dec. 1 Delgadillo fundraiser.
How home addresses of deputy city attorneys were obtained by those who sent out the flier is now being inquired into.
Trutanich told the MetNews that he met with Delgadillo, who “said he was holding a fundraiser that involved deputy city attorneys.” Delgadillo told him, Trutanich related, that some deputies “are a little bit concerned” about showing their political support “because you are the city attorney.”
Trutanich, a Republican until his recent re-registration as “Decline to State,” said he assured Delgadillo—an announced candidate for the Democratic nomination for attorney general—that there would be no retaliation against any deputies who back him in his campaign.
Livesay Recounts Conversation
Former Chief Deputy District Attorney Curt Livesay, now chief legal adviser to Trutanich, said he was present at the meeting which, he recounted, took place “about a week ago” on the patio of the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
He said Trutanich assured Delgadillo that the First Amendment rights of his deputies would be respected.
Livesay insisted that while Trutanich gave the assurance that deputies could attend the fundraiser without fear of recriminations, “there was no mention that he would appear there.”
The flier says:
Friends of Rocky
with special guest
Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich
Cordially invite you to a reception in support of
Rocky Delgadillo
(former LA City Attorney) and
The next Attorney General of California
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Livesay said that he is “concerned” as to how the Delgadillo campaign committee obtained home numbers of deputy city attorneys. All he knew as of mid-afternoon yesterday, he disclosed, was that five attorneys in the office and one non-attorney reported receipt of the flier.
He said there is in progress an internal “review to see if anything warrants an investigation.”
Home addresses of deputies are confidential, Livesay said, and if the city attorney, himself, asked the Personnel Department for a list of all the addresses, “They’re going to say ‘no.’ ”
Livesay noted that whether there has been any violation of Government Code §3205 will be considered. That section makes it a misdemeanor for “[a]n officer or employee of a local agency” to “directly or indirectly, solicit a political contribution from an officer or employee of that agency, or from a person on an employment list of that agency, with knowledge that the person from whom the contribution is solicited is an officer or employee of that agency.”
E-Mails Sent
In addition to the fliers sent by mail, e-mails from Delgadillo, with the salutation, “Dear Friends,” were dispatched, with a PDF facsimile of the flier attached. The e-mail announces:
“Friends of Rocky will be hosting a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Tuesday, December 1. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will be our special guest.”
The e-mail was dispatched by the Alice Borden Company, a firm that advises on political strategy and stages fundraisers. The telephone number to call “for information” listed on the invitation, the e-mail, and on the Delgadillo campaign website is that of the Alice Borden Company.
Contacted by telephone for comments, Borden insisted:
“I’m not the person to ask about that.”
She said the appropriate person would telephone. No call was received as of late afternoon.
A call also was placed to Delgadillo, now an attorney at Goodwin Procter LLP. He did not return the call.
The invitation indicates that $500 is the “suggested price per person.”
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company