Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Page 4
Blogger Claims Mike Feuer Received Illegal Donations
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A contributor to a popular Los Angeles political blog has accused executives of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, one of whom is now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, of making illegal donations to the campaign of Los Angeles city attorney candidate Michael Feuer.
Scott Johnson, posting Saturday on “Mayor Sam’s Sister City,” alleged that a $1,000 donation by Holly Fujie in October 2011—two months prior to her appointment to the bench—and other donations made between October 2010 and June of last year violated rules prohibiting city contractors, bidders for contracts, and officers of organizations that are contractors or are bidding for contracts from donating to city candidates if the amount of the contract or proposed contract exceeds $100,000.
The Feuer campaign did not respond to a MetNews request for comment.
Johnson said that Bet Tzedek officials gave at least $18,000 to the campaign at a time that the nonprofit legal services provider—of which Feuer is himself a former chief executive—was bidding for a contract to provide services to the city Department of Aging, or within one year of the signing of the contract on Aug. 11, 2011, the blackout period provided by city law.
The named donors were Bet Tzedek President and CEO Sandor Samuels, Fujie, attorney Gary D. Roberts, developer Luis Lainer, attorney John A. Schulman, SunAmerican Financial Services Group executive Jay S. Wintrob, and consultant Jerome L. Coben.
The blogger asserted that Roberts and Fujie held the title of chairperson of Bet Tzedek, Lainer chairperson emeritus, and Wintrob, Schulman, and Coben members of the President’s Council. The city law applies to the “chair, president, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, or the functional equivalent of those positions” of a bidder or contractor.
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