Shortly after the Letter of Intent to Recall was served upon City Council members Skylar Peak and Rick Mullen, recall organizers became aware of serious illegal conduct by City Officials.
Representatives of the recall initiative collected supporting evidence, and subsequently filed criminal complaints with multiple law enforcement agencies including the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office where they were directed to D.A. Alan Yochelson, the head of the Public Integrity Divison.
From the on-set, the communication between recall representatives and D.A. Yochelson produced unsettling, and biased reactions. Signs of partisan behavior which was almost as troubling as the criminal complaints recall representatives were filing.
Yochelson’s demeanor with organizers showed he wasn’t especially interested in any transgressions committed by city officials, as if they were somehow immune to prosecution (he was however interested in the extortion of a burn victim by a City inspector).
Already aware of the recall efforts in Malibu, Yochelson went to unusual lengths to deter recall representatives from filing a formal complaint, without knowing the evidence representatives were in possession of, boldly stated the
complaints “won’t help you get a leg up on the recall”. Complaints were filed in good faith, and Yochelson’s biased and inapproriate comments lead to contacting Lacey directly.
As if it wasn’t disturbing enough to discover how city officials corrupted the recall process, D.A. Yochelson also added salt to the proverbial political wound by adding an anecdote regarding how another city also went through the recall process, and that he felt it was a “good thing” the efforts were not successful. The recall he spoke of was brought in bad faith and unlike the recall of council members Peak and Mullen, which was filed due to negligent conduct and abuse of power.
The statements made by Yochelson were unsolicited and the exact opposite reaction expected from the Public Integrit Division given D.A. Lacey is currently campaigning for re-election in 2020.
In the cover letter to D.A. Lacey sent by representatives of the recall, Lacey was informed of the bias displayed by Yochelson and reminded of the high profile raids on Mayor Jefferson Wagner’s homes and business last year, just days after voting against the renewal of City Manager Reva Feldman’s contract for a second time.
The raids were a complete waste of resources, and executed only to politically harass Wagner. The actions of the D.A.’s office have been traced back to City Manager Reva Feldman, who has close ties to Antonio Villaraigosa.
Villaraigoasa, as we have learned, also has close ties to DA Lacey and supported her last campaign.
Wagner was the sole vote against the renewal of Feldman’s contract in 2017, despite the personal efforts made by Antonio Villaraigosa to keep his “niece” employed at City Hall.
Villaraigosa personally reached out to each newly elected council members (Peak, Mullen and Wagner) after the 2016 election.
In the D.A. complaint against Wagner last year, filed “anonymously”, claims were made regarding Wagener’s “residency”.
Wagner owned a home 400 ft outside of the City limits where he serves on City Council, as well as a family property in the Civic Center, which qualified him to run for City Council in 2016.
Wagner, a Malibu icon, has also owned a business inside the City limits for over 4 decades and served a previous term on Council without issue.
It wasn’t until Wagner was re-elected and the uncovering of inconsistencies and corruption involving Feldman that he became the target of political harassment.
More than 13 months later, there is still no resolution to the “anonymous” complaint filed against Wagner, and the political harassment continues with the D.A. dangling the complaint over Wagner’s head. This is in spite of a new law that went into effect last year regarding residence requirements when running for office, and incidentally the residence in question, Wagner’s home in Latigo Canyon, was destroyed in the Woolsey Fire.
The recent communication with the D.A.’s office is demonstrating the allegations to have standing, and Malibu voters expect D.A. Lacey’s office to bring justice to the community.
Recall organizers will continue to collect additional evidence supporting the complaints filed with mutliple law enforcement agencies, including the attorney general, who oversees the D.A.’s office, as well as seek legal remedies against the City of Malibu for the corruption of the recall and voters right to due process.
*Any information to add to this complaint or want to include a statement, please contact recall organizers at
dramora@me.com
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