SACRAMENTO – In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Times today published an opinion piece penned by Ventura City Manager Rick Cole highlighting issues surrounding the city of Vernon — including recent guilty pleas by former officials — and his belief that Speaker John A Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) disincorporation bill must pass:

“In announcing the guilty plea of yet another disgraced Vernon official this month, L.A. Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman put the issue squarely: “All the crimes that happen there happened because of the misrepresentation of Vernon as a city, when it's not.... It's a corporation.” Former Vernon City Administrator Donal O'Callaghan, who racked up $785,000 in pay in 2009, admitted felony charges that he illegally hired his wife for lucrative consulting contracts.”

“Despite a torrent of corruption and abuses, it's been impossible to either generate public indignation or genuine reform because Vernon has no actual "citizens" in the typical sense.

“No one can move to Vernon. The entire housing stock is controlled by members of the City Council or the city government itself. The last time interlopers sought residence there (in a warehouse), the city cut off their electricity, hired armed guards to tail them and canceled their voter registration forms. Ironically, the three would-be voters shared the same motive as Vernon's officials. They wanted control of Vernon's $4.1-billion assessed tax base. With a dozen or more confederates, they could have grabbed power, but only if the city actually held an election. Instead, the City Council abruptly canceled the election. It took a court order to reschedule it and another to count the votes months later.

“That was in 2006, and it was the first contested election that Vernon had held in 25 years. If you think this bizarre perversion of democracy looks more like Enron than your local government, you would have put your finger on why reform is literally impossible in Vernon.”

“After passing the Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support, the Pérez bill is awaiting a final vote in the state Senate. Business lobbyists have turned some Republican support, and labor allies have picked away Democratic votes. There is no powerful and well-funded lobby for public integrity. Only public opinion can turn the tide. If Vernon wins, we all lose.”

Vernon, the smallest city in California by population has only 96 residents, virtually all of whom live in heavily subsidized, city owned housing; and are either employed by the city or connected to city officials. News reports have documented the many incidents of corruption in Vernon, including rampant cronyism, illegal uses of public funds, voter fraud, and bloated salaries and pensions, including awarding a Vernon official the largest public pension in the state.

View the full article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-cole-vernon-20110727,0,292161.story

Website of Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

CONTACT: John Vigna (916) 319-2408

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement regarding President Obama formally enacting the end to the ban on gay Americans serving openly in the military:

"President Obama has fulfilled one of his most significant promises to the American people with today's announcement that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is no longer the policy of the United States military. He has guaranteed that every American, regardless of their sexual orientation, may have the opportunity to serve our nation with the full dignity and pride that comes with wearing the uniform of the United States, and I am grateful for his leadership."

CONTACT: John Vigna (916) 319-2408

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

Legislation Works to Clarify Elements of California Bridge to Reform Demonstration Project, Offers Californians Quality Health Care Opportunities

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) AB 1066 has been signed into law by the Governor. The bill defines how public hospitals will receive billions of dollars through the California Bridge to Reform Demonstration Project, in which California receives $10 billion in federal funds to provide health care services during the transition to full federal health care reform.

Applauding Governor Brown for signing the bill, Pérez stated, “AB 1066 works to promote a demonstration project that is key to Californians receiving care as federal health care reform moves forward. This legislation allows our state to tap into billions of federal dollars—allowing our counties and hospitals to provide the care Californians need before federal health care reform takes hold.”

The federal demonstration project provides critical stabilization funding to public safety net providers as they shift their delivery systems to meet the requirements of federal health care reform.

AB 1066 ensures that the demonstration project, which will operate under a federal Medicaid waiver, conforms to the federal requirement—guaranteeing both timely and accurate receipt of federal dollars and proper funding allocations among each of the specific participating public hospitals.

The legislation allows full implementation of two previous bills, AB 342 and SB 208, legislation authored by Speaker Pérez and Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) last year that established the Bridge to Reform Demonstration Project in an effort to maintain health care services while full federal health care reform is put in place.

CONTACT: John Vigna (916) 319-2408

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

SACRAMENTO – In case you missed it, this week has seen a plethora of new stories on the City of Vernon undercutting Vernon officials’ credibility as reformers, pointing out the staggering debt load those officials have accumulated and new legal woes for former Vernon officials.

• On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle published an op-ed by Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of Law at UC Irvine, who forcefully argued that Speaker John A. Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) effort to disincorporate Vernon is on solid constitutional ground, stating “simply put, since it is the Legislature that ultimately creates cities, it is the Legislature that can decide to disincorporate them. There is no authority, in California or elsewhere, that once a city has been incorporated it has a constitutional right to exist forever. Nor have developments in the last century lessened the Legislature’s power in this area.” To date, every independent legal expert who has weighed in on the question of disincorporation has affirmed the Constitutionality of the Speaker’s effort, seriously undercutting the claims of lawyers on Vernon’s payroll who argue otherwise.

• On Tuesday, Fox 11 reported that “even with its future in question, Fox 11 has learned that Vernon is still racking up debt big time—issuing more than $19 million in bonds on top of the more than half a billion Vernon already owes.”  In fact, if Los Angeles County had the same level of debt as Vernon, the total would be more than 50 trillion dollars.

• On Wednesday, KCBS Reporter Dave Bryan reported that Vernon officials have seriously undercut their credibility as reformers by paying the medical bills for Bruce Malkenhorst—the former Vernon City Administrator and admitted felon who claimed to work six jobs simultaneously to collect a pension of more than $500,000 per year (which is by far the largest taxpayer-funded pension in California). The City Council also approved $68,000 in payments to Eric Fresch, the “poster child for out of control municipal compensation,” whose inappropriate practices as a Vernon official have been well documented by numerous news outlets. The payments were approved at the June 21 City Council meeting—just one day before Vernon City Administrator Mark Whitworth appeared before the Senate Committee on Government and Finance where he claimed “I have enacted reforms that addressed every concern from the speaker’s office .” As the Speaker noted in the interview with Mr. Bryan, these actions prove that Vernon’s reform rhetoric is merely that—rhetoric.

• On Thursday, Capitol Weekly reported that “inch by inch, the move by Assembly Speaker John Pérez to abolish the city is moving forward” while noting that Vernon spent $560,000 taxpayer dollars in the first quarter of this year, with this quarter’s numbers expected to be significantly higher. Yet despite the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars Vernon is spending to fight disincorporation, the pro-disincorporation effort has been successful in seeking approval at every single legislative forum where the issue has come up—four votes in the Legislature, a vote of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and by the councils of the three cities bordering Vernon.

• Also on Thursday, Eastern Group Publications reported that Donal O’Callahan, another former Vernon official accused of corruption, will begin his trial on self-dealing charges. O’Callahan served as Vernon City Administrator before being indicted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for illegal self-dealing when he was “accused…of hiring his wife, Kimberly McBride, as a $40/hour bookkeeper for the city.” The story also reported a comment by O’Callahan’s attorney noting that “McBride was hired with the knowledge of city officials.”

See below for article links:

Erwin Chemerinsky: Can a state dissolve a city?

Stripping Vernon of cityhood making headway

Trial For Ex-Vernon Official Expected To Begin Today

CONTACT: John Vigna (916) 319-2408

Website of Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

SACRAMENTO – In case you missed it, Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law and respected constitutional lawyer, Erwin Chemerinsky recently penned an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle weighing in on the constitutionality of Speaker John A. Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) Assembly Bill 46, a bill to disincorporate any city with a population under 150:

“Simply put, since it is the Legislature that ultimately creates cities, it is the Legislature that can decide to disincorporate them. There is no authority, in California or elsewhere, that once a city has been incorporated it has a constitutional right to exist forever. Nor have developments in the last century lessened the Legislature’s power in this area.”

Vernon, the smallest city in California by population has only 96 residents, virtually all of whom live in heavily subsidized, city owned housing; and are either employed by the city or connected to city officials. News reports have documented the many incidents of corruption in Vernon, including rampant cronyism, illegal uses of public funds, voter fraud, and bloated salaries and pensions, including awarding a Vernon official the largest public pension in the state.

Speaker Pérez’s AB 46 will next be heard by the State Senate.

View the full column here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/10/INQN1K7C6H.DTL

CONTACT: John Vigna, Robin Swanson (916) 319-2408

Website of Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

Meeting Strengthens Relations, Increases Flow of Ideas Between the Sister Cities

LOS ANGELES – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) hosted a delegation Friday of the Mexico City Legislative Assembly to strengthen the relationship between California and Mexico while continuing to explore ways the sister cities of Los Angeles and Mexico City can benefit each other.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to meet with this delegation of the Mexico City Legislative Assembly,” Pérez said. “It means a great deal for both of our regions to continue to broaden our ties while continuing the exchange of ideas and attitudes.”

Los Angeles County stands as the largest area of residence for Hispanics in the United States, home to over 4.5 million individuals while Mexico is the largest market for exports of California-made goods and has been California’s main trading partner since 1999.  With an economic relationship that generates over $159 billion for California annually, continued open dialogue between the largest cities in both Mexico and California is key to mutual economic growth.

“Now is the time for California to stop reacting to the recession and to start creating jobs and building our economy,” Pérez added. “It is important to continue to reach out to our biggest trade partner, working to improve our economy and generate job opportunities.”

The delegation began a three day visit on Wednesday, led by their President, long-time labor and woman rights activist Alejandra Barrales Magdeleno. The group had a full agenda of meeting; among these visiting with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Consul General of Mexico David Figueroa Ortega, the Los Angeles Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and visiting with students and faculty at the University of Southern California.

Mexico City has been a sister city of Los Angeles since 1969, and is currently the only place in Mexico where same sex couples can legally marry, and where women have a right to a legal abortion.

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

Presidente Pérez Recibe a Delegación de la Asamblea Legislativa de Ciudad de México

Reunión Fortalece la Relaciones, e Incrementa el Flujo de Ideas Entre las Ciudades Hermanas

LOS ANGELES – El presidente de la Asamblea John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) recibió el viernes a una delegación de la Asamblea Legislativa de la Ciudad de México para fortalecer las relaciones entre ambas regiones y continuar explorando los caminos que beneficien a las ciudades hermanas de Los Angeles y Ciudad de México.

“Estoy profundamente honrado de tener la oportunidad de reunirme con esta delegación de la Asamblea Legislativa de la Ciudad de México,” señaló Pérez. “Tiene un gran significado para  ambas regiones de continuar ampliando nuestros lazos y al mismo tiempo continuar el intercambio de actitudes e ideas.”

El condado de Los Angeles ocupa la primera posición de residencia de la gran mayoría de la población latina en los Estados Unidos, albergando a más de 4.5 millones de personas mientras que México es el principal mercado para las exportaciones producidas en California y ha sido el principal socio comercial desde 1999.  Con una relación comercial que genera más de $159 mil millones de dólares al año para California, continuar con un dialogo abierto entre las dos más grandes ciudades en México y California es clave para el crecimiento económico de ambos.

“Hoy es hora que California deje de reaccionar por la recesión y comience a crear empleos y construir nuestra economía,” añadió Pérez. “Es muy importante de continuar extendiendo nuestros lazos con nuestros mayor socio comercial, y trabajar para mejorar nuestra economía y generar oportunidades de empleo.”

La delegación comenzó una visita de tres días el miércoles, liderada por su presidenta y veterana activista sindical y por el derecho de la mujer Alejandra Barrales Magdeleno. El grupo también visitó al alcalde de Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, el Concilio de la Ciudad de Los Angeles, al Cónsul General de México en Los Angeles David Figueroa Ortega, y la Cámara de Comercio Hispana de Los Angeles, como también un encuentro con estudiantes y facultativos de la universidad del sur de California.

La Ciudad de México ha sido ciudad hermana de Los Angeles desde 1969, y es actualmente el único lugar en México donde las parejas del mismo sexo pueden legalmente casarse, y donde las mujeres tienen el derecho legal a hacerse un aborto.

Portal de Internet del presidente de la Asamblea John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

SACRAMENTO – Speaker John A. Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to eliminate food deserts through increased access to healthy and nutritious foods passed through the Senate Health Committee today, receiving bipartisan support.

Pérez’s AB 581 establishes the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a program that aims to eliminate food deserts — large geographic areas with little to no access to affordable, quality, healthy foods — and increase access to healthy and nutritious foods. The bill also positions the state to receive federal dollars as part of President Obama’s Health Food Financing Initiative — a partnership between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Treasury, to invest $340 million nationwide.

“Through the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative, we have the potential to provide healthy and nutritious food choices for all Californians,” Speaker Pérez said. “By creating a pathway to increased healthy food access, we can start to eliminate food deserts; improving people’s quality of life through healthy eating.”

Residents in food desert areas do not have access to a selection of healthy foods including fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Research has shown that these residents of food deserts, which occur in both rural and urban areas, generally have higher incidences of premature death, and certain types of diseases including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease.

“AB 581 marks a big step in giving Californians the opportunity to access affordable healthy food,” Pérez added.

AB 581 received unanimous bipartisan support on the Assembly floor, and sailed through the Assembly Agriculture Committee and the Assembly Health Committee on unanimous votes before passing through the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Health Committee.

The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

CONTACT: John Vigna (916) 319-2408

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez’s (D-Los Angeles) AB 781, which is a companion bill to the Speaker’s disincorporation bill (AB 46), passed through the Senate Governance and Finance Committee today. Pérez addressed issues raised by the business community, labor, and others with regards to the city of Vernon—a city that would be affected by AB 46—with a history of corruption allegations, indictments and convictions for offenses including voter fraud.

“I am pleased the Senate approved my bill to establish a successor government to take the place of the corrupt and unaccountable city council that has run Vernon like a fiefdom for decades,” Speaker Pérez said. “Today’s action takes us one step closer to protecting the jobs and ending the corruption in Vernon.”

AB 781, which must be passed by the Legislature for AB 46 to go into effect, protects the jobs of city workers and local businesses; preserves current business friendly practices, services, and policies; expands civil service protections; and extends the role of governing to include local residents, businesses, employees, and neighboring communities by creating a Community Services District comprised of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to provide municipal services in the territory of the former city. The Community Services District will provide the same quality services that were provided by the former city, including fire protection, water, telecommunications, electric and gas utilities, and street maintenance.

“AB 781 protects businesses and workers by replicating the good parts of Vernon’s government, while eliminating the mechanisms that have enabled a toxic level of corruption to continue unabated for decades, and provides for the guarantees that businesses and workers need to keep their businesses contributing to our economy,” Pérez added.

Vernon is the smallest city in California by population with only 96 residents, virtually all of whom live in heavily subsidized, city owned housing; and are either employed by the city or connected to city officials. This has effectively created a situation where the city is both the landlord and the supervisor for the residents of Vernon, giving Vernon officials an unprecedented level of economic control over the electorate and removing any semblance of an independent electorate to hold city officials accountable. News reports have documented the many incidents of corruption in Vernon, including rampant cronyism, illegal uses of public funds, voter fraud, and bloated salaries and pensions, including awarding a Vernon official the largest public pension in the state.

AB 781 will next be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

CONTACT: John Vigna, Robin Swanson (916) 319 2408

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker