Definition of “Sleaze Ball”:
marked by low character or quality.

I saw the famed Zuma Dog at Wednesday’s Pre-Inaugural party, and I remembered something he once said about our outgoing City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Yes, I admit, I’ve never liked his underhanded dealings, and yes, I think the City Council went along with the “good ‘ol boy” concept and didn’t censure him. And I wondered what a sleaze ball was. So now I know. It’s an out going politician.

I was really happy when Trutanich was elected to take his place. What really tweaked me, was to find out that Delgadillo had given his appointed minions Civil Service status and they will still be here dipping into the public larder. We all know that politicians work on “favors” basis. But it makes me wonder, just what did they do for Delgadillo to get them a lifetime free pass to money and benefits.

Now, entering the fray is Wendy Greuel, our own “Joan of Arc”. Delgadillo fought tooth and nail to keep the citizens from knowing what City Hall is doing with their money. And we’re talking about millions and millions of dollars. To continue his legacy of deceit, his appointees, besides draining the public coffers, will continue to act as his minions while he is gone.

But, Delgadillo didn’t plan on the Wendy having a White Knight to help her out. I expect that Trutanich will do what he can to reverse this situation. What Laura Chick started, the Wendy (with help) will finish. There is just too much non-accountability in the way our funds are spent. Delgadillo, forever a politician with his hand out, made sure that no-one could find out what was happening with the workers compensation fund that is managed by the City Attorney's Office, which includes how the those cases are handled and settled. And we’re not talking peanuts here, these cases pay out well over $100 million a year. What Laura Chick attempted, was to audit the performance of our elected officials. Now what is wrong with that?

You’ll have to ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney who sided with Delgadillo, and ruled that the controller cannot conduct performance audits on programs in elected officials' offices. Huh! And Why Not!

And it doesn’t stop there. Mooney effectively blocked all audits, including the Office of Finance, Office of the City Clerk and City Administrative Officer, which manages programs and contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. What ever happened to “transparency” in government? What ever happened to accountability? These are out elected officials, why shouldn’t we know what they’re doing with our money?

I thing we have a winner in the Trutanich/Greuel team. Oh, I almost forgot. Remember the hiring freeze, well not only are we stuck with Delgadillos minions, but our new sheriff is going to have to create funds to hire his own deputies. That’s another $800,000 in funds that we shouldn’t have to put out of our already diminished treasury. For all of you that are slow on the take, until Trutanich takes the reigns and stops this travesty, we won’t ever know what our elected officials are spending our money on. And to add insult to injury, we are stuck with paying the political appointees that Delgadillo stuck us with. I don’t care what the DWP says, if something smells bad, tastes bad, and the politicians want us think it’s wonderful,

It’s The Water