The Los Angeles Dragnet is reporting that there appear to be expense reporting irregularities regarding City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s campaign headquarters.
According to the Dragnet, several issues arise from Trutanich occupying the storefront but there being no record of his campaign having paid rent during certain periods of occupany, and that during one period, the rent appears to be below market value.
The Dragnet claims that these issues that could constitute ethics violations as they relate to failures to make timely and accurate reporting of campaign expenses, as well as non-monetary contributions.
Trutanich’s former storefront on Ventura Blvd. was recently the focus of an inquiry into possibly illegal billboards promoting Trutanich. The Dragnet questioned whether they were illegal off-site signs, banned under Trutanich’s own law. The scandal became known as Trutanich’s Billboard Blunder, and led to a botched cover-up with Trutanich’s chief deputy claiming that his office does not determine the legality of signs.
Unfortunately for the chief deputy, he made that statement at the same time that Trutanich was declaring proposed signs on Santa Monica city buses to be illegal. The botched BillboardGate cover-up is said to have cost Trutanich crucial credibility in city hall, with staffers freely calling out “Billboard Blunder” behind Trutanich’s back.
To add to Trutanich’s humiliation, photographs were made public showing that his billboards had been swiftly removed.
The Dragnet reported that the attention given to the illegal billboard question led to a tip-off that Trutanich had not paid rent for the campaign headquarters at certain times. Full details at the Los Angeles Dragnet.
Politics Without Mercy 