CUDAHY: Cota/Garcia Falsify Committee Name

Vote 4 Cota and Garcia mailer
Originally uploaded by Southeast Cities Corruption Cleanup

In the heated campaign for Cudahy City Council, two running-mates sent a campaign mailer from VOTE 4 COTA AND GARCIA. The problem is that VOTE 4 COTA AND GARCIA doesn’t exist. (Link to Cal-Access search for committee)

State law requires the following:
1. Candidates must have campaign committees if they raise or spend more than $1,000 dollars
2. Campaigns that send more than 200 pieces of campaign literature MUST put the name of their committee on the mailer
3. Candidates MUST report all campaign expenditures and contributions
4. Candidates CAN NOT use personal funds for their campaign unless they loan or contribute to their own campaign committee

VIOLATIONS WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PENALTIES AND/OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

(the picture is from the Garcia/Cota mailer)

BELL AND CUDAHY CANDIDATES VIOLATE LAW: Fail to File Campaign Statments

By state law, every candidate must file campaign statements during the election showing who is funding their campaigns and how they spend their money. If you don’t file, you face huge fines and possible investigation by the District Attorney (see Mario Beltran).

For the March 3, 2009 Election, these are the due dates for campaign statements:

January 22

January 31

February 19

In the Southeast Cities, there are some candidates who have NOT FILED statements, breaking the law, and hiding their campaign money.

City of Bell

Nestor Valencia

City of Cudahy

Rosa Diaz (councilmember)

Luis Garcia

Daniel Cota

Nestor Valencia ran in 2007 and never filed in that election either. His campaign committee is called BELL COMMUNITY VOTE TO ELECT NESTOR E. VALENCIA He’s sending mailers, but hasn’t show where the money is coming.

Luis Garcia and Daniel Cota are running together like they did in 2007. They have two committees that sent campaign mailers (VOTE 4 NEW LEADERSHIP from 2007 and VOTE 4 COTA AND GARCIA), but neither filed in 2007, 2008 or in 2009.

Rosa Diaz is on the council now, was never elected but appointed, and didn’t even open a campaign committee. She is spending money on her campaign (signs, t-shirts, flyers) and may be guilty of more than failing to report.

__________________________________________

“Receipts and expenditures in election campaigns should be fully and truthfully disclosed in order that the voters may be fully informed and improper practices may be inhibited.”
California Gov. Code section 81002(a)

California's Political Reform Act requires disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures in connection with state and local elections, including ballot measure elections.

THE IRONY: CHALLENGERS HAVE LONG RECORD OF HARRASSMENT ACCORDING TO POLICE RECORDS

According to records, Luis Garcia and Daniel Cota (who always make claims they're harassed) have been doing some harassing themselves:

10/3/08 Maywood-Cudahy Incident Report No. 08-903173

Threats with intent to commit assault alleged against Garcia

11/19/08 Maywood-Cudahy Crime Report No. 08-903714 Penal Code245(A)(1)

Assault with moving vehicle (deadly instrument) alleged against Garcia

7/23/08 Cudahy City Incident Report No. 08-87328

Disruption of public event; failure to follow lawful instructions from city code officer alleged against Garcia

1/28/09 Cudahy City Incident Report No. 09-78965

Disruption of public event; failure to follow lawful instructions from city code officer alleged against Cota

1/26/09 Maywood-Cudahy Crime Report No. 09-900414 Penal Code 653m(a) multiple telephonic threats alleged against Garcia & Cota Campaign

A STORY ABOUT A MOLOTOV COCKTAIL THAT IS HARD TO SWALLOW

Last week, Luis Garcia told anyone who would listen (L.A. Times and Spanish-language television station KWHY-22) how he felt he was targeted for launching a campaign website for a city council seat in the 1.2 square mile City of Cudahy.

But it all smells of a publicity stunt of his own making. In fact, when looking into the story, NBC broke the news that investigators are looking into the possibility that this was a publicity stunt.

Once you see what Garcia claims, and the evidence of his own cameras, it's hard not to believe otherwise.

First, it’s inconceivable to think that anyone would know that he launched a website announcing his candidacy: There were not advertisements, press releases or news conferences. So how would anyone know?

Second, Garcia claims that a Molotov cocktail hit his car and house because “someone” does not want him to run. Again, how could anyone know he was running since it was not announced?

The matter has been turned over to the L.A. County Fire Department’s Arson Investigation unit. NBC News announced that the Arson division found fingerprints on the Molotov cocktail so there could be a suspect coming soon. NBC broke the news that investigators are looking into the
possibility that this was a publicity stunt.

Garcia's “proof” of the vandalism are videos on his website that actually raise the serious question of whether he coordinated the event himself – especially in light of his story to the police.

The videos are now available on Southeast Cities Corruption Cleanup
(www.southeastcities.blogspot.com) blog so the media can see for themselves. Not only are the vandals’ faces not visible in the video; it seems obvious that they are trying to hide from the cameras. So how did they know where the cameras were?

Interestingly, the police were given/shown only the 57-second video
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmQr9P8DSmE) at the time of their report rather than the one with an angle showing Garcia arriving at his house in a white van (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObMWmdcj4s). There are three available on Utube thanks to Garcia and Cota's self-promotion.

Here’s a quick rundown of discrepancies between Garcia’s story as quoted by the police and what is in his videos:

Garcia’s Version Given To The Police:
The police quote Garcia as saying that he was in his house sleeping at the time of the incident and that he was awakened by a neighbor yelling.
Garcia told police he did not know the neighbor, where he lives, and could not describe anything about him, even his age range, clothing or where he thought the neighbor lives. Garcia told the police that the neighbor disappeared right after the incident. (Kudos to KNBC for finding that out.)

What The 2nd and 3rd Videos Show:
Garcia’s own videos clearly show Garcia lied to the police about his whereabouts when the incident took place. Rather than being in his house, he and another person (who might be Daniel Cota, who is also running for council for the second consecutive year) – are seen pulling up to the scene of the incident in a white van just moments after the vandalism occurred. He and the other person are seen running from the van to the house and then attending to the fire. Then the van drives away. So who was driving the van? Also, the mystery neighbor never appears in the video.

Yet Another Garcia Version:
Although Garcia told police he was sleeping, he told the L.A. Times that he was watching television when he heard breaking glass, looked outside and saw his Dodge Dakota "engulfed" in flames. Garcia’s own video clearly proves that Garcia was not in the house and that the car was not engulfed in flames. The car is shown on the LA Times blog with damage only to the front corner of the car.

A closer look at Garcia indicates he worked at Cudahy City Hall and resigned under circumstances that cannot be accessed because of employment privacy laws.

In 2007, while Garcia was running for council the first time, Garcia’s former supervisor had to take out a restraining order because Garcia allegedly vandalized the car of his former supervisor. The restraining order was granted against Garcia and the judge admonished Garcia for his behavior.

What kind of vandalism was it? Splattering paint on a car. This may very well be the Modus Operandi of Luis Garcia. As one can note from his website, Garcia has filed numerous police reports that his car(s) were vandalized with paint.

The ironic ineptitude of these publicity seekers is most obvious on the vandalism to Cota’s car, pictured on the pair’s website, which was vandalized by someone pouring red paint on it. It looks distinctly like the red paint used by cities to paint fire curbs red. Plus, it is acrylic paint – which makes it more likely that it is indeed the same kind used to paint fire curbs red.

How do we know this? Garcia told the police that he recognized the paint as being that kind of paint because … it’s the kind of paint Garcia had access to as a Cudahy maintenance worker and as a City Long Beach maintenance worker. So the public is supposed to believe it is coincidence that the person with access to the special fire-curb paint had nothing to do with the paint on his own car and Cota's car?
Especially when this person has been documented vandalizing the car of his former supervisor at city hall?

Let’s hope the media, and the residents of Cudahy, don’t fall for any more his publicity stunts. There are enough problems with real crime without these two candidates for Stella Awards (www.stellaawards.com).

Cudahy: Garcia Video

Watch these videos and compare what you see to what Garcia says in the police report.

Here's what to watch for:

1. How convenient that cameras were placed in two windows facing the street, but the vandals seem to avoid being seen (as if they knew about the cameras and what angle to hide from).

2. Almost immediately following the incident, Garcia arrives with Cota, right behind the vandals.

3. Garcia lies about being "asleep on his couch." You can clearly see him and Cota running from a white van.

4. Why is Cota at the scene? Garcia never told police he was there.

5. Where is the “neighbor” that Garcia claims to have been screaming about the fire? The neighbor is nowhere in the video. Another lie by Garcia.

6. Did Garcia show BOTH videos to police? Probably not because it would have contradicted his story…um, lies.

Note that immediately following the news coverage, Garcia and Cota quickly update their web site. The site is exactly the same as 2007 with the date changed and links to the current news items. They have no substantive information about their campaigns, any qualifications, or any plan to accomplish their agenda. Only these publicity stunts.

Part 1: What Garcia showed to the media

Part 2: you can see Garcia and Cota and at least 2 more people who Garcia never reports to police.

Different Angle: This one shows Garcia arriving with Cota from a white Van (2:16) to put out the fire...a little over 1 min. from the incident...how convenient...