MAILANDER MUSINGS - "Oh, Paul Krekorian, what a disappointment," a well-known Valley civic figure said to me last weekend in the foyer of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. "The problem with him is that he knows better."
Indeed, Councilmember Krekorian, who upset the Mayor's handpicked Council candidate Chris Essel for his Northeast Valley Council seat, and once seen as a bright, shining hope, has had the usual share of stumbles and capitulations in his first two years in office that novice Councilmembers often experience.
And on top of them all, not every local political figure would stand for the kind of arrangement that Krekorian is permitting one of his own top staffers, Adrin Nazarian.
Nazarian, Krekorian's Chief of Staff, declared his candidacy for State Assembly last year. Yet Krekorian has let Nazarian maintain his key gatekeeper position in Krekorian's office through the whole time.
Conversely, when one of Eric Garcetti's top staffers, Mitch O'Farrell, announced he was running for Garcetti's termed-out seat in City Council, Garcetti made O'Farrell resign as soon as O'Farrell declared his intentions.
The Krekorian arrangement puts Nazarian in a position to potentially influence access to Krekorian's office while soliciting donations for his own campaign.
I asked Krekorian's office about that. In response, Krekorian released the following statement:
"While I don't normally comment on personnel matters, I can say that Adrin Nazarian has always served the people that we represent with complete devotion and has been a relentless advocate for the San Fernando Valley. When the time is right, I expect that Adrin will take a leave of absence to focus on his campaign. Until that time, he will retain his role as my chief of staff, and I will continue to insist upon the same extraordinarily high level of service to our constituents that I have always expected of Adrin and the rest of my staff. To be clear, I have never spoken to any lobbyist or anyone with business before my committee to solicit contributions for Adrin or request support of any kind for his campaign, nor will I."
I also asked mayoral candidate Kevin James about the Krekorian/Nazarian situation, and James was eager to respond.
"Councilmember Krekorian's statement attempts to deflect the issue of concern," he told me by email.
"The issue here is neither Mr. Nazarian's job performance as Councilmember Krekorian's Chief of Staff, nor whether Councilmember Krekorian would speak to anyone with business before his committee about contributions for Mr. Nazarian's Assembly campaign (I am sure Mr. Krekorian would not do that). The issue is whether Mr. Nazarian should stay on as Chief of Staff to Councilman Krekorian while actively seeking contributions for his own Assembly campaign."
"The problem here is clear: as long as Mr. Nazarian stays on as Mr. Krekorian's Chief of Staff while raising campaign funds as an Assembly candidate, the possibility of potential conflicts of interest exist, as well as the possibility of questionable 'influence peddling.'"
James also wasn't convinced that merely saying you're not soliciting illicit contributions goes far enough.
"The concern that such a continued relationship could signal to those with important business before the City's powerful Budget and Finance Committee now chaired by Mr. Krekorian, or even to those with potential business before the Committee, that a contribution to Mr. Nazarian's Assembly campaign could in some way promote their specific matters before the Committee cannot be ignored -- no matter how 'above board' Councilmember Krekorian and Chief of Staff Nazarian maintain their working relationship. On the other hand, if Mr. Nazarian takes a leave of absence from Councilmember Krekorian's office, the potential for such conflicts or influence peddling is greatly diminished."
Other local political office holders declined comment on the matter.
When you check Nazarian's donor lists, sure enough, there are a large number city lobbyists who routinely deal with Krekorian on committees and in office who are also big donors to Nazarian's Assembly campaign. They include lobbyist John Ek, Servicon (the LA Convention Center management company), and city vendors like Dasher & Lawless, the parking systems firm, city taxi companies, and the highly politically active firm Waste Management, not to mention Oshin Harootoonian, a Valley planning commissioner appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa.
Nazarian's donations may all have been culled legally, but their sheer superabundance of city lobbyists on Nazarian's donor list--in a four person race where fundraising differences in a given quarter are otherwise not significant among the top three contenders--is indeed very suggestive. (Charter school potentate Brian Johnson has a large overall financial lead, garnered from predictable sources).
If, for instance, Harootoonian's contribution was not solicited in a blanket mailing, but rather garnered as an element of direct solicitation, any such donation would violate Calif. Govt. Code Sec. 3205(a), which says "An officer or employee of a local agency shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit a political contribution from an officer or employee of that agency, or from a person on an employment list of that agency, with knowledge that the person from whom the contribution is solicited is an officer or employee of that agency."
The code at 3205(c) also goes on to say that soliciting an agency employee is lawful if the solicitation "is part of a solicitation made to a significant segment of the public which may included officers or employees of the local agency."
In short, there's plenty of wiggle room by statute. But we all know our election statutes are weak, and by the time anyone is in a position to check a prospective misdemeanor violation, Nazarian's election fate will be long decided. There's an easier way to duck any tinge of impropriety: in order to indemnify against even the suggestion of it, Nazarian can stand down as Krekorian's chief of staff immediately, and take a leave of absence throughout the rest of the time that he is actively raising money for his Assembly campaign.
(Joseph Mailander is a writer, an LA observer and a contributor to CityWatch. He is also the author of The Plasma of Terror. Mailander blogs at street-hassle.blogspot.com.)
-cw
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CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 20
Pub: Mar 9, 2012
