---
[ LOS ANGELES ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles)
# David Ryu vs City Hall Corruption
January 17 2019
Written by Coalition to Preserve LA.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
**CORRUPTION WATCH**--Before the FBI's widening corruption probe of L.A. leaders erupted, Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu tried two years ago to cripple the undue influence of developers at City Hall -- by banning campaign cash developers give to the City Council.
Reformer Ryu was stopped by powerful Council President Herb Wesson. Wesson later told the *L.A. Times*, “I don’t kill anything” and said he was too busy with higher priorities to hold hearings on Ryu's reforms. The L.A. Ethics Commission also punted the issue.
Today, everything has changed:
Wesson's chief of staff is a target of the FBI probe, as is Mayor Garcetti's former deputy mayor and two City Councilmembers who sat on the powerful "PLUM" committee.
David Ryu is launching a new plan to fight pay-to-play and corruption, backed by five council members who aren't named in the widening FBI probe: Budget expert Paul Krekorian, Paul Koretz, Nury Martinez, Mike Bonin and Joe Buscaino.
We expect a showdown between reformers and anti-reformers at City Hall.
Yesterday, Councilman Gil Cedillo attacked social justice and open-government advocates at a PLUM hearing who were urging PLUM to clean its house before approving luxury skyscrapers awash in exemptions from land-use rules. The controversy focused on "Crossroads," three luxury skyscrapers seeking 22 liquor licenses that would raze a thriving historic Latino community, create 143,000 new vehicle miles daily — and yet got minimal environmental study from the Garcetti Administration.
Cedillo accused Coalition to Preserve LA, the L.A. Tenants Union and several other groups of creating "a specter! A hysteria exists! ... It's like the Day of Locusts at City Hall now!" Cedillo was met with guffaws as he accused the groups of "Trumpism!"
Jill Stewart, Coalition to Preserve LA executive director, said, "Three seats away from Gil Cedillo was the empty chair of Councilmember Curren Price, named in the FBI warrant. PLUM's chairman Jose Huizar was removed in November. We're seeking a Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury investigation of PLUM and City Hall."
PLUM, with its long history of rubber-stamping, voted unanimously for Crossroads.
[To understand the L.A. City Hall pay-to-play system, read our four-month investigation. It unearthed numerous closed-door, non-transparent meetings between Crossroads developers and Hollywood City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell and his staff. O'Farrell became an avid backer of Crossroads, and took their campaign donations](http://www.2preservela.org/los-angeles-developers-investigation-fbi-city-hall-pay-to-play-jose-huizar/).
*(This perspective provided CityWatch by the Coalition to Preserve LA.)*
*-cw*
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
First Name
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33349-l-a-county-faces-a-government-shake-up)
### [L.A. County Faces a Government Shake-Up](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33349-l-a-county-faces-a-government-shake-up)
WESTSIDE - Currently larger than 40 states in terms of population with roughly 10 million residents, Los Angeles County…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33346-before-we-ask-god-to-judge-us-the-jewish-people-must-judge-ourselves)
### [Before We Ask God to Judge Us, the Jewish People Must Judge Ourselves](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33346-before-we-ask-god-to-judge-us-the-jewish-people-must-judge-ourselves)
Yom Kippur demands more than personal repentance. At a defining moment for Jews everywhere, it asks whether we have tru…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33372-the-greater-israel-delusion-may-undo-israel)
### [The Greater Israel Delusion May Undo Israel](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33372-the-greater-israel-delusion-may-undo-israel)
ANNEXATION - The vision of “Greater Israel” draws on maximalist readings of biblical verses, especially Genesis 15:18–2…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33366-israels-political-map-is-being-redrawn)
### [Israel’s Political Map Is Being Redrawn](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33366-israels-political-map-is-being-redrawn)
NETANYAHUISM - The next Israeli election may be about something larger than Benjamin Netanyahu. For the first time in a…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33347-la-stop-the-war-on-cars-they-arent-going-away)
### [LA, Stop the War on Cars. They Aren’t Going Away](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33347-la-stop-the-war-on-cars-they-arent-going-away)
LA TRANSPO - For anyone traversing the San Fernando Valley, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: Los Angeles is sp…
---
## [ LOS ANGELES ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33361-what-actually-drives-the-cost-of-a-local-move-in-los-angeles)### [What Actually Drives the Cost of a Local Move in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33361-what-actually-drives-the-cost-of-a-local-move-in-los-angeles)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33358-a-practical-guide-to-holiday-wine-and-champagne-gifting-in-los-angeles)### [A Practical Guide to Holiday Wine and Champagne Gifting in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33358-a-practical-guide-to-holiday-wine-and-champagne-gifting-in-los-angeles)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33355-who-got-the-money-let-ai-audit-l-a-s-homelessness-machine)### [Who Got the Money? Let AI Audit L.A.’s Homelessness Machine](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33355-who-got-the-money-let-ai-audit-l-a-s-homelessness-machine)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33347-la-stop-the-war-on-cars-they-arent-going-away)### [LA, Stop the War on Cars. They Aren’t Going Away](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33347-la-stop-the-war-on-cars-they-arent-going-away)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33349-l-a-county-faces-a-government-shake-up)### [L.A. County Faces a Government Shake-Up](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33349-l-a-county-faces-a-government-shake-up)