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LA Times: Two probes of Coliseum official's ties to Insomniac begin
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| mattW |
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/l...4367,full.story
Rave support shrinks in light of Coliseum official's alleged conflict of interest.
Commission president no longer backs return of Electric Daisy Carnival after Coliseum's events manager is revealed to be working for the rave promoter. Prosecutors and state ethics agency are investigating.
By Andrew Blankstein, Rong-Gong Lin II and Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times
February 10, 2011
The head of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission on Wednesday withdrew his support for bringing a giant rave back to the stadium after The Times disclosed that an administrator for the agency worked at the same time for the producer of the trouble-plagued event.
Commission President David Israel's pledge to oppose a return of the Electric Daisy Carnival came as two investigations were launched into Todd DeStefano's simultaneous employment by the Coliseum and the producer, Insomniac Inc.
"The integrity of the Coliseum is not for sale by any commissioner or any member of the staff," said Israel, who had previously backed Insomniac's events.
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The company has been staging raves at the stadium and the neighboring Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which the commission also runs, since 1998. Electric Daisy is a major revenue source for the Coliseum.
The DeStefano controversy also prompted Commissioner Rick Caruso to call Wednesday for the resignation of Commission General Manager Patrick Lynch. In addition, it spilled into the race between Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, who is a rave proponent, and his challenger on the March ballot.
The commission's longtime assistant general manager for events, DeStefano went to work for Insomniac about two months before last June's Electric Daisy, which was marred by numerous drug overdoses and the death of a 15-year-old girl.
DeStefano played a key role for the commission in arranging for security and emergency services at Electric Daisy. Lynch gave him permission to work at the same time for Insomniac.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and state Fair Political Practices Commission on Wednesday announced separate investigations into the circumstances surrounding DeStefano's double employment.
"The Coliseum Commission was lied to by our staff about how the security for the raves was planned," said Caruso, a prominent developer. "We have now learned the fox was guarding the henhouse, since the staffer in charge of planning security was also secretly working for the rave organizer."
DeStefano, Lynch and Insomniac representatives did not return telephone calls seeking comment Wednesday. In earlier interviews, DeStefano and Lynch said they did nothing wrong.
Parks, whose council district includes the Coliseum, accused Caruso of "showboating" and said the panel should treat Lynch's involvement in the DeStefano-Insomniac relationship as a private personnel matter.
Parks also restated his backing of raves as an economic boost for his district, saying the Electric Daisy Carnival delivers 4,000 jobs and $33 million in revenue for the city.
But his opponent in the upcoming 8th District council election, Forescee Hogan-Rowles, said any future raves should be canceled until promoters can ensure that illegal drugs would be kept out of the Coliseum. She also said Parks should return a $500 campaign contribution from DeStefano and a $250 donation from Pasquale Rotella, the founder of Insomniac.
DeStefano also donated $1,500 to Parks' campaign for county supervisor in 2008.
Lynch has donated widely to Coliseum commissioners. From 1999 to 2001, he gave $1,450 to Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was then a city councilman. He contributed $950 to Parks between 2002 and 2007.
Last year's Electric Daisy was the largest rave ever held at the Coliseum, drawing 185,000 people over two days. About 120 attendees were taken to the hospital, mostly for drug intoxication. One of them, Sasha Rodriguez, died two days later of an Ecstasy overdose.
Afterward, Los Angeles Police Department officials said there should have been more security at the event. LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon told The Times this week that he frequently clashed with DeStefano over safety issues.
Security preparations were important to Insomniac because the company paid many of the costs. DeStefano and Lynch have denied that Insomniac's finances had anything to do with the commission staff's security standards.
In a Times interview last week, DeStefano said he went to work for Insomniac last April and was paid through one of three companies that he has launched from his home since 2006. He declined to reveal the amount.
Lynch said he reduced DeStefano's commission pay last year — he earned about $172,000 in 2009 — because of his work for Insomniac, but DeStefano continued to represent the Coliseum in planning for Electric Daisy.
In January, Lynch informed Israel of DeStefano's employment by Insomniac. Israel said he directed Lynch to give DeStefano the choice of quitting the commission or severing his ties with the company. DeStefano resigned to become a full-time events promoter, including for Insomniac.
Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said its Public Integrity Division would look into whether DeStefano's employment was a criminal conflict of interest.
Roman Porter, executive director of the Fair Political Practices Commission, said his agency would investigate whether DeStefano violated laws by failing to disclose income from an outside source and engaging in a conflict of interest.
Porter said the inquiry would also determine whether DeStefano violated "revolving door" statutes that require government employees to wait at least one year after leaving their jobs before lobbying their former agencies.
The FPPC imposes administrative penalties, but could refer evidence of criminal violations to state or local prosecutors.
The Times reported Wednesday that DeStefano had never filed financial disclosures required by the state for someone in his position.
DeStefano said he was not asked to file them, but commission records reviewed by The Times showed that he was notified of the requirement in 2008 and 2009.
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Times staff writer Maeve Reston contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
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| mattW |
lol, busted.
It took them long enough to find this out.
No wonder they did nothing to change all ages to 18+ for so many years.
DeStefano and Lynch: Any secret bank accounts?
Insomniac was workin' the system. Wow. |
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| dollaroff |
I'm glad that they're "looking" into the conflict of interest, but can't someone run a business above the ground?
I would rather have more outlets for events than less. |
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| system-7 |
| yeah, this is the only official in LA doing this? right. Politicians always equals hooking up an industry for profit and kick backs. Nothing new here. |
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| jimji1005 |
| LA would be dumb to try to kick EDC out. Its a lot of money gone byebye. I bet other counties are already trying to get their foot in the door with EDC. I say let the opponent explain to all the layoffs when they are couple mil short for the next pay check instead. |
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| dollaroff |
| "Think of the kids" my ass. |
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| mattW |
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/l...0,5930552.story
Coliseum official who worked for rave producer also hired a lobbyist
Todd DeStefano, an administrator for the Coliseum Commission and a consultant to the promoter of the Electric Daisy Carnival rave, hired a City Hall lobbyist to advocate allowing the raves to continue.
By Andrew Blankstein, Rong-Gong Lin II and Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times
February 13, 2011, 5:48 p.m.
An administrator for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission who doubled as a paid consultant to a producer of raves also hired his own City Hall lobbyist as he sought to keep the controversial events at the stadium, according to records and interviews.
A firm owned by Todd DeStefano, then an events manager for the commission, retained the lobbyist to meet with City Council members and other officials after June's Electric Daisy Carnival rave, which was marred by numerous drug overdoses and the death of a teenage girl, city records show.
The Times has reported that DeStefano worked for the producer of Electric Daisy, Insomniac Inc., at the same time he represented the commission in planning and overseeing security and medical services for the rave. As a result, he has become the subject of investigations by local and state authorities.
Lobbyist Paul Vizcaino registered DeStefano's company, Private Event Management, as a client in late September, during a moratorium on raves that the Coliseum panel imposed because of the problems at Electric Daisy, according to the city Ethics Commission's database.
During the final quarter of 2010, Vizcaino reported being paid $6,250 by Private Event Management, whose address in city records is a mail box at a UPS Store near the Coliseum.
DeStefano and Vizcaino met in July with aides to city Councilmen Jose Huizar and Bernard Parks, as well as officials from the Los Angeles Fire and Police departments, to address the outcry over 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez's death from an Ecstasy overdose, participants in the session said. Vizcaino and a second member of the three-lobbyist Urban Strategy Group are former staff members for Huizar, whose office hosted the gathering.
The councilmen's staffers did not know that DeStefano had been working for Insomniac at the time of the meeting, said Parks and Huizar spokesman Rick Coca. They said the aides had assumed that Vizcaino was Insomniac's representative, although he was not registered with the city as a lobbyist for that company. Vizcaino was a lobbyist for another rave producer, Hard Events, in July, according to the Ethics Commission's records.
"It's harmful," Parks said of DeStefano's ties to Insomniac. "It should have been put on the table when the meeting was set up."
Coca said that if Huizar's staffers had known of DeStefano's Insomniac connection, "we would have laughed him out of the room."
Vizcaino and DeStefano did not respond to interview requests. An Insomniac executive could not be reached.
In the weeks before the meeting, Huizar had introduced a council motion — Parks seconded it — calling for a review of safety measures for raves and possible limits on attendance. Much of the review is pending, Coca said.
Parks and Coca said Vizcaino did not influence their offices' positions on raves. Parks, whose district includes the Coliseum, is a supporter of Electric Daisy, in part because it brings jobs and tax revenue to South Los Angeles. Coca said Huizar "hates these kinds of events and has done everything in his power to close them down."
The Coliseum Commission lifted the rave moratorium in November. The panel is a joint authority of the state and the city and county of Los Angeles, but the city takes the lead in providing police and paramedic services for Electric Daisy.
Commission General Manager Patrick Lynch, who had given DeStefano permission to work for Insomniac, said he did not know that DeStefano hired a lobbyist. Until last month, DeStefano continued to work for the commission and Insomniac, advocating bringing Electric Daisy back to the Coliseum.
After learning that DeStefano was on Insomniac's payroll, Commissioner David Israel directed Lynch to make DeStefano choose between his two employers. DeStefano quit the commission staff in January to pursue a full-time career as an events promoter.
Israel, who became commission president this month, said he also was unaware that DeStefano had hired Vizcaino.
"It's unfortunate," said Israel, who has withdrawn his support for a return of Electric Daisy to the Coliseum because of the DeStefano affair.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office is looking into whether DeStefano's employment by Insomniac was a criminal conflict of interest. The state Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating whether DeStefano broke laws by failing to disclose income from an outside source and by engaging in a conflict of interest.
The FPPC inquiry is also examining whether DeStefano violated "revolving door" statutes that require government employees to wait at least one year before lobbying their former agencies. The FPPC imposes administrative penalties but could refer evidence of criminal violations to state or local prosecutors.
Last year's Electric Daisy was the largest rave ever held at the Coliseum, with an announced attendance of 185,000 over two days (Lynch said the turnstile count was 161,049). About 120 attendees were taken to the hospital, mostly for drug intoxication. Police made 118 arrests.
Afterward, LAPD officials said there should have been more security at the event. Deputy Chief Pat Gannon told The Times that he frequently clashed with DeStefano over safety issues and said the commission manager reneged on a promise to deploy mobile security cameras at the Coliseum.
Security preparations were important to Insomniac because the company had to pay many of the costs. DeStefano and Lynch have denied that Insomniac's finances had anything to do with the commission staff's safety standards.
Lynch said spending on Coliseum security staffing, off-duty LAPD officers hired by Insomniac for the event and emergency medical services had increased dramatically last year compared with the 2009 Electric Daisy.
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[email][email protected]
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| Wow... sounds like Insomniac was gett'n gangsta with their events. |
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