Roots of L.A. City Council’s leaked audio scandal can be traced back decades
With the city’s first audio recording of its political leadership being made public, it’s now clear that city leaders have been secretly recording each other for years.
The bombshell audio recording of former councilman Mitchell Englander and the public finance director Bob Green was released to the public Friday. It details how the council has been illegally using public funds and improperly concealing that use of those funds to fund city development projects.
City officials have used public funds for non-city projects as well as for city-related uses, like buying a new police department facility. City officials have also been secretly making changes to the city’s books to hide misused city spending, the audio recording shows.
The recording, which was made in November 2013 in the council’s closed council chambers during a council meeting, reveals the public-private nature of the city’s financial dealings and how city officials have manipulated those funds to benefit their own political ambitions — some, like a development corporation, to the city’s detriment, while others, like a city-run water utility, for the benefit of the city.
This information is now public, but the city has yet to release the audio tapes of Englander and Green.
The recordings and transcript were leaked by a man named Jim Greer, who became a political thorn in the city’s leadership after a dispute with council officials that led to his resignation after only a few months on the council. Greer, who made his name as a journalist who covered the city council, posted the recording online.
In this video from News 3, reporter Ben Grieve explains the background to the leaked audio recordings from the city council.
Here’s the full audio.
A big day for the city is approaching, when the city council is expected to take actions that will determine the direction of this great city.
The past few days have been interesting days for the city, as we have witnessed, first of all, the city council trying to get control of public funds, and then it became public knowledge that there was another body on the city council that was