Huntington Park residents lambaste leaders over corruption probe

Add Huntington Park to the list of southeast Los Angeles County cities rocked by political corruption allegations.

At a special City Council meeting Friday night, three of the city’s four council members and the city manager were served with a civil lawsuit — two days after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office executed nearly a dozen search warrants tied to a corruption probe into the alleged misuse of millions of dollars meant for construction of a $24-million aquatic center, which has not been built.

At the same meeting, the city attorney tendered his resignation and the mayor tried to end the meeting by threatening to walk out — all to a chorus of snarky comments and jeers of irate residents. One woman was escorted out by a pair of police officers for yelling and speaking out of turn.

In a passionate speech, Councilmember Arturo Flores, one of two city leaders not under investigation, alleged that a recall effort against him was being spearheaded by the consultant whose home and offices were recently searched by the district attorney along with those of a contractor, the mayor, city manager, and three current and former council members.

“I will go to war for my community,” Flores said. “Let’s focus on investigating the failed pool project, let’s focus on tracing back the millions of unaccounted money and restoring the faith and trust of local government for the people.”

Witnessing the night’s event was 26-year-old Emmanuel Carreras Ruedas, a tall, slender man with long, wavy black hair, who sat in the back of the council chambers.

Ruedas was not a resident of the city; he lives in Cudahy, but like many young people in the southeast region, he said he was fed up with the political corruption that has long stymied the economic growth of some working-class cities.

The southeast region is made up of about 26 cities and neighborhoods nestled between Los Angeles and Orange counties. Because they serve as an entryway to both counties, they’re also referred to as the Gateway Cities.

At the heart of the region are about a dozen communities including Compton, Cudahy, Vernon, Commerce, Bell and Huntington Park. They sit between the 110 and 710 freeways, two major commercial arteries that connect to the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Their proximity to the freeways and industrial sectors has severely affected the health of their large immigrant and Latino populations.

It is these same towns that for decades have been rocked by political scandals, so much so that lawmakers often refer to the small area as the “corridor of corruption.”

The cities include South Gate, where someone tried to assassinate a councilman in the early 2000s. In 2010, the city of Bell came under the national spotlight when it was revealed that the city manager and several council members were receiving exorbitant salaries and using the town’s coffers as their own personal bank.

Two years later, Cudahy, a 1.2-square-mile city, made headlines when the mayor, a council member and a longtime administrator were arrested and charged in a federal bribery case. A photo of the councilman surrendering to federal agents after a five-hour long standoff circulated across the country.

Scandals in one town, Vernon, were so epic that they became the inspiration for a season of HBO’s “True Detective.”

And now, Huntington Park finds itself on the list.

The investigation into the town’s alleged misuse of public funds came as city leaders were facing heat and legal questions over the removal of former Councilmember Esmeralda Castillo, who they claimed was not living in the city. Los Cerritos Community News first reported on her removal.

A copy of a warrant reviewed by The Times shows that investigators are looking into allegations of bribery, misappropriation of public funds, conflict of interest, money laundering and conspiracy. The warrant also names Efren Martinez under the “case name.”

Martinez, who owns Unified Consulting Services, is the same consultant whose home and offices were among those searched by investigators last week, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.

Martinez, who has run for state Assembly office several times but lost, could not be reached for comment by phone or through his firm’s website.

It’s not the first time Martinez has caused controversy in the city.

A Times investigation found that as a political consultant, Mayor Karina Macias helped raise money for Martinez when he planned to run for state Assembly in 2016. But he never ran.

Some of the contributors were linked to companies that were awarded contracts by Macias and the council majority, including the city’s bus service and dial-a-ride operator, its street sweeping and bus stop maintenance vendor and towing company.

The district attorney inquired about Macias’ political consulting work but did not pursue charges against her. Macias has maintained she has never done anything wrong.

In a statement to residents Friday, Macias said city staff were working diligently with authorities to ensure they were receiving all the information related to the aquatic center project at Salt Lake Park, which includes an Olympic size pool and a synthetic football field.

Macias said environmental issues have contributed to long delays and put the blame on a “small group of individuals not wanting to see it completed.” She accused the media of spreading misinformation and said the city had completed construction of its football field in 2021.

“For over three years, there have been countless meetings, testing, site surveys, remediation and environmental planning between our city, state and county agencies, including Janice Hahn’s Office,” Macias’ statement read. “Throughout this ridiculously long process our city manager and staff have been working diligently doing all of the required testing, remediation and planning alongside these environmental agencies.”

But sitting next to her, Councilmember Jonathan Sanabria, who is also not under investigation, said the football field was a tiny part of the overall project.

It was Sanabria who got into a heated argument with the town’s city attorney, Arnold M. Alvarez-Glasman, before he submitted his resignation, prompting residents to applaud.

One by one, people addressed the council members, calling on them to step down from office.

“It’s embarrassing what you guys brought to our city,” said Vicente Carrera, a longtime resident. “You guys don’t belong here, you guys belong in jail.”

Some younger residents showed up to speak on behalf of their parents who they say were afraid to speak out. Some expressed frustration that again elected officials were putting themselves ahead of residents, especially at a time the Trump administration was carrying out mass deportations.

Germain Rodriguez, 30, a resident, said seeing the current state of the park made him upset about how city officials have handled the project.

“It’s so sad to see that there was all this potential there and instead of using it to its full potential you guys prefer to leave a big lot of dirt there,” Rodriguez said. “We could have done a lot with that space.”

After hearing the speakers, Ruedas, the Cudahy resident, addressed the council. He spoke of how he witnessed the scandals unfold in his town and in nearby Bell. He said they made him want to go to college so that he could return and give back to the community.

But the scandals were a reminder of the challenges he and other residents face.

“We are represented by people who don’t seem to care about anything but themselves,” he said. “It’s a tale as old as time, and frankly, I’m just tired of this broken record.”

As he talked, he noticed Sanabria smiling and called him out on it.

“I’m happy,” Sanabria said, clarifying later in the meeting that he was happy to see authorities try to bring things to light and hold people accountable for wrongdoing.

But before that clarification, Ruedas felt offended.

“If you’re happy this is happening, that’s really sad too,” he told the councilman. “I’m not happy that this is happening. These are my communities, this is people’s money. People are scared to go outside because of ICE raids. Please consider what is happening out here, consider stepping down, consider making room for others.”