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In The Public Interest .com
A courageously innovative, muckraking web site that focuses like a laser on the political, financial and legal shenanigans of the local government
California First Amendment Coalition
WatchOurCity
Monday, October 4, 2010, 6:00 am
Editor, WatchOurCity.com
Mayor Noguez in bed with George Cole:
Awards Multi-Million Dollar Housing
Redevelopment contract to Cole, Recently
Arrested by the D.A. and charged by the Attorney
General
Huntington Park's Redevelopment Agency allocates $3.8 million for Fiscal
Year 2009-2010 to Cole's Oldtimers Housing Development Corporation

Huntington Park, CA - Mayor John Noguez awarded an exclusive multi-million
dollar, multi-year Housing Redevelopment contract to George Cole's Oldtimers
Housing Development Corporation. The city issued a report highlighting the
activities of its Redevelopment Agency for Fiscal Year 2009-2010.

George Cole, city of Bell's long time mayor and councilman, was arrested on
Tuesday September 21, 2010 in a sweep of current and former city of Bell elected
officials and top administrators, including Robert Rizzo, implicated in that city's
massive and historically unprecedented corruption investigations by the District
Attorney's office. In a separate probe, the State Attorney General's office has
also launched two separate investigations into the same Bell officials.

One of those investigations names George Cole in a civil lawsuit seeking
"hundreds of thousands of dollars" in payback for extra income that officials
received through fraud and illegal means, alleges the pending suit.

A separate investigation by the Attorney General's office specifically focuses on
George Cole's Oldtimers Foundation stemming from unreconciled multi-million
dollar inconsistencies as discovered in a report the Oldtimers furnished to State
authorities. The Attorney General's office makes the case against George Cole
and Oldtimers Foundation that it failed to report a few millions of dollars in
government contracts received from local cities. Those cities, including, Bell,
Huntington Park, Fontana and Norwalk, reported to State authorities contracts
they awarded to Cole's Oldtimers Foundation which were not reflected in State
filings by the Oldtimers.

Huntington Park's mayor Noguez has awarding multi-million contracts to entities
controlled by George Cole, which include the Oldtimers Foundation and the Old
Timers Foundation Housing Development Corporation.

WatchOurCity.com has documented that Cole and Noguez have been intimate
political associates for the better part of a decade, starting in 2002 when Noguez
first ran for public office in Huntington Park. George Cole donated several
thousands dollars to Noguez's slate which included current council members
Mario Gomez and Ofelia Hernandez.

Noguez's campaign contribution reports from 2002-2003 also reveal that both
Noguez and Cole shared a fundraising consultant, Conrado Terrazas, who at the
time was also an employee of the Oldtimers Foundation. Terrazas is now State
Senator Gil Cedillo's Chief Communications officer.

For Noguez's reelection campaign in 2007, George Cole and John Noguez teamed
up again in campaign efforts, both hiring the same campaign manager, the
baby-faced Bell Gardens former councilman Mario Beltran, a now-twice convicted
staffer of State Senator Ron Calderon who represents Bell and Huntington Park.

Those campaign efforts were not for nothing. Cole expected something in return
for his donations and strategic allegiances to Noguez. And Noguez delivered.

Within months of Noguez winning the March 2003 election, the very first contract
he awarded was to the current city attorney Francisco Leal, selected in secretive
closed door session. Francisco Leal has billed the city a total of $630,000 since
July 2009, an amount more than twice the amount paid to Carmen Trutanich, L.A.
City Attorney.

The second contract Noguez awarded, a multi-million dollar, multi-year deal for
bus transportation services, was to George Cole's Oldtimers. This contract was
rigged by the Noguez team. Councilman Edward Escareno and Mario Gomez
formed a "Transportation Contract Committee". Its sole intention was to guide
the contract through the city's contract awarding apparatus and to make staff
aware that George Cole was the predetermined winner of the rigged
competition. WatchOurCity.com reviewed the written recommendation of an
independent consultant who wrote two recommendations. The consultant's first
recommendation clearly noted that the Oldtimers Foundation proposal was not
qualified because it had no buses to act on the contract and was rated last of
out 4 bidders. Noguez and Escareno were alarmed that their independent
consultant was going rogue on them. Within a few days, the consultant issued a
second recommendation essentially reversing the first, this time stating that
Oldtimers was eminently qualified to receive the contract. Yet, nothing materially
changed. Cole still had no buses, nor capital to get started. So Mayor Noguez
steps in by calling a special city council session in the middle of the day in April
2004 whose sole agenda item was extending $100,000 in start-up fees to
Oldtimers Foundation. Meeting minutes from a previous regular council meeting in
March reveal that Cole, after being awarded the contract, went on the record in
front of Huntington Park city council asking, begging for $75,000 upfront fees, so
worried was he that he couldn't execute a contract just handed to him on a silver
platter by the Noguez and Escareno team. One year later, in December 2005,
Escareno was convicted in L.A. Superior Court for "Grand Theft and Misuse of
Public Funds", on charges unrelated to Cole's jimmy-rigged contract. Escareno
was Noguez's campaign manager in 2003 and both were roommates.

Not content with that arrangement, Noguez also awards a $600,000 Senior
Housing management contract to Cole's Oldtimers Foundation on top of that. And
that was just for starters.

But that was then. John Noguez continues to award exclusive multi-million dollar
contracts to George Cole's Oldtimers Foundation and Oldtimers Housing
Development Corporation.

The Redevelopment Agency's report gives clear evidence that mayor Noguez
once again directed to George Cole's way a $3.7 million multi-year contract for
Redevelopment of the city's affordable housing stock, with funding from the city's
Redevelopment program. Page 16 of the report states:




























Noguez continues unabated in his enthusiasm for awarding exclusive multi-million
dollar contracts to George Cole. There is no evidence that an official Request for
Proposals was announced for these services. Public records would suggest that
it would not have mattered anyway.

In case you missed the nuanced last part of the second paragraph, Cole's
Oldtimers completed rehabilitation for three groups of housing rehab projects: for
the first group, the city subsidizes Oldtimers $90,000 each for three units. The
second group of projects was done for twice that amount, at $160,000 per unit.

There is a pattern beginning to develop here. The third group of projects was
completed for total of $275,000 per unit, doubling again the rehabilitation cost
per unit on a 10 unit project, or $2,750,000 total for this third grouping. In other
words, Oldtimers Housing Development kept upping the ante by a factor two on
every subsequent rehab project. Typically, in real estate development schemes,
economies of scale dictate that the costs of rehab are higher when the quantity
of units is less, and inversely, rehab costs go down per unit when the number of
units is greater. Curiously, under the Oldtimers, this proforma scheme is turned
upside down.

A Times investigative report published Sunday October 3, 2010, exposes that
cities throughout California spend millions of dollars on redevelopment schemes
without much to show for the results, suggesting that millions vanish into the
hands of well-connected developers of affordable housing, and also suggesting
that a few other millions are simply absorbed into administrative costs. In the
case of projects that do get built, as here noted, the Times would find it puzzling
when a well connected developer, in this case George Cole, would deliver three
projects, with each subsequent rehab project done at an exponential increase in
cost to the previous, that is, project 1 at $2x dollars, project 2 at $4x dollars and
project 3 at $8x dollars.  

Professional city staff seem a bit miffed and off-taken with the Oldtimers'
progressively doubling rehab costs, subtly raising a claim against the fees
charged by the Oldtimers against the city's redevelopment fund, noting that
subsidies paid to Oldtimers for the Malabar housing rehab project, the most
expensive of the three project groups, "were particularly high", calling into
question its dealings with Oldtimers and "causing the city to reassess how to
reduce subsidy costs in future projects." Of course, none of this could be brought
up to mayor John Noguez's face, lest one would suffer professional retribution.

Remember that bus transportation contract issued by Noguez to Cole back in
2004? A Huntington Park city staffer did in fact bring up the uncomfortable truth
that the contract to Cole's Oldtimers was not legal, was in fact rigged. That city
staffer was summarily dismissed as a consequence of those actions. That staffer
now works for a different public agency. It is no wonder that city staff would
have to bury such complaints targeting billing practices by the Oldtimers
Foundation, done on the record and there for all who care to see, in effect airing
Noguez's and Cole's dirty laundry, but buried on page 16.  It is a damning
commentary done subtle to get in under the radar.

The Redevelopment report notes that other projects are in the planning stages,
each worth several tens of millions of dollars more than the above rehab
examples. With the exception of one developer, these new construction projects
do not identify who the developer is.

George Cole's Oldtimers Foundation is located in Huntington Park. The
Foundation plays host to a voting precinct during city election time, all the while
depending on the results of those elections for its financial sustainability.

John Noguez is a candidate for L.A. County Assessor in a November runoff race
against John Wong. On May 6, 2010, the L.A. Times published their endorsement
of Mr. Wong, suggesting strongly that Noguez would politicize and bring
corruption to the Assessor's office.

(view city of Huntington Park's Redevelopment Agency report here)

________________________________________________________________
RELATED:
"A key program in Huntington Park’s overall strategy to provide
affordable housing to lower income households is through the
acquisition and rehabilitation of aging and/or deteriorating rental
housing. Under this program, the Agency acquires or assists in the
acquisition of a problem property and then works with the
development partner to coordinate the rehabilitation, maintenance,
and management of the project as long term affordable housing.
Approximately $1,373,000 in federal HOME funds and $2,400,000 in
Redevelopment Low and Moderate Income Housing funds have been
allocated to this program for fiscal year 2009/2010. The City has
entered into a multi-year agreement with Oldtimer’s Housing
Development Corporation to implement the
acquisition/rehabilitation program." [emphasis by the editor]

"The City, in conjunction with Oldtimers, has established two Focus
Areas for acquisition/rehabilitation activities - the Malabar/Middleton
Focus Area (located west of the Central Business District) and the
Bissell Street Focus Area (located in the northeast portion of the City,
adjacent the Huntington Park Family Center). As illustrated in Table
10, Oldtimer’s has completed the acquisition and rehabilitation of four
properties, totaling 25 affordable rental units. City subsidies on the
three Bissell Street projects ranged from approximately $90,000
per unit for the first project, to $160,000 for the third project.
Subsidies for the ten unit Malabar Street project were particularly
high at $275,000 per unit, causing the City to reassess how to
reduce subsidy costs in future projects." [emphasis by the editor]
Tuesday July 13, 2010
Update Wednesday July 14, 2010
The Editor,
WatchOurCity.com
Depriving the Public of
Honest Services: Bell,
Maywood, Huntington Park,
LAUSD
Fiduciary fail by Maywood, Bell,
Huntington Park officials.
Tuesday July 13, 2010
The Editor,
WatchOurCity.com
Huntington Park in $1.2
Million Fiscal Deficit Partly
Caused by City of Bell's
George Cole
Mayor Noguez gave George Cole
millions
Monday, September 27, 2010,
WatchOurCity.com
Huntington Park's Mayor
John Noguez Shakes down
Charter School for campaign
Contribution in Exchange for
Project Approval
Mayor John Noguez and City
Attorney Leal called meeting with
Charter school. Noguez is running
for L.A. County Assessor.
September 24, 2010,
WatchOurCity.com
Huntington Park Attorney
Francisco Leal making
$630,000, more than twice
city of L.A.'s Attorney
Mayor John Noguez authorized
payments to Leal.
Tuesday September 7, 2010, 6:00 am,
WatchOurCity.com
Trillion Dollar County Tax
Roll, Million Dollar deals,
Some Benefiting John
Noguez, Assessor Candidate
Gary Townsend, Chief Deputy for
current L.A. County Assessor Rick
Auerbach is actively managing
John Noguez's campaign for
County Assessor. Townsend is
cutting a deal with multi-national
oil company at hearing today
reducing $150 million property
tax burden in exchange for  
campaign contributions for John
Noguez's Assessor campaign.
John Noguez Hinders HP's
$1.8 Mil Deficit
City Staff is struggling to manage
a $1.8 million deficit. Some city
contractors are approached with a
deal: extend contract time in
exchange for reduction of
monthly invoices by $20 K or $30
K per month. Mayor Noguez
refused to allow negotiations with
one contractor firm because it
has not contributed to John
Noguez's L.A. County Assessor's
campaign. Such an arrangement
as requested by Noguez is known
as Quid Pro Quo, or Pay for Play.
Bell's Property Tax Scam &
John Noguez
George Cole was mayor of Bell
during the critical years when
property taxes reached criminal
levels. Ironically, Cole partnered
with Noguez for political
campaigns, receiving in return
multi million dollar contracts from
Huntington Park mayor and
county assessor. Noguez is now
running for L.A. County Assessor
in a November runoff with John
Wong. Noguez is in hiding. The
L.A. Times endorsed Wong,
strongly suggesting Noguez will  
politicize the assessor's office
and bring corruption.
Noguez Launders $11,000
Donation
in 2004, Huntington Park's
mayor John Noguez and Bell's
mayor George Cole, including
HP's city attorney Francisco Leal,
teamed up to raise campaign
funds for Rosario Marin's U.S.
Senate race against Barbara
Boxer. Bell's mayor George Cole
and Francisco Leal were Co-Hosts
at a fundraiser for Marin at Leal's
Hancock Park House. Noguez
approached a businessman in
Huntington Park and demands
$11,000 cash for Marin's
campaign. The businessman
gives him the money, feeling
threatened by mayor Noguez.
The $11,000 "donation"
demanded by Noguez never
made it to Marin's official
campaign reports and exceeded
the maximum allowed
contribution by a factor of 4.
Mario Beltran
Convicted March 2007
& again on January
2009. Under
investigation by the FBI
for awarding
multi-million dollar
contract to Towing
company, owner a
federally convicted felon
Edward Escareno
Convicted December
2005 of Grand Theft and
Misuse of Public Funds.
Was roommate to
Noguez.
CONVICTED
CONVICTED
Noguez's
Campaign Mgr.
#2
Noguez's
Campaign Mgr.
#1
Arrested on September
21, 2010 by the D.A.;
Under investigation by
Attorney General's
office, and named in
Civil lawsuit; received
rigged multi-million
dollar contracts from
John Noguez and
Edward Escareno in
Huntington Park
George Cole,
Noguez's
political
Associate
ARRESTED
The company
Huntington Park
mayor John  Noguez
keeps: