Gold Card Parking Ticket Dismissals For City Hall VIPs Revealed by City Controller Wendy Greuel Also Used by Greuel's Office

By Dennis Romero Fri., May 20 2011 at 7:05 AM

American Express

Don't leave home without it.

L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel called out the mayor and City Council yesterday for allegedly taking advantage of a little-known "gold card desk" that would expedite, and, seemingly, cancel parking tickets for VIPs.

But City News Service reports that Greuel, while claiming not to have known about the program until releasing her latest audit of parking enforcement, had a staffer who used it in 2006.

Oops. CNS: dismissals

In releasing the audit, Greuel -- a candidate for mayor -- denied having any knowledge of the service when she served on the City Council, but documents and e-mails obtained by City News Service show that she knew about the "gold card desk'' in 2006, and one of her own staffers used it.
Late today, Greuel declined to comment about her previous knowledge of the service.

Wendy Greuel.

The gold card program was said to be responsible for the dismissal of 1,000 tickets, although details about the citations (to whom they went, where, and for how much) were not released. Greuel's office stated the dismissals happened "without any specific policies to guide the review of these citations."

And, it said:

Controller Greuel was not aware of the Gold Card Desk during her tenure as a Councilmember, and was surprised to learn that such a V.I.P. process existed for a select few.

Surprised.

Chief Deputy Controller Claire Bartels told City News " ... the controller believes there should no longer be a gold card desk ... This lack of transparency is simply not acceptable.

Greuel's audit found hundreds of thousands worth of lost dollars because tickets were being dismissed without being investigated within allotted time and the city was paying for a vendor to process tickets that had been voided.

Oh, and Greuel wants to be mayor, apparently.

[Added]: As if a get-out-of-parking-tickets-free card wasn't enough, read about how mayor and L.A. City Council struggle through life on $300,000 a year on taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits here.

Tags:

City Council, gold card, LADOT, parking, parking ticket, ticket, Wendy Greuel

We Recommend

SUCKITLOSERTONYFUCKINUBITCH

KNOW WHO ELSE KNOW ABOU TIT???????????????????????????????????????????????????FUCKING B AG OF FECAL SLIME VILLARAIGOSA DOING US A FAVOR HUH AXING THAT SHIT YOU JACKASSFUCK YOU VILLAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yuval Kremer

Of course she knew about it. She was a Councilmember from 2002 to mid-2009 (so she "knows where all the bodies are buried" or "the skeletons in [City Hall's] closet" and can carefully choose if and when and which to expose), and then she's been Controller from mid-2009 to the present day, and now she's running for Mayor. It's intersting that this audit only covers the last 2 years...what a coincidence !

Wikipedia: "At the time of her departure from the City Council, her committee assignments included CHAIR of the Transportation Committee...Member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency..." [emphasis added] The Transportation Committee is in charge of Parking, so she knew all the deets about the parking program. She's just trying to find new ways to hold press conferences, while doing the minimum "controlling" for LA, but this time she bit the wrong people. She's just like the others...in the pocket of Big Developers, the DWP Employee Union (that helped put her into office with a massive independent expenditure mailer campaign), disrespectful to LA Residents who show up at City Hall Hearings, wastes money on outside consultants/auditors, etc.

Don't believe the hype about Wendy Cruel !!!