| |
| |
|
Looting Hawaiian Gardens
|
| Casino
Hearing Set |
| by Joe Segura, Staff Writer |
Originally published 25 August 2000
in Long Beach Press-Telegram
HAWAIIAN GARDENS The Legislature's Joint Legislative Audit
Committee will hold an evidence-gathering hearing Sept. 18 into Hawaiian
Gardens' financial dealings with the city's card casino.
Committee
Chairman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, said the committee might not only dig
into the city's dealings with casino owner Irving Moskowitz, but might also
examine a recent bond deal. "That will be an issue I will like to touch on
during the meeting on the 18th," Wildman said Wednesday.
Mayor Leonard Chaidez said City Hall's welcome mat will not be out on that date.
"We think it would be a futile attempt to have a hearing here," he said.
Wildman's
staff issued a report in July asserting that the casino appeared to be financed
illegally with public redevelopment money. The report suggested Moskowitz
return $12 million to the city, and called on the state attorney general
to help the city recover the money.
Chaidez and city administrators
spent Monday and Tuesday in Sacramento attempting to persuade committee members
that the Wildman staff report didn't merit continued consideration. They
said the report was biased, inaccurate and incomplete, since a number of
people involved in the project were not interviewed.
"It showed only one side of the argument," the mayor said Wednesday.
On
Tuesday, committee members were told the report had prompted investors to
raise concerns about the city's issuance of $4.7 million in bonds, which
had been authorized by the city's redevelopment agency in May. The agency
used the money to relocate businesses from the casino site on Carson Street
and for legal costs for Moskowitz attorney Beryl Weiner, who also represented
the redevelopment agency on eminent domain issues.
Chaidez said only
the committee chairman can call for additional work on the investigation,
and noted that Wildman's tenure in the role ends Sept. 1. However, Wildman
countered that he'll continue the probe as a member of the committee.
The
new committee chairman, elected Tuesday, will be Assemblyman Fred Keeley,
D-Boulder Creek, who was a key member of the Assembly Insurance Committee
that focused on the controversial practices of former Insurance Commissioner
Chuck Quackenbush.
Copyright 2000, Long Beach Press-Telegram. For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
|
|
|
|
|
|
©
2003 design by elbop for the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem
|
|
|
