Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has enlisted members of his office staff to run personal errands and baby-sit his two young children, including taking them to museums and other local attractions.
In response to inquiries from The Times, Delgadillo confirmed through a spokesman Wednesday that he relied on his staff to attend to some family and personal needs, but he declined to give many details.
"On occasion, city staff members -- some of whom the city attorney has known for many years -- have watched the Delgadillos' children on their own personal time," according to a statement released by Delgadillo's office. "They were personally paid by the Delgadillos, but sometimes declined payment.
"On rare occasions, city staff have run errands for the city attorney on their lunch breaks or other personal time," the statement read.
Sources with firsthand knowledge of the arrangement, however, said staffers often attended to the city attorney's personal needs and children during normal business hours.
Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for Delgadillo, said the favors sometimes coincided with business hours, but the employees used personal time.
He said the baby-sitting generally occurred at Delgadillo's home, but that on occasion his children -- two boys ages 6 and 3 -- were brought to the office, as other employees have done in the past. He declined to identify which employees baby-sat for the family.
Delgadillo's admission follows disclosures that he periodically allowed his wife Michelle to drive his city-owned GMC Yukon -- a possible violation of city rules.
Michelle Delgadillo, 36, had a suspended driver's license when she drove the city vehicle. In 2004, she damaged the SUV by backing into a pole in a parking lot near her doctor's office. The city attorney had the Yukon repaired at city expense.
On Monday, after some government accountability advocates accused Delgadillo of misusing public funds, he said at a news conference that he had decided to reimburse the city $1,222 for the job.
"It's the right thing to do," he said.
Michelle Delgadillo also had a previous run-in with the law for driving without a valid driver's license, car registration or insurance in 1998. The Times revealed this week that she had an outstanding arrest warrant in connection with that case. On Wednesday, she went to court and pleaded no contest to driving without a valid driver's license, was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and fined $431.
