Former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre is enjoying a second coming at City Hall.
Six years after he left the public stage -- his reputation in tatters after admitting that he took cash from people trying to influence him -- he has returned as an advocate for companies seeking city business.
The gravel-voiced 64-year-old, a pioneering Mexican American politician known as one of the architects of Latino empowerment in California, is trading on his status as an elder statesman. He is also an informal advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
On behalf of various businesses and unions, he has called upon at least five City Council members and mayoral appointees at the Department of Water and Power, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Planning Department, the Housing Department, the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports and the Community Redevelopment Agency, according to interviews and records.
But unlike dozens of other political professionals who do such work, Alatorre is not registered as a lobbyist under the city's open government law. Registered lobbyists must reveal whom they work for and how much they are paid, or they risk jail or fines.
Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the parks department, said Alatorre has spoken with him six times over the last year and a half about the city's park rangers, about a company seeking to renew its golf concession and about a charter school that wants to operate on parkland in El Sereno. Mukri said Alatorre receives no special treatment, calling the former councilman "just a lobbyist like anybody else."
Sylmar neighborhood activist Bart Reed, who opposes a project that Alatorre has discussed with at least one council member, said community groups depend on disclosures to show them how much of an advantage special interests hold at City Hall. "Having that information about who's lobbying . . . tells you what kind of uphill mountain you may have," he said.
Alatorre did not respond to repeated requests by telephone and letter to be interviewed for this report.
To many in Los Angeles politics, Alatorre has been a legendary figure. He represented portions of the city's Eastside in the state Assembly and on the City Council for more than a quarter of a century, from 1973 to 1999. And he built a powerful local political machine based in Boyle Heights, spearheaded the redesign of voting district maps to expand Latino representation throughout California and doled out a career full of favors in the form of jobs and advice.
Only once has the city Ethics Commission pursued someone for failing to register as a lobbyist. When asked to explain why, ethics officials said only that such a charge can be difficult to prove.
Yet, in many ways, Alatorre has been in plain sight, showing up at public meetings and walking the corridors at City Hall. Five council members -- Richard Alarcon, Jose Huizar, Bernard C. Parks, Jan Perry and Herb Wesson -- say Alatorre has spoken with them over the last 18 months on behalf of at least one of the following:
Home Depot, which wants to open a store in Sunland-Tujunga in a way that would avoid an environmental review.
The Las Lomas Land Co., which is trying to build 5,500 homes just north of Sylmar.
The Engineers and Architects Assn., a city union that had been in a contentious standoff with the mayor over pay.
First Transit Inc., a city DASH bus service provider, which was seeking a contract change.
Alatorre's earliest known City Hall client, in 2004, was the Los Angeles Port Police Assn., which represents peace officers at the harbor. Alatorre worked for the union when its members sought to improve their retirement benefits by switching from a general city plan to one used by Los Angeles' police and fire departments. The switch required City Council and voter approval, both of which were obtained.
Association President Daniel Cobos said his union paid Alatorre $7,500 per quarter for about a year and a half to lobby the City Council and state government. "Because of his lobbying we did get the support of the City Council," Cobos said.
The Ethics Commission law in effect then defined a lobbyist as anyone who was paid more than $4,000 per quarter to communicate with an official on behalf of a client. The union's payments alone might have required Alatorre to register with the city.
Since then, the law has changed. It now requires registration by anyone who is paid, regardless of how much, to lobby for at least 30 hours in a three-month period and has at least one lobbying contact with a city official or employee.
Alatorre's contacts with city officials continued in 2006, when he met separately with two of Villaraigosa's airport commissioners on behalf of Cable News Network. The company wants to install TVs tuned to CNN in airport waiting areas. He also spoke with one of those officials on behalf of Prime Time Shuttle, which provides shuttle services to airports.
