Carmen Trutanich

The corner of Pico and Sepulveda boulevards is your standard Westside traffic nightmare, with rush hour commuters inching along at discouraging speeds just blocks from an even more congested 405 Freeway. The intersection, already a subject of bitter conversations among nearby residents, could see thousands more cars each day if the Los Angeles City Council this month signs off on a plan for 638 apartments, a supermarket, new restaurants and possibly a Target store. Backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the so-called Casden West L.A. project is one of the city's most controversial examples of transit-oriented development - shopping and housing concentrated around a planned Expo Line light rail station.

The corner of Pico and Sepulveda boulevards is your standard Westside traffic nightmare, with rush hour commuters inching along at discouraging speeds just blocks from an even more congested 405 Freeway. The intersection, already a subject of bitter conversations among nearby residents, could see thousands more cars each day if the Los Angeles City Council this month signs off on a plan for 638 apartments, a supermarket, new restaurants and possibly a Target store. Backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the so-called Casden West L.A. project is one of the city's most controversial examples of transit-oriented development - shopping and housing concentrated around a planned Expo Line light rail station.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich was defeated in his bid for reelection by former Assemblyman Mike Feuer. Trutanich announced his concession about 11:30 p.m. [Updated at 11:45 p.m. At Rocco's Tavern in Studio City, he thanked supporters and attorneys. The crowd chanted, "Nuch! Nuch! Nuch!" "I ran for city attorney for all the right reasons, to be the people's lawyer," Trutanich said. He spoke of his rise from working-class roots in San Pedro and the accomplishments of the city attorney's office in his tenure.

A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy wore a wire for the FBI last month, secretly recording a department supervisor as part of an investigation into allegations of improper fundraising, the deputy and his attorneys said. Deputy Edwin Tamayo told The Times that FBI agents asked him to wear the wire after he told them that a captain gathered him and other subordinates at a patrol station barbecue pit and ordered them to sell tickets to a 2011 fundraiser for Carmen Trutanich's unsuccessful bid for district attorney.

Monday night's debate of the principal city attorney candidates at Temple Israel of Hollywood was the first time all four had shared a stage. Although devoted in part to questions of faith, morality and responsibility, the discussion also featured a number of sharp exchanges over the effectiveness of the incumbent, Carmen Trutanich, and the credentials and ideas of his challengers, Assemblyman Mike Feuer and private lawyers Noel Weiss and Greg Smith. Smith, for instance, questioned whether voters should believe Trutanich, who once promised not to seek another office and then ran for Los Angeles district attorney.

As the race for city attorney winds down, insiders are poring over poll data and other indicators with one question in mind: Will incumbent Carmen Trutanich make the runoff? Most observers consider former Assemblyman Mike Feuer the front-runner, likely to finish first in a field of four candidates -- himself, Trutanich and private lawyers Greg Smith and Noel Weiss. Feuer is endorsed by a host of leading officials, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (he also was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times )

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, engaged in a tough fight for his job in this month's election, picked up support on Wednesday from his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo. In 2001, Delgadillo defeated then-Councilman Mike Feuer in a close, bitter race and served for eight years before term limits barred him from running again. Feuer is Trutanich's opponent in the May 21 general election, which is turning out to be another contest fraught with controversy. Each camp has accused the other of various ethics violations, and Trutanich supporters have filed a lawsuit over a contract between Feuer and his consultant, John Shallman, which called for Feuer to pay Shallman just $1 for consulting services but provides a $50,000 “win bonus” if Feuer succeeded in unseating Trutanich.

So what's the deal with Carmen Trutanich, anyway? Is he the goofy but dangerous loose cannon, power-hungry crazy man that so many former supporters love to hate? Or is he the reform-oriented outsider who, in his own description, made a few high-profile missteps in his first few months because he was unfamiliar with the culture of City Hall, and then settled down to be a solid administrator of an office that dispenses sound advice to city leaders and prosecutes dangerous criminals and nuisance violators?

Challenger Mike Feuer continues to lead Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich in fund-raising, reports filed late Thursday showed. According to documents the campaigns sent to the city Ethics Commission, Feuer, a former city councilman and past member of the state Assembly, raised $208,753 during the latest reporting period, April   7 through May 4, bringing his total for the upcoming general election to $524,776. Trutanich brought in $109,897 during the same period, for a total of $313,497.

Shortly after Carmen Trutanich took office as Los Angeles city attorney in 2009, he caused a big splash by taking on illegal billboards. And he's highlighted his crusade against unpermitted signs as he faces a tough reelection battle. So what's with the splashy Trutanich election banner splayed across a building along a busy stretch of freeway? The colorful sign, visible to drivers on southbound Interstate 5 near the Glendale Boulevard exit in northeast Los Angeles, features a picture of Trutanich, his campaign's website address and a message urging his reelection.

A lawsuit alleging that City Atty.-elect Mike Feuer manipulated ethics laws to financially benefit his campaign has been thrown out of court. The action had been filed by a supporter of Feuer's rival, Carmen Trutanich. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Rico found meritless the claims by plaintiff Laura Lake that Feuer intentionally delayed paying campaign consultant John Shallman in order to qualify for taxpayer-provided matching funds. The suit, filed in the midst of the campaign, named both Feuer and Shallman as defendants.

The seeds of one-term Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich's resounding election defeat Tuesday were planted in his ill-fated run for district attorney last year. The candidate himself acknowledged that with less than a quarter of the ballots counted. Observers have said that voters did not like that he went back on his pledge to not seek higher office until finishing two terms. Mike Feuer, a onetime city councilman and a former member of the state Assembly, trounced the incumbent 62% to 38%, unofficial election returns showed.

After an especially contentious campaign, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich conceded to challenger Mike Feuer late Tuesday, while attorney Ron Galperin was leading City Councilman Dennis Zine in partial returns for another citywide office, controller. From his jampacked party at a home in Hancock Park, Feuer said he was gratified by the "tremendous outpouring of support" he found as he campaigned in communities across the city. He promised to bring a "new level of connection" between the city attorney's office and L.A.'s neighborhoods.

In the first ballots counted in the race for the next mayor of Los Angeles, City Controller Wendy Greuel held a slight lead over City Councilman Eric Garcetti. With 7.5% reporting, Greuel led Garcetti 51% to 49%. But with the vast majority of the ballots still to be counted, the race is very much still up for grabs. The candidates ended more than two years of campaigning Tuesday by criss-crossing the city, battling for votes in the race to replace outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a city that has traditionally had very low voter turnout.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich was defeated in his bid for reelection by former Assemblyman Mike Feuer. Trutanich announced his concession about 11:30 p.m. [Updated at 11:45 p.m. At Rocco's Tavern in Studio City, he thanked supporters and attorneys. The crowd chanted, "Nuch! Nuch! Nuch!" "I ran for city attorney for all the right reasons, to be the people's lawyer," Trutanich said. He spoke of his rise from working-class roots in San Pedro and the accomplishments of the city attorney's office in his tenure.

The election to select Los Angeles' next mayor is Tuesday. But a combination of factors - the large number of Angelenos voting by mail, the apparent tightness of the race and the city clerk's ballot-counting process - means that the winner may not be known for days, or weeks, after election day. Candidates Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti both stress their ties to the entertainment industry. But one overlooked fact is that if Greuel wins the post, she will be the first studio executive to be Los Angeles' mayor.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich finds himself with as much as $112,000 in unpaid bills from his unsuccessful run for district attorney, a situation that could complicate his bid for reelection in March. Trutanich failed to make the runoff in the June election for district attorney, a drubbing that prompted him to seek a second four-year term in office at City Hall. Yet even before he has begun raising money for a new campaign, the city's top lawyer is grappling with a six-figure invoice left over from his countywide campaign, according to a report filed this week with the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich offers an explanation for why his reelection challenger has racked up the lion's share of endorsements as the May 21 runoff approaches: "He's part of the old-boys club; he's a career politician and I'm independent. " But former lawmaker Mike Feuer points to the backing he's received from hundreds of elected officials - including both of California's U.S. senators - civic and other groups, environmental organizations, labor, law and community leaders as evidence of "a clear desire for change" in the city's top legal post.

A Westside activist who has previously complained to authorities about   former lawmaker Mike Feuer and his campaign for Los Angeles   city attorney has filed additional documents with state and local government watchdog agencies accusing Feuer of more alleged transgressions. Laura Lake, an ally of City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, whom Feuer is challenging in next week's election, said she lodged complaints Friday with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission.

Any kind of political communication -- be it a mailer, a phone call, a billboard -- is required by law to identify who paid for it. But at least three signs supporting the reelection of Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich have sprung up without the required disclosure. First came a large sign affixed to a building fronting the busy I-5 where the freeway passes through LA.'s northeast communities. It showed up in January, during the city primary election. In April, another billboard, bearing the same "Re-Elect Carmen Trutanich for LA City Attorney" message as the first, sprang up at a nearby Atwater Village intersection.