Laura Chick

"I'm very focused on the here and now. I have a lot on my plate that comes with this job. [But] if there is anything I'm interested in, it is running for mayor." NAME: Laura Chick AGE: 53 HOME: Tarzana PROFESSION: Los Angeles City Council member. LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Chick easily won reelection to her second--and under term limit laws, last--term representing the West Valley on the Los Angeles City Council.

Imagine if Los Angeles, with a population that is roughly half Latino, had just one or even no Latinos in elected office. There would be protests and political recriminations in every election cycle. There would be lawsuits and threats of lawsuits. The Justice Department would be scrutinizing voting procedures. But Los Angeles is half female, and it is quite possible that in a few weeks, its 18 elected officials will include not a single woman. It would be the first time since 1968 that the City Council was all male.

Let's play "Jeopardy." The answer is: "Dumb and Dumber." And the question: Who is council member Laura Chick and what is up with her precipitous move to try to reduce the number of newly recruited and desperately needed Los Angeles police officers? M.L. PRESTON Encino

Terrorist mind-set Re "Suicide bomber kills 45 in Pakistan," Dec. 26 How sad that on Christmas Day, a misguided insurgent killed at least 45 people and injured more waiting in a food line in Pakistan. Certainly, I am far ? both in mental and physical distance ? from understanding the twisted minds of such attackers, but it hurts nonetheless. Those killed and injured were innocent bystanders and human beings like myself. They were trying to survive in a hostile environment they call home.

When the state budget is $28 billion in the red with all the easy cuts already made, it's hard to argue with Gov.-elect Jerry Brown for eliminating the Office of the Inspector General, which is run by former L.A. Controller Laura Chick. Chick was tasked with ensuring that California's $50 billion in federal stimulus funding was properly spent, but Brown said her office was "redundant" because the job could easily be assigned to the already established Bureau of State Audits, state Controller's Office or governor's Department of Finance.

The gig: As California's inspector general for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Laura Chick is the watchdog making sure that the state's $85 billion in stimulus dollars are spent wisely. Appointed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chick defines her mission as the 3 Ds: deter, detect and disclose any waste or fraud. California was the first state to create such an oversight position for federal stimulus funds. (Chick's position shouldn't be confused with that of California's other inspector general, David Shaw, who oversees the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick formally announced Thursday that she will run for city controller, saying she has experience at making sure City Hall serves residents efficiently and effectively. Chick, a resident of Tarzana, was elected to the City Council six years ago and is chairwoman of the council's Government Efficiency Committee.

Laura Chick, a former aide to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus, on Monday filed a declaration that she intends to raise money for a campaign to run for the seat held by Picus, whose term expires June 30, 1993. Chick, 48, was a field deputy in Picus' office from 1988 until 1991. Picus, who has served four terms representing the 3rd District in the southwestern San Fernando Valley, also has filed a declaration allowing her to raise money for a reelection campaign.

Hoping to encourage more whistle-blowing by city employees and residents, Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick has launched a 24-hour, confidential fraud hotline. Chick promised that her Waste and Fraud Unit would investigate all "legitimate and valid" complaints of unethical or illegal activity reported over the hotline's toll-free telephone number: (866) 428-1514. "Confidentiality absolutely is protected," she said Thursday during a City Hall news conference.

The Los Angeles City Council asked the Airport Commission on Friday to delay a lease at Van Nuys Airport, with Councilwoman Laura Chick saying the eleventh-hour proposal "smacks of back-room, closed-room, dirty deals." The commission is scheduled to vote June 26--four days before Mayor Richard Riordan leaves office--to approve a lease of 5.8 acres of undeveloped land to be used for a new aviation business.

When the state budget is $28 billion in the red with all the easy cuts already made, it's hard to argue with Gov.-elect Jerry Brown for eliminating the Office of the Inspector General, which is run by former L.A. Controller Laura Chick. Chick was tasked with ensuring that California's $50 billion in federal stimulus funding was properly spent, but Brown said her office was "redundant" because the job could easily be assigned to the already established Bureau of State Audits, state Controller's Office or governor's Department of Finance.

One of Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's first official acts will be eliminating the state Office of Inspector General, a position held by former L.A. City Controller Laura Chick, who has been responsible for overseeing more than $50 billion in federal stimulus money. Brown's office said in a statement Monday that he is closing the operation, whose function mimics those of other state agencies, to save money. "Ending this redundancy will save the state's General Fund over $700,000 in fiscal year 2010-11," the statement said.

City Atty. Carmen Trutanich announced a series of reforms to his office's workers' compensation unit on Wednesday in response to an audit that found that the unit took too long to settle cases and failed to collect millions of dollars it was due. Trutanich, who said the program "was in disarray" when he took office last year, has reassigned seven attorneys to the unit and established a new peer review process. The announced reforms were among the recommendations in City Controller Wendy Greuel's audit, which looked at the performance of the unit during the term of previous City Atty.

The gig: As California's inspector general for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Laura Chick is the watchdog making sure that the state's $85 billion in stimulus dollars are spent wisely. Appointed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chick defines her mission as the 3 Ds: deter, detect and disclose any waste or fraud. California was the first state to create such an oversight position for federal stimulus funds. (Chick's position shouldn't be confused with that of California's other inspector general, David Shaw, who oversees the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The endless loop that is the Los Angeles city controller-city attorney dispute returns on Tuesday to the City Council, which has the power to put the matter to rest but has so far shown not the slightest inclination to do so. With one easy and painless step -- instructing City Atty. Carmen Trutanich to drop the lawsuit -- the whole sorry mess could move toward resolution. The dispute, you may recall, began when neither Trutanich nor Controller Wendy Greuel held their present offices.

The Los Angeles City Council breathed new life this week into a lawsuit over whether the city controller can conduct performance audits in the offices of other elected officials. It was once seen as an unnecessary squabble that would end when then-Controller Laura Chick and then-City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo finished their terms this summer. But after a closed-door briefing by lawyers for new City Atty. Carmen Trutanich on Wednesday, at least some council members signaled that they weren't too keen about letting the controller review their books to see how well programs are managed in their offices.

A company hired to provide computers to the city of Los Angeles overbilled the city by nearly $3 million -- and no one in the bureaucracy noticed, according to an audit the city controller's office released Thursday. What's more, Controller Laura Chick said, the city routinely fails to enforce the terms of its contracts with outside agencies, estimated at being worth more than $1 billion a year. "Who is minding the store?" Chick asked.

In a bid to put 50 more police officers on the job as soon as possible, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick on Wednesday proposed that a city hiring freeze be lifted to let the Police Department hire reserve officers full time and put retired officers back to work. Her plan would quickly and inexpensively put 50 new officers on the streets by tapping into that "reservoir of individuals right at the city's fingertips" already trained as officers, Chick said.

Re "Judge's ruling backs Delgadillo in fight with Chick over audits," June 24 Former City Controller Laura Chick did a superlative job overseeing taxpayer dollars, highlighting deficiencies and recommending improvements in L.A. city operations. As municipal auditors ourselves, we are very disappointed that a judge's ruling on the city of Los Angeles' charter limits the city controller's authority to conduct audits of certain departments and programs. Government audits provide independent assurance that public funds are well managed, spent prudently and provide the expected services.

Didn't it seem kind of fun at the time? Political throwdown, local style. Laura Chick, the elected city controller, wanted to examine the way workers' comp functions were being handled by Rocky Delgadillo, the elected city attorney. She subpoenaed him, he sued her, they went at each other in the media, and their surrogates did battle on the City Council floor. Juicy stuff. By the way, who won? This is Los Angeles, so all you need to know is that, as usual, the people lost.