Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss said he will oppose Casden Properties’ plan for the construction of a multimillion dollar project in Westwood, after the firm’s vice president and a group of subcontractors working with the firm were indicted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for conspiring to violate campaign financing laws.
Casden Properties is a real estate development firm that has several large projects in the Los Angeles area.
The 14 defendants in the case have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit campaign law violations.
All pleaded not guilty at their Los Angeles Superior Court arraignment Nov. 24.
Los Angeles campaign financing laws limit an individual from making contributions over $1,000 to a candidate or campaign, and the defendants are accused of exceeding this limit.
John Archibald, vice president of Casden Properties, tried to get around the law by telling the subcontractors to have friends, family, employees and associates make campaign contributions that would be reimbursed by Casden Properties, according to the indictment.
Campaign donor cards were then marked with “Casden” to let candidates know Casden Properties was the actual source of these campaign contribution checks.
The contributions were allegedly given to City Council members Jack Weiss and Wendy Greuel, 2001 mayoral candidate Kathleen Connell and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Those who allegedly received the contributions are not being charged.
Casden Properties is currently working on plans to build Palazzo Westwood, a $100 million residential and commercial development in Westwood.
After the indictment was made public, Weiss announced he would oppose Casden Properties’ plans for the development, partially due to the charges, according to a Los Angeles Times article published on Nov. 25.
Some Westwood residents believe Weiss may still allow plans for Palazzo Westwood to go through and said they are critical of both Weiss and Casden.
Westwood resident Bernard Weintraub believes Weiss is “in Casden’s pocket,” and that the councilman will not follow through with his plan to oppose the construction of Palazzo Westwood.
A number of Westwood homeowners have signs reading “Jack Weiss Stop Casden” posted in front of their yards, and some of these homeowners say Weiss’ judgments are swayed by campaign contributions from Casden Properties.
According to the indictment, the conspiracy organized by Archibald was meant to gain favor from contribution recipients, and homeowners allege the indictment is further proof of political favor Weiss may have given the firm.
Weintraub said he hopes the indictment will decrease the power Casden Properties has over the Westwood community.
Alan Casden, president of Casden Properties, is not one of the defendants involved in the case.
Though Casden is not a defendant, he is a target in the investigation, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office.
According to the L.A. Times article, Casden believes the indictment is unwarranted, and that Archibald will be proven innocent.
“Homeowners are up in arms that Weiss is allowing (Casden) to basically do what he wants because he’s contributed money to Weiss,” said Ellen Turner, a Westwood resident.
The indictment against Casden Properties is part of an ongoing investigation led by District Attorney Steve Cooley.
Cooley’s goal is to “assure the integrity of the elective process,” according to a District Attorney’s Office statement.
“When Mr. Cooley was elected, he vowed to form a unit to prosecute cases involving political corruption,” Gibbons said.
“There (are) a lot of investigations pending, and this is one of them,” the spokeswoman said.