Rocky Delgadillo

Rockard John "Rocky" Delgadillo (born July 15 1960) is the current City Attorney of Los Angeles, California.

Career

*Teacher/ Coach, Los Angeles Unified School District, Franklin
*Attorney, O’Melveny & Myers
*Director of Business Development, Rebuild LA
*Deputy Mayor of Economic Development, Office of Mayor Richard Riordan
*Elected City Attorney of Los Angeles 2001
*Re-elected City Attorney of Los Angeles 2005

Biography

Rocky Delgadillo is a native of Northeast Los Angeles. Running unopposed, he was re-elected as city attorney in March 2005 to a second four-year term.

He ran against former Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in the 2006 race for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general of California. He lost by a wide margin, despite having spent over $3 million on television commercials in the last few weeks of the election.

Delgadillo attended Harvard College, where he won the Robert F. Kennedy Award given each year to a member of the varsity football team who demonstrates a strong desire, determination, and willingness to work hard as a valuable member of the team earning the respect and admiration of his teammates and coachesfact|date=December 2007. Delgadillo trained briefly with Canadian team Hamilton Tiger-Cats before being cut. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/20/state/n221905D13.DTL] He went on to Columbia Law School, graduating in 1986.

After a short time in private practice at the prestigious Los Angeles law firm O'Melveny & Meyers, he joined Rebuild LA, a non-profit formed in the wake of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. He later joined the administration of Mayor Richard Riordan, eventually becoming deputy mayor for economic developmentfact|date=December 2007.

As City Attorney, he has subscribed to the "broken windows" theory of law enforcementfact|date=December 2007. Among the programs Delgadillo has implemented is a neighborhood prosecutor program that put city attorneys in each of the city's police divisions. He has also sped up the implementation of civil gang injunctions, which largely limit association by gang members in certain defined areas. Civil rights groups have challenged the injunctionsfact|date=December 2007, but the state's courts have upheld themfact|date=December 2007. They have come under renewed attention recently, particularly in South Los Angeles, where some community members have complained that it is difficult for gang members to escape a sometimes intrusive law enforcement structure.

In response to concerns expressed by some members of the City Council, as well as some L.A. residents, regarding the City's injunction policies, the City Attorney's Office in April 2007 issued a report on gang injunctions and an accompanying set of guidelines that articulated the proper application and use of injunctions, as well as providing a roadmap for reformed gang members to get themselves off an injunction. Although they faced some criticism from the ACLU, these guidelines were embraced by community members as well as members of the City Council and law enforcement officials, who viewed them as striking a careful balance between effective gang suppression and respecting the civil liberties of those accused.

One of the most well-publicized prosecutions by Delgadillo's office was that of entertainer Paul Reubens, more commonly known as Pee Wee Herman, for possession of child pornography. Delgadillo's office arranged a plea bargain requiring Reubens to pay a $100 fine and serve three years of probation. [http://www.lacity.org/atty/attypress/attyattypress6918418_03192004.pdf] Delgadillo was severely criticized, especially by talk radio's John and Ken Show, for recommending to the Los Angeles City Council that the City pay $2.7 million to black firefighter Tennie Pierce, who alleged he was fed dog food as a firehouse prank and later retaliated against by his fellow firefighters when he complained to superiors. Delgadillo argued that the City would be forced to pay even more money to Mr. Pierce had the case gone to trial, in light of a troubling audit of race relations at the department by City Controller Laura Chick, and jury verdicts in past cases of a similar nature.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in September 2007, the City of Los Angeles agreed to pay Pierce $1.49 million to avoid going to trial, with the blessing of the Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, who had vetoed the earlier $2.7 million settlement offer proposed by Delgadillo, and the City Council. With legal costs to the City reaching an estimated $1.35 million, the taxpayers ended up having to pay out $2.84 million in the Pierce matter.

Delgadillo's city-issued GMC Yukon was involved in an accident in 2004, causing more than $1,000 in damage to the vehicle, which was repaired at city expense. In 2007 he disclosed that his wife had been the driver, which is generally believed to violate city rules on vehicle use, and that, unbeknownst to her at the time, her driving license was suspended at the time. He reimbursed the cost of the repairs. Journalists further discovered that Mrs. Delgadillo had an outstanding 9-year old bench warrant for failure to appear in court and that she was delinquent in paying the city business tax for her consulting firm. Delgadillo himself admitted that, unbeknownst to him at the time, he drove his personal vehicle without insurance for a year (though his city-issued vehicle was always insured), and to using staff members for personal tasks. ["Delgadillo trips up on fast track", by Scott Glover, June 24 2007, "Los Angeles Times"] He has also been fined for 30 counts of campaign finance law violations.

In August 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that Delgadillo used more than twice the number of gallons of water over the last two years as typical property owners in their parts of Los Angeles. In addition, his service was cut-off for a time due to failure to pay overdue bills. The city is in the midst of an unprecedented drought.

In late August 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD imposed a moratorium to halt impounding vehicles of unlicensed drivers (which is usually undocumented immigrants that cannot get a license) based on advice from the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo. The article, however, was incorrect and Delgadillo later clarified to reporters that his office believes the City of Los Angeles' general vehicle impound policy to be legal, and is, in fact arguing as much in a case winding its way through the courts.

References

External links

* [http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/08/city-attorney-props-to-the-judge City Attorney: Props to the Judge!] , TMZ, Jun 8, 2007
* [http://www.lacity.org/atty Los Angeles City Attorney's Official Website]
* [http://www.rocky2006.com Official Web Site of the Delgadillo Campaign]
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/philpott03162006.html Neoliberalism at the Garden Gate]