Bell city clerk testifies signatures on documents were forged

A key prosecution witness in the Bell corruption case testified Wednesday that signatures on city contracts, minutes for council meetings, agendas and even resolutions were forged.

Bell City Clerk Rebecca Valdez's testimony could bolster the defense's argument that record-keeping in Bell was so sloppy that it would be difficult to prove that six former council members inflated their annual salaries to nearly $100,000 by serving on boards and commissions that met for a few minutes, if ever.

On her third day on the witness stand, Valdez said she noticed the forgeries in 2010 when pulling together records requested by investigators looking into possible wrongdoing. She said she never looked into the forgeries, and didn't make a list of the questionable documents.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy ordered Valdez to look through the paperwork being used as exhibits for the trial.

After thumbing through binders filled with documents from 2005 to 2010, the city clerk said she detected about eight agendas from 2005 to 2006 that had forged signatures.

"It looks like R Valdez, but that's not the way I sign," Valdez said of the name written in cursive. She said the forgery appeared to be the work of her predecessor, Theresa Diaz.

"That appears to be her handwriting?" defense attorney Alex Kessel asked Valdez.

"Yes."

"So from your knowledge of her penmanship you believe she signed your name?"

"Yes."

As the city clerk, Valdez was responsible for keeping accurate records of public meetings but her testimony has revealed that she signed minutes for meetings she didn't attend, sometimes made mistakes in her records and for three years was the clerk in name only, performing almost none of the required duties.

"Forgery is another area that questions the legitimacy and accuracy of the minutes and agenda which is the cornerstone of the district attorney's argument that no work was being done," Kessel told The Times.

The prosecution has used many documents signed by Valdez to illustrate that Luis Artiga, Victor Bello, George Cole, Oscar Hernandez, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal did little work when it came to the authorities that beefed up their paychecks.

Among those is the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, which Deputy Dist. Atty Edward Miller has labeled a "sham."

On Wednesday Miller read the ordinance for that authority, which said it could be created "for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, maintaining or operating an enterprise for the collection, treatment or disposal of waste."

Miller then asked Valdez: "Have you seen an enterprise for the collection, treatment or disposal of waste in the city of Bell?"

"No," she replied.

Defense attorneys have attempted to pin much of the city's alleged corruption on former City Administrator Robert Rizzo. Valdez said Rizzo expected people to do what he said and was a chronic micromanager.

"It was pretty well-known to the employees that important events that happened in your life, like going to school, having a baby or buying a house — he had to be the first one to find out," Valdez said. "If he found out through a second person or third person, the employee would kind of be in the doghouse.

"When I got married," she said, "he was the first one to know before any of my peers knew."

Valdez said Rizzo questioned her about a house she was thinking of buying and urged her to make a 20% down payment. When she told him she didn't have the money, Rizzo offered her a $48,000 loan, she said.

Prosecutors say her loan, along with dozens of others provided to city employees, was given without proper authorization.

Valdez, who was granted immunity for her testimony, said she processed the repayment of such loans. She also prepared salary contracts for the council members, as well as Rizzo. She said she was aware of Rizzo's salary before the news became public.

Valdez testified that during a July 2010 meeting requested by Times reporters, Artiga and Hernandez appeared shocked when they heard that Rizzo was making nearly $800,000.

She also recalled that Hernandez, "said something to the effect of 'To have a good city manager you have to pay him well.' "

corina.knoll@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com

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Wendy Greuel's $160-million savings claim raises questions

At virtually every campaign stop, Los Angeles mayoral candidate and City Controller Wendy Greuel points to eliminating $160 million in "waste, fraud and abuse" she's found at City Hall as a solution to the city's fiscal troubles and evidence that she would be a tough fiscal manager as mayor.

But most of the dollar total in Greuel's claim, now featured in television ads, relies on two audits that depend on an accounting maneuver and a large revenue projection that the controller's office itself said was unrealistic from the start.

Many of the dozens of audits cited by Greuel's campaign to support the $160-million claim reveal shortcomings in municipal policy and recommend "best practice" reforms that many people inside and outside of City Hall would agree are needed.

While the reports identified potential new revenue and elimination of waste, the amounts cited by Greuel's campaign would not be immediately available to the incoming mayor, although Greuel has suggested otherwise.

"My first day in office, I'm going to stop the cycle of crisis and layoffs and lack of services," she told the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. at a debate. "And I will implement the $160 million worth of waste, fraud and abuse that I found."

Greuel said in a statement Wednesday evening that she stands by her audit findings. She called the $160 million "just the tip of the iceberg" and added that, as mayor, she would "change the way government works so that we spend our precious taxpayer dollars more wisely and efficiently."

Greuel's supporters say she deserves credit for being specific about how she would make the city bureaucracy more efficient. And Greuel campaign spokeswoman Shannon Murphy said the projections used by the controller's office were compiled by professional auditors who had no political motivation.

But City Councilman Eric Garcetti, a rival for mayor, has attacked Greuel's claims. His aides say the savings and new revenue actually produced for the city amount to just $239,000.

Half of Greuel's $160 million — as broken down on her campaign website — comes from a single audit on unrealized revenue from a "street furniture" contract between the city and a company called CBS Decaux.

That 2012 audit said the city lost $23.1 million because the company hadn't paid as much as predicted to place advertising on bus shelters, newsstands, public restrooms and kiosks. An additional $57 million "could be lost" in the future if Los Angeles does not improve the contract, for a total shortfall of $80.1 million, Greuel's office contended.

But CBS Decaux said it would come nowhere near the $150 million it promised to pay the city over 20 years because bureaucrats, and especially City Council members, rejected many of the locations the company wanted for its shelters and advertising "pillars."

The city's Bureau of Street Services, the chief legislative analyst and the city attorney all agreed that the advertising company had properly paid the city at a reduced rate. And Greuel's audit acknowledged that $8.2 million was "not recoverable."

The controller's office called for a renegotiation of the agreement and calculated future losses of $57 million using a best-case scenario: that the company would be able to place all of the advertising initially planned and the city would be paid at the rates originally agreed to. Greuel, in her own cover letter for the audit, concluded: "It is clear, however, that this contract was unrealistic in terms of expectations from the very beginning."

Murphy, the Greuel campaign spokeswoman, said auditors working for the controller "felt compelled to highlight the $57-million figure."

"This is absolutely a warning call that Controller Greuel put out. She is saying, 'This is going to be a huge problem for the city if nothing is done differently.' And, in fact, nothing has been done differently."

The city had made no progress on renegotiating with CBS Decaux.

The controller's audit notes that the City Council caused the "majority of delays" in the program by blocking or delaying approval of the street advertising. Murphy blamed the "failed leadership" of city lawmakers, saying it had cost Los Angeles millions in revenue.

City records show that Greuel, who served on the City Council from 2002 to 2009, contributed to the bottleneck in her San Fernando Valley-based district. A 2005 report by the chief legislative analyst's office found 11 other council offices approved the advertising structures more frequently than Greuel's office, although her approval rate improved slightly by 2007. Greuel staffers Wednesday blamed the approval process for the problems and noted that Greuel's audit recommendations would have streamlined placement of the advertising structures.

The second-biggest example of waste, fraud and abuse on Greuel's list is $24.7 million from the Real Property Trust Fund. The 2010 audit on that topic did not identify missing or uncollected funds, but rather money that Greuel concluded should be transferred between city accounts.

At issue was the 50% of funds from sales of surplus public property and from oil pipeline franchises that traditionally has gone into council members' discretionary accounts. The money has been used to pay for pocket parks, graffiti removal and, occasionally, salaries for City Council staff.

Greuel suggested in her audit that the money be shifted to the city's cash-strapped general fund. The council voted in 2010, after the Greuel audit, to give up $12 million that normally would have paid for special projects in members' districts and instead use it to replenish the city's emergency reserve.

james.rainey@latimes.com

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Man behind Manti Te'o hoax wants to 'heal'

The 22-year-old Palmdale man who created Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend broke his silence for the first time, saying he perpetrated the elaborate hoax to build a relationship with the football star.

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo pretended to be Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, for months, communicating on the phone and through social media. Tuiasosopo went so far as to disguise his voice to sound like a woman's when he spoke to Te'o on the phone, his attorney, Milton Grimes, said in an interview with The Times.

Grimes said his client decided to come clean about the hoax in an attempt to "heal."

"He knows that if he doesn't come out and tell the truth, it will interfere with him getting out of this place that he is in," Grimes said.

TV talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw, who spoke with Tuiasosopo for an interview set to air this week, described the 22-year-old as "a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love" with Te'o. McGraw, speaking on the "Today" show, said he asked Tuiasosopo about his sexuality, and Tuiasosopo said he was "confused."

In a short clip of the "Dr. Phil" interview, Tuiasosopo told McGraw that he wanted to end his relationship with Te'o because he "finally realized that I just had to move on with my life."

"There were many times where Manti and Lennay had broken up before," Tuiasosopo said. "They would break up, and then something would bring them back together, whether it was something going on in his life or in Lennay's life — in this case, in my life."

Tuiasosopo's comments add another twist to a story so bizarre that reporters from across the country have converged on Tuiasosopo's home in the Antelope Valley. News of the hoax was first reported earlier this month on the website Deadspin.com.

Tuiasosopo, the report said, was the mastermind behind the hoax and used photos from an old high school classmate and social media to connect Kekua with Te'o.

During the college football season, Te'o repeatedly spoke to the media, including The Times, about his girlfriend, the car accident that left her seriously injured and the leukemia that led to her September death. The tale became one of the most well-known sports stories of the year as Te'o led his team to an undefeated season and championship berth.

Te'o has denied any role in the ruse, saying he spent hours on the phone with a woman he thought was Kekua.

Those who know Tuiasosopo said they were baffled when they first learned of his involvement in the hoax. Neighbors and former high school coaches described him as popular, faith-driven and family-oriented.

"I've done a lot of thinking about it," Jon Fleming, Tuiasosopo's former football coach at Antelope Valley High, said in the days after the ruse was revealed. "It's all speculation. He's goofy just like any other kid. The question that comes up in my mind is: 'What could he possibly gain from doing something like this?' It would really surprise me. What would he gain?"

Te'o said in an interview with ESPN that Tuiasosopo called to apologize for the hoax.

"I hope he learns," Te'o said. "I hope he understands what he's done. I don't wish an ill thing to somebody. I just hope he learns. I think embarrassment is big enough."

Diane O'Meara, the Long Beach woman whose photos were used to represent the fake girlfriend, said in an interview with The Times that Tuiasosopo was a high school classmate.

She said he repeatedly asked her for photos and videos of herself.

O'Meara, 23, said that during a six-day period in December, Tuiasosopo contacted her through social media, texting and phone calls about 10 times, asking her to send a photo of herself. Then, after she sent the photo, in part to "get this guy off my back," she said Tuiasosopo messaged her asking for a video clip or another photo.

By that time, his requests were "kind of annoying, kind of pestering," O'Meara said.

Tuiasosopo is seeing a medical professional and "feels as though he needs therapy," Grimes said.

"Part of that therapy is to … tell the truth," he added. "He did not intend to harm [Te'o] in any way. It was just a matter of trying to have a communication with someone."

Grimes said he warned his client that he could face legal consequences for admitting that he falsified his identity on the Internet. But Tuiasosopo insisted that going public was something he had to do.

"This is part of my public healing," Grimes quoted Tuiasosopo as saying.

matt.stevens@latimes.com

ann.simmons@latimes.com

kate.mather@latimes.com

Times staff writers Kevin Baxter and Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.

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Greuel airs the first TV ad of mayoral campaign

With the Los Angeles mayoral election five weeks away, City Controller Wendy Greuel began airing the first television ad of the campaign Tuesday in an effort to introduce herself to voters before rivals get a chance to define her in more unflattering terms.

City Councilman Eric Garcetti, Greuel's top rival in the March 5 primary, is expected to follow suit within days by launching his own TV ad campaign.

The ability of Greuel and Garcetti to afford extensive TV advertising, thanks to their aggressive fundraising, sets them apart from the six other mayoral candidates on the ballot.

Greuel's opening ad stresses her experience as controller. She tells viewers that she has uncovered $160 million in waste and fraud at City Hall.

"As mayor, I can stop the waste because I know where it is," Greuel says. "And I'll use the savings for job creation, better schools and faster emergency response in every part of our city."

Garcetti's campaign immediately challenged Greuel's claim, saying she has exaggerated the waste and fraud found in some 78 audits of city departments. The city councilman's aides referred reporters to annual reports on the controller's website for the last three fiscal years, which show a total of $96.7 million in "avoidable costs" and "potential revenue" to the city.

The total of potential funds uncovered by Greuel still falls short of $100 million, even when adding in additional audits the controller's office has performed since the last annual report in June of last year, Garcetti's representatives said.

After reviewing the audits, her rival said that just $239,000 had actually been recovered for the city treasury.

"It is absolutely the worst kind of flim-flam math I've ever seen in my life," said Bill Carrick, Garcetti's chief strategist. "The $160 million does not exist. There is no $160 million in savings."

The Greuel ad suggests she would use "savings" like those found in her audits for "job creation, better schools and faster emergency response in every part of our city."

Garcetti's camp said in a statement the actual savings "would have a negligible impact on education, emergency response and job creation,"

Greuel political consultant John Shallman accused Garcetti of "baseless attacks."

"It's clear now why Mr. Garcetti has failed to stop the wasteful spending in City Hall—he's not reading the Controller's audit reports," Shallman said in a statement. "If he had, he would know that the Controller has identified more than $160 million in waste, fraud and abuse."

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Times staff writer James Rainey contributed to this report.

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L.A. city workers' union doesn't endorse Garcetti or Greuel

An influential union representing City Hall workers failed to reach a consensus Tuesday evening on whether and whom to endorse in Los Angeles' mayoral campaign, labor officials said.

Members of six locals of the Service Employees International Union questioned City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilman Eric Garcetti, two top contenders in the race, for at least half an hour. Neither was recommended for an endorsement, even though Greuel was ranked higher on a scoring sheet prepared by union officials.

The rating was prepared in December and ranked Greuel 4.3 out of 5 on issues important to the union. Garcetti was rated a 3.5, and consistently was graded lower on issues such as furloughs — the unpaid days imposed on civilian city workers — and on retirement benefits, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

Favel Jens, political coordinator for SEIU Local 721, which represents 10,000 city workers, said the scoring sheet was prepared by the political directors of six SEIU locals in December, after the candidates responded to written questionnaires.

Lowell Goodman, communications director for SEIU Local 721, said the heads of the union locals still could decide in the next few weeks to issue separate endorsements. "Or they could decide to go together and endorse the same candidate," Goodman said.

The union locals held a town hall-style gathering Tuesday evening so they could, for a second time, consider making an endorsement in the March 5 election to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Filing out of the meeting at union headquarters, attendees who described themselves as members of SEIU Local 99 — which represents school district employees — said their local decided not to pick either candidate. Employees with SEIU's United Service Workers West, which represents security guards, airport workers and others, said they too had decided not to endorse. But Myran Cotton, a city employee represented by SEIU Local 721, said her local recommended Greuel.

SEIU's backing is considered important because Los Angeles is a heavily Democratic, generally labor-friendly city. Also, SEIU has shown its support can mean a significant number of get-out-the-vote campaign volunteers and financial donations to pay for mailers and advertising.

But some of Greuel's and Garcetti's opponents are suggesting the next mayor needs to be more independent of public employee unions.

Greuel and Garcetti, the only two invited back for additional interviews Tuesday, were on the council when it voted for a package of raises for civilian city workers that totaled roughly 25%. Greuel moved on to citywide office by 2010, and did not have to vote when the council ordered unpopular layoffs, furloughs, employee transfers and reductions in an array of services.

In the competition for union support, those decisions have put Garcetti, who was then City Council president, at a disadvantage this election year. Greuel sought to sow doubt about Garcetti during the initial interview sessions with SEIU members last month. She cited his involvement in employee layoffs, telling workers they needed someone who would be with them "every step of the way."

City officials are grappling with a $220-million budget shortfall and trying to persuade the public to hike taxes.

Greuel already has the backing of the Department of Water and Power employees' union, which has given $250,000 to a committee supporting her candidacy and is expected to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more. She has also picked up the support of the rank-and-file police officers' union, which spent nearly $750,000 to elect City Atty. Carmen Trutanich in 2009.

The SEIU did not invite three other leading candidates — Councilwoman Jan Perry, former radio host Kevin James and tech executive Emanuel Pleitez — to Tuesday's event. All three have been more critical than Greuel and Garcetti of the city's handling of its budget crisis.

The union employees "clearly don't want someone independent making decisions at City Hall," said James, shortly before Tuesday's SEIU session began.

Perry said earlier this week that she lost out on the endorsement because she said she had no plans to remove City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the budget official who recommended layoffs and reductions in pension benefits for new hires. Union officials asked the candidates last month to say whether they would keep Santana.

SEIU Local 721 has been at odds with Santana and Villaraigosa over their successful push to raise the retirement age and to roll back pensions for new hires. That pension measure was approved by the council last fall, but does not apply to DWP hires, or any current city employees.

The union also has been fighting efforts to turn the zoo and city Convention Center over to private management entities.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

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South Korea launches space rocket carrying satellite

South Korea said Wednesday it successfully launched a satellite into space from its own soil for the first time, a point of national pride that came weeks after archrival North Korea accomplished a similar feat to the surprise of the world.

The South Korean rocket blasted off from a launch pad in the southwestern coastal village of Goheung. Science officials told cheering spectators minutes later that the rocket delivered an observational satellite into orbit. There was no immediate confirmation that the satellite was operating as intended.

The launch is a culmination of years of efforts by South Korea — Asia's fourth-largest economy — to advance its space program and cement its standing as a technology powerhouse whose semiconductors, smartphones and automobiles command global demand. North Korea's long-range rocket program, in contrast, has generated international fears that it is getting closer to developing nuclear missiles capable of striking the U.S.

South Korea's success comes amid increased tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's threat to explode its third nuclear device. Pyongyang is angry over tough new international sanctions over its Dec. 12 rocket launch and has accused its rivals of applying double standards toward the two Koreas' space programs.

Washington and Seoul have called North Korea's rocket launch a cover for a test of Pyongyang's banned ballistic missile technology.

Both Koreas see the development of space programs as crucial hallmarks of their scientific prowess and national pride, and both had high-profile failures before success. South Korea tried and failed to launch satellites in 2009 and 2010, and more recent launch attempts were aborted at the last minute.

The satellite launched by Seoul is designed to analyze weather data, measure radiation in space, gauges distances on earth and test how effectively South Korean-made devices installed on the satellite operate in space. South Korean officials said it will help them develop more sophisticated satellites in the future.

U.S. experts have described the North's satellite as tumbling in space and said it does not appear to be functioning, though Pyongyang has said it is working.

The South Korean rocket launched Wednesday had its first stage designed and built by Russian experts under a contract between the two governments. North Korea built its rocket almost entirely on its own, South Korean military experts said earlier this month after analyzing debris retrieved from the Yellow Sea in December.

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Doctor fatally shot near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach

A doctor was shot and killed Monday in a building near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, police said.

Multiple people have identified the victim as a doctor at Orange Coast Urology, but police have not released the victim's name pending notification of relatives. An outgoing phone message said the office had to close Monday because of an emergency.

Workers in the building said the shooting occurred in the doctor's exam room.

Newport Beach Police Department Deputy Chief David McGill confirmed that the slain man was a doctor but had no other details about him or a suspect who was taken into custody without incident at the scene, which was on the second floor of an office building at 520 Superior Ave.

"I sit right at the front desk. I would have caught the first bullet," said Becky Calderwood, who works two doors down from the office where the shooting occurred. "This is nuts. People are just shooting everyone all the time."

Calderwood said the gunman was a 70-year-old patient. Shortly after the shooting, police led a handcuffed older man wearing a baseball cap out of the building.

Authorities received a call about 2:45 p.m. that six or seven shots had been fired, according to police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.

"We won't know a motive until our detectives have a chance to interview the suspect later" Monday night, Lowe said.

A source with knowledge of the shooting said the building was a medical office affiliated with Hoag. The shooting occurred in an office portion of the building, Lowe said.

Kristin Crotty works directly above the office. She said she heard gunshots but "blew it off as construction."

She said what she heard sounded like a nail gun and she didn't know what was going on until she called building services and was told to lock her door.

A sign outside says the three-story medical building houses Hoag outpatient services and lists the Allen Diabetes Center, physicians' offices and a CHOC diabetes center as occupants.

lauren.williams@latimes.com

jeremiah.dobruck@latimes.com

jill.cowan@latimes.com

Times staff writers Rick Rojas and Sam Quinones contributed to this report.

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Ex-Cudahy Mayor David Silva gets prison in bribery

A former Cudahy mayor was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for his part in taking $17,000 in bribes from a man who wanted to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the city in southeast Los Angeles County.

David Silva, 62, is the second Cudahy official to be sentenced after pleading guilty to bribery and extortion. As in the previous case, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ignored the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation. In Silva's case, Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Akrotirianakis recommended that he receive 41 months in prison.

Earlier this month, Angel Perales, Cudahy's former head of code enforcement and acting city manager, was sentenced to five years' probation. Akrotirianakis had recommended that Perales serve two years in prison.

Both men could have received 30 years in prison.

Former Councilman Osvaldo Conde is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 25.

The medical marijuana bribes led the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office to open an investigation into corruption in Cudahy. Documents revealed Cudahy as a place where bribes were common for anyone wanting to do business with the city; where longtime City Manager George Perez rigged elections; where city employees served as armed bodyguards for council members; and where city workers brought Perez illegal pain pills.

Perales' attorney, Carlos Juarez, called Perez "the mastermind behind the bribery scandal in Cudahy" and much of the investigation appears to be centered on him.

The investigation is continuing. Perez's attorney, Stanley L. Friedman, has said his client denies any wrongdoing.

Silva's attorney told Real that his client had cooperated to the fullest extent with authorities. "If there is anyone from the L.A. Times here, put it in the paper: I am sorry to the people of Cudahy," Silva said.

In addition to prison time, Real placed Silva on three years' probation, ordered him to serve 1,500 hours of community service and pay $17,000 restitution.

In his sentencing memorandum, Akrotirianakis said the longer prison term would serve as a deterrent to other elected officials. "Corruption at the highest levels of smaller cities ... appears to be rampant in Los Angeles County and in this judicial district, and general deterrence appears to be necessary."

As part of the Cudahy investigation, the former mayor of Santa Fe Springs, Joseph Serrano Sr., was sentenced to two years in prison for taking $11,500 in bribes from the marijuana dispensary owner.

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

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Mayoral debate focuses on city's troubled finances

In the highest-profile debate so far in the Los Angeles mayoral race, three longtime city officials defended their records Monday night as two long-shot challengers accused them of putting the city on a path to insolvency.

The city's chronic budget shortfalls dominated the event at UCLA's Royce Hall, televised live on KNBC-TV Channel 4. Entertainment lawyer Kevin James and technology executive Emanuel Pleitez sought to maximize the free media exposure, portraying themselves as fresh alternatives to business as usual at City Hall.

James, a former radio talk-show host, described himself as an independent and accused rivals Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry — all veteran elected officials — of being cozy with unions representing the city workforce.

"Bankruptcy doesn't happen overnight," said James, the only Republican in the race. "This happened over a period of time and it happened because of a series of bad decisions."

Pleitez struck a similar note.

"Our politicians in the last decade made decisions on numbers they didn't understand," he said.

"I'm the only one that has worked in the private sector and on fiscal and economic policies at the highest levels," Pleitez said, citing his experience as a special assistant to economist Paul Volcker on President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Greuel, Garcetti and Perry, in turn, pledged to show fiscal restraint as the city grapples with projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $1 billion over the next four years.

City Controller Greuel cited the "waste, fraud and abuse" her office's audits have identified at City Hall, saying they demonstrate her independence.

"As mayor of Los Angeles, I get not only being the fiscal watchdog, and showing where we can find this money, and knowing where the bodies are buried," said Greuel, who served on the City Council for seven years. "I've learned as city controller, you don't always make friends when you highlight what can be done better."

Garcetti, a councilman for more than a decade, said he had a record of "not just talking about pension reform, but delivering on it." When tax collections dried up in the recession, he said, the council and mayor eliminated 5,000 jobs and negotiated a deal with unions requiring some city workers to contribute to their health and pension benefits.

"Those are the things that kept us away from our own fiscal cliff," he said.

Perry also stressed her support for increasing worker contributions to health and retirement benefits.

"This is about long-term survival," she said.

By the normal standards of election campaigns, it was a remarkably genteel debate, at least among the three city officials.

Only Perry attacked her rivals, and even then, not by name.

Recalling her work with Garcetti and Greuel in talks with city unions, she faulted them for engaging in "side meetings and side negotiations," saying she was more transparent.

"As mayor, I will make sure that practice stops, that everything is done on the record — that all employees are treated fairly and all employees are given the same information," Perry said.

Neither Greuel nor Garcetti answered the attack.

As in previous forums, the most obvious contrasts among the candidates Monday night were in biography and style — rather than policy positions.

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Senators agree on immigration overhaul plan

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a plan to grant legal status to most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., which could form the basis for a far-reaching overhaul of immigration laws this year.

The Senate blueprint, drafted during weeks of closed-door meetings by leading senators from each party, will probably set parameters for a contentious legislative battle over the next several months. The eight senators involved intend to release their proposal publicly Monday. A copy was provided to The Times' Washington bureau on Sunday by Senate aides.

The Senate plan is more conservative than President Obama's proposal, which he plans to unveil Tuesday in a speech in Las Vegas. But its provisions for legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants go further than measures that failed to advance in Congress in previous years — a reminder of how swiftly the politics of immigration have shifted since Latino voters' strong influence in the November election.

In terms of the number of people who would potentially receive legal status, it would be more than three times larger than the amnesty plan passed under President Reagan in 1986, which legalized about 3 million immigrants.

The senators involved hope to begin committee votes on a bill as soon as March. The timing of their proposal and Obama's, coupled with that schedule — quick by Senate standards — could set up a dynamic in which an eventual bill falls somewhere between the bipartisan plan and the president's.

Latino activists and other advocates for comprehensive immigration reform have pushed for quick action in the Senate, hoping that a large bipartisan vote for a bill that includes a path to citizenship would put pressure on the House.

Many members of the House Republican majority represent districts where proposals for legalization remain highly unpopular, but many Republicans also worry about the political price if the party takes the blame for killing immigration reform.

The Senate proposal would allow most of those in the country illegally to obtain probationary legal status immediately by paying a fine and back taxes and passing a background check. That would make them eligible to work and live in the U.S. They could earn a green card — permanent residency — after the government certifies that the U.S.-Mexican border has become secure, but might face a lengthy process before becoming citizens.

Obama is expected to push for a faster citizenship process that would not be conditional on border security standards being met first. The structure of the citizenship process will probably be among the most hotly debated parts of any immigration plan.

Less-controversial provisions would tighten requirements on employers to check the immigration status of new workers; increase the number of visas for high-skilled jobs; provide green cards automatically to people who earn master's degrees or PhDs in science, technology or math at U.S. universities; and create an agricultural guest-worker program.

On Sunday, a White House spokesman said the president was "pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support."

"At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform, and he will continue to urge Congress to act," Obama spokesman Clark Stevens said.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who heads the Senate subcommittee that handles immigration legislation, briefed the White House on Sunday, according to a Senate aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The eight senators scrambled over the weekend to come to an agreement before Obama unveiled his plan, hoping to head off any potential Republican backlash against a White House proposal and show common ground.

At a news conference Sunday in New York, Schumer noted that "the devil is in the details," but said that he and the other senators in the group had made good progress.

"I'm impressed with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle over their desire to meet in the middle. We can't pass it without both Democrats and Republicans," said Schumer, adding that he and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had "developed a little bit of a friendship" during the negotiations.

The group has met in person five times in Washington since the November election, alternating between the Capitol Hill offices of Schumer and McCain. Participants include Democrats Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Rubio, a conservative favorite widely seen as a potential contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, was asked to join the Senate group in early December. In their discussions, Rubio focused on strengthening employee-verification provisions and improving border security before the new class of immigrants could be eligible for citizenship, a Senate aide said.

So far, the group has negotiated legislative language on implementing the legalization program and on increasing border security, said a Senate aide familiar with the discussions. The senators will turn their attention next to details on how to increase the flow of legal immigration to reduce the incentive for illegal border crossings, the aide said.

One sticking point could be how the government decides the border is secure — the determination that would trigger the provisions allowing citizenship.

The senators have proposed a commission of border-state governors, attorneys general and community leaders to monitor border security. But if the government fails to meet the panel's standard, those granted the new probationary legal status could be living indefinitely as a second class of Americans, allowed to remain in the U.S. but unable to vote, enroll in Medicare or receive federal student loans.

Another issue involves establishing an exit-visa system to track when people leave the country. The proposal calls for exit visas at seaports and airports, but does not specify whether they also would be required at land border crossings, which could be considerably more expensive. A system for tracking when people leave is a priority for the senators, because about 40% of the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants entered with a legal visa and overstayed.

Even before the bipartisan plan's release, immigration experts have said the chances for reform are better than in previous years.

"When both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are talking about the issue in calm tones but with a sense of urgency, that is the makings for legislative action," said Angela Kelley, an expert on immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington.

Both the White House and lawmakers seem to be moving fast to get a bill introduced, Kelley said, adding: "The players are about as caffeinated as I've seen them."

brian.bennett@latimes.com

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Christi Parsons in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

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Fire survivors recall deadly chaos in Brazil club

SANTA MARIA, Brazil — It was just before 3 a.m. when the resident DJ tweeted a photo from inside the popular Kiss nightclub, where a singer was belting out a song between two huge columns of pyrotechnic sparks.

"The house is mega-packed," DJ Bolinha wrote. "Great to play here."

Soon after, the ceiling caught fire. Flames spread. Toxic smoke swirled through the club, causing a stampede of sweaty bodies toward the exit. Some people fainted; others were trampled. Some poured through a bathroom door, apparently believing it led outside — or simply wanting to get out of the smoke.

Police would later find scores of bodies in the bathroom, which provided no escape. They were among more than 230 people who died early Sunday in the club in Santa Maria, a college town of 250,000 in southern Brazil. It was one of the worst fires in Brazilian history, and the worst nightclub fire worldwide in the last decade.

PHOTOS: Deadly blaze at Brazilian club

"I saw loads of smoke and fire, and I thought it was just part of the show," said Fernanda Bona, who was taking photos at the club. "But then I saw that no, it was real, and thank God, I was close to the exit and ran to it with hundreds of other people — who were pushing and falling, and choking, but I managed to get out."

She was lucky. "The scene was terrible, lots of toxic smoke and so many people dying," Bona said in a telephone interview. "The atmosphere around here, words aren't sufficient to describe it. It feels like this is a nightmare, and we'll wake up and everything will be fine. But it won't."

The tragedy in the relatively rich state of Rio Grande do Sul shocked the country, which woke to chaotic, televised scenes of firefighters and bare-chested men pulling people from the smoking building.

A tearful President Dilma Rousseff announced that she had canceled plans to attend a summit in Chile and instead went to Santa Maria to visit victims.

"I'd like to tell the population of our country, and of Santa Maria, that we are all together in this moment," Rousseff said. Brazil canceled a ceremony planned for Monday to celebrate the 500th day before the country hosts the 2014 World Cup.

The fire was among a series to occur in nightclubs around the world, and the worst since December 2000, when a disco fire in Luoyang, China, killed 309 people. That blaze was blamed on a welding accident, but others have been blamed on indoor pyrotechnics.

Among them was a fire at a club in Perm, Russia, that killed 152 people in 2009; one in Buenos Aires that killed 194 people in 2004; and one in West Warwick, R.I., that killed 100 people in 2003.

As families gathered Sunday at a makeshift morgue at a gymnasium in Santa Maria and waited for news, authorities and survivors tried to find causes for the tragedy.

The nightclub did not have its fire permit up to date, authorities said. The band that was playing, Gurizada Fandangueira, performed an indoor pyrotechnics show that included flares — a flourish that has been blamed for a number of fatal nightclub fires internationally in recent years. Firefighters said there was only one exit, and that it was closed and locked when the chaos began.

DJ Bolinha, whose real name is Lucas Cauduro Peranzoni, insisted that no doors were locked, but described a terrifying scene.

"Everyone was pushing one another," Peranzoni told local media. "I breathed in some of that smoke and I felt woozy. I collapsed at the door and the security guards pulled me out."

At nightclubs in Brazil, it is common for patrons to accumulate a bar tab throughout the night, which they pay in order to exit. Under normal circumstances it's extremely difficult to leave at a moment's notice, and would be impossible if security guards weren't yet informed of a need to evacuate.

In the early chaos Sunday, some survivors said, security guards were demanding that fleeing patrons pay their bar tabs before being allowed out. They apparently stopped when they realized what was happening.

"Maybe the very, very first people were stopped and asked to show they had paid their bill, because the security didn't know yet that there was a fire," said Bona, 23. But by the time she got to the exit, she said, "I went straight out."

Bona graduated from the local university in November and used to work as official photographer for the club. Because of that, she said, she was in the VIP area of the club, relatively close to the exit.

Others said that those who were closest to the stage had the most difficult time getting out. Descriptions posted on social media told of the horror as people tried desperately to flee.

"I saw people begin to panic, to fall over, and pass out all over one another, it was a sea of people thrown around," survivor Ezequiel Real posted on his Facebook page. "I saw people in crisis just running to the closest door, which was to the bathroom, and they stayed in there. I saw workers go to hide in the freezers."

Authorities have released a partial list of the dead, and said 106 people were hospitalized for injuries suffered in the blaze. At least one member of the band, accordion player Danilo Jaques, 30, was listed among the dead.

"I lost six or seven friends, and that hasn't really sunk in yet," said Filipe Dias, 25. "I don't think I'm going to be able to take it when I see Vinao," Dias said, referring to his good friend Vinicius Montardo Rosado, one of the dead.

Throughout the day, families waited tensely to hear whether their relatives had survived.

"I spent all morning looking [for my daughter] and I found her, she's here, and she's alive," said the mother of Kelen Aline Favarin at a nearby hospital. "We got here and were able to breathe again, the panic has passed. It's a shame that many people won't be able to feel the same today."

Bevins and Guimarães are special correspondents. Bevins reported from Sao Paulo and Guimarães from Santa Maria.

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Unarmed man killed by deputies was shot in the back, autopsy says

A Culver City man who was fatally shot by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies after a pursuit in November was struck by bullets five times in the back and once each in the right hip and right forearm, also from behind, according to an autopsy report obtained by The Times.

Jose de la Trinidad, a 36-year-old father of two, was killed Nov. 10 by deputies who believed he was reaching for a weapon after a pursuit. But a witness to the shooting said De la Trinidad, who was unarmed, was complying with deputies and had his hands above his head when he was shot.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting.

De la Trinidad was shot five times in the upper and lower back, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's report dated Nov. 13. The report describes four of those wounds as fatal. He was also shot in the right forearm and right hip, with both shots entering from behind, the report found.

"Here's a man who complied, did what he was supposed to, and was gunned down by trigger-happy deputies," said Arnoldo Casillas, the family's attorney, who provided a copy of the autopsy report to The Times. He said he planned to sue the Sheriff's Department.

A sheriff's official declined to discuss specifics of the autopsy report because of the ongoing investigation. But he emphasized that the report's findings would be included in the department's determination of what happened that night.

"The sheriff and our department extend its condolences to the De la Trinidad" family, said Steve Whitmore, a sheriff's spokesman.

"Deadly force is always a last resort," he said. "The deputies involved were convinced that the public was in danger when they drew their weapons."

On Saturday, relatives of De la Trinidad and about 100 other people marched through the streets of Compton, shouting, "No justice, no peace! No killer police!"

His widow, Rosie de la Trinidad, joined the march with the couple's two young daughters.

"He was doing everything he was supposed to," she said of her husband, fighting back tears. "All we're asking for is justice."

Jose de la Trinidad was shot minutes after leaving his niece's quinceañera with his brother Francisco. He was riding in the passenger seat of his brother's car when deputies tried to pull them over for speeding about 10:20 p.m., authorities said. After a brief car chase, De la Trinidad got out of the car in the 1900 block of East 122nd Street in Compton and was shot by deputies.

The Sheriff's Department maintains that the deputies opened fire only after De la Trinidad appeared to reach for his waist, where he could have been concealing a weapon.

But a woman who witnessed the officer-involved shooting told investigators that De la Trinidad had complied with deputies' orders to stop running and put his hands on his head to surrender when two deputies shot him. The witness said she watched the shooting from her bedroom window across the street.

"I know what I saw," the witness, Estefani — who asked that her last name not be used — said at the time. "His hands were on his head when they started shooting."

According to the deputies' account: De la Trinidad jumped out of the passenger seat. His brother took off again in the car. One of the four deputies on the scene gave chase in his cruiser, leaving De la Trinidad on the sidewalk and three deputies standing in the street with their weapons drawn.

The deputies said De la Trinidad then appeared to reach for his waistband, prompting two of them to fire shots at him. The unarmed man died at the scene.

Unbeknown to the deputies at the time, Estefani watched the scene unfold from her bedroom window. A short while later, she told The Times, two sheriff's deputies canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses came to her door.

The deputies, she said, repeatedly asked her which direction De la Trinidad was facing, which she perceived as an attempt to get her to change her story.

"I told them, 'You're just trying to confuse me,' and then they stopped," she said. Authorities later interviewed Estefani a second time.

Whitmore said the two deputies involved in the shooting were assigned desk duties immediately after the incident but returned to patrol five days later. He said this was standard practice for deputies involved in shootings.

Although such investigations typically take months, Whitmore said the department has given special urgency to this case and hopes to complete its probe in a timely manner.

"We want to have answers about what happened that night soon rather than later," he said. "Even then, we know it doesn't change the grief the family is experiencing."

As with all deputy-involved shootings, De la Trinidad's killing is subject to investigation by the district attorney, the sheriff's homicide and internal affairs bureaus and the Sheriff's Executive Force Review Committee.

wesley.lowery@latimes.com

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As Obama takes up immigration, strategy poses a challenge

WASHINGTON — As President Obama settles on a strategy to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, he faces a quandary that speaks volumes about the bitter nature of politics in a divided capital: The very fact that a plan has Obama's name on it might be enough to kill it.

Obama will relaunch his drive for an immigration overhaul Tuesday in Las Vegas, where heavy turnout by Latino voters in November helped seal his reelection. But some allies in Congress warn that embracing too specific a proposal could mean its death warrant.

Republicans, they say, would feel compelled to oppose a bill identified explicitly with the president. Better, they advise, to announce broad principles and avoid particulars, even if that means violating a campaign pledge to propose legislation. Obama promised to do that in his first campaign, did not deliver, and repeatedly vowed during his reelection campaign to make up for that failure.

The toxic nature of the Obama brand in Republican circles has become a factor that affects White House decisions large and small. Aides still recall with astonishment that when Obama invited members of Congress to the White House to watch the movie "Lincoln" last year, at a screening attended by some of the film's stars, not a single GOP lawmaker attended.

That acute Obama aversion has forced the White House to step carefully as it moves ahead on second-term priorities. On gun control, Obama aides felt he had little to lose by laying out specific recommendations because most Republicans were certain to oppose them.

But on immigration, a bipartisan group of senators is working on a proposal. Legislation from the White House could disrupt that and reduce hopes for major legislation, some lawmakers have warned.

This fight over tactics belies some substantial agreement emerging on the broad areas that must be addressed — the most notable being a growing consensus that any legislation must create a way for the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants to obtain legal status. Both Democrats and Republicans also are primed to make changes to the way businesses verify a worker's legal status and to update the criteria for legal immigration.

But in a capital ruled by partisan interests, ambition and egos, agreeing on policy doesn't get the deal done. Democrats remain divided over how aggressively the president should lead, and Republicans — the few who are publicly endorsing the effort — want Obama to stay at a distance.

In a sign of the tension, the bipartisan Senate group, upon hearing of the president's plans for a speech, hustled to finish a statement of principles on immigration to unveil Monday or Tuesday, ahead of Obama's official launch, according to a Senate aide who, like other congressional and White House officials, asked not to be identified to discuss private conversations.

The White House is mindful of the pitfalls ahead, and officials said Obama was moving cautiously.

In his remarks Tuesday, his first major policy speech of his second term, Obama is expected to draw from his May 2011 immigration blueprint and may declare some elements non-negotiable. Among other measures included in the 29-page proposal, Obama emphasized improving border security, expanding the system employers use to verify the legal status of workers and creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

This leading from the bully pulpit has become Obama's strength in his frequent tussles with Republicans in Congress. Obama has pressured them into raising taxes on the wealthy and giving students a break on their loans, but has had less success in leading by trying to legislate, as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) encouraged him to do earlier this month.

"If the president does send up specific language, that would make it easier because we'll work from that," Leahy said in an interview on C-SPAN. "[We] may not accept all of it, may add to it. But at least we have something to work from, so that would be very helpful."

Not all Democrats agree. At a meeting with Latino lawmakers at the White House on Friday, Obama heard both pieces of advice, according to people who attended the meeting.

Some lawmakers urged Obama to move quickly, leaving behind the bipartisan effort, while others asked him not to put forward a bill. Obama appeared frustrated, said one congressional aide. "He seemed to say, 'Which is it, you want me to lead but not drop a bill?'" the aide said.

This frustration is familiar to the White House. Obama, who has been described as "leading from behind," has often chosen to take a less engaged role in legislative battles, only to take heat from people in his own party who say he is being too passive.

When Obama does engage directly, his unpopularity among Republicans works against him.

The president complained about this Catch-22 in his last news conference, when he tried to explain his frosty relationship with Republicans. "I think a lot of folks say, 'Well, if we look like we're being too cooperative or too chummy with the president that might cause us problems. That might be an excuse for us to get a challenge from somebody in a primary,'" he said.

The bipartisan Senate group on immigration has been meeting for eight weeks. Its members are Democrats Charles E. Schumer of New York, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Robert Menendez of New Jersey; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida.

These six senators have committed to a bipartisan statement on what should be in a bill, a Senate aide said, including a path to legal status for illegal immigrants already in the country, increased border security and tougher immigration checks by employers.

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'Argo' wins Producers Guild award

Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov won the the Darryl F. Zanuck outstanding producer of motion picture for "Argo," besting "Lincoln" and other contenders in the category.

It was the latest triumph for the film, which won the Golden Globes motion picture-drama earlier in the month. With the win, the film establishes itself firmly as a solid contender for Oscar best picture after earlier being thought out of the running when Ben Affleck was snubbed for best director by the motion picture academy.

"Searching for Sugar Man," the story of the forgotten '70s singer Rodriguez, snagged the prize for documentary theatrical motion picture. Also in documentaries, the school-bullying film "Bully" won the Stanley Kramer award for illuminating social issues.

On the animation side, "Wreck-It Ralph," a story of a disenchanted video-game character, took the prize for best animated feature at the PGA's.

In television categories, "Modern Family" took home the prize for TV episodic comedy, "Homeland" won for episodic drama, while the outstanding longform TV prize was scored by HBO's Sarah Palin pic "Game Change." "The Amazing Race" walked away with competitive-television honors.

Meanwhile, "The Colbert Report" won for live entertainment/talk and "American Masters" for nonfiction television.

J.J. Abrams, who's had a busy week since being hired as director of the new "Star Wars" film, received a lifetime achivement award; a milestone award went to Harvey and Bob Weinstein. The Visionary Award for Work of Uplifting Quality or Vision went to Russell Simmons.

The PGAs are considered a bellwether of the best picture prize at the Oscars and can turn a race in a movie's favor. Two years ago, for instance, "The King's Speech," facing a challenge from "The Social Network," picked up the top prize at the PGAs en route to its Oscar triumph.

"Argo" beat out nine other contenders for the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award for theatrical motion pictures. The other nominees were: "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; "Django Unchained"; "Les Miserables"; "Life of Pi"; "Lincoln"; "Moonrise Kingdom"; "Silver Linings Playbook"; "Skyfall"; and "Zero Dark Thirty."

The PGA award, handed out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, is considering one of the leading indicators for the best picture Academy Award. For the last five years, the PGA winner has gone on to win best picture. One reason: The 5,400-member PGA and academy use the same preferential system to count final ballots.

PHOTOS: SAG Award nominees

The last time the PGA and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences didn't agree was six years ago when the PGA chose "Little Miss Sunshine," while the best picture Oscar went to Martin Scorsese's"The Departed."

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California still hasn't bought land for bullet train route

Construction of California's high-speed rail network is supposed to start in just six months, but the state hasn't acquired a single acre along the route and faces what officials are calling a challenging schedule to assemble hundreds of parcels needed in the Central Valley.

The complexity of getting federal, state and local regulatory approvals for the massive $68-billion project has already pushed back the start of construction to July from late last year. Even with that additional time, however, the state is facing a risk of not having the property to start major construction work near Fresno as now planned.

It hopes to begin making purchase offers for land in the next several weeks. But that's only the first step in a convoluted legal process that will give farmers, businesses and homeowners leverage to delay the project by weeks, if not months, and drive up sales prices, legal experts say.

One major stumbling block could be valuing agricultural land in a region where prices have been soaring, raising property owners' expectations far above what the state expects to pay.

"The reality is that they are not going to start in July," said Anthony Leones, a Bay Area attorney who has represented government agencies as well as property owners in eminent domain cases.

State high-speed rail officials say it won't be easy, but they can acquire needed property and begin the project on time.

"It is a challenge," said Jeff Morales, the rail agency's chief executive. "It is not unlike virtually any project. The difference is the scale of it."

Quickly acquiring a new rail corridor is crucial to the project, which Gov. Jerry Brown touted last week as the latest symbol of California's tradition of dreaming big and making major investments in its future.

Delays in starting construction could set in motion a chain reaction of problems that would jeopardize the politically and financially sensitive timetable for building the $6-billion first leg of the system. Under its deal with the Obama administration, which is pushing the project as an integral part of its economic and transportation agenda, the state must complete the first 130 miles of rail in the Central Valley by 2018, an aggressive schedule that would require spending about $3.6 million every day.

California voters in 2008 approved plans for a 220-mph bullet train system that would initially link the Bay Area and Southern California at a cost of $32 billion, less than half the estimated cost of the project.

If the construction schedule slips, costs could grow and leave the state without enough money to complete the entire first segment. Rail agency documents acknowledge initial construction may not get as close to Bakersfield in the southern Central Valley as planned.

In addition to property, the rail authority still needs permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and approval by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, two more potential choke points that Morales says can be navigated.

The land purchases are waiting on the hiring of a team of specialized contractors, but they cannot start their work until the rail agency gets approval from another branch of the state bureaucracy. About 400 parcels are needed for the first construction segment, a 29-mile stretch from Madera to Fresno.

The formal offers will start an eminent domain action, the legal process for seizing land from private owners. The owners have 30 days to consider the offer, and then the state must go through a series of steps that can add 100 more days of appeals and hearings, assuming the state can get on the court calendar, according to Robert Wilkinson, an eminent domain litigator in Fresno. If the state fails to convince a judge that a quick takeover of property is justified, formal trials could stretch on for 18 months, he added.

"I would think a lot of these are going to end up in litigation," he said. "It is a tight schedule, no question about it."

Indeed, the rail authority's formal right-of-way plan indicates it does not expect to acquire the first properties until Sept. 15, despite other documents that indicate construction would start in July. Rail officials said they padded the schedule to avoid claims for additional payments by construction contractors should land not be available by July.

Last month, the federal Government Accountability Office reported that about 100 parcels were at risk of not being available in time for construction.

That assessment was based on information the office collected last August. Susan Fleming, a GAO investigator, testified at a House hearing last month: "Not having the needed right of way could cause delays as well as add to project costs."

Morales said in a recent interview that he would not argue with the warning in the GAO report but still sees nothing that would delay the start of construction. Technically, the rail authority could meet the July target date by beginning demolition or other construction on a single piece of property, he said.

Anja Raudabaugh, executive director of the Madera County Farm Bureau, which is suing to halt the project under the California Environmental Quality Act, said the rail authority will face strong opposition to condemnation proceedings in the Central Valley. The bureau has hired a condemnation expert to help battle the land seizures.

"It is a harried mess," she said.

She noted that agricultural land prices rose rapidly last year across the nation. In the Central Valley, the average price of farmland is $28,000 per acre, while the rail authority's budget anticipates an average price of $8,000 per acre, she said.

Kole Upton, an almond farmer who leads the rail watchdog group Preserve Our Heritage, questioned the rail agency's expertise in conducting complex appraisals of agricultural land that has orchards, irrigation systems and processing facilities.

"I am not sure this thing has been well thought out by people who have a deep understanding of agriculture," Upton said. "I live on my farm, and my son lives on my farm. My dad started it after World War II. This is our heritage and our future."

Morales said he believes the agency's budget for property acquisitions is adequate and he did not want to negotiate prices publicly.

"We don't think we are wildly off," he said.

ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com

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Greuel, Garcetti close in money race

The top two contenders in the L.A. mayor's race remain in close fundraising contention as they enter the final 5 1/2 weeks before the primary, but two outside groups also posted significant sums, demonstrating their potential to upend the race.

City Controller Wendy Greuel edged Councilman Eric Garcetti by collecting $130,644 to his $84,188 during the fundraising period from Jan. 1 to 19. But Garcetti, who served as council president between 2006 and 2012, holds a considerable lead over Greuel in cash on hand, with $3.55 million to Greuel's $2.94 million.

The new filings show that Greuel reported about $101,000 in unpaid bills to Garcetti's $45,000. A key portion of Greuel's spending over the past month was on slate mailings to registered voters with a high propensity to cast ballots — just as vote-by-mail balloting is set to begin early next month. She also paid a significant amount to the Washington, D.C.-based polling firm Lake Research Partners.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents downtown and South Los Angeles, collected about $16,000 during the first 19 days of this year. With city matching funds, she has raised more than $2 million and reported $1.2 million in cash on hand at the end of the filing period.

A fifth candidate, technology executive Emanuel Pleitez, reported that he has nearly $320,000 to spend before the March 5 primary.

Attorney and former radio talk show host Kevin James, who has accumulated more than $534,000 for his bid, including matching funds, collected nearly $15,000 during the first part of this year and has about $49,000 left in his account. That means that his hopes of making the mayoral runoff will largely depend on spending by an outside group, Better Way L.A., which can collect unlimited donations to boost the candidacy of the former prosecutor.

The group has raised $700,000 from just two donors. During the January filing period, Better Way L.A. received the bulk of that in the form of a half-million-dollar contribution from top GOP donor Harold C. Simmons, a Dallas-based billionaire who contributed more than $20 million to the super PACs that tried to defeat President Obama in 2012. Last year, Simmons; his wife, Annette; and his Contran Corp. donated $20.5 million to American Crossroads, the super PAC founded by Karl Rove, and $2.3 million to a pro-Romney political action committee.

At a candidates' forum on Thursday night sponsored by the League of Women Voters, James said he does not have a personal relationship with Simmons, but that the two met at a fundraiser for him last year. Republican advertising specialist Fred Davis, who formed Better Way L.A., has said he hopes to raise $3.5 million to make James a presence on television before the primary.

But Better Way L.A.'s influence may be checked by an outside group known as Working Californians, which is backing Greuel. James and Greuel are competing for many of the same moderate and conservative voters in the San Fernando Valley, the area that Greuel represented as a councilwoman.

Consultants for Working Californians have said that entertainment industry executives and labor unions — including the union that represents Los Angeles city utility workers — are joining forces to fund the outside effort to help Greuel, who handled government relations at DreamWorks before being elected to the City Council in 2002.

Working Californians is expected to raise at least $2 million, which could help boost Greuel's profile on television in the final weeks of the race. The first report this week showed an initial $250,000 contribution from the political arm of the public utility union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18.

maeve.reston@latimes.com

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AEG, Koreatown developer help fund L.A. sales tax campaign

The developer of a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and the company behind two planned apartment towers in Koreatown have provided about two-thirds of the funds for the group backing a half-cent sales tax increase in the city, according to the first report released in the campaign.

The committee for Proposition A on the March 5 ballot reported that it had raised $185,000 by Jan. 19, with $100,000 coming from stadium developer Anschutz Entertainment Group. The City Council, which is seeking the tax increase to address a $220-million budget shortfall, approved AEG's proposed stadium last year, which involves the demolition and reconstruction of a section of the city's Convention Center.

An additional $25,000 came from 3150 Wilshire, a company created by real estate developer J.H. Snyder Co., which received $17.5 million in financial assistance to build two residential towers in Council President Herb Wesson's district.

Wesson, who launched the sales tax campaign last fall, has been raising money for the measure. Kacy Keys, senior vice president of J.H. Snyder, said Wesson is "a great leader" who has been pivotal in getting her company's Koreatown project off the ground.

"I know this [ballot measure] is Herb's effort, and we wish Herb well," she said.

The city provided a $12.5-million loan for J.H. Snyder's Koreatown development that can be repaid, in part, from new property taxes generated by the project, Keys said. An additional $5-million redevelopment loan does not need to be repaid until the developer sells or refinances the building, she said.

Wesson said he hopes to raise $2 million for the sales tax campaign and secure endorsements from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and others. "I think this is a very good start," he said.

Neighborhood activist Jack Humphreville, who signed the ballot argument opposing the sales tax increase, said Proposition A backers are getting big donations from companies that had received "special treatment" from the City Council.

The campaign contributions are "a cheap price for these special interests to pay."

AEG President and Chief Executive Tim Leiweke said Police Chief Charlie Beck asked him to help with the campaign but did not specify a dollar amount. Leiweke said he contributed out of a fear that the Los Angeles Police Department force would have to be reduced if Proposition A fails.

"I think, quite frankly, that it's difficult to keep on taxing businesses and individuals in the state of California. And if we're not careful, eventually we're going to make it difficult to do business in California and in the city of L.A.," Leiweke said. "That said, I don't see another path."

The Proposition A campaign also received $25,000 from Excel Paving, a company that has received city contracts in recent years, and $25,000 from Crew Knitwear, a Los Angeles-based apparel company.

A $10,000 donation came from a political action committee representing the California Assn. of Realtors. Real estate groups lobbied successfully last fall to stop Wesson and his colleagues from pursuing a ballot measure that would increase the tax on property sales.

Wesson and his colleagues went with the proposed sales tax increase instead.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

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Venezuela prison riot leaves dozens dead

A handout photo by El Informador newspaper shows emergency crews tending an injured person at the Barquisimeto city hospital in northeast Venezuela after a prison riot that left dozens dead. (Misael Castro / EPA / January 25, 2013)

From the Associated Press

January 25, 2013, 10:31 p.m.

CARACAS, Venezuela—

Venezuelan media reported Friday that dozens were killed in a bloody prison riot, and the government said it was investigating.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro called the violence tragic early Saturday on television and said the authorities had launched an investigation.

He and other officials did not give a death toll from the riot at Uribana prison in the central city of Barquisimeto.

The newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported on its website that 54 were killed. The television channel Globovision reported about 50 killed. Both cited Ruy Medina, the director of Central Hospital in the city, who also said that dozens were hurt.

Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela said earlier on television that the riot broke out when groups of inmates attacked National Guard troops who were attempting to carry out an inspection.

Varela said the violence had affected a number of prisoners and officials, but said the authorities would hold off until control had been re-established at the prison to confirm the toll. She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after receiving reports of clashes between groups of inmates during the past two days.

The death toll provided by Medina rose late Friday after he had initially reported four killed and dozens injured.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles condemned the government's handling of the country's overcrowded and violent prisons.

"Our country's prisons are an example of the incapacity of this government and its leaders. They never solved the problem," Capriles said on his Twitter account. "How many more deaths do there have to be in the prisons for the government to acknowledge its failure and make changes?"

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Palmdale woman accused of torturing her children

Neighbors of a Palmdale woman charged with assaulting and torturing two of her children said Thursday that they never even realized she had kids.

The siblings — a boy, 8, and girl, 7 — did not play outside and were rarely seen, said Cynthia Otero, who runs a day care center at a home opposite the house in the 39000 block of Clear View Court where Ingrid Brewer is alleged to have mistreated the youngsters.

Otero said that when she recently spotted the children getting out of a car, she thought Brewer, 50, "might be baby-sitting."

So neighbors in the suburban cul-de-sac were the more shocked when word spread that Brewer was arrested on suspicion of crimes against her children, she said. Brewer is being charged with eight felony counts, including torture, assault with a deadly weapon and cruelty to a child.

According to authorities, Brewer reported the children missing Jan. 15, prompting a search by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Palmdale Station. The youngsters were found hours later hiding under a blanket near a parked car on a street close to their home. They were without winter clothes in 20-degree weather, authorities said.

Sgt. Brian Hudson, a spokesman for the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau, said the children told investigators they ran away because Brewer deprived them of food, locked them in separate bedrooms when she went to work each day, bound their hands behind their backs with zip ties and beat them with electrical cords and a hammer. The youngsters also said that when they were locked in the bedrooms and needed to use the bathroom, they instead had to use wastebaskets, Hudson said.

They fled because "they were tired of being tied up and beaten," Hudson said.

Hudson said both children had injuries consistent with the alleged abuse, including marks on their wrists indicating they had been restrained and "numerous bruising and abrasions over their bodies." They told investigators the mistreatment had been happening since Halloween.

Neighbors interviewed by authorities said they had never noticed anything suspicious but "hardly ever saw the two children," Hudson said. Otero and another neighbor said Brewer did not make friends on the block.

Otero said Brewer was "unfriendly" and typically ignored verbal greetings and waves.

According to sheriff's officials, Brewer, a certified nursing assistant who works in Los Angeles and has adult children, adopted the young siblings about a year ago from foster care. They were home schooled.

Neil Zanville, a spokesman for the county Department of Children and Family Services, said his agency was legally prohibited from disclosing any case-specific information about past or present clients. But in a written statement, the agency's director, Philip Browning, called the report disturbing.

"While we cannot confirm or deny whether this family is under our supervision, I am personally looking into this situation to determine what role, if any, our department had in these children's lives," Browning said.

Sheriff's officials said Thursday that the children were "doing great" despite their injuries.

Otero lamented that they had been made to suffer.

"It's just so sad," said the neighbor, who has a 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old twins. "I wish they would have knocked on my door. I would have helped them."

Brewer is in the custody of the Sheriff's Department, with bail set at $2 million. She is scheduled to appear in court Thursday, Hudson said.

ann.simmons@latimes.com

Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report.

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Security boosted for Orange County gun show

As the nation debates the idea of new gun laws, the decades-old Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds this weekend will be business as usual, organizers said — with the exception of increased security.

The fairgrounds, whose relationship with the Utah-based Crossroads company spans nearly 25 years, receives about $600,000 from parking, rent, food and beverages from the shows, which are held several times a year, said Jerome Hoban, chief executive of the O.C. Fair & Event Center.

"We're increasing the security because these gun shows are wildly popular, and we want to make sure it's a secure and safe event," he said. "With more people, it's more security, and that's with any event."

Gun shows are under scrutiny from local governments nationwide following the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting last month and after accidents at three recent gun shows left five people injured. The Glendale City Council this week took the first step toward banning gun shows and banning all firearm sales on city-owned land.

Also motivated are gun enthusiasts who fear new regulations; they are stocking up on ammunition and guns. The recent Ontario gun show, also sponsored by Crossroads, was packed.

The state-run fairgrounds has its own on-site security and contracts with the Orange County Sheriff's Department for supplemental help.

Four deputies are scheduled to patrol the show, in addition to the two at the fairgrounds' weekly Orange County Market Place, said sheriff's Sgt. Scott Baker.

"We're not foreseeing any problems," he said. "I know there is a heightened sense with all the stuff going on, but we haven't addressed it any further than that."

Having four deputies on patrol is more than have been on hand for past shows, Baker said.

"It's about as safe as you're going to be," he said. "We're not projecting any problems.... We're not going to a higher level because of the situation, or anything of that nature."

Hoban expressed confidence in security at the fairgrounds. "We don't take any event lightly," he said. "If we have the public on our facility, it's our responsibility to keep everything safe."

Sales of handguns and rifles at the show are subject to state and federal mandates, organizers said. "The rules aren't changing because it's a gun show, or you get an exemption. … The rules still apply there," Baker said.

State laws include a 10-day waiting period, valid identification and a registration fee.

"It's not the kind of event where everybody's walking out the door with firearms," Hoban said.

Bob Templeton, owner of Crossroads, said the Costa Mesa show typically draws 10,000 to 14,000 but that number could swell to 20,000 this weekend. "People are concerned about all the discussions at the national level about gun control and so forth," he said.

He said he expected 8,000 people at the recent Ontario gun show but 16,000 showed up — as did some protesters. The Costa Mesa show will have a "free-speech area" for people to voice their opinions, Baker said.

Templeton called the fairgrounds "a very local event." He said about 80% of those who attend the five shows a year live in Orange County.

Despite increased security, some have reservations.

Kevin Wilkes, a Costa Mesa resident and father of a 7-year-old girl, said the event is too close for his liking to Costa Mesa High School, Orange Coast College and parks. He alluded to the recent gun show shootings and the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.

"You have kids and sports fields and TeWinkle Park," he said. "It makes you stop and think … we're literally playing with a loaded gun here."

He said he supports the 2nd Amendment but would like to see an assault weapon ban, among other restrictions on gun ownership. He wants a safer environment for his family.

"I don't want to take anything away from people who collect.... I'm gathering most people are good, law-abiding citizens," Wilkes said. "It's just a few who mess it up for everybody else."

bradley.zint@latimes.com

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Senate approves modest filibuster changes

—

WASHINGTON — The Senate approved changes to the filibuster Thursday night, adopting modest limits on the partisan obstruction that has ground action in the chamber to a near standstill.

But the deal reached between the Senate's two leaders — Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — fell far short of sweeping reforms sought by liberal senators and their allies. Left out was the requirement that senators who want to filibuster must remain on the Senate floor, talking the whole time, as Jimmy Stewart's character famously did in Frank Capra's movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

The Senate adopted two packages to alter the procedural rules increasingly employed to thwart legislation and White House nominees. One provision will allow bills to be more quickly brought up for debate. Another will limit discussion on certain White House nominations. The changes were overwhelmingly approved, 78 to 16 and 86 to 9, with dissent mainly from conservative Republicans.

"It's not everything I wanted," said Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), who led efforts to change the filibuster with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). "This is a small step, but it's a step that moves us in a better direction."

The last few years have seen skyrocketing numbers of filibusters in what has become an escalating procedural arms race. In recent years, Republicans, seeking to block Democrats from pursuing their agendas, have relied heavily on the tactic. In previous years, Democrats employed the filibuster to obstruct President George W. Bush.

A filibuster ties the chamber in knots because it only comes to an end with a 60-vote supermajority, which has proved difficult to achieve with a closely divided Senate in this partisan era. Even if that supermajority is reached, procedures require at least three days for each filibuster to be overcome.

"Too often over the past four years, a single senator or a handful of senators has been able to unilaterally block or delay bipartisan legislation for the sole purpose of making a political point," President Obama said in a statement after the vote. "I am hopeful that today's bipartisan agreement will pave the way for the Senate to take meaningful action in the days and weeks ahead."

Democrats could have used their Senate majority to ram through a rules change at the start of the new Congress — or any time during this session. But they hesitated to provoke McConnell, a shrewd operator who would surely have retaliated.

"It just would have been thermonuclear war," said Jim Manley, a former top aide to Reid who is now a Democratic strategist.

The agreement forged between Reid and McConnell should help move legislation more swiftly in the ponderous chamber.

Senators gave up their ability to filibuster — or hold endless debate — on the procedural step required to take up legislation on the Senate floor. In exchange, both sides were guaranteed the right to offer two amendments to the bill — a particularly important provision for the minority Republicans, who say they are forced to filibuster because Reid prevents them from trying to amend bills with provisions Democrats dislike.

Although senators can still filibuster the actual bill, eliminating their ability to block this procedural step will cut days off the process.

Over the years, senators, many of whom are senior citizens, have reached a gentlemen's agreement not to press the requirement that they remain on the floor talking to filibuster, as South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond once did for more than 24 hours straight during the battles over civil rights legislation.

One aspect of the "talking filibuster" will be implemented, however: Once the 60-vote threshold is reached to end a filibuster and begin voting on a bill, a senator who refuses to waive the required 30 hours of final debate will need to stay on the floor and keep speaking. But that provision was included as a gentlemen's agreement, rather than an official rules change.

"The incremental 'reforms' in the agreement do not go nearly far enough to deliver meaningful change," said a statement from Fix the Senate Now, a coalition of legal scholars and liberal activists that pushed for reforms. Others had wanted the Senate to do away with the 60-vote threshold completely, pointing to changes in 1975 that dropped the two-thirds supermajority requirement to 60.

Also approved was a provision to speed confirmation of most presidential nominees, who are routinely held up as leverage to extract other concessions from the White House.

If a nominee can clear the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster, debate time will be reduced from 30 hours to two for district court judges and to eight hours for sub-Cabinet positions. The lower limits would not apply to nominees for the Cabinet or higher courts.

Another provision reduces the number of filibusters that can be used to delay a conference committee, which is needed to reconcile differences between House- and Senate-passed bills.

The filibuster has been a storied part of Senate history, and the ability to cut off debate with a supermajority did not come about until 1917. Veteran senators have been hesitant to change the rules of the Senate, a chamber the forefathers designed to move more slowly than the fiery House.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

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Quitting smoking prolongs life at any age

It's never too late to quit smoking, and researchers have new data to prove it. Even at the age of 64, kicking the habit can add four years to a person's life, while quitting by age 34 can increase life expectancy by a decade, according to a study published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

After analyzing health data from more than 200,000 Americans, researchers calculated that current smokers were three times more likely to die during the course of the study compared with people who had never smoked. For the most part, their deaths were caused by smoking-related ailments, including heart and lung disease. Overall, their odds of surviving to age 80 were half as good as for never-smokers.

But the study, one of two large-scale surveys in the journal providing updated information on smoking and mortality, saw significant benefits for those who quit. Giving up smoking between the ages of 35 and 44 was associated with a gain of nine years of life, and those who quit between 45 and 54 lived an extra six years.

"The good news is, because the risks are so big, the benefits of quitting are quite substantial," said study leader Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Global Health Research, based in Toronto.

While the U.S. smoking rate has declined to 19.3% among adults, there are still an estimated 45.3 million smokers in this country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette use is responsible for about 443,000 U.S. deaths each year, the CDC says.

Using the National Health Interview Survey, the researchers followed 113,752 women and 88,496 men in the U.S. between 1997 and 2004, categorizing them as smokers (at least 100 cigarettes within their lifetime), former smokers (no smoking within the last five years) and never-smokers. Former smokers were held to the five-year rule in order to weed out those who were already in declining health because of potentially fatal smoking-related diseases.

The researchers checked death records in 2006 and found that 8,236 of the women and 7,479 of the men had died. By comparing mortality rates among the groups, Jha's team calculated that women between the ages of 25 and 79 who were current smokers were three times more likely to die than women who never smoked. Among men in that age group, those who still smoked were 2.8 times more likely to die than never-smokers. The results were adjusted for age, education, body mass index and alcohol consumption, since smokers tended to be thinner, have less education and be more likely to drink.

The vast difference in mortality rates is partly due to the increasing health standards of the nonsmoking population, Jha said.

The second study examined mortality rates over half a century in 2.2 million people 55 and older — possibly the largest such survey undertaken, said lead author Michael Thun, recently retired from his work as a cancer epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society.

Thun's survey measured trends in death rates across three time periods: 1959 to 1965, 1982 to 1988 and 2000 to 2010.

The analysis revealed a worrying trend that also cropped up in Jha's study: Women's death rates from smoking, which had long lagged behind men's, had pulled even.

Consider lung cancer. In the early 1960s, women smokers were 2.73 times more likely to die from lung cancer than their nonsmoking counterparts; by 2010, they were 25.66 times more likely to die of the disease, Thun found. (Male smokers' relative risk of dying of lung cancer rose from 12.22 to 24.97 over the same period.)

"It's staggering," Thun said.

It's an unsurprising glass ceiling to break, doctors said. Women began smoking routinely after World War II, about two decades after men took up the habit, so it was only a matter of time until their mortality rates caught up.

The two papers did not draw distinctions between people who smoked a pack a day and those who might smoke just a few cigarettes a day, said Dr. Steven Schroeder, director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at UC San Francisco. A next step in terms of study would be "to find out how much less health problems there are for smokers who smoke fewer cigarettes," he said.

Taken together, the studies point to a need for far more effective efforts to reach potential and current smokers, Schroeder added.

The message needs to get out to young and old smokers alike, he said: "There's a ray of hope. It's never too late to quit."

amina.khan@latimes.com

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Optimistic State of the State address expected from governor

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown will deliver a State of the State address Thursday morning that lays out an ambitious and optimistic policy agenda for a state he says is on the rebound.

After persuading voters to erase much of California's budget deficit with billions of dollars in new taxes, Brown is free to shift his focus from patching holes in the government's finances to a longer-term vision.

He is expected to expand on his plans for shaking up public universities, shoring up water systems and boosting the state's international trade.

The governor may also renew his call for changes in the landmark California Environmental Quality Act, which business interests say inhibits growth with onerous requirements.

And he may reiterate his warning to fellow Democrats that the state's improved finances are not an invitation to spend freely.

Democratic lawmakers hold historic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, and some have expressed eagerness to fund new programs or to restore the billions of dollars in state services that have been cut out in recent years.

But Brown heads into the second half of his term with more sway over the Legislature than any governor has had in years. His ballot measure to raise taxes amounted to a vote of confidence from the public. And lawmakers are indebted to him for freeing them from having to make deeper cuts in state programs.

Brown's "political capital has never been higher," said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "And he's not being bashful about tackling things that mean a lot to him."

The address, at 9 a.m., will be broadcast live by KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles and on KPCC-FM (89.3) radio. It can be seen online at http://www.calchannel.com.

Brown's speech is expected to highlight what has become a trademark over the last two years: simultaneously calling for budget austerity while laying out a vision that would eventually cost billions.

He wants, for example, to build two massive tunnels to move water from the northern half of the state to Southern California, and supports the state's controversial high-speed rail program.

Brown is also expected to turn his attention back to items that were put on hold last year as he focused on his tax-hike proposal. Brown plans to go to China in the spring, a trip he has talked of making since early last year. The state reopened a trade office in Shanghai last fall.

"The goal will be to increase exports from California companies to China and to bring Chinese business and investment to California," said John Grubb, spokesman for the Bay Area Council, a business group raising money for the governor's trip.

"There's no better way to do that," Grubb said, "than actually meet with people face to face."

anthony.york@latimes.com

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Former LAUSD teacher accused of molesting 20 children

A former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of committing lewd acts and sexually abusing 20 children and an adult, law enforcement authorities said.

Robert Pimentel, 57, who taught at George de la Torre Jr. Elementary School in Wilmington, was taken into custody by Los Angeles Police Department detectives, who had launched an investigation in March after several fourth-grade girls said they had been inappropriately touched.

Prosecutors filed 15 charges against Pimentel involving a dozen of his alleged victims. The charges involve sexual abuse and lewd acts on a child and cover the period from September 2011 to March 2012, according to court records. Authorities said the teacher is suspected of inappropriately touching children under and over their clothing.

Detectives suspect Pimentel victimized an additional eight children and the adult, LAPD Capt. Fabian Lizarraga told The Times.

The arrest comes as the nation's second-largest school district has been rocked in recent months by allegations of sexual misconduct involving teachers and students.

In January, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood was arrested on suspicion of spoon-feeding semen to students in a classroom and taking dozens of photos. Some of the photos show students blindfolded and being fed allegedly tainted cookies.

An audit released in November concluded that the district failed to promptly report 150 cases of suspected teacher misconduct — including allegations of sexual contact with students — to state authorities as required by law. District officials said they have addressed the breakdowns highlighted in the audit.

Wednesday evening, L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy said both Pimentel and the school's principal were immediately removed when the district found out about the allegations in March.

Deasy said he removed the principal because he was "dissatisfied" with how the situation was handled at the school. The principal has not been identified.

Parents at the school were informed within 72 hours after Pimentel was removed from the campus, and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing was promptly notified, the district said.

District officials prepared a "notice of termination" for Pimentel and the principal, which they had planned to present to the Board of Education in April 2012, Deasy said. But both employees retired before the board meeting.

He said Pimentel and the principal will receive their full pensions because they retired before the district took action against them.

"Can you go back and fire someone who's already retired? No, you can't," Deasy said.

Detectives launched their investigation of Pimentel after some of the children told their parents they had been abused, Lizarraga said. The parents then alerted officers at the LAPD's Harbor Division.

Of the 20 children allegedly abused, 19 were students at the school, according to Lizarraga. He said detectives came across the other child as they gathered evidence.

Deasy told The Times that his recollection was that the adult was a co-worker of Pimentel.

Pimentel, who lives in Newport Beach, had been a teacher with the district since 1974, police said. He was taken into custody shortly after noon Wednesday and was being held on $12-million bail. He is expected to appear in court Thursday.

In the Miramonte Elementary case, former teacher Mark Berndt, 61, is charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct and is awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

The district is facing nearly 200 molestation and lewd conduct claims stemming from Berndt's alleged wrongdoing.

In a separate case, a jury recently awarded $6.9 million to a 14-year-old boy who was molested while he was in fifth grade at Queen Anne Place Elementary School in the Mid-Wilshire area.

The teacher in that incident pleaded no contest to two counts of a lewd act on a child and to continuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14. He is serving a 16-year prison sentence.

richard.winton@latimes.com

howard.blume@latimes.com

Times staff writer Robert J. Lopez contributed to this report

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