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WINTER GAMES UKRAINE REAL ESTATE Ted Ligety Truce halts Housing brings home violence starts take the gold in that killed big plunge For a great deal on giant slalom 26 people in January anything with wheels go to: Sports Nation+World »A16 Business » A13 dailybreeze.com/autos PARTLY CLOUDY High: 85 Low: 54 >> PAGE A17 An edition of the Thursday, February 20, 2014 75 CENTS FACEBOOK.COM/DAILYBREEZE TWITTER.COM/DAILYBREEZENEWS dailybreeze.com » LOS ANGELES COUNTY SPECIAL REPORT IN THE CENTINELA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Interim HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CONSTRUCTION sheriff has CONTRACTS HAVE BEEN STEERED TO A FIRM THAT IS no small BANKROLLING ELECTIONS FOR BOARD MEMBERS. task ahead With only 10 months, Scott looks to reforms By Christina Villacorte christina.villacorte@ langnews.com @LADNvillacorte on Twitter Interim Sheriff John Scott is not wasting any time. Given only 10 months — at most — to lead the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department out of the mess left behind by now-retired Sheriff Lee Baca, he is scrambling to put reforms in place. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” Scott told the Los Angeles News Group during an interview this PAY TO week at LASD headquarters in Monterey Park. “I’m committed to transpar- ency, to ethical behavior, to en- suring that all of the rules are en- forced,” he added. “We don’t break the law to enforce the law.” Scott served 36 years at the LASD before retiring in 2005, frus- trated with the direction it was go- ing in. “It was painful,” he said about SHERIFF » PAGE 5 PLAY STATE GOVERNMENT South Bay By Rob Kuznia [email protected] @robkuznia on Twitter cities prep for For a couple of moms from working- larger pension class families hoping to retain their seats on the Centinela Valley school board, it was a stark lesson in machine contributions politics. In a small room at the Proud Bird res- By Fenit Nirappil taurant near LAX, a group of maybe 15 The Associated Press had gathered to support Inside: The board members Sandra SACRAMENTO » California’s gov- Centinela Suarez and Gloria Ra- ernment will increase the amount Valley school mos. Nearly everyone it contributes to state employee district has sharing finger foods pensions starting this summer, and rare access that day was connected cities and other government agen- to a gargan- to a community develop- cies will follow suit in two years, tuan cash ment corporation called to help cover the cost of benefits cow PAGE A9 TELACU, which bills it- CHUCK BENNETT — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER for retirees who are living longer. self as the fifth largest Voter-approved bonds generated millions of dollars to allow the Centinela Valley The board of the California Pub- Latino-owned business in California. school district to fund a massive makeover at Hawthorne High School. lic Employees’ Retirement System There were architects, lawyers, con- approved new assumptions for the sultants. And high-powered figures pension system Tuesday that effec- from TELACU itself. Everyone in at- the wives of both men. campaigns to elect their favored candi- tively increase contribution rates. tendance wrote out two checks for $99 All for two women in a tiny district dates who almost always win. Projections show workers are — the highest amount that can go un- that oversees just three comprehen- TELACU won, too. Since 2008, the expected to live an average of as reported in campaign filings — one for sive high schools in Lawndale and Haw- TELACU-backed Centinela Valley much as two years longer, driving Suarez, one for Ramos. thorne. school board has put two construction up the cost of paying benefits to Donors included President and CEO “It was kind of odd,” Suarez said. bond measures on the ballot totaling people until they die. Women retir- David Lizarraga, who at the time was “They were giving us money — I’m not nearly $200 million. Voters approved ing at age 55 in 2028 are expected chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Cham- used to any of that. … To tell you the both, and TELACU was awarded con- to live to 87. ber of Commerce and has since been ap- truth, I didn’t even realize they were tracts to manage the construction proj- Contributing more to CalPERS’ pointed by President Barack Obama to a giving for us at first.” ects. $282.5 billion pension fund means key administrative post in the U.S. De- The event was a window into the polit- Clem, president of TELACU Con- local governments will have less partment of the Treasury. Also included ical machine that has been picking lead- struction Management, did not return money to pay for services such as was John Clem, the TELACU executive ers in the tiny district since 2008. In the calls from the Daily Breeze on Tuesday police, roads and parks. But delay- who heads up all the construction proj- two past contested elections, TELACU and Wednesday. But Centinela Valley ing payments to the pension sys- ects in the Centinela district, as well as has poured large amounts of money into CENTINELA » PAGE 9 tem would cost more in the long run. “It was kind of odd. They were giving us money — I’m not used to any of that. Most county and city govern- ments surveyed by associations … To tell you the truth, I didn’t even realize they were giving for us at first.” agreed with CalPERS’ approach — Sandra Suarez, former Centinela Valley school board member to phase in the increase over five years and spread the total cost PENSION » PAGE 6 INDEX Bridge ..............D4 Classifieds .......D1 Comics .... A15,D4 Obituaries .......A8 Puzzles ....A14,D4 Ship Arrivals ...D4 TV Listings ... A16 A NEWSPAPER8 17923 00001 3 Severe Back and NeckAdvertisemen Pain,t Herniated, Bulging, or Degenerative Discs, Sciatica and Leg Pain? There IS hope for those that are suffering with severe neck, back or sciatic leg pain. 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The district has one middle school serve a to matriculate into the Cen- from yet another bond mea- By Rob Kuznia [email protected] largest concentrations of cor- passed two such bond mea- 4-square-mile patch wedged tinela Valley Union High sure — and the results are @robkuznia on Twitter porate behemoths in the na- sures since 2008, each worth between El Segundo and School District. (In recent expected to be spectacular. tion. It includes aerospace nearly $100 million. Hawthorne. years, most kids in the dis- Preliminary renderings of The Centinela Valley giants Northrop Grumman, These bonds have bank- That district, too, has lev- trict have opted to go to other Wiseburn High depict a fu- Union High School District Raytheon and Boeing, as well rolled the major construc- eraged the business district, schools, including a pair of turistic building with plenty serves a low-income popula- as other companies such as tion projects underway at passing a series of bond mea- charters in Wiseburn called of natural lighting, an abun- tion, but thanks to a quirky Xerox and Mattel. all of the district’s three high sures in the early 2000s that Da Vinci schools.) dance of glass and a square boundary line that juts into Anytime the voters in the schools — Lawndale, Leuz- resulted in tearing down and This past November, vot- atrium cutting down the mid- an unpopulated portion of school district serving Haw- inger and Hawthorne. rebuilding all four schools in ers in the Wiseburn district dle of all four floors. El Segundo, the district has thorne, Lawndale and Len- That same business cor- that district. voted to become a unified The school will be de- rare access to a gargantuan nox approve a construc- ridor also sits in the Wise- For years, the students of school district with its own signed by Gensler, one of the cash cow. tion bond, about a third of burn School District, whose the K-8 Wiseburn district high school. The money to largest architecture firms in The eastern half of El Se- the money comes from that three elementary schools and were technically supposed build that school will come the United States. “I think it’s outrageous they do this in low-income communities. What are we getting for it? Centinela I don’t see anything except for these big fancy buildings. I don’t see how they are going to make the kids any smarter.” FROM PAGE 1 — Larry Rudolph, Lawndale city councilman officials have pointed out that as a result of the two success- his contract — also has taken the district in a more positive “If you want to win, you gotta Changing support $10,000. (This was the ful bond measures — one in a $910,000 loan from the direction where students are walk” and knock on doors. The event at the Proud race in which Piper Jaffray 2008, another in 2010 — ma- school district to purchase a the PRIORITY and not build- Mark Steffen, president of Bird back in the summer of pitched in $25,000.) jor face-lifts have occurred home in Ladera Heights.