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Imagine my surprise when I stepped off the elevator and looked through a glass partition on my right to see a Mexican Flag displayed on a cubicle. I was visiting the legal Dept. to try to get clarity on exactly where petitioners may operate in "public forums". Have we been captured? What does this signify for our petition efforts? Houston....we have a problem.

Chicago area has most corruption convictions in nation, UIC study says The Chicago area logged the most public corruption convictions of any federal jurisdiction in the United States during the past 36 years, according to a report released today by the University of Illinois at Chicago. Federal prosecutors secured a total of 1,531 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois since 1976, said Dick Simpson, head of the university’s political science department. Meanwhile, Illinois logged 1,828 public corruption convictions, the third most of any state, according to the report. Only California and New York had more. But those...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The City Attorney’s Office recommended that 46 people charged with crimes related to the LAPD raid on the Occupy L.A. enacampment not be allowed back to City Hall to continue protesting. Charges were filed against protesters who either resisted arrest or had prior criminal records. “We believe it is appropriate since they were arrested for violating the law in that area that they be ordered by the court not to go back to that area,” Thomas said. He likened it to a husband accused of beating his wife, saying it would be reasonable to request the...

Sanitation officials said Wednesday that they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment –- everything from clothing to heaps of garbage to oddball curiosities left behind by the protesters who lived at the City Hall tent city for two months. Andrea Alarcon, president of the city Public Works board, said workers already have removed 25 tons of belongings from the City Hall park, all of it heading straight to a landfill. Sanitation crews also have vacuumed up about 3,000 gallons of water that had washed into a catch basin in recent days and are...

During Tuesday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting, where the most scintillating item on the agenda was a proposal to increase ticket prices at the L.A. Zoo, a speaker stood up and told lawmakers they were ignoring an obvious fact: “You are surrounded by tents.” He was referring to the large group of protesters camped a few hundred feet away, on a grassy lawn outside City Hall. The group, which calls itself Occupy L.A., has been there since Saturday in a demonstration against economic policies that benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans. The speaker, a well-known political gadfly named John Walsh,...

Until alerted to the problem, city of Minneapolis posted a list of suggested tornado-repair contractors that included 22 that were unlicensed. After warning North Side tornado victims to avoid "unlicensed, unscrupulous contractors," Minneapolis officials failed to take their own advice and circulated a list that included 22 companies that were not licensed to perform home repairs

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The latest information about the salaries and benefits of each San Jose city employee was posted online Friday in an effort to maintain transparency in the city's government. The compensation information, which can be accessed at www.sanjoseca.gov/salary, is from 2010, the latest year available, according to city officials. Former police Chief Robert Davis had the highest total compensation - more than $534,000 in salary and benefits - for the year, according to the report. City Manager Debra Figone - who made more than $276,000 in 2010 - said the release of the information is an example...

Wastebusters Take On Government Spending FOX 11 News video report. Murietta - In the November election, Murrieta residents ignited a fire between its government and those who want to stop government waste. The "wastebusters" say their community represents what the nation is feeling, but city officials tell us it's a deathknell for Murrieta. Script: A cowbell calls the meeting to order. Ernie White: "We made a statement and that statement was very simple, we are going to take this country back like it or not!.... We won on November 2." At Richie's Real American Diner, it's a celebration. Big wins...

Workers asked to back fund-raiser WATER DEPT. | 'Charitable equivalent of pay-to play': watchdog Chicago Sun-Times suntimes.com Member of Sun-Times Media November 5, 2009 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Employees in the Water Management Department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals are being pressured to sell and purchase $50 tickets to the Nov. 19 benefit reception Mayor Daley is hosting on behalf of the United Negro College Fund. Although the cause is laudable, the tactic is questionable. The solicitation is being made on city stationery with employees referred to a city telephone number to...

There has been suprisingly little reportage of the actual details of would-be shopping mall terrorist, Mr. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef's mindset and intentions. So as a public service, here the FBI agent's affidavit (pdf file) in easy to read format. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef STATE OF ILLINOIS)) COUNTY OF COOK)AFFIDAVIT1. I, Jared Ruddy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, being duly sworn, state as follows: I am a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and have been so employed for more than two years. I am currently assigned to an FBI Counterterrorism squad as well as the...

town in Mississippi may hear soon from a religious liberty legal group. The town under a microscope is Greenwood, Mississippi. Mat Staver with Liberty Counsel and Liberty University explains what has transpired. "Greenwood officials have denied the use of city hall as a venue for the upcoming taxpayers' protest," he says, "[and they] relied on a 1963 ordinance that was designed back then to literally stifle civil rights marches and other protests."

A peregrine falcon named Cielo has died after the 2-month-old bird likely crashed into San Jose City Hall where she and her family have been living on a ledge. She is believed to have died late Monday night or early Tuesday morning after being driven to an animal hospital that specializes in birds on Monday morning. Cielo's siblings, Meyye and Mercury, are alive and well. In fact, her sister and brother, respectively, are flying about, and expected to leave the nest - literally - sometime this summer. The falcon family has drawn widespread interest from bird watchers throughout the world...

A Toledo city hall prank at the expense of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner created a downtown whodunit yesterday. For several hours during the day, the telephone voice mail greeting for the city's purchasing hot line was, "Carty Finkbeiner is a complete moron." Katerina Bekyarska, a spokesman for Mr. Finkbeiner, said the outgoing message was changed immediately after it was brought to her attention. "Someone obviously went in and - trying to do a joke, not a very good one - went in and recorded the message," Ms. Bekyarska said.

If you're in downtown Portland after business hours and you have to use a restroom -- come on over to the Mayor's place. Now, as part of the Mayor's Street Access for Everyone, known as SAFE, the first floor of City Hall's restrooms will be open overnight. Mayor Tom Potter said the program will increase downtown livability. "What we're trying to do is make it better not only for homeless people but for all people in Portland," said Mayor Potter. The new hours, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. are expected to be in place by August second. Currently, City...

Let 'em eat foie gras, they declare Almost 4 months after ban, a number of restaurants appear to be dishing up the delicacy with impunity By Josh Noel Tribune staff reporter December 21, 2006 NOTE: This story contains corrected material, published Dec. 22, 2006. When the letter came from City Hall threatening punishment if he continued to serve foie gras at his North Side restaurant, Doug Sohn framed the warning and set it beside his cash register. And he kept serving the fattened duck liver without a care. "We displayed it proudly," said Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's, a gourmet...

In the highest-reaching allegations so far in the City Hall "pay-to-play" scandal, a former deputy mayor in the Hahn administration said he indulged in sexual services paid for by a city commissioner who prosecutors said was seeking a contract for a client, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday. The salacious revelations are among the most direct allegations in the nearly three-year investigation of contracting practices during the administration of former Mayor James Hahn. According to some 1,200 pages of transcripts released Tuesday, former Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards told a grand jury that Leland Wong, then a member of the powerful...

PARIS (Reuters) - Parisian sunbathers will no longer be allowed to go nude or wear g-strings on the capital's artificial beaches and risk a fine if they are caught baring their breasts or buttocks. City hall has issued a decree banning indecent clothing to preserve the tranquillity of the sandy beaches created on the banks of the River Seine every summer since 2001. "People must behave according to good standards to maintain tranquillity, security and public order," the decree said, according to Saturday's edition of Le Parisien. "Notably indecent attire (nude sunbathing, g-strings and toplessness etc) is forbidden." The city...

SALEM — In a paranormal public hearing last night, dozens of psychics argued before a city licensing panel about what the future holds if Salem cracks down on rogue clairvoyants. Unfortunately, no clear vision emerged from the meeting. One side told councilors the city needs to embrace its standing as the Witch City by allowing more licensed psychics. But opponents warned that oversimplifying the process could bring predators bent on making an easy dollar, rather than ethically telling fortunes. The debate unfolded before a hearing of the City Council's licensing committee, which is pondering tightening its regulation of Salem's fortunetelling...

What a Flag Day it was! Some would ask, 'Lyman, aren't you and others over-reacting, about the display of just one more flag?' That's the question I had to ask--and answer. The answer: an emphatic No! Apathy, shrugging the shoulders, passivity, lethargy, failure to take a stand about symbolism, intangibles and principles...is a slippery slope. We're living in a world where there is constant pressure to be 'politically correct' so as not to offend with genuine appropriate American patriotism, here in these United States. We had about 30 patriots show up during work hours, with people driving from as far...

IT MIGHT SURPRISE you that Chicago, known for its rough-and-tumble futures pits and passionate support for free-market capitalism, has been slowly morphing into a borderline socialist society where every aspect of private life is tightly controlled by the state. We first noticed it a few years ago, when we outlined the Chicago City Council's attempt to ban smoking at all bars and restaurants. Of course, smoking in any large buildings and workplaces had already long since been outlawed. Score one for the socialists. Thanks to opportunistic local politicians and an aggressive lobbying effort from liberal think tanks, the smoking ban...

A lieutenant in the Greeneville Fire Department has been suspended without pay after he allegedly violated a work rule by taking photos of a female Hooters restaurant employee on city fire hall property. Lt. Frank Newton was suspended without pay for three consecutive shifts, after he allegedly took pictures, apparently in a fire department facility, of a waitress from a Hooters restaurant. Efforts to reach Newton this morning were not successful.

A gay Web site’s praise of bawdy bathroom behavior in Malden City Hall has sparked a tempest over the toilet. The mayor is ordering the first-floor men’s room to remain open while city councilors want it locked up or a security plan put in place. “The public needs these kinds of facilities and I don’t see the need of closing it,” said Malden Mayor Richard Howard, adding others are “overreacting” to the gay site. An anonymous letter sent to the City Council alerted them to a five-star ranking on the Gay Universe site for male-on-male sexual encounters in the stalls.The...

Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel Wes Hanscom told a City Council panel that City Hall is preparing to sue ticket resellers who make a killing on the Internet but leave taxpayers in the lurch. The crackdown can't come soon enough for Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th). He believes that as much as $16 million in amusement taxes is slipping through the city's fingers because of growing Internet purchases. $4.2 mil. loss on Sox postseason? "One registered ticket broker paid $140,000 in amusement tax on White Sox postseason. EBay, it is estimated, is 20 times the size of that broker....

Even before the city manager abruptly announced this week he'll be stepping down, San Jose faced looming political battles and financial challenges. Now, city and community leaders worry that the council will be unable to resolve critical issues in the coming year -- from passing a budget to bringing BART to the city, to building a new ballpark. ``I don't think we can underestimate the difficulty that our government is facing,'' Councilman Ken Yeager said Wednesday. City Manager Del Borgsdorf announced his impending departure a week after the council censured Mayor Ron Gonzales for his role in a secret trash-hauling...

Former Police Chief Jerry Sanders defeated Councilwoman Donna Frye last night to become San Diego's 34th mayor, capturing the decisive victory that eluded his predecessor a year ago. Both addressed their supporters about 11 p.m., with Sanders declaring victory and saying he was very proud to be elected, and Frye saying she planned to call him shortly to congratulate him. "In late 2004 and 2005, as I watched the meltdown at City Hall, I knew I had something to offer – the experience and the skill to turn things around," Sanders said to loud applause. "To my surprise, I discovered...

For months, the glass rotunda at San Jose's new city hall has tantalized passersby, beckoning them to enter. However, the chain-link fence surrounding the 108-foot dome and the cacophony of power tools told them it would be a while before they'd set foot in its soaring interior. The long wait is nearly over: On Saturday, the doors of the rotunda will be thrown open to celebrate the grand opening of the $388 million city hall complex. ``This is a unique structure. There's only one other like it in the world, and that is in Berlin,'' said city spokesman Tom Manheim,...

St. Louis Alderman Thomas E. Bauer became the latest victim in a surge of recall elections in the city Tuesday. Voters ousted the veteran Democrat, known for campaigning on the back of a donkey, in a special election, with 60 percent supporting the recall. He has five days to resign as alderman of the 24th Ward or he will automatically be removed from office.

Prosecutors last week declined to file criminal charges in the case of San Jose's favoritism toward Cisco Systems in the technology contract for the new City Hall. But a civil suit from the highest-ranking person to lose her job over the scandal that surfaced a year ago now threatens to do what five previous probes did not: force San Jose's top officials to testify under oath about what they knew about the deal. Wandzia Grycz, 53, the city's former chief information officer and self-described ``scapegoat'' in the $8 million contract that favored Cisco phone and network equipment for the new...

Haunted Harrington: Is there a ghost at City Hall?; Witnesses share their stories By Cathianne Werner-Porterfield, The JournalHARRINGTON — You're all alone in an old house at night. Considering yourself a sane person, you have no reason to be afraid. You're safe. Nothing is going to lurch out of the dark shadows and jump into your path. But you a hear a noise … a strange creaking sound … on the floor above you and sanity and reason go out the window and are taken over instantly by fear and apprehension. You collect yourself and speak reassuring words out loud....

Is the hammer coming down on San Diego City Hall? A flurry of federal grand jury activity suggests it will be, with more than a half-dozen demands since New Year's Day for documents on pension-system underfunding, labor contracts, reports to Wall Street credit-rating agencies and e-mail messages of a former top aide to Mayor Dick Murphy. The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating possible financial crimes related to the city's underfunding of the pension system, and errors and omissions in city financial statements. Both agencies also are conducting a separate public-corruption probe. These criminal investigations aren't the only dark...

Two restaurants at O'Hare Airport have been allowed to rake in millions of dollars, even though the Daley administration learned back in 2002 that the company running them was probably a phony minority "front" for Panda Express and Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a top fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich. Crucial Inc. won the O'Hare concessions in part because it was certified as a minority-owned business. Its largest shareholder was listed as Jabir Herbert Muhammad, son of the late Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad.

The judge in the San Diego City Hall corruption case ruled against the defendants yesterday on their most significant pretrial requests, including motions to throw out wiretap recordings and to split the case into separate trials. The defense had asked that the wiretaps be ruled inadmissible because an FBI agent failed to disclose on wiretap applications that defendant Lance Malone made statements showing his ignorance of a criminal conspiracy, in particular a comment that "nothing illegal" was going on. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller dismissed that argument, concluding that the judge who approved the wiretap applications "had substantial basis...

To San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy, City Attorney Michael Aguirre and anybody else at City Hall who feels inclined to enter the fray: Step back. Time out. The ugly display at dueling news conferences Tuesday, in which both men engaged in searing and highly personalized attacks on the other, was unnecessary, unseemly and certainly unproductive. That this sideshow came from the only two City Hall officials who are elected citywide made for an extremely distressing failure of leadership on the part of both. These are the two most logical public officials for San Diegans to look to to lead the...

Michael Aguirre's relationship with the San Diego City Council began eroding his first day as city attorney when he said a financial crisis won't end until "a new generation of leadership takes hold of our city government." If that line was a jab at current leadership, Aguirre's action last week was an assault. He accused all but two council members of breaking federal securities laws in a report dropped Wednesday an hour after City Hall closed. Tensions between Aguirre and the City Council escalated quickly from his Dec. 6 inaugural speech to heated exchanges he had two weeks later with...

Secret wiretaps in the San Diego City Hall corruption case were based on "more than sufficient" evidence that a crime was taking place and therefore should be admissible, prosecutors said in court documents filed yesterday. Government attorneys filed almost 200 pages in response to defense motions, including Las Vegas political consultant Lance Malone's request that wiretap evidence be tossed out. Malone's attorney contends judges were duped into approving the recordings. The judges were not properly advised that Malone made statements that would have shown he was not part of a conspiracy, according to Malone's attorney. The government countered yesterday that...

January 30, 2005 -- A Brooklyn judge is ordering the city medical examiner to turn over DNA from slain Councilman James Davis to help a college student prove he is the politician's love child and rightful heir, The Post has learned. Paternity tests could show that Kenyan Penceal, 22, a student at Baruch College, was fathered by Davis — a bachelor who was never married or known to have any children. Davis' mother, Thelma, disputes Penceal's claim and will appeal the DNA ruling, her attorney, Harry Kresky, said yesterday.

Saying they remain deeply troubled, San Jose City Council members nonetheless voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to end one of the broadest probes in city government history. Council members said they were unsure they'd ever find absolute proof top administrators were culpable in the city's bungled $8 million technology deal involving Cisco Systems. The 9-1 vote -- Councilman Dave Cortese dissented -- orders the city's independent investigator to cease reviewing the Cisco deal and all but ensures City Manager Del Borgsdorf and City Attorney Rick Doyle will survive the worst scandal to rock San Jose government in 20 years. A criminal investigation...

Only a few months ago, this question never would have occurred to us, but now it must be asked: Are city officials engaged in a cover-up of incriminating information sought by federal authorities investigating San Diego's financial irregularities? Highly disturbing evidence is mounting that some city officials have been less than cooperative with the separate civil and criminal probes being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the last two weeks, an SEC lawyer found it necessary to remind city officials by letter that subpoenaed documents "within the possession, custody or control of the...

An independent investigator has found evidence that at least one high-level City Hall official was aware of concerns about favoritism in a multimillion-dollar technology contract months before the concerns turned into a public scandal, but failed to sound alarms. The long-awaited independent report into San Jose's bungled $8 million deal to buy Cisco Systems equipment for its new City Hall was released Monday. It contradicts two previous internal city probes that determined just three mid-level employees -- all of whom have since been disciplined -- were responsible for potential problems created by a close relationship city technology officials had forged...

A sweeping civil investigation released Monday into San Jose's bungled $8 million deal to install Cisco Systems equipment in the new downtown City Hall found that at least one official in the City Manager's Office knew of alleged problems with the contract before the technology scandal enveloped city government last summer. The report also provides the strongest evidence to date that City Manager Del Borgsdorf knew of at least some of Cisco's early involvement in developing the contract. According to the report, Borgsdorf was at a May meeting with a Cisco vice president in which the lucrative network and phone...

BELLEVUE -- The latest flare-up over Christmas trees in public places has longtime Bellevue chiropractor and resident Sidney Stock protesting the large tree standing in the lobby of City Hall. The tree is a symbol of Christianity, Stock and his wife, Jennifer, told City Council members this week. They said it is inappropriate to display symbols of any religion in a public place. Their objection follows a recent flap over Christmas trees at branch libraries in the King County Library System, which first banned trees then decided to allow them at the discretion of branch librarians. ``I think it's inappropriate,''...

The public corruption scandal that surrounds Mayor James Hahn and taints City Hall gets uglier by the day. In the latest development, it appears that disgraced P.R. giant Fleishman-Hillard tried to bill the city's Department of Water and Power for the cost of a political fund-raiser for then-City Councilman Nick Pacheco, who was fighting for his political life against Mayor James Hahn's archenemy Antonio Villaraigosa. We write "appears" because, like the rest of this saga, the details are murky. And that's why the citizens of Los Angeles need a full accounting and explanation -- in advance of the March mayoral...

Key reforms that San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf instituted in recent months would not prevent a repeat of the city's bungled $8 million City Hall deal involving Cisco Systems, according to a city audit released Thursday. The audit found that Borgsdorf's biggest reforms to date -- relocating the city's purchasing division and assigning more responsibility to his office for projects -- are more cosmetic than substantive, and fail to address underlying communication failures in his administration that led to the scandal. But even in the face of that criticism, Borgsdorf's future appears secure. After questioning his leadership abilities at...

The first battle was joined about a week ago. My unit’s enemies had been enjoying many victories (all against the weak and defenseless) on battlefields outside of my area of operations when they finally showed up in a place my growling troops could get at them. I quickly consulted my small-unit leaders, analyzed the intelligence I was being provided with, called the enemy to let them know they were about to get whomped (I like to fight fair and have found that telling the enemy they are about to get their asses handed to them has a way of rattling...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The four major candidates seeking to oust Mayor James Hahn depicted his administration Thursday as paralyzed by ethical conflicts and lapses, and alleged he stood by while campaign contributions and favoritism opened the doors to City Hall. Hahn largely avoided addressing ongoing investigations that have placed a cloud over his administration, but argued in an hour-long debate that he was leading the city toward a brighter, safer future. Voters "know who Jim Hahn is. I've always been about honesty," Hahn responded. In making the case against giving Hahn another four-year term, his rivals argued that new...

Launching one of the broadest probes of wrongdoing in San Jose government history, the city council Tuesday appointed an independent investigator to determine if the mayor, city manager, city attorney or any council member acted inappropriately in San Jose's bungled deal to install Cisco Systems' equipment in the new City Hall. The sweeping civil investigation of San Jose's top elected officials came as Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy said his criminal inquiry into the failed $8 million deal has expanded into a full-fledged investigation. ...(snip) Mayor Ron Gonzales said that for the city's part, turning the matter over...

What began in June with a controversy over an $8 million technology contract has escalated into a scandal exposing high-level management failures at San Jose City Hall. ``It's becoming clear that both the city manager and the city attorney have been running very dysfunctional offices,'' Councilman Dave Cortese said late last week, after more revelations surfaced about favoritism and collusion in the failed deal to buy Cisco Systems networking and telephone equipment for the new City Hall. ``At a tremendous cost to the city, they let that condition fester, and now it's a big-time problem and a big-time cost to...

Seeking to end a searing, months-long controversy, San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf on Friday concluded his investigation into the city's bungled City Hall technology deal with Cisco Systems by laying all blame on three administrators who already have resigned or been demoted. ``You ought to have the confidence, and competence, at the department head level,'' Borgsdorf said. ``The standard of performance at that level was unacceptable.'' In releasing a nine-page summary of a personnel investigation conducted last month, Borgsdorf said he believed there was nothing he or his immediate deputies did wrong as the city's technology and purchasing managers...

The legal dogs of war were loosed this week on San Jose's new City Hall, the Taj Gonzales, snarling over how and when city officials lied on costs or got too chummy with Cisco. It began Monday when the McManis, Faulkner & Morgan law firm revived a lawsuit brought by the late Al Ruffo to control the Taj's costs. It continued Tuesday when the city council, led by the mayor himself, requested a criminal probe by District Attorney George Kennedy. We should rejoice, right? The lawyers will bring us closer to knowing the building's real costs and the city's questionable...