“City Hall Censoring Questions About Alleged Sexual Harassment By High-Ranking LAFD, Karen Bass Fundraiser” By Daniel Guss
@TheGussReport - Well that didn’t last long.
Despite syrupy promises of transparency and integrity by newly minted interim LA City Council President Paul Krekorian in the wake of its racism scandal and ongoing stalemate with the two remaining Councilmembers who refuse to resign, efforts to relentlessly censor and retaliate against this column remain in full bloom.
It’s amazing what good inside sources and three recent appearances on “The John and Ken Show” on KFI AM 640 will do to stoke City Hall paranoia as it loses grip on its secrecy just a few weeks ahead of a general election.
A few days ago, I teased a story from multiple well-placed sources that LAFD Chief Deputy Armando Hogan has been relieved of duty with pay as it investigates sexual harassment allegations lodged against him. Chief Kristin Crowley has known about the allegation for weeks but only released this statement exclusively to The Guss Report after department public information officers dodged my inquiry for days.
Hogan is also a donor and fundraiser for LA mayoral candidate Karen Bass.
Hogan raked in a titanic $505,906.73 in salary and benefits in 2021 and is rumored in LAFD circles to be in line to replace Crowley as Chief should Bass win the mayor’s job in November.
Hogan has also been featured in high profile Tweets by Crowley featuring Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
When social media began buzzing about my LAFD column, even the Los Angeles County Stentorians, The Association of African Americans in the Fire Service deleted its social media praise of Hogan, which was already captured by City Hall social media hotbed LAFDWatchdog.
So it should be no surprise that when I called into Tuesday’s City Council meeting to ask about the LAFD’s dodge, I was disconnected after one hour and 25 minutes on hold. I only managed to break through using a different phone number after an additional hour and 33 minutes on hold.
Surely an accident, right?
Except that the next day, Wednesday, with Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell still running the meetings in City Council chambers because Krekorian tested positive for COVID and participated via zoom, he falsely declared that everyone has now had a chance to speak while refusing to take my call (yes, my hand was digitally raised) after one hour and 41 minutes on hold.
My email to Deputy City Attorney Strefan Fauble, see below, who oversees the meeting rules and whose malicious misconduct I wrote about earlier this year, ignored my cure and correct email after I already pointed out that notorious City Hall gadfly Wayne Spindler was allowed to speak, and disrupt, the Wednesday meeting three times. A complaint to the State Bar of California about Fauble’s ongoing harassment is in the queue.
So don’t buy the lies fed to us by Krekorian, O’Farrell and company about “healing” City Hall’s corrupt, rotting and racist core. Look at the actions and measure them against the words.
UPDATE: In January 2023, I exclusively reported that Hogan abruptly retired, ending the investigation. The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Magazine then credited The Guss Report for breaking the story months earlier.
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(Daniel Guss, MBA, was nominated for three 2022 LA Press Club awards and was a runner-up in 2021 and 2020. He has contributed to Mayor Sam, CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)