All Five Lakewood Councilmembers Sign/Send This Letter Critical Of DA Gascón Policies; Letter Surfaces Without Agendized Council Action; A Dozen City Councils Have (Thus Far) Voted "No Confidence" in Gascón, Facing Recall; City of Long Beach Mayor/Council = Zzzzzzzzz
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(May 20, 2021, 10:55 a.m.) -- All five Lakewood City Councilmembers have signed and sent a letter on the City's letterhead to LA County District Attorney George Gascón, critical of specific actions by his office.
LBREPORT.com publishes their letter text (dated May 13) below.
The Lakewood Councilmembers' letter states that they express "deep concern" over certain policies that "we feel will, and indeed are beginning to have an adverse effect on the wellbeing of our community and its residents."
Their letter cites Special Directives 20-06, 20-07 and 20-08" and requests that these directives "be rescinded due to their negative and adverse effects on public safety in our city and the county."
The Lakewood Councilmembers' letter stops short of "no confidence" votes in Gascón taken by City Councils in at least a dozen LA County cities to date (Santa Clarita, Beverly Hills, Pico Rivera, Whittier, La Mirada, Covina, Lancaster, Rosemead, Azusa, Santa Fe Springs, Diamond Bar, Redondo Beach, Arcadia, Manhattan Beach). The votes aren't legally binding but are politically stinging actions sought by the committee to Recall Gascon.
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The Lakewood Council didn't schedule an agendized item and voted action on its letter (in which the public could be heard pro and con.) LBREPORT.com has inquired on the Brown Act aspects of this to the City of Lakewood's PIO; a response is pending.
As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia initially contributed sums to the campaigns of then-incumbent DA Jackie Lacey and challenger Gascon, but after LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced support for Gascon, Garcia endorsed Gascon.
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LB's City Council has declined thus far to take an agendized position on Gascón, a Long Beach resident in wealthy Naples. [LB residents lost their right to agendize Council items by a previous Council's action in the mid-1990s and subsequent Councils have refused to restore that right.]
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Gascón, a former SF DA who authored Prop 47 (in which voters reduced certain felonies to misdemeanors), was endorsed by Democrat party organizations and major media outlets. In November 2020, he defeated incumbent DA Jackie Lacey (a Black female veteran prosecutor) and swiftly announced a series of policy changes he called "reforms." These included declining to file gang enhancements and other charges lengthening prison terms, declining to prosecute most juveniles as adults, won't file cases seeking the death penalty, disparaging 1980's-1990's enacted "tough on crime" laws as ineffective, preventing deputy DA's from supporting crime victims in parole hearings, reopening police officer-involved shootings that Lacey's office deemed justifiable, all of which have collectively infuriated crime victims and veteran prosecutors. The now-ongoing recall followed.
In response, DA Gascón has made small tweaks but not backed down on the major issues. He has defended his actions as progressive measures that will better use current criminal justice resources, deal with errant officers and encourage changed behavior of those convicted.
Developing.
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Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.
