Hope for Los Angeles County: Hochman Declares Victory

 

Hochman for DA Campaign Update November 6, 2024 Dear Friend: Thanks to your support, our campaign was a success, and I will become the next Los Angeles County District Attorney. I couldn’t have done it without you. Whether you made a financial contribution, attended a fundraiser or meet-and-greet, volunteered, placed a campaign sign at your home or simply encouraged friends and family to vote for me, you made a difference. I can’t wait to get to work. I pledge to work every day to make Los Angeles County a safer place to live by restoring balance in the criminal justice system, starting with eliminating the blanket policies that prohibited prosecutors from enforcing the law. Rest assured, when I take office on December 2, Los Angeles County will once again have a District Attorney dedicated to justice, fairness, and standing up for victims of crime. The good news is that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has hundreds of the finest prosecutors in the United States. I will restore their ability to make prosecution decisions based on the facts, the law, the impact on victims, and the defendant’s background. Many of these prosecutors have been demoralized for years. It will be my job to give them the resources they need to do their jobs, standing up for justice, advocating for crime victims and helping make all of Los Angeles County a better place to live. Together, we will once again make the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office the finest local prosecuting agency in the country.  Again, thank you! With appreciation, To learn more about Nathan, visit: www.nathanhochman.com.

BREAKING: Former LA County District Attorney Jackey Lacey Endorses Nathan Hochman for DA

Nathan Hochman has been endorsed by two prior LA County District Attorneys!

The momentum is building for him to remove George Gascon.

YES!

FIRE GASCON!

Dear Friend, Jackie Lacey, the first woman and first African-American to serve as District Attorney of Los Angeles County, announced today that she is endorsing Nathan Hochman for District Attorney.  Lacey made the announcement outside of her childhood home in South Los Angeles, the location where her father was shot and wounded many years ago – an incident that inspired her to pursue a career in criminal justice. She said D.A. George Gascon has emboldened criminals and caused an increase in crime by failing to properly enforce the law.   “We must have leadership at the District Attorney’s Office that understands its mission is to seek justice by, among other things, sending a message that criminal behavior is unacceptable in our county. We don’t have that with the current District Attorney,” Lacey said. “Criminals are more brazen because they know they have allies embedded in that office. They know the office policies better than we do. It is time to elect someone who will be proactive at making us safer.” Lacey, a lifelong Democrat who served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 2012 to 2020, said she supports Hochman because of his decades of criminal justice experience, as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, and the fact that he will strive every day to improve public safety. “I am endorsing Nathan Hochman for District Attorney because I feel a lot less safe than I did four years ago,” Lacey said. “It’s time to thank and excuse the current district attorney and elect someone with a conscience. Please join me and vote for Nathan Hochman for District Attorney.” Lacey is just the latest in a growing list of prominent Democratic leaders who have rejected Gascon and called on Angelenos to unite behind Hochman. Last month, he received endorsements from former Democratic D.A. candidates John McKinney and Maria Ramirez as well as Rory and Max Kennedy (daughter and son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy). Nathan is building the broad, bi-partisan coalition that is needed to defeat Gascon this November. Please consider making a contribution today to help us get out our winning message on TV, social media, print mail, radio, and text messaging. You can donate by clicking here or the button below, or by mailing a check. Instructions for mailing a check can be found on the donation form attached below. Together, we will defeat George Gascon and restore public safety to Los Angeles County. Sincerely, Team Hochman

Recall Gascon Update: Statements from Retired LA County DA Steve Cooley

 

Retired LA County District Attorney
Steve Cooley

The recent press release from the LA County Registrar-Recorder's office was a big disappointment for many Angelenos: the Recall Gascon effort did not qualify, missing the minimum signature requirement by about 40,000 signatures.

This is really disturbing outcome, considering that activists worked across the country for three months collecting 715,00 signatures, but then ultimately only 520,000 were accepted. What happened?

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger's office sounded off their disappointment and frustration with the outcome:

Thank you for reaching out to my office. I share your disappointment in the outcome of the recall verification process. Of the total 715,833 petition signatures submitted, 88,464 were not registered voters and 43,593 were duplicated signatures – representing the majority of the unverified signatures. Regardless, I’m proud of the action taken by our L.A. County residents who stepped up and made their voices heard.

At a minimum, this recall effort has shown Gascon that the public is serious about wanting their elected D.A. to have a high focus on achieving justice for victims. Not all is lost – I’m hopeful that the recall process in and of itself will generate a sustained change in his attitude and decisions.    

Our D.A.'s effectiveness and performance will continue to be closely watched and evaluated by the public, who in two years will have another opportunity to cast their vote. I will always be a strong supporter of the democratic process. Decision-making power should always lay in the hands of the voters.

Sincerely,

Office of Supervisor Kathryn Barger

The full tally of rejected signatures is listed in the full press release from the Registrar-Recorder:

32,000 of the signatures were from different addresses. This is cause for not counting a signature?

As for the 88,000, is there any way to get around this?

I contacted retired LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley (who moved from Toluca Lake to Rolling Hills in 2012 following his retirement from the DA's office), and he shared the following information with me regarding the Recall Gascon campaign's next steps.

1. The lawyers working for the recall campaign have submitted a series of questions to th Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan in order to get more information. Those questions could not be released at this time, but they will help formulate the next series of inquiries launched by the campaign.

2. Cooley suggested that because his firm and lawyers working him issued a number of concerns regarding the standards used to verify the signatures, the county refrained from striking out more signatures than could have been removed. The standards for signature verification are "beyond reasonable doubt," as opposed to "beyond any doubt." Based on the Registrar-Recorder's press release, about 9,000 signatures were rejected because they did not match the voter rolls.

3. He then informed me that there may be a chance for us to restore signatures to the final tally once the team looks at the signatures stricken out from among the 88,000 which were supposedly not registered. Many people move within the county, and they follow the proper procedure to change their mailing address. What happens, however, is that the RR's office fails to follow through on the change. This happened to Cooley himself when he moved to Rolling Hills. He had re-registered, but when he went to vote, the polling station told him that he was not listed on the voter rolls! He ended up calling Dean Logan himself to figure out what was going on, but at the time he had to submit a provisional ballot.

So, it's likely that a number of signatures could be restored to the final tally based on a review of those signatures. I also find it suspect that about 32,000 signatures were not allowed just became the addresses didn't match. That foul-up could also be the fault of the Registrar-Record.

Last of all, Cooley shared with me that if the restored signatures bring the final threshold within a few thousand needed for the 566,000 minimum, then the Recall Gascon team will look at the signatures removed because the signatures did not match the voter rolls.

So, there is hope, faint hope, that this recall effort is not dead yet. Stay tuned.

BREAKING: Torrance City Councilman Chen Seeks Resolution of No Confidence in George Gascon, Council Concurs for Agenda Item

VICTORY!

This is great news!

Councilman George Chen took the lead last night and called for a Resolution of No Confidence against LA County District Attorney George Gascon to be brought forward for the council to approve.

Check out the video of the city council meeting from June 8th, 2021.

Click here.

Five of the city council members in total supported an agenda time for a Resolution of No Confidence, too. Only Mayor Pat Furey refused to support the resolution agenda item!

All in all, this is good news! Your calls, your emails, your voice are being heard--as they should be!

Please contact Councilman Chen and thank him for taking this commonsense step to stop the reign of criminal terror and enabled lawlessness of LA County District Attorney George Gascon.

Email: gchen@torranceca.gov

Phone: (310) 618-2801

Please keep contacting the city council and tell them to vote YES on the Resolution when it is brought back to the city council for a final vote. Just because a resolution returns for a vote does not mean that it will get a final YES. Remember also that there are still nefarious elements in the city of Torrance and throughout the county (including Black Lives Matter) which are decidedly pro-criminal, anti-victim, and push for dangerous social justice warrior

Keep making your voices heard! Ensure that the city council votes for the Resolution of No Confidence once it comes before their council.

Torrance City Council Contacts

Pat Furey (pfurey@torranceca.gov);

George Chen (gchen@torranceca.gov);

Aurelio Mattucci (amattucci@torranceca.gov);

Sharon Kalani (skalani@torranceca.gov)

Mike Griffiths (mgriffiths@torranceca.gov);

Heidi Ashcraft (hashcraft@torranceca.gov);

Phone:   (310) 618-2801

To help recall LA County District Attorney George Gascon, visit this website:

https://recallgeorgegascon.com/

Or visit this website:

https://recallgasconnow.com/

Mayor Pat Furey: Corrupt, Lawless, Pro-Criminal, Won't Support Resolution of No Confidence Against George Gascon

Over the last three days, I have exposed a number of people on the Torrance City Council, men and women who are not taking a firm, courageous stance to put the city on recording with a Resolution of No Confidence in corrupt, pro-criminal Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.

Now, I want to focus on one of the worst mayors in the state of California, and certainly in the history of Torrance: Pat Furey.

This guy got elected because two more qualified candidates for mayor split the vote. This happened two times in a row, and it's quite disgusting. This guy has no business sitting on the dais. He violated campaign finance laws in the city of Torrance. He has been one of the rudest, most incompetent heads of the city in recent memory. He cannot even control a meeting properly, ever since Black Lives Matter burst into the city council chambers in 2018 and began harassing the council and residents in the chambers.

This man is a disgrace. Jared Sidney Torrance is rolling over in his grave, to think that such perverted incompetence has become so commonplace.

This guy can't even take the lead to push forward a Resolution of No Confidence in Los Angeles County DA George Gascon.

Torrance deserves better. We need real leadership on the city council, not some wishy-washy weakness that cares more about virtue-signaling than actual virtue.

Pat Furey used to be a prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office! One would think that he would go on record opposing Gascon and supporting a Resolution of No Confidence in George Gascon.

What is his problem?!

Contact Torrance Mayor Pat Furey, and tell him to stop siding with corruption and pro-criminal policies, and tell him to support a Resolution of No Confidence against Gascon!

Email: pfurey@torranceca.gov

Phone: (310) 618-2801

Hiding Heidi? Councilwoman Ashcraft Won't Favor Resolution Against Gascon, Anti-Camping Ordinance, Etc. -- Why?

Councilwoman Heidi Ashcraft has been on the Torrance city council for a number of years.

She was appointed in 2013 to fill in a term for Sue Rhilinger when she stepped down due to health concerns.

She was elected in her own right in 2014, the top vote getter in that year's election.

She declined to run for re-election in 2018, likely due to the unpleasant friction she endured with corrupt Mayor Pat Furey. I had even asked her to consider running for mayor, since a number of well-connected residents and activists think that Heidi is a tough lady, not afraid of a challenge, not afraid to stand on principle.

I was one of those people.

Now, sadly, I am starting to wonder ...

I had supported her second appointment to the Torrance City Council when Councilman Chen was re-elected in his own right to a district, compared to his election two years prior to an at-large seat on the city council.

Since then, sadly, I find her lack of resolve very disappointing. 

1. She was A-OK with discussing whether the city should impose a local mask mandate, just as Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach had done.

2. I confronted her about the former police chief, Eve Berg (once again, so glad that she is gone), and she rebuffed me completely on this. How could anyone stand with a police chief like Eve Berg, who thought that it was acceptable to let Black Live Matter bigots take up city streets, right outside of city hall and in front of people's homes? There is no excuse for allowing such lawlessness to run rampant, both outside as well as inside city hall.

Now, there are growing concerns about other serious issues facing the city council, and "Hiding" Heidi is done MIA. For a lady who spoke out a number of times on key issues, including her push to get rid of corurpt Mayor Pat Furey's son Pat Jr. from the Traffic Commission some years ago, she has become all too quiet, reticent, missing in action.

Will she support a resolution of No Confidence in pro-criminal LA County District Attorney George Gascon? There is no excuse for her to say or do nothing. She has enjoyed the support of local law enforcement, and she received the backing of every other city councilmember when she was appointed a second time to the city council. If she can build bridges and she could speak her mind before, what is problem now?

There is no excuse for her to say nothing, to not support the Resolution of No Confidence in anti-law and order DA George Gascon.

What's more, there is no notice, no information on the horizon that she will ensure that the homeless stay off our streets with a well-placed anti-camping ordinance. We need the city council to step up and speak out in favor of the issues that residents care about. We don't need "Hiding Heidi" to stay hidden.

Contact her office, and tell her to:

1. Support the Resolution of No Confidence against LA County DA George Gascon

2. Support the anti-camping ordinance to ensure that homeless do not come to Torrance to clutter up the streets and sidewalks.

EmailHeidi Ashcraft: hashcraft@torranceca.gov

Phone:   (310) 618-2801