Bill Rosendahl: Not an Enemy of Occupy LA?

"We are not your enemies," L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl told a protestor on his pass through the Occupy L.A. encampment. Really? Well, that does sound preposterous, but okay, we’ll bite. True, with a salary of about $180,000, Rosendahl is one of the highest-paid elected city reps in the country. But that doesn’t necessarily make him a much-maligned one-percenter. Let’s look at the company he keeps. Who is Councilman Rosendahl’s Royal We?

First and foremost, Rosendahl’s people are law firms and real-estate-development corporations. They’re his two largest campaign contributors. The finance sector ranks fourth, with business interests, and Securities and Investment firms rounding out his Top 10 donor groups. In short, banks and private-interest groups are responsible for placing Rosendahl's hand on the spigot of public money. So on the surface, Rosendahl could be the poster boy for everything Occupy L.A. is protesting. But let’s look a bit deeper before we go as far as to suspect a lie from a wealthy politician. Let’s look at each of his friends in turn:

PART ONE: Bill Rosendahl’s Real-Estate Pals

Here’s how Councilman Rosendahl pockets millions from land-development corporations for quietly cutting deals with public assets. It’s easy. Rosendahl has this "discretionary fund" (i.e. slush fund). He can use that cash any way he likes. To get cash into the fund, all he has to do is sell off city-owned property or land. Because of the city’s “profit-sharing agreement,” half of the profits go to the city’s general fund, and half of the money goes into Rosendahl’s account. His fund has amassed over $4 million.   

This month, Rosendahl cut a deal to clean up some “visual blight along Sepulveda Boulevard.” Now there’s a guy who is looking out for us. Rosendahl is quoted as cheering a commercial real-estate “developer [who] has generously agreed to provide $2 million.” So a kindly commercial real-estate developer just gave him $2 million for beautification. How generous indeed. This gift wouldn’t have anything to do with developers getting favorable terms on their plans to build around the Howard Hughes Center. No. No, this isn’t undue private-money influencing a public official at all. These quiet corporate/government deals are just good people doing good works.

Rosendahl is currently building skate parks all over town. Now there’s a guy helping “kids” to play with our money. Even during a recession. Of course he’s broken a laundry list of EPA, zoning and noise-pollution laws, and funneled a truckload of public money to private cement contractors. This is to pave over community green spaces in favor of skaters, a small group of predominantly white men -- without community involvement or approval. And the money? You guessed it. It comes from private real-estate developers, channeled through Quimby Funds. Move along taxpayers, no funny money dealings to see here. And there’s so much more. Google any of Rosendahl’s real-estate wranglings for a lesson on how democracy really works.