Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Law & Order: CWC


Today marks the first day in the trial of former Planning Commissioner Carlos Thrasher.

Look at him here. This guy has seen it all and his allegiance to his country is definitely not in question in this trial.

What is in question, however, is whether he exercised his power on the Planning Commission to "get back" at his former landlord.

Carlos and his company stayed in an office building owned by Ziad Alhassen. That guy owns everything, including almost every dealership on Auto Row. But Carlos got deployed, couldn't pay the rent and Alhassen wanted the money back. In return, Carlos allegedly spearheaded a vote against an Alhassen development when he was on the planning commission. He's also accused of failing to disclose on his conflict of interest forms that he even owed about $17k or whatever to Alhassen. That, I guess, is against the law.

I guess we'll see what happens now. I haven't necessarily formed an opinion yet, mostly because I'm not keen on the laws. I am upset, however, that we -- you, me, her, him -- are paying this guy's legal bills even though he's no longer a commissioner. The Four Bosom Buddies on the council thought we should be paying his bills, even though we are facing a severe budget deficit and have paid through the nose already for legal fees on other issues.

Do you think that's fair?

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