LB Economic Development Commission Deliberates Minimum Wage Recommendations
LONG BEACH — On Jan. 6, the Long Beach Economic Development deliberated its recommendations, which could be reviewed and voted on by the end of January.
Commission Chairman Frank Colona recommended $13 as the minimum wage by Jan. 1, with a one-year exemption for nonprofits and businesses with less than 25 employees.
The recommendations include incremental raises within three years, increasing the minimum wage in the city to $10.50 by Jan. 1, 2017, $12 by Jan. 1, 2018 and $13 by Jan. 1, 2019.
The Long Beach City Council also will consider whether or not sick days and wage theft enforcement will be adopted and if there will be exemptions for youth, where they would be just paid the state minimum wage of $10.
Some business owners argued that the city should define small businesses as having 50 employees or less. On Jan. 1, the state raised the minimum wage to $10 an hour. The council is expected to discuss minimum wage on Jan. 19.
Los Angeles Releases Homelessness Strategy Report
LOS ANGELES — On Jan. 7, the City of Los Angeles released a draft Homelessness Strategy Report, which lays the foundation for a regional approach to addressing this chronic issue. The report was requested by the Homelessness and Poverty Committee in June.
Thereportcalls for substantially expanded staffing, services, rental subsidies and permanent housing for the city’s homeless residents. Its recommendations will guide the mayor’s and city council’s short- and long-term homelessness policy decisions. The report also identifies potential funding streams and begins to estimate initial costs that will help inform the mayor’s proposed 2016/2017 budget.
The draft Homelessness Strategy, which coincides with a strategy being issued by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, will be heard by the Homelessness and Poverty Committee on January 13, with a followup meeting later in the month. It is expected to be considered by the full Los Angeles City Council in February.
This past fall, city leaders pledged $100 million in funding to address homelessness. At the mayor’s request, the city council in December approved $12.4 million in emergency relief funding, which is being used to get Angelenos off the street and out of harm’s way. With El Niño winter storms already hitting the Southland, these dollars are helping expand temporary housing and other critical services that meet urgent needs.
Some of the principles of the Homelessness Strategy Report include:
- Adopting a “No Wrong Door” approach to improve the city’s interactions with homeless people. From police officers to librarians, city employees will be empowered with the tools, relationships, and resources necessary to connect people in need to services and housing;
- Establishing a focused homelessness governance infrastructure in the City so that there is institutional knowledge and accountability. This includes establishing a homelessness czar or coordinator;
- Continuing to expand, improve and use the Coordinated Entry System as a core process that matches homeless people with vital resources;
- Embracing the “Housing First” approach;
- Using City funds to leverage federal, state, and county dollars to fill unfunded gaps;
- Making more housing available at all income levels;
- Working closely with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority for expert guidance and support;
- Ensuring that services and housing are provided in all Los Angeles communities.
Since June, the Homelessness & Poverty Committee has taken input and provided guidance to the development of the draft plan, with meetings focused on:
- Findings, trends and outcomes of the homeless count
- Improving city department interactions with the homeless
- Identifying and serving different levels of homelessness
- Housing needs/funding
- Homelessness governance structure
- Mental health and health services for the homeless
The public is invited to give feedback on the City’s Homelessness Strategy Report. Comments can be shared here:http://www.lamayor.org/homelessness-strategy-feedback
Four Arrested on Federal Mail Fraud Charges
LOS ANGELES – On Jan. 6, four men from Southern California have been arrested on charges that they embezzled more than $8 million from an industrial launderer based in Gardena that provided finishing services for Citizens of Humanity, a manufacturer of high-end designer jeans.
Luis Mariano Rodriguez, 48, of East Los Angeles, the one-time president of CM Laundry LLC, and three associates were taken into custody yesterday morning for allegedly causing the laundry to pay fraudulent invoices that contained fictitious and inflated charges, and concealed Rodriguez’s role in the underlying transactions.
Since 2007, CM Laundry has been owned by Citizens of Humanity LLC, a Huntington Park company that manufactures more than 1 million pairs of high-end denim jeans every year.
The other three defendants arrested yesterday by special agents with the FBI and officers with the Los Angeles Police Department are:
- Antonio Anguiano, 48, of Riverside, the owner of FI Products, which sold personal protective equipment;
- Terry Jay Mink, 62, of Rancho Palos Verdes, the owner of H&T Industrial Products, a hardware company that serviced CM Laundry; and
- Rene Exequiel Bautista, 43, of Sylmar, the owner of Valley Star Realty, which was used in the scheme under the fictitious business name “K&R Industrial Supplies.”
Los Angeles. All four defendants were released on bond and were ordered to return to court for arraignments on Feb. 1.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Dec. 30, 2016, Rodriguez caused CM Laundry to pay more than $8 million after fraudulent invoices were submitted to the company.
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Anguiano, through his company, FI Products, billed CM Laundry for over $3.6 million during the period of the scheme, which allegedly ran from about May 2007 to about September 2013. During this period, FI Products transferred about $2.3 million to Rodriguez and his company, Genesis Electronics Inc.
Mink, through his company, H&T Industrial Products, billed CM Laundry for more than $5.5 million and transferred about $3.6 million to Rodriguez and Genesis.
Bautista, a real estate agent participated in this scheme through his company, K&R Industrial Supplies, which he established in 2012 at the behest of Rodriguez and was used to submit invoices from Genesis to CM Laundry. Over an 18-month period, K&R Industrial Supplies billed CM Laundry for approximately $640,000 and transferred about $493,000 to Rodriguez and Genesis. “Bautista admitted Rodriguez produced and submitted all of the K&R Industrial Supplies invoices that were submitted to CM Laundry and paid by Citizens,” according to the complaint affidavit. “Bautista stated [in a deposition related to a civil lawsuit] that he did not create any of the K&R Industrial Supplies invoices, did not know what any of the invoiced items were, and did not supply anything to CM Laundry.”
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
The complaint charges Rodriguez with three counts of mail fraud. The other three defendants are charged with one count of mail fraud. If they are convicted, each of the four defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.
As a result of civil litigation brought by CM Laundry and Citizens of Humanity, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in November 2015 ordered Rodriguez and several other defendants to pay a total of $9,563,786, according to the criminal complaint.