A CalWatchdog

The survey, which was cited by Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, established that the wrongdoing went far beyond the nationally publicized scandals in the small town of Bell, in which a small cadre of administrators and elected officials covertly siphoned millions of dollars away from public use for their own enrichment.

Among the many improprieties: the resignation of the mayor of South El Monte after he admitted taking bribes; officials at the Central Basin Municipal Water District being caught using a $2.75 million slush fund of ratepayer dollars for political machinations; the resignation of two City of Commerce council members for misleading official investigations into their conduct; as well as scandals that led elected officials to quit or go to jail in Cudahy, Lynwood, Maywood, Montebello, South Gate and Vernon.

But something strange has happened since South El Monte Mayor Luis Aguinaga resigned eight months ago after being caught taking bribes from a city contractor for seven years: After a decade-plus of one scandal after another, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reports a lull in corruption scandals countywide.

According to public records obtained by the Los Angeles Times, just 11 felony public corruption cases were filed last year, down from 39 in 2010.

Explanations vary for lull in prosecutions

In a statement to the Times, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey suggested that all the prosecutions and forced resignations in recent years might have discouraged corruption. Former state lawmakers Ron Calderon and Tom Calderon — brothers who built a political fiefdom over decades — pleaded guilty to public corruption charges last year after what an investigation showed was years of influence peddling that began at their power base in Montebello and the Central Basin water agency. Also cited as possibly affecting criminal filings: the departure of some senior deputy district attorneys with the most experience in public corruption cases.

Academics have also argued for decades that corruption comes in cycles: scandals lead to crackdowns and tough regulation, which leads to assumptions about problems being addressed and scrutiny slackening, thus leading to new scandals.

But officials at the scandal-scarred Central Basin water agency have a specific reason to stay on the straight and narrow: a new state law adds layers of accountability and transparency specifically designed for the water supplier, which delivers supplies to nearly 2 million Los Angeles County residents.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, won the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown last September for AB 1794. The measure increases the number of people on the water agency’s board of directors, specifies the ways that the positions can be filled, adopts stricter language on contribution disclosures and says individuals already serving in a elected capacity are ineligible to be Central Basin board members.

Garcia’s measure easily passed the Legislature. Among those joining in the Assembly’s 80-0 vote for AB 1794: Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, son of Charles Calderon and nephew of Ron Calderon.

Ian Calderon, now 31, was first elected to the Assembly in 2012, before prosecutors closed in on his older relatives. He’s not suffering for the sins of his family. After a 2014 primary and general election scares in which he was nearly unseated by Republican Rita Topalian, he was re-elected easily over Topalian in 2016 and serves as Assembly majority floor leader.

But when it comes to the most corrupt counties, few if any can top the recent run that Los Angeles County is on — specifically, the cities and agencies in south and central L.A. County.

The latest example came last week when Luis Aguinaga resigned as mayor of South El Monte after admitting to taking bribes for seven years from a contractor paid by the city for engineering and construction services.

A Nexis search of stories by the Southern California News Group, the Los Angeles Times and Southern California Public Radio shows Aguinaga has plenty of corrupt company in neighboring communities.

Bell

In 2010, a  Los Angeles Times investigation found that the city was being run like a criminal enterprise to the benefit of city officials and City Council members who received huge salaries and relied on illegal taxes and deceptive accounting. Former City Manager Robert Rizzo was found guilty of 69 corruption charges. Five City Council members also were convicted over city schemes.

Carson

Mayor Al Robles is now under siege from Los Angeles County prosecutors for simultaneously serving on the board of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California and as Carson mayor. He faced a county grand jury rebuke over the water board’s move to pay his legal bills. He has also faced years of campaign finance allegations over his water board and Carson election campaigns.

Central Basin Municipal Water District

Political and legal fallout continues from a scandal involving an alleged $2.75 million slush fund created by the district to pay politically connected consultants such as former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello. Central Basin board member Art Chacon was allowed to collect car allowance and mileage reimbursements from the district from 2006 to 2014, an eight-year span in which he didn’t have a driver’s license. To avoid a potentially huge payout at trial, in 2014, the district settled sexual harassment allegations made by a female contractor against district Director Robert Apodaca for $670,000.

City of Commerce

In 2012, Councilman Robert Fierro resigned after he pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge related to his attempts to dupe investigators looking into the financing of his 2005 campaign. In 2010, Councilman Hugo Argumedo resigned after he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Argumedo concocted evidence to help an attorney sue his city for allegedly unpaid legal fees.

Cudahy

In 2012, City Manager Angel Perales, Mayor David Silva and Councilman Osvaldo Conde were arrested by the FBI after being caught seeking bribes from the owner of a marijuana dispensary. In 2014, then-state Controller John Chiang released a scathing report about city finances that found city credit cards were used improperly for meals, travel and entertainment; pay raises were awarded without explanation or justification; and that employees regularly received paid leave that they were not entitled to get.

Lynwood

In 2012, former City Council members Louis Byrd and Fernando Pedroza were convicted of illegally boosting their pay — by $330,000 and $160,000, respectively — by taking stipends for working on city commissions without any responsibilities, a crime with parallels to what happened in Bell. There were also reports that city officials used city credit cards to pay for entertainment, including “a $1,500 night out at a Guadalajara strip club, where dancers allegedly performed sexual favors” for two city officials, the Los Angeles Times reported. In 2007, Mayor Paul H. Richards II received a 16-year sentence for a long-running embezzlement scheme.

Maywood

County prosecutors are now investigating alleged illegal collusion to get around state open-government laws that may be related to questionable zoning changes made without proper scrutiny. There are also reports that the FBI is investigating possible bribery in the awarding of city contracts.

Montebello

In 2011, state Controller John Chiang issued a report showing that officials had improperly spent more than $31 million, helping prompt a city budget crisis. Redevelopment funds were used for many non-government purposes, including meals in Las Vegas.

South Gate

Former city councilman, city manager, mayor and treasurer Albert Robles was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2005 for public corruption, money laundering and bribery. Though several of the convictions were thrown out in 2013, Robles’ sentence was not reduced because of the seriousness of the bribery counts that remained.

Vernon

The tax-rich industrial city which long controlled who voted in the city by controlling who stayed in its very limited housing was nearly disbanded by the Legislature in 2011 after Donal O’Callaghan became the third city administrator since 2006 to face criminal charges. Mayor Leonis Malburg and his wife Dominica were convicted of voter fraud and conspiracy in 2009. The Malburgs lied for years about living in Vernon while actually residing at a Hancock Park mansion.