EDITORIAL PAYING FOR PLAY NOTHING LIKE A SEX SCANDAL TO GET ATTENTION.THEY say that sex sells. If that's true, then perhaps the latest turn in the ``pay-to-play'' scandal of the Hahn administration will finally wake up the public to the pervasiveness of corruption in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. politics. Backroom back·room n. or back room 1. A room located at the rear. 2. The meeting place used by an inconspicuous controlling group. adj. 1. deals are nothing next to tales of possibly illegal sexual favors doled out to a top Hahn deputy by a city commissioner accused of corruption charges. And while the allegations are the most salacious sa·la·cious adj. 1. Appealing to or stimulating sexual desire; lascivious. 2. Lustful; bawdy. [From Latin sal to emerge from the two-year investigation into alleged corruption, what's most important is that they are the first to reach all the way to the top of former Mayor James Hahn's administration. In court documents released Tuesday, former Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards testified that Leland Wong -- an executive of Kaiser Permanente and a longtime city power broker -- paid for Edwards to receive massages at the Bonaventure Club spa that sometimes included sexual activity. At the time, Edwards was the mayor's liaison to the city's Ports, Airports and Water and Power departments, which handle billions in contracts. And Wong, who served on the city Airports Commission, was also in the employ of a company seeking a favorable lease contract at the harbor. Prosecutors see this as a clear act of corruption. In August, Wong was indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. on 20 counts, including bribery, conflict of interest, perjury perjury (pûr`jərē), in criminal law, the act of willfully and knowingly stating a falsehood under oath or under affirmation in judicial or administrative proceedings. and embezzlement embezzlement, wrongful use, for one's own selfish ends, of the property of another when that property has been legally entrusted to one. Such an act was not larceny at common law because larceny was committed only when property was acquired by a "felonious taking," i. . He has pleaded not guilty. This ``happy endings'' scandal, as sordid as it is, has a silver lining for those who would like to see Los Angeles politics cleaned up. As serious as the other charges are, it's hard to get the public too worked up about subtle but extensive corruption that's long been in the city's political system since its inception, no matter how damaging. Illicit sex, on the other hand, tends to draw more attention. Using sex to make the city work better. How L.A. is that? |
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