15 posts
  • 1 / 2
  • 1
  • 2
 by BuiltRamTough
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   5357  
 Joined:  May 15 2015
Armenia   Los Angeles
Hall of Fame

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/l ... story.html

Does Carson's mayor, a leader in the city's NFL stadium push, live in Carson? - LA Times

A practicing attorney who holds two part-time elected offices, Albert Robles has a daunting work schedule. He's been even busier since becoming a high-profile promoter of efforts to build an NFL stadium for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders on an old landfill in Carson, where he is mayor.

Robles said his family comes first, however. Most days begin with breakfast together in a cozy Kenwood Avenue apartment. He drives his two children to school in the morning, he said, sometimes ferries them home in the afternoon and occasionally manages to join them for after-dinner TV.

Several current and former residents of Kenwood described him as a well-liked neighbor of many years. They said they have watched Robles and his wife, Sonjia Quanitte, who owns the apartment building, dote on their son and daughter from the time the children were newborns.

But Robles insisted he has never lived on Kenwood, which is about 10 miles north of Carson in the Adams-Normandie district of Los Angeles. He said he lives with his parents in a small house they own on Carson's East 214th Street. Robles returns to Kenwood at daybreak, he said.

Much is riding on where Robles lives.

State law generally requires that elected officials live in the communities they represent. If Robles' primary residence is the apartment building near USC, he would be ineligible to serve as Carson's mayor at a time he is spearheading the city's push to bring professional football back to the L.A. area.

In 2013, the most recent year for which figures were available, Robles made more than $100,000 in salary and benefits as mayor and an elected member of a local water board. He said his living arrangement is perfectly proper and that his legal home is Carson, not L.A.

The financial disclosure statements he is required to file as an elected official show Robles received between $10,000 and $100,000 a year in rental income from the four-unit apartment building.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

Kenwood residents might mistakenly assume he lives there, Robles said, because they do not understand that he and his wife have an unconventional relationship.

"The notion of a couple, a married couple, only living together as man and wife is not something that holds true today like it did in the 1950s," the 46-year-old mayor said during an interview in his office at Carson City Hall. "The whole notion of marriage has evolved."

Carson has been his everyday home, Robles said, since he and Quanitte returned from the Bay Area in 2003 after he completed law school at UC Berkeley and worked as an attorney in San Francisco.

Once back in Southern California, the couple decided to live apart even as they remained in a loving marriage, Robles said. One reason he moved into his parents' 878-square-foot house, he said, was that "my father is older now and sometimes he can be difficult and can stress my mom out, so I help."

Robles said he and Quanitte have maintained the arrangement ever since, including after having children.

At various points during the interview, however, Robles alternately described his marriage as being "good" and being in a state of "emotional separation … emotional divorce."

Robles said he spends most of his free waking hours at the apartment or otherwise with his family. He said he has slept at the apartment fewer than a dozen times in the last three or four years, but "I'm there when they wake up, making them breakfast."

He said he would provide The Times with telephone records, credit card bills and other documents showing he lives in Carson. After six weeks he failed to do so, despite numerous follow-up requests.

Robles said in an email Friday that he had those records as well as "affidavits" from Carson neighbors declaring that he lives there. He did not immediately produce the material, however.

He also would not allow reporters to visit the Carson house so they could see whether his clothes and other belongings were there. In his email Friday, he said he might arrange such a visit in the future.

According to Robles' father, Adalberto Robles, the house has been his son's home "his whole life."

A man sitting on a porch across 214th Street, who identified himself only as Jim, said Robles indeed lived there. "He's married, and he moved out for a while and then moved back," the man said.

Another neighbor, longtime resident Fred Scanlan, said Robles hasn't lived there since he was a teenager.

"There's no way he's living with his parents," Scanlan said. "He pops in and pops back out. He sees me here and he waves."

Four current and former residents of Kenwood Avenue said recently that Robles is a fixture in the neighborhood. All requested anonymity because of the personal nature of their relationship with Robles or out of concern that they would alienate him. One man initially said Robles lived on the street, but equivocated when told of the legal ramifications of his residency.

A woman who described herself as a longtime friend of Robles and his wife said the family has lived on Kenwood Avenue for many years. She said there were "on and off" stretches when Robles stayed in Carson to look after his parents, but that the mayor and his wife have never been separated.

"He's a very good father and a good husband," she said.

Quanitte did not respond to interview requests.

Legal experts said the question of Robles' residency could lead to a criminal investigation, if only because of his own account of how much of his life is centered on Adams-Normandie.

"What should the people of Carson think?" said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola law professor and president of the L.A. Ethics Commission. "Well, they should see their mayor dancing way too close to the line on residency."

In the weeks after the tape-recorded interview, Robles sent The Times a series of emails accusing the newspaper of bias and of invading his privacy.

Robles has drawn authorities' interest in the past.

In 2004, the L.A. County district attorney's office first investigated whether he lived in Carson — an inquiry tied to his position on the board of directors for the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, which manages water for almost 4 million people in more than 40 cities in L.A. County.

No charges resulted from that investigation, but the district attorney's office is trying to remove him from the water board on grounds that there now is a conflict of interest. Prosecutors say the conflict exists because the city of Carson and the water board have overlapping duties, meaning Robles simultaneously serves two masters.

Robles said there is no such conflict, in part because the city has no water department.

NEWSLETTER: Get the day's top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

In 2008, the district attorney's office charged Robles with violating election law by allegedly sending out anonymous campaign mailers in a water board race.

Robles, who represented himself, was found not guilty. Incensed by the prosecution, he ran against Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley that year and received 20% of the vote.

The district attorney's investigations have been "racially motivated," part of a broader pattern in which the office targets black and Latino officeholders, Robles said.

Robles was elected to the Carson City Council in 2013. In April, his colleagues selected him to be mayor, a job vacated when Jim Dear was elected city clerk.

Dear had been a political ally of Robles until earlier this year. At a June council meeting, Dear accused him of living outside the city: "We know that Albert Robles does not live in the city of Carson, has not lived in the city of Carson for many, many years."

At the meeting, Robles responded calmly, "Thank you, Mr. Dear."

For much of the last year, Robles has been the most visible proponent of the plan to move the Chargers and Raiders to Carson. He's worn a half-Chargers, half-Raiders jersey for television cameras.

The same day he was sworn in as mayor, Robles and two council members approved the ballot measure that later authorized the privately funded, $1.7-billion NFL stadium project. Without him, the council wouldn't have had the quorum needed to take up the measure.

Michael Colantuono, who has served as city attorney for eight California municipalities, said an officeholder's votes typically remain legal even if it later is determined the person had been ineligible to hold the post. The alternative would be chaos, since government agencies would be forced to repeal months and years of ordinances, permit approvals and other actions.

Robles said any speculation about the implications of his residency on the city's stadium dreams is misplaced. In an email to The Times, he said, "My past is from Carson, my present is in Carson and my future is Carson."

nathan.fenno@latimes.com, Twitter: @nathanfenno

paul.pringle@latimes.com, Twitter: @PringleLATimes

richard.winton@latime.com, Twitter: @LAcrimes

ALSO

Salinas Valley's thriving crops mask fears over the area's lone water source

Son of former 49ers CEO killed in boat crash off Catalina Island

Less water might be plenty for California, experts say, and conservation is only the start

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

 by Hacksaw
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   24523  
 Joined:  Apr 15 2015
United States of America   AT THE BEACH
Moderator

Well that's 2 elected officials, who happen to be opponents of ESK's project, who are not what their voters had in mind. NFL are you watching closely?

 by TSFH Fan
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   699  
 Joined:  Jun 24 2015
United States of America   The OC
Veteran

Well, well, well . . .

That Jim Dear rant @3:25 http://www.tout.com/m/olmbuo , about Robles not living in Carson -- looks like he was on to something. I wonder what else JD knows about, "there's a lot more information I know about your background, Albert".

I'm sure that Jim Dear was not happy about Albert changing the name of Jim Dear Blvd to Stadium Way -- Hmmm, so a news story like this would obviously try to find out what Jim Dear had to say. If JD was not available for comment the article would say so. The news article does not quote JD, other than the rant, and does not say that JD was not available. Me thinks JD is feeding the Times info and leads covertly.

Why in the wide, wide world of sports would the NFL want to partner up with a clownshow like Carson?

 by bubbaramfan
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   1117  
 Joined:  Apr 30 2015
United States of America   Carson Landfill
Pro Bowl

I live just around the corner from Robles parents house on 212th and main, and I drive by that house 3 or four times a day. I walk my dog by there. I know Fred Scanlan who was mentioned in the article. Robles car is NEVER there. I've seen him there maybe twice in the last year. I hope they catch his ass and make him pay everything back. Scumbag, and a liar.

 by Hacksaw
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   24523  
 Joined:  Apr 15 2015
United States of America   AT THE BEACH
Moderator

Love havin a man on the ground in Carson. Way to validate the article bubba. freakin awesome.

Nixon and Robles should get together,,, birds of a feather and all. What people will do to try and cheat their way into a home team. This has been an eye popping experience.. :shock:

 by BuiltRamTough
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   5357  
 Joined:  May 15 2015
Armenia   Los Angeles
Hall of Fame

Kroenke's camp is several steps ahead of everyone. Everything is going smoothly. Guys like Stan don't lose. He's very smart and that is the reason why he's so successful. This is the reason why I'm so confident in Inglewood. It's crazy, in a couple of months the ground should break. It's amazing when you sit back and think about it. The Rams back in LA playing in this magnificent stadium.

 by Elvis
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   38376  
 Joined:  Mar 28 2015
United States of America   Los Angeles
Administrator

BuiltRamTough wrote:Kroenke's camp is several steps ahead of everyone. Everything is going smoothly. Guys like Stan don't lose. He's very smart and that is the reason why he's so successful. This is the reason why I'm so confident in Inglewood. It's crazy, in a couple of months the ground should break. It's amazing when you sit back and think about it. The Rams back in LA playing in this magnificent stadium.


This is exactly right.

It's like JT said on Roggin, Kroenke is a few steps ahead of everyone else. He just goes about his business because he's serious, and legit.

BTW, flew in to LAX yesterday and got a good look from the sky: Two big dirt lots and a casino, was kind of exciting...

 by The Ripper
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   494  
 Joined:  May 13 2015
United States of America   Naples, FL
Starter

bubbaramfan wrote:I live just around the corner from Robles parents house on 212th and main, and I drive by that house 3 or four times a day. I walk my dog by there. I know Fred Scanlan who was mentioned in the article. Robles car is NEVER there. I've seen him there maybe twice in the last year. I hope they catch his ass and make him pay everything back. Scumbag, and a liar.


Bubba,

What is the situation with the city council supposedly bringing in oil companies back in for drilling secretly? Is that true or just an attack from a few residents?

 by bluecoconuts
8 years 6 months ago
 Total posts:   273  
 Joined:  Aug 29 2015
Ireland   LA Coliseum
Rookie

Have to think all of the problems with Carson and the Major (he really is being shown to be such an amature compared to Mayor Butts) must be contributing to why the NFL is supposedly starting to like Carson less and less. From the start Carson has been a joke, throwing parades, the Mayor in a split Raiders/Chargers jersey, all just bush league.

  • 1 / 2
  • 1
  • 2
15 posts Mar 28 2024