Maria Brenes And The City Council Scandal

“The leaked audio has cast doubt on a cornerstone of our political processes for Los Angeles.”
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta

The scandalous leaked audio of a conversation between three disgraced Los Angeles City Council members revealed more than verbal bigotry. The entire purpose of the meeting that day was to conspire “to draw district lines in a way that protected both their own political power and the interests of their allies in private real estate development and political philanthropy.” The information revealed in the recording piqued the interest of California Attorney General Rob Bonta who has launched “an independent investigation into the City of Los Angeles and its city council with regard to the city's redistricting process.”

The redistricting process for the LAUSD had already been called into question as School Board candidate Maria Brenes benefitted from her husband, Luis Sanchez, being on the school district’s redistricting commission. As an appointee of lame-duck Board Member Monica García, Sanchez was able to manipulate the borders of Board District 2 to improve his wife’s chances in the election. This was accomplished through the gerrymandering of Board District 5 so that populations unfavorable to Brenes’ base of support would no longer be in BD2:

While her husband was busy disenfranchising LAUSD parents, Brenes was serving on the City Council Redistricting Commission which is currently under investigation due to the leaked audio. Her inclusion on this commission cemented her position in the “East LA political machine that birthed José Huizar, Kevin de León, Monica García, [and] former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa”. With García unable to run again for the school board because of term limits, she hand-picked Brenes as her successor.

Brenes is the Executive Director of Innercity Struggle [ICS], a “non-profit” that had a $1,638,949 net income in 2020. In that year, 48.7% of expenditures fell under the category of salaries, wages, and Executive Compensation, including $109,461 for Brenes. Donors to the organization include supporters of the charter school industry, including the Broad Foundation, Partnership for LA Schools, Great Public Schools Now, and real estate developer Bill Bloomfield.

Despite having deep-pocketed supporters, ICS took $1 million in taxpayer funds from the City of Los Angeles to construct a new headquarters. The county also contributed $250,000. García also made an ill-fated attempt to have the LAUSD kick in another $125,000. Despite the fact that his home had been raided by the FBI nine months earlier, Huizar was invited to the ceremony when the building was opened. As a result of that raid, Huizar is now facing 34 counts of fraud, money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion.

The charter school industry has a long history of promoting ethically questionable school board members. Ref Rodriguez was forced to resign in disgrace after being caught laundering political contributions. Nick Melvoin divulged confidential information to the California Charter School Association (CCSA) regarding legal strategy in a lawsuit the group had filed against the LAUSD that was a CCSA attempt to stop the district from spending bond money on making schools more accessible to children with disabilities. Kelly Gonez voted to approve a contract with a former employer and then accepted a campaign contribution from the same group.

The moral center collapsed with these elected officials and Brenes would be in good company should she be elected to the board. Unfortunately, the results would be horrific for our children. They and our city deserve better.

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.