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With six out of 11 precincts reporting late Tuesday night, La Puente council candidate David Argudo took the lead over two incumbents in the race for a pair of open seats on the council.

By 11 p.m., Argudo had 589 votes. Councilwoman Lola Storing was behind him with 508, and Mayor Louie Lujan trailed with 493. Former City Councilwoman Renee Chavez was the lowest vote-getter with 445 votes.

More early reporting, this time out of La Puente:

In early election returns Tuesday night, two incumbents were leading against two challengers in the race for a pair of open City Council seats.

Mayor Louie Lujan and Councilwoman Lola Storing, both seeking third terms, appeared to be winning against former City Councilwoman Renee Chavez and businessman David Argudo, a newcomer to local politics.

Storing could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

"I'm happy at the possibility of returning to the council for another four years," Lujan said.

"I think all the candidates worked really hard," he said. "We all had individual messages but for the most part, I don't anticipate this being a change election."

Lujan is currently under investigation by the District Attorney's Office over alleged campaign finance violations. He said what role, if any, the investigation played in the campaign was always up to voters.

Lujan is also mulling a run for state Assembly and said if re-elected to the council, he would continue to explore that option.

Argudo, co-owner of JDL Financial in La Puente, ran for City Council in 2007 but lost to Councilman John Solis by just 27 votes. He said he decided to run again to bring change to the council.

Chavez also ran for council in 2007 but as an incumbent. She lost, finishing 94 votes behind Solis.

She also ran unsuccessfully on the Democratic ticket for the 57th Assembly District seat in 2006. At the time, she was trying to fill the seat being vacated by her husband, Ed Chavez, who was being termed out.

Both Argudo and Chavez did not return calls seeking comment.

There are 14,098 registered voters in La Puente.

An article I wrote that ran in today's paper:

LA PUENTE -- Officials are considering cutting a break for local sports leagues who pay to use the city's fields.

The City Council voted 3-0 Thursday to have staff members look into restructuring the city's parks fee schedule, so leagues with less than 60 percent of members who live in La Puente can pay cheaper rates.

Mayor Louie Lujan and Councilwoman Nadia Mendoza did not attend the meeting.

Several years ago, the city approved a two-tiered fee schedule for sports organizations who use the parks. Leagues with at least 60 percent of La Puente residents as members pay a resident rate. Leagues that don't meet that threshold pay a more expensive non-resident rate.

At Thursday's special meeting, officials cited tough economic times in the proposal to bump that threshold to 51 percent.

The issue still needs to come back before the council for a final approval.

**************
The council's decision was prompted by concerns from the La Puente Junior All-American Football league. Organization officials said their usage rates recently jumped from $3,100 to $9,400 per season because they failed to meet the 60 percent standard.

This was a pretty heated issue at the special City Council meeting that was called last week. I'm told a lot of residents and supporters of the football league showed up, many of whom spoke on the league's behalf.

It seems the city originally was just considering scaling back the fees for that one particular league, based on their concerns. But now it sounds like they're considering a cutback across the board for all sports organizations.

We'll see if it gets final approval.

Retired sheriff's deputy Joseph Dyer, who is accused of embezzling half a million dollars from the city of La Puente, has been ordered to return to court in December for a pre-trial conference in December.

Joseph Dyer and his wife, Lydia Dyer, appeared in Los Angeles Superior court before Judge David Wesley on Monday. Dyer, 53, was indicted last month on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, crimes by a public officer and five counts of filing false tax returns in connection with allegations he stole $501,747.91 in tow fees from La Puente between 2001 to 2007.

Dyer's wife, Lydia, was also indicted on five counts of filing false tax returns, based on allegations she knew about the false money but failed to report on their joint tax returns.

The couple was scheduled to set a trial date -- postponed from an August court appearance. But the matter was held over again, to Dec. 8. This happens pretty frequently with cases like this. It'll be probably be well into next year until we see any action in the case.

There's a rumor going around in La Puente that Councilwoman Lola Storing is dropping out of the City Council race because she's tired of "drama" in City Hall.

Storing said there's "absolutely no truth" to any of it, and she plans on putting up a tough fight to defend her seat.

"I have no idea who it could be (spreading the rumor) and there's no reason why they should even do that," Storing said. "I'm working hard. I've got more signs than anybody else up in town ... I want to continue representing the city."

Storing said she first heard the rumor a few days ago from her council opponent David Argudo. He questioned whether or not she was throwing in the towel.

Argudo said he heard the rumor from another constituent, who heard it from someone else ... and the list goes on.

Sounds like typical politicking during an election.

Just got off the phone with Dave Demerjian, head of the district attorney's Public Integrity Division.

He said a lingering case investigating alleged campaign finance violations by La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan is still ongoing.

No charges have been filed yet.

"We're still working it," Demerjian said.

Last we heard, a grand jury was supposed to be held in August and former water board member Leon Garcia was subpoenaed to attend.

We never heard back from Garcia about whether or not it actually happened, and Demerjian can't confirm grand jury proceedings until -- or if -- criminal charges are filed.

Meanwhile, you could follow Louie on Twitter --- except he hasn't tweeted yet.

You could wait in line for hours at an autograph signing.

You could stalk her outside of her recording studio.

Or, if you REALLY want to meet recording sensation Shakira you could just become the country's labor secretary.

I bet Hilda Solis never thought she'd be chatting it up with a pop icon when she was still a student at La Puente High School.

There are two open seats in La Puente's November City Council race, and only four people running.

Incumbents Lola Storing and Louie Lujan will face former Councilwoman Renee Chavez and former council hopeful David Argudo in the Nov. 3 election. Lujan is currently under investigation by the District Attorney's office over allegations of campaign finance violations. 

Moving on to Argudo --- he's a business owner and La Puente High School graduate. He ran for council in 2007, but lost to Councilman John Solis by just 27 votes.

He sent this press release out earlier this week -- ARGUDO release.doc

Then there's Chavez, who fought to keep her seat on the council in 2007, but also lost coming in at 94 votes behind Solis. Chavez also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic ticket for the 57th Assembly District seat in 2006, but lost to Ed Hernandez. At the time, she was trying to fill the seat being vacated by her husband, Ed Chavez, who was termed out.

Should be an interesting race.

Joseph Dyer and his wife were in court today in connection with an embezzlement case involving the city of La Puente.

Dyer, 53, was indicted last month on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, crimes by a public officer and five counts of filing false tax returns.

He is accused of stealing $501,747.91 in tow fees from La Puente between 2001 to 2007

Dyer's wife, Lydia, was also indicted on five counts of filing false tax returns, based on allegations she knew about the false money but failed to report on their joint tax returns.

The couple went before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley for a pre-trial conference. They were ordered to return to court on Oct. 19 to set a trial date.

Both were present with their attorneys. Alan Baum is representing Joseph Dyer and Mark Waecker is representing Lydia Dyer.

Both Dyers declined to comment.

Their attorneys didn't say much either --- they seemed like they were in a hurry to get copies of the grand jury transcripts from the 13th floor of the courthouse. That being said, if they did in fact pick up those copies today, the transcripts will be available to the public in 10 days.

Now retired Industry Sheriff's Sgt. Joseph Dyer is due in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday for a pre-trial conference.

Dyer is accused of embezzling $500,000 in towing fees from the city of La Puente over the course of several years. He was indicted in July on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, crimes by a public officer and five counts of filing false tax returns.

Also charged in the same indictment was Dyer's wife, Lydia, on five counts of filing false tax returns based on allegations she knew about the alleged stolen money and didn't claim it.

Lydia Dyer will also be in court on Tuesday. The hearing is supposed to be pretty bland - setting dates and such, according to the Dyers' attorney.

But it'll be our first opportunity at meeting couple - all other attempts, including visits to their Chino home, have been unsuccessful.

 Looks like the District Attorney's Office isn't going to need Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, in their case against La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan.

Hernandez's staff was contacted about two weeks ago about setting up a tentative meeting between him and the District Attorney's office. The meeting had to do with a Dec. 4 campaign fundraiser Hernandez attended in Lujan's honor.

The fundraiser is now the focal point of a campaign finance violation case against Lujan, in which Lujan is accused of collecting donations but not reporting them. Lujan has said that there were errors in his campaign finance forms, that he has since reformed.

Hernandez said his staff initially set the meeting for Aug. 3, a day before former water board member Leon Garcia was supposed to testify in front of a grand jury in the same case.

But shortly after setting the date, Hernandez said the DA's office called back and said they didn't need him anymore.

I put in a few calls to Garcia last week to follow up on his subpoena before the grand jury, but haven't yet heard back.

All La Puente city employees are being forced to take two furlough days a month over the next year in an effort to offset growing revenue losses.

The furloughs -- which will amount to a 10 percent annual wage cut -- were approved last week and are effective immediately for the city's roughly 30 part-time and full-time employees.

They will also lose their 3 percent cost of living increase for this fiscal year, which began July 1 and ends June 30.

City officials said while they understand the economic impacts of such a wage reduction to its employees, they also are doing what they can to weather an economic downturn that's ravaged city revenues.

Officials initially planned to implement 15 percent pay cuts across the board for its employees. But after negotiations with the union, they came back with the furlough option.

The union countered with its own concessions -- they agreed to accept the twice-a-month furloughs, but asked the city only forego employees' cost of living increases for six months.

Jason Elias, a lead work site organizer for Local 721, said the city would have only needed to save $28,000 to give employees a 3 percent raise for the last six months of the fiscal year.

"If by November, we couldn't find that $28,000 then would have agreed to forego our raise for the rest of the year," Elias said. "But they wouldn't budge on their negotiations. They weren't willing to work with the employees."

Mayor Louie Lujan said he would have liked to go with the union's option, but he lacked enough council support.

"What they were asking for was not unreasonable," Lujan said.

In order to implement the current furloughs, City Hall will be closed every Friday versus on alternating Fridays.

Employees at the city's maintenance yard, the senior center, the community center and the youth activities learning center will alternate their furloughs on Mondays and Fridays so that those facilities can stay open five days a week.

Councilwoman Lola Storing said while the union may not be happy with the city's final decision, the employees are.

Elias said the employees are willing to make sacrifices, but "nobody is happy." He also pointed to interim City Manager Frank Tripepi's unwillingness to negotiate with the union.

From Reporter Tania Chatila...

LA PUENTE - Investigators from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office served search warrants today at the home of La Puente City Councilman Louie A. Lujan and his campaign treasurer.

Spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the warrants were executed at the homes of Lujan and Carmen Torres as part of a criminal investigation. Specifics of the investigation were not immediately available.

Various campaign records were seized, including checks, Gibbons said.

The District Attorney's Public Integrity Division is leading the probe.

Lujan did not immediately respond to a message left for him early this afternoon.

Lujan was first elected to the City Council in March 2001.

La Puente Councilman

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_12570505

Here's a few graphs of a story I wrote to run in Tuesday's paper about La Puente wanting to tighten rules on where sex offenders can live:

The City Council will vote tonight on whether to approve regulations further limiting where sex crime convicts can live.

Among the proposed regulations are prohibiting more than one registered sex offender from living in a multi-family dwelling or a hotel, and expanding state laws that already prohibit sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks.

There are currently 136 sex offenders registered in La Puente, according to state records.

"I think it's time we put this on the books," Councilwoman Nadia Mendoza said, "to let people know that this is something we're going to be watching out for, for the safety of our children and for any victims and for any families that will be moving in."

In 2006, California voters passed Proposition 83, more commonly known as Jessica's Law, which requires sex offenders to register their addresses with law enforcement and bans them from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks.

In La Puente, if approved, in addition to parks and schools this ordinance would also make it illegal for sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of open space, trails and child care centers.

There's been a lot of debate on whether Jessica's Law - and these tougher city ordinances - essentially restrict sex offendres from living anywhere once they finishing serving time. What do you think? Are these ordinances too restrictive or just right?

Just came across this on the La Puente city Web site:

RFQ For City Attorney Services

All Statements of Qualifications are due in the Office of the City Clerk by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 29, 2009. Please click the link under 'Public Notices' for more information.

Louie Lujan is circulating this e-mail about the success of La Puente's Earth Day celebration:

The City of La Puente's Earth Day 2009 was a huge success!

Over 400 volunteers cleaned over 10,000 linear feet and 20,000 square feet
of graffiti removal throughout the City. Over 500 trash bags and 3 large
dumpsters were filled.

A press release about it can be viewed here.

Here's this week's installment of Leftovers from City Hall column:

Leftovers from City Hall: Local politicians show interest in 2010 Assembly race

The June 2010 primaries are still far out, but a few local pols have already thrown their names in as potential candidates for the 57th Assembly District race.

La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan, West Covina Mayor Roger Hernandez and West Covina Councilman Steve Herfert have all filed statements of an intent to run for the seat, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State.

Assemblyman Ed Hernandez - who lives in West Covina and has an optometry office in La Puente - currently holds the seat.

Herfert and Roger Hernandez could not be reached for comment Friday.

Lujan said he decided to file the intent after supporters and colleagues around him encouraged him to run.

"I'm interested but I haven't made my mind up yet," Lujan said, adding that if Ed Hernandez were to run again, Lujan would drop his bid.

"I thoroughly enjoy public service," he said. "If I have the opportunity to serve the public on a different level, I'd be honored to do so."

Baldwin Park mayor's name cleared

Mayor Manuel Lozano is off the hook on a 2007 all expense-paid trip he took to China - at least for now.

The District Attorney's office has concluded its probe and found that Lozano did not have to report his trip on his statement of economic interests because the Chinese government paid for it - not a local businessman like Council critic Greg Tuttle alleged.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission is still doing its own investigation.
Tuttle isn't too happy about the DA's decision, and criticized them for relying only on witness statements for proof.

"The DA dropped the ball ... Unless I do everything except file the charges and put them in the courtroom, then they don't want to mess with it," he said.

Lozano called Tuttle a "congenital liar" and said he's consulting with attorneys about suing Tuttle for defamation of character.

"He has a major axe to grind," Lozano said. "Tuttle will go on any little thing and he runs with it ... He needs to know he will be held accountable."

Lozano also said he knew all along the Chinese government foot the bill - even though Lozano said in previous interviews that a Rowland Heights bank paid for the trip.

"I guess I just didn't explain myself," he said.

Tuttle said he has no hidden agenda, his complaint was all about Lozano's travel to China and nothing more.

Pleitez staffer offends West Covina council

A campaign staffer for Emanuel Pleitez got a bit of a tongue lashing from West Covina council members last week after he used an emotional discussion about potential employee layoffs as a campaign pitch for Pleitez, who is running for the 32nd Congressional seat.

JC Stiassni spoke on behalf of Pleitez during the public comment portion of a meeting, following the testimony of employees who were upset over a proposal by Mayor Roger Hernandez to protect only public safety employees from layoffs.

That's where Stiassni came in with a story about Emanuel's own plights growing up. Councilman Mike Touhey wasn't amused. He lambasted the staffer for wasting public comment time, and said it was insensitive for Stiassni to use that time to campaign.

Pleitez's Press Secretary Emily Dulcan said speaking at public meetings is a campaign strategy. But in hindsight, she said, it probably wasn't the best timing.

"I want to express my apologies for the insensitivity that may have been portrayed," Duncan said. "In no way did we mean to offend the participants."

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will be returning to her alma mater on Saturday --- La Puente High School --- to talk to community members about education and her accomplishments.

Solis is the first Hispanic Labor Secretary and the first Latina cabinet member of any presidential administration. She also has deep roots in the SGV, as a graduate of local secondary schools and colleges.

It should be a big turnout. Wonder if any of the dozen people running for her former Congressional seat will be there?

So Monday's closed session meeting to "CONSIDER PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE" had nothing to do with City Attorney James Casso, city officials tell me.

Apparently, an employee who was "released not too long ago after a long history of reprimands," made an appeal to the City Council to get his job back, Mayor Louie Lujan said.

It didn't work.

"It had nothing to do with any department heads or any management staff," Lujan said. "It's someone within the Parks and Rec Department ... Someone in the capacity of like a groundskeeper."

Meanwhile, Casso's job could be on the line.

The city is seeking out proposals for legal services, but it has nothing to do with the employee evaluation the Council did last week on Casso, Lujan said.

Apparently during that closed session evaluation last month, the Council decided on a 3-2 vote to seek out proposals from other firms -- something the city hasn't done since Casso came on board in 2001.

"We owe it to our residents to allow the market to show us what is out there," Lujan said. "We can take whatever action is necessary as result of what was discussed in the review process."

Lujan said Casso was amicable about the process, and the move is in no way a reflection of Casso's performance. Instead, it has to do with a recommendation made to the city by Management Partners -- the firm hired to go over processes at City Hall.

So is Casso on the outs? Not necessarily.

"All options are going to be laid on the table and we're gonna weigh each option and determine which option is the best one for the city," Lujan said.