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In my opinion, Suja can have as many friends or "friends" as she likes as long as she treats everyone equally in the public sphere. And thus far, I have seen nothing to show that she hasn't. So good luck to Suja, Daniel, and their son, i.e. the Mayor of Long Beach 2030.
I live in Rose Park and drive past the Lowenthal house after work on my way home. Never ever have I seen Suja at home. The husband Daniel is always playing catch or golf or tree climbing with their son in front of the house. I have always wondered where was Suja and why she wasn't playing and doing things with the family. It seems that politics was more important to her than her family.
To single out Suja is inappropriate. She's gotta be right about people who work on City issues being friends - they must talk all the time with each other as there are constant, REAL issues in this town that require their attention. No matter where we work, it's like that. You can only go for so long in the work environment without becoming friends (or complete enemies, but that's much less productive). Given that, why aren't you asking ALL the council members who voted to support those issues if their personal relationships conflicted? You're not; you're only asking Suja because she's getting divorced and people love to gossip and this sort of thing will just thrill your readers. Who knows, maybe you'll get a few new ones...
At the end of the day, you're taking advantage of a very difficult chapter in her personal life. To be sure, there IS a difference between muckraking and yellow journalism; this story is the latter and yet another step of The District’s path toward that end of the spectrum.
To the issues themselves, the COST OF EVERYTHING IS GOING UP (in case you haven't been paying attention). That is the natural order of our economy. So if GASOLINE is more expensive - i imagine nearly double what it used to be when the taxi #'s were last negotiated - I can see why the council voted to approve it unanimously. As for Fire: I want skilled women and men putting out the blazes and saving lives. If we don't make their pay comparable to other cities in the region, we lose them and get a smaller force or people who aren't experienced. It's that simple. I feel the supporting council members made the right decision, no matter who is a friend with whom.
YELLOW JOURNALISM, or sensationalist media, does more bad than good... and the publisher is the only one that benefits. Have fun building your castle, bought with shameful lies.
Now... let's talk about YOUR personal life...
Suja, at least, understands what journalists are supposed to do.
There is always room for journalists to question the relationships of their elected officials. The crime is that more of them don't do it.
How many contracts did she vote on?
It is the duty of responsible journalists to ask whether or not she has voted on matters which granted advantage to those with whom she may have been especially good "friends." It is no more or less appropriate to ask Suja the questions that were put to her as to ask Dan Baker, prior to The District coming to town, if he had a business relationship with with someone on whose contract he voted. I applaud The District for its reportage.
I believe the article to be entirley within the bounds of good journalism.
The only real change this city (or country, for that matter) is going to get will almost certainly require Molotov cocktails--but that's not how the ruse is run. You'd have the Progressives and the Unprogressives both trying to kill you if you messed with their Gamescam like that.
Am I the only one who noticed that the councilwoman wasn't ASKED a direct question?
I'm surprised Dave Wielenga let her get away with this crap for a response. The quoted Q&A here is an embarassment. She cuts him off repeatedly and diverts the questioning to a discussion of being "friends" with lots of people who have business before the council, and implying that since she couldn't have had sex with EVERYONE who had business before the Council, she therefore must not have had sex with ANYONE who had business before the Council. Then she renders a judgement about her own ethical purity based on this absurdity she's constructed (that's the ballsiest part) and stops Dave from asking anything more by telling him, in effect, he wasn't listening. And by his silence, Dave agrees.
She's good.
It's almost as bad as the line in the John Canalis piece in the P-T which runs, if memory serves: "(Suja) Lowenthal said that her husband would not be unavailable for comment." Guess she proved who wears the pair there. Either the husband is quoteworthy for the story (gosh, I wonder how tough it would be to find a phone number for a judge) or he is not. What, he's not entitled to speak for himself?
Will the journalists in town get over their squeamishness (which it appears Lowenthal is exploiting) and please decide if the possible dishonesty and illegal activity of a city official are worth investigating? Stop this half-assed effort. Go for it or go home.
Just ask the councilwoman if she voted on a measure before the Council that would have benefited a person she was at the time having a sexual relationship with. She's not supposed to do that. That's the question before the house -- an affirmative answer says she failed to disclose a conflict of interest. A negative answer says she didn't, and until someone comes forward to call her a liar (those shadowy sources), she's in the clear. Unfortunately, no one's put the question to her.
Lowenthal is once again demonstrating the charm she holds over the media. Think she considers Dave and John "friends"?
The District Weekly wasn't the only publication to make news of her marital issues. Personally, its not my business to monitor what is going on with anyone's marriage. However, I do find it troublesome, that elected officials develop close friendships, with individuals who represent interests, who may benefit from votes concerning taxpayer dollars. Suja is a very bright individual. She is capable of achieving great things. My dismay, is she appearantly has given into the systemic process of "going along" in order to advance her political career. Her voting record reflects this. Granted, she isn't the only councilmember, whether past or present, to exercise this brand of political culture. Many decisions have been influenced by certain "friendships". For example, Joseph Prevratil and his ability to mismanage a city owned asset (The Queen Mary), without any oversight from elected officials whom he coddled with campaign contributions and other benefits. He was considered a "friend" to many Long Beach polticians. Well, I believe we've all seen the results of that relationship. This being the case, there needs to be a separation between serving as an elected official, and the "friends" that consumate from being involved with entities that benefit from a councilmembers vote. Otherwise, what's the point of have any checks and balances?
The only "Asian Pacific Islander" representative and a "voice for underrepresented minorities"...are you serious? That's your criterion? Did she get some sort of Asian-Pacific Islander day proclamation for you?
That's the victimized thinking that will get Richardson elected, so we'll have a bloated nationalistic panty-obsessed xenophobe from OC and a corrupt, largesse-loving fiscal idiot from Carson as LB's next congresspeople.
One thought: elected officials' "private" lives are legitimate ground for journalistic investigation. They have placed themselves in the public eye by their own personal choice. They get elected with the promise that they are morally upstanding, reliable, unbiased, etc...
Being unfaithful to your spouse and voting favorably for your "friends'' contracts are newsworthy because these behaviors speak to an overall personal code of ethics. One you have promised the voters that you are good and true to your word then you should expect those very voters and the press will be watching and evaluating you to see if you can keep your promises.
A politician's private life? This term is the ultimate oxymoron.
I support The District on this one. And I wish they would dig into more of our city council's personal lives, I'm sure there are more with a questionable code of ethics.
Don't give me this crap about her family life being private. Why? In every single piece of campaign mail Suja sends out it has pictures of her and her family! She would boast about her family credentials stronger than any political endorsement. She walked to my door with her family when she was running. In the Press Telegram article she notes that she's keeping the Lowenthal name because "it's her son's name" (do any of you HONESTLY believe that's why she's insistent on keeping the name???!!)
Why is it appropriate to use family to get her elected, but inappropriate to ask about family when she finds it inconvenient?
It is the ultimate in arrogance to have an affair and refuse to speak about it if you put your family out to public view. But it is just nuts if you do this with people who have big business before the city and expect the rest of us to think it's your "private" life and move on.
Suja should take ownership of her actions, just like other electeds who have been in this situation. She put her family out there for us to marvel at, not us. She's cheated them, not us. Most importantly, she should be accountable for using them as puppets and apologize to her husband publicly for dragging him through this process.
"I don’t see the Lowenthals coming to her defense. The silence is deafening."
Perhaps they themselves have more to hide than this baseless rumor. Or perhaps they are staying out of it because of their own past transgressions which occurred years and year ago.
There is NO proof or evidence to any of these assertions stated here.
My question to the DISTRICT WEEKLY as well as any of those who believe the smut they read here is: WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? WHO IS YOUR SOURCE?
Come on, if you are trying to blow the lid off of this "story", why not hit it out of the park?
So Will Swaim, I hope your lawyer is ready. Cuz this might bury you guys. You think your in the red now ..yikes.
I hope not.
I am pretty sure there's two "i"s in idiot.
I, too, am interested in any connection between bids being awarded based on a conflict of interest. But in this case, it is just a convenient way of digging in to her personal life, all the while calling it a look into her professional acts.
Dear "Another Comment",
You are mistaken. The last time I checked, India was part of the Asian Continent and included under the broad category of Asian Pacific Islander. Perhaps you should read what you write before posting it.
And to "Andy", no I did not get a proclamation from the Councilwoman but I'm glad the racist subtext of your implication came through loud and clear and in a city with the largest Southeat Asian population in LA County, you would think that her representation would be important.
Ask any native of the Indian subcontinent if they consider themselves an "Asian Pacific Islander" and come back to report how many do. Moron.
By the way, what happened to the early post that predicted TheDistrictWeekly would get the crap sued out of them for running this piece on Suja? Doesn't the DW note when a post has been deleted? It seemed so appropriate someone would Suja for that.
You mean post 27?
I just don't think it is cool to drag people through the mud on a tip from someone who wishes to hide in the shadows. If this were a criminal thing, by all means, protect your informant. But, as we all know, this is not a criminal thing. For all you know, your "Source close to the family" could be gaming you too. Who will write that story?
Now, you're free, of course, to believe that we just reprint whatever anybody tells us over a cup of coffee and a donut. On the other hand, looking at our track record, you can sort of figure that we're pretty good at cross-checking--and then cross-checking again and again--what everyone tells us. That's not just because of the implied threat of libel (which commenter 27 alludes to), but because the only real power we have as a 15-month-old paper is the integrity we've already established. If we printed mere rumor--or just wrote stories about tattoo parlors (27 again) and published lives-of-the-saints stories of the city's powerful--I doubt you'd have given this article a second thought.
Believe me, I don't want to read fluff pieces about how great our local super-hero's are either, and I can prove it because I read this website. But, this is not hard hitting, investigative journalism. This is passing a rumor down the line, with the credibility of the rumor attached to "Someone close to the family." Well, Im close to the family, and I say it is all BS, including the accusations.
Besides... who really cares. I would rather read about the abundance of rub-and- tugs in the back of your newspaper anyway.
If you are a friend of the family maybe you could arrange to find out just exactly what the truth is in this case. Then you could come to DW and report what that is. You could confirm it or deny it. It seems pretty simple. You say it's BS now but have you made direct inquiry? Just a suggestion. The truth could settle this whole teapot tempest. A lie will only feed flames when it's discovered. Truth is really what people want I think though it's easy to be cynical.
Also, my guess is that a protected source probably shares much more info than a known source because they feel safe.
There is nothing wrong with being "off the record" and it s fair journalism for the District to rely on these sources. It is their duty to check the source's facts. I believe in this instance, Dave W did at least try to ascertain the truth. I do think he should've gone for the jugular, but heck, maybe he's friends with Suja too, so I'll cut him some slack.
If you're intimately involved (no pun intended) with the daily inner workings of City Hall (I am), then none, and I mean none, of what has been reported here should be a surprise to you. "People" have known about Suja and her "friends" for quite some time. The only surprise is what took so long for this to go public. Frankly, no one wanted to believe it, assigning other, more innocent reasons for what their eyes had been telling them. After a while though Luke, if it walks like a duck.....
Also, certain of her "friends" simply can't keep their own mouths shut. All it takes is for one of them to confide in someone else, and it's all over.
Suja allowed her ambitions and lord knows what else to get far out of hand here, and it's caught up with her. It's really a shame she lost track of what should have been most important to her, i.e. her children and husband. Usually it's the charismatic, attractive male in the relationship, but she took her penchant for wanting to shed traditional societal roles a bit too far in this case. Given the cuckolded husband's legal resources, if she hasn't already, she needs to wake up and realize that she's now in far deeper than she's ever been.
But again Luke, and whoever else has a problem here, what being reported via these anonymous sources is entirely accurate. I can only imagine who the source(s) are, because it could be any number of very credible people.
And one more thing- her responses to Wielenga are tepid, at best. If you were being accused of cheating and it wasn't true, wouldn't you be screaming bloody murder from the roof tops? In and of itself her denials aren't proof, but they sure aren't any help to her, either.
Here is a geography lesson:
The Pacific Islands essentially all fall in the Pacific!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islander
You’ll notice while reading this wikipedia article, that the Asian islands that fall in the Pacific are actually not considered part of the Pacific Islands.
In addition, while it’s true that India does lie in the continent of Asia, none of its islands are in the Pacific Ocean. India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
If you are still wondering who is exactly defined as an Asian Pacific Islander you can read:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islander_American
Lastly, here is Suja’s bio on the City of Long Beach website:
www.longbeach.gov/district2/suja/default.asp
I’ll spare you from reading the whole article. The very first sentence says,” Councilmember Suja Lowenthal was born in Madras, India in 1970.” Madras, now named Chennai is not even on an island, let alone anywhere near the Pacific.
I guess the “last time you checked,” you weren’t paying very close attention.
The Asian islands that fall in the Pacific yet are not considered part of the Pacific Islander category include Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Phillipines. However, the US does consider people of this origin as Asian Pcific Amercians for the purposes of census taking.
Sorry to be off topic let's get back to our discussion of the District journalistic ethics.
Suja has done this before. In August of 2006, she accepted a large contribution from developer Tom Dean, (who owns the land on Studebaker where Home Depot hoped to build). According to the city's code of ethics, Council members are not allowed to vote on an issue when they have received financial gain on that matter from a contributor, (One year from contribution).
But the citizens appeal on Home Depot came up 6 weeks later in front of Council and did Suja recuse herself. No way! Because to do so she would have to admit she took money from the developer. And then was the Peace Agreement....etc...etc.
If no one finds out...you are home free. The city government is not transparent... and their code of ethics is just printing. Becoming informed is the only way to find out what is happening because no one is looking out for you!
I yield to no one in my admiration of Alan Lowenthal. It is a shame if Suja diminishes anyone's view of his legacy by the almost accidental association to the Lowenthal name she clings to.
#46: So it's OK to be voting on conflicts of interest if the outcome won't change. How can you not see the conflict of interest? How about taking money from the developer of the ever-shrinking PT Lofts and the voting for a parking variance?
#45 and #46: Suja is nice, ergo, you all at the DW are bastards.
In many communities, the only journalism is being done by papers with massage ads in the back. I didn't realize the DW had them, but then I'M not looking for such things. So, Luke, which masseuse did you choose? Any tips?
Yes, Tom Dean owns a home on the Peninsula.
Yes, Third Councilman. Gary DeLong was also guilty of taking contributions from Tom Dean and then voting on the Home Depot issue in Council within a 2 month's time limit. If he and Suja had ethically recused themselves, perhaps the city of Long Beach would not be paying out a huge sum of money for the lawsuit the Wetlands brought against them for a failed EIR. Where was Bob Shannon?
Most people, (post #60) do not have the time, nor the research ability to find out
who is influencing the Council with contributions....surprise. (Thank God for the District). Those that are diligent and beleive the Councilpeople are our "public servants" and that they are playing with our "tax dollars" become informed on the issues and you will often see them at Council meetings. (And yes, they vote).They become activists and you may too, some day when you feel strongly about an issue. No one is disputing Suja's intelligencence nor her charm....but questioning her judgement regarding special interests.
Now that Suja has proven herself to be morally and ethically corrupt --she basically can't be trusted in any way, shape or form-- we should be demanding for her to be thrown off the city council. Even during her campaign for the council, I was already suspicious of her motives and ever since her previous corrupt conflict-of-interest involving the Home Depot and the Coastal Commission (thanks Laura C. #53, Dave W. #55) my name for her has been "Such-a Lowen-fraud".
RECALL SUCH-A LOWEN-FRAUD!!!!
Every member of the Lowenthal family in Long beach are divorced atleast once in their life time.I wonder why Bonni Lowethal did not give up her last name after her divorce from Alan Lowenthal.Is it because Lowental is a golden name ?
But I still find the original Q&A by Dave W. to lack any definition of the issue. Lowenthal answered no question. When asked a question at the end, she side-stepped it. The story here doesn't add anything useful--just confirms the pedestrian suspicion that Suja Lowenthal knows how to respond to questions without answering them.
Please ask her The Question. Directly. Don't accept equivocation or distracting discursions in her response.
But before you do that, could we have a little background, please?
-- What law has she possibly broken?
-- What are the possible consequences?
-- How routinely is this law broken in Long Beach without consequence?
-- or is this just about bloodying S. Lowenthal's nose? (your reporting most directly supports this conclusion)
If the DW doesn't take care of business on this one, I think the DW takes a hit with thoughtful readers. It will make the next story you do on the Prevratil-Pook-Richardson-Etc.-and-ad-nauseum Hit Parade just look like whining. Which maybe those stories have been all along.
This town is sooo dirty and in bed with each-other. That includes the Press-Telegram.
I wonder with the Ellis thing if the PT's Kevin Butler is being paid by Randy Gordon?
Good work DW on shining some light under this bushel, too bad in the long wrong it won't really matter since of most the people who read this site and vote will continue to be sheep punching the same names again and again.
one day SUja's 6 year old child will be 18 year old.He will find out who is doing this to his mother.
We should banish to one of the Oil Islands:
Laura Richardson, Randy Gordon, Gary DeLong, All the Lowenthal's, Chief Batts, Steve James, Dan Baker,Richard Ellis, Henry Taboada, John Morris, Joseph Prevratil, Gene Rotondo, Jim Hankla.
Just let the cameras roll.
Alternative weekly, indeed!
You do realize that it's not the voters necessarily that are choosing our elected officials, rather it is the lack of voters. Only 10-15% of our residents are voting in their elections for council members and various other local positions. 10-15% are choosing are representatives. How can we complain about what we've got? Get out and vote if you don't like it!
People who foolishly signed their own real names to negative postings here will do well not to return from lunch breaks even one minute late. Being on the wrong side of history will have a price.
Really though, as a long beach native, and I would chat with john mansell 40 years ago, this (sad) town has always been the same, and probably always will be. suja and the rest of them taking care of their special interest contributors is absolutely nothing new.
I never thought we would have a hypocritical dirtbag unionboss like gordon be so powerful though; what a shame for the city! To me he is just completely despicable with his phony concern for our schoolchildren.
A conflict of interest to you and me, in other words, isn't one in the eyes of the law. What we MAY have here is an ethical problem and, sure, a legal loophole.
Anonymous I am sure when the Judge uses his office to run an investigation into his wifes affair, abusing his power with the methods he used to gain this knowledge...
Wednesday, Thursday, whatever it may be, etiher way:
The District Weekly independently “confirmed” the allegation of a relationship a source with close family ties. That person requested anonymity.
Anonymous I am sure when the Judge uses his office to run an investigation into his wifes affair, abusing his power with the methods he used to gain this knowledge…
Better now?
"A public official making, participating in making or attempting to influence a governmental decision that has a material financial effect on an economic interest of the public official in a manner distinguishable from the effect on the public generally"
"Improper officeholder conduct such as, *but not limited to*, prohibited personal use of campaign funds and sending mass mailings at public expense" and
"Incomplete, inadequate, *untimely* or no disclosure of campaign contributions made or received".
The FPPC claims on its website that each of these allegations, and many more, are, indeed, wiithin its purview. Has anyone bothered to actually try to file an official complaint with them in this case? Perhaps, rather than lamenting on a website about how horribly one believes an elected official has conducted themselves, one might actually try to file an official complaint and have something done about it? The worst the FPPC can do is say "Sorry, this isn't something we can help you with".
But the question can't be answered if it's never asked.
Just by the simple fact he is married to her, you should expect him to be the best judge (no pun) of her overall character, morals and ethics.
And if you think there's a double-standard, I beg you to consider Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, etc.
This isn't an issue of sex or gender. It's a question of transparency in government. See Dave's latest post for comments on that:
http://thedistrictweekly.com/daily/writing-shot...
I regret the etiquette breach...
Please let these people deal with the tragedy of their marriage falling apart without trying to senationalize it for the purpose of selling ads and creating interest in your publication. So far, nothing you have reported has any credibility, other than the fact that they are splitting up. There is nothing there. This fishing expidition your on is wasting the talent and energy of your staff.
guys don't have "intimate relationships" with women unless they're shacking up.
give me a break.
As others have corrected you, the DW did not independently confirm anything here, the PT did. And again, why the baseless accusation about Judge Lowenthal? You're writing checks you can't cash here.
The Judge used his office to run an investigation into his wife's affair, abusing his power with the methods he used to gain this knowledge…
And if I'm writing checks I can’t cash here, you think you are?
A poster on the Press Telegram said it the best, "The statements made by "Duke" are obviously full of emotion and slanted heavily toward painting a poor picture of only one party involved. It takes two to tango, and the truth is somewhere in there, but not being reported here."
I wonder why Duke is so emotionally charged, both in the PT and DW?
politics as usual- If you've got proof regarding Judge Lowenthal, let's hear about it. Tell the DW or PT if you have specifics that he "used his office" to investigate his wife, or spill it here. As I've stated before, there are plenty of people with the scoop on Suja. It's just a matter of who or what finally snapped to have this go public. Otherwise, yes, you're shooting blanks here.
James #118: Just what are the actions by Judge Lowenthal that you want to call into question? And just what evidence or proof do you have? All that has been reported in the media is that he is filing for divorce and seeking sole custody of their son after learning of his wife's intimate relationships with other men. Just what is questionable about that?
Suja is doing an excellent job of dragging herself and the Lowenthal name through the mud and that in itself could be another motivating factor for the Judge to divorce her.
do you mean Luke or Duke has the same ip address as the others? Please clarify. Are there any others from the same ip address? probably means city hall.