The Woes of Gil Cedillo, lavish spender- Saga Recap

On May 19th, some of you in the San Gabriel Valley will have the opportunity to vote for a replacement to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Hilda Solis who moved to the Obama cabinet post. There are several candidates running for that office, with the leading contenders being Judy Chu, state controller, and Gil Cedillo, state asssembly member.

Gil Cedillo, to refresh your memory, filed reports on the money raised by his campaign and it showed a high style of living. The report was in contrast to Judy Chu's filing that showed a modest sum spent. The San Gabriel Valley Tribune's blog, "Leftovers from City Hall" is a continuing source of the events of the Cedillo journey in this campaign. The entry entitled, "Maximum Cedillo exposure," By Tania Chatila on April 15, 2009. was an early exposure of the response of readers, most critical of the financial generousity of Cedillo to himself. http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/2009/04/maximum-cedillo-exposure.html#comments

The story progressed to time that Mayor Villaraigosa gave an endorsement to a different candidate running for that office and it was for Chu, not the longtime buddy Cedillo. "Chu gets Villaraigosa endorsement," http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/2009/04/chu-gets-villaraigosa-endorsem.html by Jennifer McLain on April 21.

Well, that was something that generated a quick response, Fighting words from Cedillo's camp," By Jennifer McLain on April 22, 2009, http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/2009/04/fighting-words-from-cedillos-c.html, McLain wrote, "I was wondering just how Sen. Gil Cedillo would be combating Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement of Board of Equalization Chairwoman Judy Chu." It was brief press release from the Cedillo campaign that discounted the endorsement.

Next phase: First Cedillo disses endorsements, then he touts 'em
By Frank Girardot on April 23, 2009 http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/2009/04/first-cedillo-disses-endorseme.html So now it "who's supporters are more important?"

The last entry has brought another action called for by another candidate- "Rival asks Cedillo to donate campaign contributions to homeless" By Rebecca Kimitch on April 23, 2009. And now we see some constructive applications to the discussion- donate the money to the homeless and other worthy causes. As the filed report was all about, "money spent," I don't think there's any ability to do that, but there's even more resistance by Cedillo to the idea that he did anything wrong. You can read the "challenge" presented in the blog entry:

Rafael Nadal, who, like Cedillo, is a candidate for the 32nd Congressional district, is asking Cedillo to donate to the homeless and needy the $125,000 in campaign contributions the LA Times reported the senator spent on lavish hotels, meals and shopping trips.

As the various campaigns near election day, you can see more attempt to capture the votes, both by truthful communications and by the usually used twisted logic and omitted facts that sell the ideas on the uninformed- which is what they want to get the votes. It's hard to tell people in the Cedillo case that he did not spend the money, so it's going to be a question of how important is being so loose with money a factor to taxpayers, and just "what" do the campaign donors expect in return for all the buck put out for Cedillo's pleasure?

It's not my congressional district for voting on that one, but since I see too much of "the bought-off style" of representation already, if I had the opportunity, I would end that string of bad news for us ASAP, and that would be at the May 19th election.