A tiny city with huge problems, Maywood faces its biggest scandal yet
A Los Angeles County investigation into possible corruption in Maywood has set its sights on a broad swath that includes four current and former council members, 13 companies, five current and former city administrators and one activist who dresses up as a clown.
Investigators were authorized to search nearly two dozen vehicles, according to a search warrant obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Investigators also descended on City Hall, the homes of council members and a city contractor's office, seizing computers, videos and boxes containing documents ranging from personal bank statements to City Council agendas, a spokesperson with the district attorney's office confirmed.
The warrant suggests the wide-ranging investigation dovetails with the suspicion many Maywood residents have had about politics in the city for years.
It shows that prosecutors are looking at political recall efforts from 2015 through 2017, a city maintenance contractor and a deal involving city properties and plans for a 24-hour charitable bingo.
A percentage of the profits from the planned bingo, according to emails obtained by The Times, was slated to go to a nonprofit organization owned by Edwin T. Snell, an activist who shows up at City Hall meetings in a clown outfit.
Maywood is one of Southern California's smallest and most densely packed cities — 1.18 square miles with nearly 30,000 people squeezed into an industrial zone south of downtown Los Angeles.
But for its tiny size, Maywood has suffered oversized problems for more than a decade. Seemingly always on the brink of financial collapse, the town played a role in a huge corruption investigation in neighboring Bell.
Maywood officials had hired Bell to manage key city functions, an arrangement that fell apart when that city became entangled in a scandal involving over-the-top salaries for council members and city administrators.
Maywood once had a police department that became a haven for many cops who had been forced out of previous jobs or had brushes with the law. A 16-month investigation by the attorney general revealed that the culture at the department was "permeated with sexual innuendo, harassment, vulgarity, discourtesy to members of the public as well as among officers, and a lack of cultural, racial and ethnic sensitivity and respect."
Two years ago, a state audit found Maywood was more than $15 million in debt and owed money to its creditors. The City Council raised ire by hiring a city manager whom the mayor met through his auto mechanic shop and who had no government experience.
"What's happened in Maywood is like a battle between the forces of today and yesterday," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), whose district includes Maywood. "It's like a zombie coming out of the grave that just won't die."
Southeast Los Angeles County cities, including Maywood, have been mired in municipal corruption for decades. The collection of small cities along the 710 Freeway — Vernon, Bell, Huntington Park, Cudahy — have faced generations of political upheaval, with prosecutors claiming politicians take advantage of electorates who are not always plugged in to what's going on.
Despite having arguably the most consistently tumultuous City Hall in the area, Maywood officials have rarely found themselves facing criminal charges, at least for political malfeasance.
"If folks are eventually arrested, that will be six of the nine cities that I represent that have had former council members in prison," Rendon said. "Six of the nine, which tells us something about the depth of the problems."