Whatever the outcome of the embezzlement case brought by prosecutors this week against former Councilman John Drayman, one take-away is sure: There's no substitute for transparency and oversight.
In the 28-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, prosecutors allege that Drayman committed perjury when he excluded earnings sources on Fair Political Practices forms, submitted a bogus credit application in 2010 to a mortgage lender, and falsified tax returns to hide embezzling up to $880,000 from the Harvest Market, which is put on by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.
Prosecutors allege that the embezzlement occurred between January 2004 and April 2011. That's a long time to miss that amount of money, even in an operation that's mostly cash. As the event languished and continued to see depressed revenues, where was the audit? Did the board ask for a review of operations to determine how to boost income?