Los Angeles City council members earn more than members of congress with a salary of $178,000 per year (members of congress earn $174,000). So it is kind of odd that Huizar would drag out payments to Martinez. The article also reveals that Huizar must have felt comfortable enough with Martinez’s business practices to utilize his services for refinancing his home and repairing his rental property in the district:

“Martinez said two FBI agents met with him in July and asked how he knew Huizar. Martinez said he told them that he had refinanced Huizar’s home in Boyle Heights in 2006 and, about the same time, helped supervise repairs at Huizar’s rental house on La Calandria Way.

“They asked if he ever paid for that work,” Martinez said. “I said no. They asked if I ever sent invoices, and I said yes, I did.”

Martinez said he never took Huizar to court over the unpaid bills and had not spoken to him about them since last March, when the two met at the Coffee Table in Eagle Rock. During that meeting, Huizar indicated that he could not pay right away and would have to make a series of payments on the bills regarding his rental house, Martinez said.

Nothing arrived until last month, said Martinez, who provided The Times with a copy of the check and a letter from Huizar that accompanied it.

Skelton said the councilman’s family sent the check to end a billing dispute and “put it behind them.” Skelton said Martinez has a history of “making stuff up” and noted — as Huizar has in recent campaign appearances — that Martinez has a criminal record.”

What are your thoughts? My sense is that Huizar is in a state of denial of whatever it is the FBI is examining into his affairs. Just recently, Huizar sat for a fluff piece in a local restaurant, and last week, he was late to a city council meeting, which ended up being canceled. It just seems that his message and campaign is in disarray. If this investigation or inquiry is really over the $10,330 in home repairs, it seems that Huizar should have had the resources to settle this bill or that he would have wanted to rid himself of any financial obligation to his current opponent for his seat.

MALDEF supports this federal action, and attorney John Amaya from the organization said, “The significance really rises to the national stage.”

We will continue to report the latest news on this case and others where immigrants and other minorities are needlessly injured and/or killed.

Thankfully, today Alberto (aka Fredo or Gonzo) Gonzales has resigned his position as the current architect of the police state being constructed by the Bush Cheney administration. He has authorized criminal behavior as White House counsel and has refused to prosecute that same criminal behavior as Attorney General. He has created and navigated legal avenues for Bush Cheney and their administrations to use torture and indefinite detention based on innuendo and suspicion and now as attorney general, he refused to investigate those programs despite Congressional inquiries in these matters.

Gonzales’ objectivity as far back as George W. Bush’s DUI arrest record, the Texas Clemency and Execution Memos, the Texas Youth Commission scandal, the Warrantless NSA Domestic Eavesdropping Program, the denial of right to Habeas Corpus in the U.S. Constitution, the FBI domestic abuses, and the Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys reveal a man completely committed to the erosion of the civil liberties protections that activists in the 60s fought to preserve. The rule of law seems to be a line that Alberto Gonzales is truly committed to blurring. This man could not have resigned soon enough, but all the repercussions of his actions will certainly be felt in the years to come.

Most people realize why warrantless wiretapping is bad. It is terrible for all Americans in that phone discussions could be taken out of context and used as evidence to prosecute. People of color have been subject to similar investigations by the FBI with COINTELPRO. Really anyone who opposes the government could face the wrath of such a program.

I have always believed that if you are going to lie that you should get everyone on board or at least try to sound convincing. Alberto Gonzales has failed to do just that. It seems that there are some dissenters who chose not to follow him into the fire. From all that I have read, Alberto has no intention of leaving his job, so it looks like the expose will continue.