Los Angeles Times - 11.03.2020

LATIMES.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020B

To place an obituary ad please go online to:

latimes.com/placeobituary

or call 1-800-234-

May 27, 1939 - February 26, 2020

SUMIDA, Henry Shuichi

Henry was 80 years-old when he passed away surrounded by his loving family. Henry had various jobs during his lifetime. He was a draftsman, machinist, and general contractor. Yet, his greatest accomplishments were as a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his beloved wife Carolyn (Yumi) of 55 years; adoring daughters, Laura Sumida-Aoyagi (Kevin) Aoyagi, April (Nicholas) James; grandchildren, Elizabeth Sumida, Ty Aoyagi, Dylan James; and great- granddaughter, Paige; also survived by many other relatives. http://www.kubotamortuary.com (213) 749-

June 1, 1928 - March 3, 2020

STERN, Barbara

Bobbie had 91 years of love and fun. Enjoyed theatre, dining, travel and a good card game with friends. Survived by 4 daughters - Shelley, Jody, Stacey, Taffy; 8 grandchildren and 7 great- grandchildren. In our hearts forever.

January 6, 1970 - March 7, 2020

SANDOR, Timothy S.

Tim Sandor, 50, died Saturday, March 7, 2020 in Irvine, CA. He was born January 6, 1970 to David and Geri Sandor. He attended UC Santa Barbara and was well-known to all as smart, witty and very carrying but more than a little troubled. He loved his Lakers. He found his calling later in life helping other young men find and maintain sobriety. He is survived by his mother, Geri, and his brother, Andrew. He will be missed.

February 4, 1945 - March 7, 2020

POMERANTZ, Earl Raymond

Earl was an Emmy award winning writer.Hewrote scriptsfor THE MARYTYLER MOORESHOW, THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, RHODA, THE TONY RANDALL SHOW, PHYLLIS, TAXI, CHEERS, THE COSBY SHOW (which he also ran for a time), and created MAJOR DAD and BEST OF THE WEST. He was also a creative consultant on both Garry Shandling shows, LATELINE, and ACCORDING TO JIM. His credits alone tell you he was a terrific comedy writer. Earl’s humor came from celebrating humanity and pointing out the silly absurd things we all do and can relate to.

Earl was Canadian by birth and a naturalized U.S. citizen. Survivors include his brother Hart Pomerantz in Toronto, his wife Myra Pomerantz, as well as his daughters Anna Pomerantz and Rachel Braude, son-in-laws and three grandchildren.

Services will take place at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 Centinela Ave. LA 90045, on Thurs. March 12 at 12:00pm.

Dekat, Sister Merita, (92) died on March 4, 2020. A Sister of Social Service for 73 years, Sister Merita served in Portland, San Rafael, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Michoacan MX. Her ministries included Parish Social Work, Campus Ministry and Religious Education. She also served her SSS community in a variety of settings, including eight years as its General Director. Vigil service: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, and Liturgy on Friday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. Both services held at the Sisters of Social Service, 4316 Lanai Road, Encino. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of Social Service.

Bastian & Perrott, Oswald Mortuary

DEKAT, Sister Merita

After a protracted illness, Roland Camfield died at home in Sonora, CA on Sunday, February 23 at the age of

For services see http://www.camfield.info

CAMFIELD, Roland E

OBITUARY NOTICES

Place a paid notice latimes.com/placeobituary Search obituary notice archives: legacy.com/obituaries/latimes

March 18, 1945 - March 1, 2020

WU, Joseph Yu-Kwong

Dr. Joseph Yu-Kwong Wu, 74, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on March 1, 2020, in Arcadia, California. Joe was born on March 18, 1945 in Fuyang, Anhui province, China, the eldest of four children. Adhering to the Chinese tradition of counting the year of gestation and according to the lunar calendar, his age was 76. After the Communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, his family fled to Hong Kong, where they settled and raised their children. Proudly educated at Wah Yan College throughout his childhood, Joe spoke fondly about his formative years being shaped by the Jesuit values of commitment to service, education of the whole person, respect for history, and concern for the poor and oppressed. At the age of 18, he earned the opportunity to go to college in the United States, and later graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL, with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Physiology. In 1972, he completed his Doctor of Medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Joe’s years in the Midwest greatly shaped his appreciation and understanding of American culture, economy, politics, music, and cuisine. He was just as happy eating a hamburger at a greasy spoon and singing to the Beatles as he was quoting Shakespeare and discussing the British Empire. Aside from his family, the practice of medicine was Joe’s great love, and he specialized in geriatrics and internal medicine for over 45 years. In addition to caring for his patients, Joe held positions of medical director, hospital chief of staff, and assistant clinical professor at multiple institutions over the years. In the mid-1990s, amidst a successful medical practice in Orange County, CA, Joe temporarily returned to his home country to practice volunteer medicine and teach young physicians. Joe was a loving husband to his wife, Diane/Miaorong Xiao, a selfless and devoted father to his daughters Christina (Jason) and Jennifer, a doting grandfather to his five adoring grandchildren, Joseph Mason, Lila, Emily, Grayson, and Jason Joseph, a treasured brother to Stanley (Tina), Julian (Priscilla), and Elsa (Jerry), a cherished uncle to seven nieces and nephews and their families, and a friend to many. He is deeply missed by all who knew him. The family will hold a celebration of life service on March 14, 2020, at 11:00, at Universal Chung Wah funeral home in Alhambra, CA. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Compassion and Choices, at Joe’s request.

September 29, 1921 - March 7, 2020

WILLIAMS, Harry

Harry was born in Los Angeles to Greek immigrants, Kaliopi and Alex. He was a proud veteran of World War 2, and an ingenious, inventive, artistic craftsman. He had a green thumb that produced beautiful orchids and enormous zinnias. He groomed his bonsai collection to perfection. Harry was renown for his sublime grilled souvlakia and homemade fresh peach ice cream. He was happiest working with his hands, whatever the project or challenge. He loved spending time in his shop, working on his own creations or repairing something for afriend. Itwasararitytoseehim without a pipe in his mouth and a dog by his side. He loved hiking the hills around his beloved John Lautner home, stopping to visit with neighbors along the way. Many knew him as the proprietor of the Beachwood Market that was founded by his father Alex and his uncles nearly 100 years ago in the 1920’s.

Harry was pre-deceased by his lovingparents,his beautifulfirst wife Pauline, his sweet son Paul, accomplished second wife Martha, and his two artistic brothers George and Dino. His daughter Cally, her children Alexander and Pauline, his stepson James, step-grandson Sean and nieces and nephews survive him. An event to honor Harry’s life will be held by invitation.

(101) Seattle, WA born Nisei passed away on January 15, 2020 in Gardena. She is survived by her daughter, Miyoko Ono of Japan; sister, Harue Tsurutome; also survived by many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 16, 2020 at 1:00PM at Faith United Methodist Church. 2115 W. 182nd St., Torrance. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Faith United Methodist Church. http://www.kubotamortuary.com (213) 749-

TSURUTOME, Masako

All I can figure is that they
thought they’d run into
David Copperfield and he’d
make them invisible for a
few days.
The feds say Englander
and the gang partied in Sin
City on the dime of an un-
named businessman who
was “seeking to increase his
business opportunities in
the city.” The booze flowed,
casino chips were free, fe-
male escorts were part of
the package and Englander
was handed an envelope
stuffed with cash.
The federal grand jury
indictment of Englander
begins with a reference to
“multiple suspected pay-to-
play schemes” at City Hall
involving “multiple city
officials, developers, in-
vestors, consultants, lobby-
ists, and other close associ-
ates working in furtherance
of the potentially illegal
schemes.”
If that’s not engraved on
a wall at City Hall, it should
be.
The fact that Englander
was the first to get jammed
up on the feds’ corruption
probe came as a surprise to
many, given that they
raided the home and office
of Councilman Jose Huizar
way back in 2018. No charges
have been filed against
Huizar, but the federal
search warrant at the time
had investigators looking at
possible bribery, extortion,
kickbacks and money laun-
dering involving several city
officials and business fig-
ures.
The striking thing about
the Englander indictment is
his apparent stunning lack
of sophistication, which
seems to have made him an
easy mark for federal inves-
tigators.
Englander, by the way,

was a self-touted public safety advocate and former LAPD reserve police officer. So Officer Dum-Dum, according to the indictment, went to Vegas on June 1, 2017. He was a member of a pow- erful City Council commit- tee that vets development proposals, and went with the aforementioned pals, who just might have had a development proposal in mind? Are these the only knuckleheads in the world who believed that line about how what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? The indictment alleges that in a casino bathroom, Englander accepted an envelope from a businessperson, and it was stuffed with $10,000 in cash. The same businessperson — whose identity I’d love to know, so call me if you know who he or any of the others are — gave Englander $1, in casino chips and covered a $2,481 dinner tab for the group. The high-rollers then allegedly went to another hotel, where the same businessperson covered a $24,000 “bottle service” tab. And then the developer in the group paid another $10,000 for “bottle service and alcohol” at a party that ran into the next morning. So that’s $34,000 for one night of spirits. How is that possible? I called former Las Vegas mayor and longtime mob attorney Oscar Goodman, who once nearly got me killed at a party celebrating a mob murder acquittal, but that’s another story. “What month was it?” Goodman asked of the Englander junket. “I don’t know whether it was in summer, but they have

these little beach parties at various hotels .... Some- times people from the enter- tainment world drop a hundred thousand dollars on a Sunday night, and that’s without gambling.” Goodman, who owns Oscar’s Steakhouse in Vegas, told me price de- pends on taste. “If you’re drinking the equivalent of Dom Perignon ... or Louis XIII cognac, anyone can run up a bill real fast,” Goodman said. Or it was one heck of a lot beer, and if this did indeed happen at one of those beach parties, remind me to never enter a swimming pool in Las Vegas. According to the indictment, a night of drinking was not the end of the party. The next morning, the businessperson allegedly paid for and sent a female escort to Englander’s hotel room. According to Good- man, this kind of thing is not unknown to happen in Vegas. Now let’s jump ahead a few days to June 10, 2017. That’s when hardworking Councilman Englander went to a golf tournament at the Morongo Casino Hotel & Resort in Palm Springs, according to the indictment, where he stepped into the bathroom, and imagine his luck — the same businessperson he hung with in Vegas was in the john with another envelope stuffed with cash. This time the jackpot was $5,000. So where does the pay to play part come in? I’m glad you asked. A week later, said the indictment, “defendant Englander, Businessperson A, and Developer B had lunch so that defendant Englander would introduce

Businessperson A and his company and product to Developer B.” I am shocked, shocked, shocked that things might happen this way. According to the indictment, when Englander began feeling the heat, he tried to cover his tracks, apparently unaware that the sleazy businessperson with all the cash was by then working with the feds and relaying conversations in which Englander repeatedly told him to lie to investigators. Later, Englander allegedly did his own lying when investigators asked him about all of this. Now he’s looking at three counts of witness tamper- ing, three counts of making false statements and one count of scheming to falsify facts. Englander pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 bail, but the former public safety candi- date could be looking at years behind bars if convicted. This case stands as a reminder that the percep- tion exists for some people in the Los Angeles business world that there’s a price for getting what you want out of City Hall. Of course, most people who need a favor are smart enough to realize campaign finance laws are so toothless, they can buy influence without breaking the law. It’s worth noting that one of the city officials along on the Vegas trip was John Lee, who worked as Eng- lander’s chief of staff and is now the councilman for the same district. Some folks are calling for Lee to step down over the Vegas inci- dent, but Lee said in a statement that he was “unaware

of any illegal activities” and has cooperated with investigators. He said he “did everything in my power to pay for and reimburse expenses related to this trip.” So why did Lee go on the trip, why were there any expenses to reimburse, and isn’t “everything in my power” a curious choice of words? Lee, by the way, is run- ning for reelection and leads his challenger, Loraine Lundquist. But a full week after the election, county officials were still counting. Anybody have an abacus you can send to the county registrar? On another note, city

attorney Mike Feuer this week announced his run for mayor just eight months after FBI agents raided the office he runs, serving war- rants in an investigation of two lawsuits related to the disastrous DWP billing scandal. My advice is that you stay tuned, stay healthy, and think twice about rolling the dice in Vegas. One day, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll knock down the new co- ronavirus that’s got people rattled. But there is no vaccine for the virus that infects City Hall.

[email protected]

In Vegas, the cash and booze flowed

[Lopez, from B1]

nied on the Las Vegas trip by
“City Staffer B” — a high-
ranking staffer who worked
for him until roughly June

Lee stepped down that
month as Englander’s chief
of staff.
Lee said Monday that he
was with Englander in Las
Vegas but “was unaware of
any illegal activities for
which Councilmember Eng-
lander is being charged.”
The San Fernando Valley
councilman said in a state-
ment that he had cooper-
ated with the FBI and done
“everything in my power to
pay for and reimburse ex-
penses related to this trip.”
Lee did not answer ques-
tions about whether he is the
person identified as City
Staffer B or explain what
steps he took to pay for ex-
penses incurred in Las
Vegas. Federal investigators
have not accused Lee of
wrongdoing or charged him
in the case. His spokeswom-
an, Grace Yao, added that he
was “absolutely not” the re-
cipient of any escort serv-
ices.
Lee “asks that everyone
please look at the facts and
not jump to conclusions,”
Yao said in a statement
Tuesday. The councilman
was last contacted by law en-
forcement about the matter
in 2017, his spokeswoman
added.
“Given that there is an
ongoing legal proceeding, he
wants to respect that proc-
ess and will not be making
further comment at this
time,” Yao said.
The federal indictment
states that City Staffer B
was provided with some of
the same perks as the coun-
cilman and others who at-
tended the Vegas trip, in-
cluding a hotel room with
“VIP” amenities, an expen-
sive meal and bottle service
and drinks at a nightclub.
Two months after the trip,
City Staffer B was inter-
viewed by the FBI about the
trip, according to the indict-
ment.
After Englander became
aware of the FBI probe, he
sent a $442 check to the
businessman, backdated to
appear as if he had reim-
bursed the man for some ex-
penses in August before
hearing from federal investi-
gators, the indictment
states. The package also in-
cluded a $442 check from
City Staffer B with the same
August date, according to
the indictment.
Federal investigators
cited the backdated check
as part of a scheme by Eng-
lander to “falsify and conceal
material facts,” which in-

cluded coaching the businessman to falsely state that Englander had repeatedly tried to reimburse him. Lundquist, who has not conceded in the council race, said that “if in fact John Lee is Staffer B, he participated in the cover-up by backdat- ing his ‘reimbursement’ check.” “And if that is the case, he should resign,” Lundquist said. Hundreds of people have signed Mathews’ online peti- tion calling on Lee to step down if he is ultimately de- clared the winner of the council seat. Among them is Porter Ranch resident Amy Hood-Rettberg, a Lundquist supporter who called it unfair that the federal indictment was un- sealed days after the election. “I have a hard time imag- ining that he didn’t know something was going on,” Hood-Rettberg said of Lee, citing the fact that he was on the Vegas trip. “We need an overhaul of our City Council. Corruption is rampant. I want someone there who would do something about that.” Phyllis Winger, a former City Hall planning deputy who worked with Lee in the past, said she still supports him and would have voted for him even if the allega- tions had emerged sooner. She complained that “no one seems to want to hold back and wait for facts and truth to come out.” “He’s totally competent and able to continue in the

position he has deservedly won,” Winger said Tuesday. “I see no reason for John to step down. ... These are just accusations.” Lee did not answer ques- tions about what expenses, if any, were left outstanding from the Las Vegas trip. He did not report any gifts on a government form that de- tails his economic interests during that period. Under Los Angeles rules, council aides are generally supposed to report gifts from people doing business in the city, although a gift does not count as a gift if the giver is promptly reim- bursed. Englander announced he was giving up his City Coun- cil seat in October 2018, roughly a year after the FBI first reached out to him for an interview. He left City Hall at the end of December, triggering a special election that Lee ultimately won last August. Lee then went up for a rematch with Lundquist this year. The U.S. Department of Justice has cautioned prose- cutors to “never select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges for the purpose of affecting any election” and encourages them to seek guidance from the department if they have a question about the timing of charges near an election. Former federal prose- cutor Richard Drooyan, who now works in private practice, called it a longstanding “general policy” of the department. “Most people feel that the

criminal justice system should not influence the out- come of an election,” Drooyan said. “If that indi- vidual did something wrong, they will be charged and convicted afterwards and then removed from office.” Democratic political consultant Brian VanRiper said the FBI appeared to have done the right thing in hold- ing off. But he argued that Lee shouldn’t have run for office knowing about the federal investigation into his former boss. “If this had come out a week ago, I think Loraine would be on top right now,” VanRiper said. But Kathay Feng, execu- tive director of watchdog group California Common Cause, said it’s not yet clear to her whether the informa- tion contained in the indictment would have been enough to swing the election against Lee. As of the last tally Tuesday, Lee was more than 1,700 votes ahead of his opponent, putting him at nearly 52% of the vote. And while Englander has been accused of accepting envelopes of cash and the services of an escort, the indictment does not say that Lee or any other city official also received those things, she said. “Prostitutes make a difference in an election. Cold cash makes a difference,” Feng said. “Sad to say, I don’t know if voters get riled up” about potential violations of gift laws, she said.

Calls for John Lee to step down

FORMERCity Councilman Mitch Englander, right, faces criminal charges related to a Las Vegas trip that current City Councilman John Lee took with him.

Katie FalkenbergLos Angeles Times

[Lee, from B1]

Los Angeles Times - 11.03.2020

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources