LAT20170111

CALIFORNIA

WEDNESDAY,JANUARY11, 2017:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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After a public hearing
marked by angry clashes be-
tween supporters of Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump
and pro-immigrant activ-
ists, the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors on
Tuesday approved the cre-
ation ofa new officethat
would help immigrantsre-
ceive county assistance.
The Office of Immigrant
Affairswouldprovidea“one-
stop shop” for those seeking
help, accordingto a state-
mentreleasedbySupervisor
Hilda Solis, who along with
Supervisor SheilaKuehl co-
sponsored the motion cre-
ating the office.
It hasn’t been deter-
mined yet exactly what serv-
ices the officewould offer,
but Solis’office said itwould
help immigrantsfind legal
representationto fight de-
portationcases and ass ist
them in identifying other so-
cial services.A detailedplan
—with a budget andstaffing
levels — is expectedto be
proposed later thisyear.
“I want to remind our
communities that the
county will continue to
stand against hate and pro-

PLAN

FOR

AGENCY

SPAWNS

CLASH

Tr ump backers and

pro-immigration

activistssquare off

overcountyOffice

of ImmigrantAffairs.

ByAdam Elmahrek

and MayaLau

[SeeImmigration,B7]

MONO LAKE, Calif.— Leaning

againsta wooden rail, environmental

activist Geoffrey McQuilkintook stock

of a parched geologicalwonderland

that had been altered bya weekend

deluge.

Theair was still thic k with mois-

ture, and this lake’s tributarieswere

cascading down from surrounding

mountains, swollen by cargoes offresh

snowmeltand rain. Frothy whitecaps

and wavelets lappedover grass mead-

ows that had been dry ground only a

week ago. The lake’s famoustufa for-

mations— for so long a symbol of Cali-

fornia’s lack ofwater — werecapped

with snow.

Similar sceneswereplaying out at

lakes andreservoirs acrossNorthern

California asweeks of heavy rain and

snow brought them back to life.

Throughout thecourseof California’s

nearly six-year drought, the declining

water levels at these places became a

starksymbolof thestate’s watershort-

age.Nowthey serve as barometers of

the state’s rapidlyevolving drought

DROUGHT WATCH

ABREAKon Monday in a series of storms moving acrossCalifornia highlights the snow-covered White Mountains near Crowley Lake.

Photographs byBrianvan der BrugLos Angeles Times

Revived by weeks of rain

Water levels at state’s once-dwindling lakes have risenrapidly

ANOTHER STORMlastweekend helped raise the water level of MonoLake by at least 6 inches.

Above, environmental activist Geoffrey McQuilkin looks outover the lake on Monday.

ByLouisSahagun,

Matt Stevens andJoseph Serna

[SeeLakes,B5]

SACRAMENTO — An

Assembly panel on Tuesday

reco mmended the confir-

mation of LosAngeles Rep.

Xavier Becerra as state at-

torneygeneral after the no-

minee pledgedto aggres-

sively defend state policies

on immigration, civil rights

and the environment

against potential attacks by

President-elect Donald

Trump’s incoming adminis-

tration.

Before the panel’s 6-

vote infavorofconfirmation,

with all Republicans op-

posed,co-Chairman Reggie

Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Ange-

les) told Becerra that heex-

pects the state will become

involved ina “long and fero-

cious and hard-fought legal

war”withthefederalgovern-

ment.

“Now more than ever we

need an attorney general

who will defend our values

and stand upto the nextad-

ministration’s backwardvi-

sio n for America,” Jones-

Sawyersaidduringthehear-

ing, denouncing Trump’s

campaign rhetoric as “xeno-

phobic.”

Gov. Jerry Brown intro-

duced Becerra atthe two-

hour hearing,warningthat

“there are big battles ahead”

and calling his nominee an

“outstanding candidate

thatcan certainlychampion

the causeswe believe in.”

The nomination still

must be acted on by the full

Assembly, which is sched-

uledto vote Friday,aswellas

the Senate. The Senate

Rules Committee will hold a

confirmation hearing Jan.

18.

Becerrawas questioned

for more than an hour by

members of the Assembly

Special Committee on the

Office of the Attorney Gen-

eral.Hetoldthemheisready

to fight forthe state’s values.

REP. XAVIER BECERRAgreets AssemblymanTom Lackey before his confir-

mation hearing. He was recommendedfor stateattorneygeneral on a 6-3vote.

Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times

Becerra clears 1st hurdle

Gov. Brown’s nominee

for state attorney

general gets Assembly

committee’s backing.

ByPatrickMcGreevy

[SeeBecerra,B4]

Federal prosecutors an-

nounced Tuesday thatthey

willretryformerLosAngeles

County Sheriff Lee Baca fol-

lowinga recent mistrial in

which a jury nearly cleared

himofobstructinganFBIin-

vestigation into the county’s

jails.

The judge in the case also

grantedarequestbytheU.S.

attorney’s office to allow

prosecutorsto include the

charge of making false state-

mentsto federal authorities

in theretrial.U.S. District

Judge Percy Anderson pre-

viously split that charge

from the obstructionand

conspiracy charges Baca

faced at trial last month.

During thetwo-week tri-

al, prosecutorsfrom theU.S.

attorney’s officetri ed to con-

vincejuro rs that Baca had

playeda centralrole in a

scheme carried out by a

group of subordinates to

thwart an FBI investigation

into abuses andcorruption

bysheriff’s deputieswor king

Feds will retry

Baca after first

jury deadlock

LEE BACA,right, will return to courtFeb. 21 on

allegations heobstructed an FBI probe of county jails.

Mark BosterLos Angeles Times

New obstruction case

againstformer sheriff

will include charge of

lyingtoinvestigators.

ByJoel Rubin

[SeeBaca,B6]

It looked
good. It
sounded
good.
The Los
Angeles City
Council, in the
wake of recent
Timesex-
poses by
DavidZahniserand Emily
Alpert Reyes on City Hall’s
legendary pay-to-playcul-
ture, took what seemedto
be a positive stepTuesday
to limit the influence of
campaign donations from
developers.
But don’t send cards of
congratulations or break
out the party hats just yet.
Just as no amount of
Raid can kill all thecock-
roaches, in politics,money
gets where it wants to go.
Slama door, and itfinds two
windows.
So sure, let’s ban dona-
tionsto City Council mem-
bersand the mayorfrom
developers who have proj-
ects up forreview by the city.
But I’mgoing to hazard a
guess that such a ban
wouldn’t be terribly effec-
tive, and I’m noteven sure
it’ll happen.
First,would the system

STEVE LOPEZ

Bandage

won’t fix

‘pay to

play’

[SeeLopez,B5]

Surviving

the aftermath

LAPD will increase

training and support

for its officers after

shootings.B