Lakewood leader changes approach to Gascon
Councilman had declined a no-confidence vote against the district attorney.
By: Brian Maquena
February 24, 2022
LAKEWOOD, CALIF. — The city’s longest-serving council member apparently changed his mind about a no-confidence vote against District Attorney George Gascon after a school teacher-turned realtor pulled paperwork to run against him.
Previously, Councilman Todd Rogers appeared to cast shade on the idea of a no-confidence vote against Gascon, highlighting supposed tradition.
“The Lakewood way is not to just blast people from a distance,” said Rogers at a Sept. 14 meeting, when City Council voted to send a complaint letter rather than pass a no-confidence vote. “Our way is to communicate with folks. Try to become educated. Listen to varying perspectives, and sometimes agree to disagree.”
Rogers was referring his attendance at a regional roundtable hosted by Gascon in May 2021, but later comments at the Sept. 14 meeting showed he was not a full-blown supporter of no-confidence votes at that time.
“There have been several cities that have taken these no-confidence votes against the DA and it’s a political thing. I understand,” Rogers later said at the Sept. 14 Council meeting.
These words stood in sharp contrast to what Rogers posted on his Facebook and Instagram social media accounts after it was reported that Michelle Hamlin—who after 16 years left teaching at the Los Angeles Unified School District to homeschool her children—had pulled paperwork to run for Rogers’ Council seat.
After talking about how he and other area-council members met with Gascon at a May 19, 2021 roundtable meeting, Rogers posted on Facebook and Instagram that he would request a no-confidence vote against the district attorney.
“[Gascon] needs to know that it is his responsibility to represent the public safety priorities of Lakewood rather than impose what HE thinks is best for us,” Rogers posted on Feb. 22, noting that Council would not be able to take action on the proposal during that evening’s meeting.
Rogers on Feb. 11 had announced on social media his reelection bid this year, highlighting his experience in dealing with crises and social unrest during his time as mayor in 2020.
While many on Rogers’ social media pages praised Rogers’ supposed leadership on the no-confidence vote, others on unofficial Lakewood crime-and-community Facebook pages focused instead on Rogers’ seemingly convenient change of heart.
“Haven’t seen it yet,” wrote David Grkinich when the Lakewood Populist called for the Council to do a no-confidence vote against Gason. “Lots of politicians seeing poll numbers on crime are suddenly becoming pro police. Don’t forget them on election day.”
“Timing is interesting,” wrote Hamlin on Rogers’ post, regarding his sudden support for a no-confidence vote against the district attorney. “I don’t believe in coincidence. This needed to happen a year ago.”
The Lakewood Populist has posted in various neighborhood Facebook groups how Rogers’ sudden support of a no-confidence vote against Gascon stood in contrast to Rogers’ previous approach to Gascon and his soft-on-crime policies. The Lakewood Populist also reported to these Facebook groups how Rogers embraced this no-holds bar approach against Gascon after Hamlin’s candidacy was announced in a Feb. 16 article.
At Tuesday’s Council meeting, Rogers took about 23 seconds to request a vote of no-confidence against Gascon’s policies for the next meeting’s agenda. There were no other comments by other council members on the issue.
“In light of current events, I believe it’s time for us to have that conversation,” Rogers said at Tuesday’s meeting about the no-confidence vote.
There has been outrage expressed over the recent situation of a trans child molester—a male previously named James Tubbs who now goes by the name Hannah Tubbs—gloating over a light sentence given to him by Gascon. On a popular, unofficial Lakewood community Facebook page, 31 users have posted angry emogees and there were 20 comments, nearly all calling for Gascon’s recall.
On the posting, the Lakewood Populist said this was another reason why the Council should had done a no-confidence vote a year ago.
“Just to look at Gascon makes me sick to my stomach,” posted Wayne Pistey, who has told the Lakewood Populist how he has reached out to Rogers for a no-confidence vote in the past.
Interesting enough, Rogers had previously acknowledged the benefits of the no-confidence votes against Gascon while declining to push for Lakewood to join now-31 cities in passing such a vote.
When reporting to Council on May 25, 2021 how Gascon held a roundtable meeting with council members from southeast Los Angeles County cities, Rogers thanked Gascon but said the district attorney was probably forced to have the roundtable due to all the no-confidence votes by other city councils.
“[Gascon’s] responding to a lot of the concerns and probably no-confidence votes that he’s been receiving from around the county,” Rogers said at the May 25, 2021 meeting.
This begs the question, Why has Rogers and all the Lakewood City Council waited so long to even consider a no-confidence vote?
Regardless of the reason, Hamlin made clear on Tuesday that she and her supporters were unhappy with Council’s approach to Gascon thus far.
“You stood by while LA’s radical DA, Gascon, refused to uphold the rule of law, resulting in our community being repeatedly victimized by those who have zero respect for the rule of law,” Hamlin told Council during the public comments segment.
The city has refused to show public comments on online Council meeting videos since Hamlin and others used the public comments segment to voice their opposition to mask mandates in summer 2021.
Hamlin went onto say how she and her family a few months ago woke up to find a mentally-unstable homeless person asleep on their porch, saying it took 30 minutes to convince the person to leave.
Click here to see Michelle Hamlin’s address to Lakewood City Council.
“That’s not a unique story in Lakewood, unfortunately,” she said, complaining how the Council had also yet to adequately address routine street racing in the city.
“We demand that you answer for your inaction,” Hamlin said, “If you are not standing up for our freedoms, you are part of the problem, respectfully.”