Rockard John Delgadillo (born July 15, 1960), known as Rocky Delgadillo, is an American lawyer and politician. He is the former City Attorney of Los Angeles (2001–09).
Delgadillo is a native of Highland Park, Los Angeles. He attended Harvard College, where he won the Robert F. Kennedy Award given each year to a member of the varsity football team. He went on to Columbia Law School, graduating in 1986.
He passed the California State Bar in 1986. After a short period in private practice at the prestigious Los Angeles law firm O'Melveny & Meyers, he joined Rebuild LA, a non-profit formed in the wake of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. He later joined the administration of Mayor Richard Riordan, eventually becoming deputy mayor for economic development.
He ran against former Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in the 2006 race for the Democratic nomination for state Attorney General of California.
City Attorney
As City Attorney, he has subscribed to the "broken windows" theory of law enforcement. Among the programs Delgadillo has implemented a neighborhood prosecutor program that puts city attorneys in each of the city's police divisions. He has also sped up the implementation of civil gang injunctions, which largely limit association by gang members in certain defined areas.
Civil rights groups have challenged the injunctions, but the state's courts have upheld them. They have come under renewed attention recently, particularly in South Los Angeles, where some community members have complained that it is difficult for gang members to escape a sometimes intrusive law enforcement structure.
One of the most well-publicized prosecutions by Delgadillo's office was that of entertainer Paul Reubens, more commonly known as Pee Wee Herman, for possession of child pornography. Delgadillo's office arranged a plea bargain requiring Reubens to pay a $100 fine and serve three years of probation.[2]
Delgadillo was criticized for recommending to the Los Angeles City Council that the City pay $2.7 million to black firefighter Tennie Pierce, who alleged he was fed dog food as a firehouse prank and later retaliated against by his fellow firefighters when he complained to superiors. Delgadillo argued that the City would likely have been forced to pay even more money to Pierce had the case gone to trial, in addition to legal costs, considering jury verdicts in past cases of a similar nature.
According to the Los Angeles Times, in September 2007, the City of Los Angeles agreed to pay Pierce $1.49 million to avoid going to trial, with the support of then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had vetoed the earlier $2.7 million settlement offer proposed by Delgadillo, and the City Council. With legal costs to the City reaching an estimated $1.35 million, the taxpayers ended up having to pay out $2.84 million in the Pierce matter.[citation needed]
An agreement facilitating digital billboards in Los Angeles while he was seeking campaign funds from the industry created controversy as to possible bias in agreeing to the advertising expansion.[3]
In 2007, Delgadillo's wife Michelle pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid license. A bench warrant had been outstanding on Mrs. Delgadillo since 1998, after she failed to appear in court following a traffic incident. Delgadillo admitted that his wife had been driving his city-owned vehicle with a suspended license, and that she had damaged the vehicle, which was then repaired at city expense. He subsequently reimbursed the city for the $1,222 repair bill. It was also reported that Delgadillo had been driving his personal vehicle without insurance from June 2005 to July 2006; he said he was "embarrassed" by the situation and blamed his wife for the oversight.[4]
Awards
"John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award", Los Angeles County Democratic Party (2003)
References
^. Archived from the original on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2007-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Delgadillo's wife pleads no contest". LA Times. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
January 04, 2023
rocky, delgadillo, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, addi. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Rocky Delgadillo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions March 2018 This biographical article is written like a resume Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic March 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rockard John Delgadillo born July 15 1960 known as Rocky Delgadillo is an American lawyer and politician He is the former City Attorney of Los Angeles 2001 09 Rocky DelgadilloDelgadillo speaking in 200716th Los Angeles City AttorneyIn office July 1 2001 June 30 2009Preceded byJames HahnSucceeded byCarmen TrutanichPersonal detailsBornRockard John Delgadillo 1960 07 15 July 15 1960 age 62 Los Angeles California U S Political partyDemocraticSpouseMichelle DelgadilloAlma materHarvard University B A Columbia Law School J D Contents 1 Career 2 Biography 3 City Attorney 4 Awards 5 ReferencesCareer EditTeacher Coach Los Angeles Unified School District Franklin Attorney O Melveny amp Myers Director of Business Development Rebuild LA Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Office of Mayor Richard Riordan Elected City Attorney of Los Angeles 2001 Re elected City Attorney of Los Angeles 2005 CEO of Los Angeles County Medical Association 2011 1 Partner Liner LLP 2011Biography EditThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately Find sources Rocky Delgadillo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Delgadillo is a native of Highland Park Los Angeles He attended Harvard College where he won the Robert F Kennedy Award given each year to a member of the varsity football team He went on to Columbia Law School graduating in 1986 He passed the California State Bar in 1986 After a short period in private practice at the prestigious Los Angeles law firm O Melveny amp Meyers he joined Rebuild LA a non profit formed in the wake of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles He later joined the administration of Mayor Richard Riordan eventually becoming deputy mayor for economic development He ran against former Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in the 2006 race for the Democratic nomination for state Attorney General of California City Attorney EditAs City Attorney he has subscribed to the broken windows theory of law enforcement Among the programs Delgadillo has implemented a neighborhood prosecutor program that puts city attorneys in each of the city s police divisions He has also sped up the implementation of civil gang injunctions which largely limit association by gang members in certain defined areas Civil rights groups have challenged the injunctions but the state s courts have upheld them They have come under renewed attention recently particularly in South Los Angeles where some community members have complained that it is difficult for gang members to escape a sometimes intrusive law enforcement structure One of the most well publicized prosecutions by Delgadillo s office was that of entertainer Paul Reubens more commonly known as Pee Wee Herman for possession of child pornography Delgadillo s office arranged a plea bargain requiring Reubens to pay a 100 fine and serve three years of probation 2 Delgadillo was criticized for recommending to the Los Angeles City Council that the City pay 2 7 million to black firefighter Tennie Pierce who alleged he was fed dog food as a firehouse prank and later retaliated against by his fellow firefighters when he complained to superiors Delgadillo argued that the City would likely have been forced to pay even more money to Pierce had the case gone to trial in addition to legal costs considering jury verdicts in past cases of a similar nature According to the Los Angeles Times in September 2007 the City of Los Angeles agreed to pay Pierce 1 49 million to avoid going to trial with the support of then Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who had vetoed the earlier 2 7 million settlement offer proposed by Delgadillo and the City Council With legal costs to the City reaching an estimated 1 35 million the taxpayers ended up having to pay out 2 84 million in the Pierce matter citation needed An agreement facilitating digital billboards in Los Angeles while he was seeking campaign funds from the industry created controversy as to possible bias in agreeing to the advertising expansion 3 In 2007 Delgadillo s wife Michelle pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid license A bench warrant had been outstanding on Mrs Delgadillo since 1998 after she failed to appear in court following a traffic incident Delgadillo admitted that his wife had been driving his city owned vehicle with a suspended license and that she had damaged the vehicle which was then repaired at city expense He subsequently reimbursed the city for the 1 222 repair bill It was also reported that Delgadillo had been driving his personal vehicle without insurance from June 2005 to July 2006 he said he was embarrassed by the situation and blamed his wife for the oversight 4 Awards Edit John F Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award Los Angeles County Democratic Party 2003 References Edit Staff About LACMA the Los Angeles County Medical Association Archived from the original on 2012 02 01 Retrieved 2012 01 15 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2006 03 23 Retrieved 2007 06 18 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Rocky and his billboard friends LA Observed Delgadillo s wife pleads no contest LA Times 21 June 2007 Retrieved 29 July 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rocky Delgadillo amp oldid 1125290515, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
