Los Angeles — Today Wendy Greuel called on her opponent Eric Garcetti to cut ties with oil drilling company Venoco, after the Los Angeles Times reported that Garcetti has been leasing a Beverly Hills property he owns to the oil company.
Serious health concerns have been raised about Venoco, which drills for oil next to Beverly Hills High School. The company was fined in 2003 for illegally venting gasses over high school playing fields. Subsequent lawsuits alleged the gasses caused cancer.
"As the mom of a child in our public schools, I know that nothing is more important than the health and safety of our school children. It is absolutely wrong that Eric is allowing children to be in danger by leasing his property to this company," Greuel said. "How could Eric have possibly endorsed an oil well at a high school where children are? It's time for Eric to cut ties with Venoco and terminate this lease."
The Times reported that Garcetti failed to disclose that he stands to gain financially from his relationship with Venoco, a conflict of interest.
Garcetti signed the lease with Venoco in 1998, and since then the company has faced with a series of fines, lawsuits, and complaints. In 2003, Erin Brokovich sued Venoco on behalf of families who are suffering from Cancer and Hodgkins disease.
That same year AQMD inspectors found Venoco illegally vented well gas over the Beverly Hills High School playing fields — 230,000 cubic feet on the day they took their sample. Venoco was fined $10,000.
The next year, a Venoco oil spill caused massive pollution off the coast of Santa Barbara. As a result, Wendy authored a resolution in opposition to Venoco's offshore drilling.
Greuel has a strong record of protecting the Los Angeles environment. She set the record for the most open space preserved by a City Councilwoman, preserving nearly 1,200 acres of open space in Council District 2, and she's vowed as mayor to increase water recycling, increase LADWP's energy efficiency efforts, and add parks across Los Angeles.
A lifelong Angeleno, Wendy Greuel started her career in public service in the office of former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, eventually becoming deputy to the Mayor. Following her tenure in Mayor Bradley’s office, Wendy worked as a senior advisor at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 1997, Wendy transitioned into the private sector, working in the film industry as an executive at DreamWorks Pictures, and in 2002, she was elected to the Los Angeles City Council to represent the City’s 2nd District. In 2009, Wendy was elected Controller for the City of Los Angeles. As Controller, she is the taxpayer’s watchdog, and is responsible for ensuring that the City is held accountable for its actions.
Wendy Greuel is considered one of the leading candidates for Mayor, and is the only candidate in the race who has already run successfully citywide. In 2009, Greuel received more votes than any candidate for any office. In the race for Controller, she earned almost two-thirds of the vote and finished 47% ahead of her next closest competitor.