Does L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (MRT) have something to hide? It is no coincidence that the Mayme Clayton Library could possibly be evicted from its Culver City, location to make way for a constituent center, after an employee from the L.A. County Real Estate division plead guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for favorable lease terms. This is the second library MRT’s office has considered closing.
Residents in the Florence-Firestone area are fuming that MRT wanted to close the library in their community stating “it is not currently needed for any county purpose”. The county initially planned on renovating the library, and keep it as part of a housing project, but those plans were scrapped.
Culver City Times is reporting that the Mayme Clayton library received notice, back in October, stating their lease would no longer be renewed.
The month before, in September, LA County employee Thomas M. Shepos plead guilty related to accepting bribes from developers looking to lease county owned land. Shepos worked in the county’s Real Estate division and was responsible for negotiating leases on behalf of his employer. Shepos scheme unraveled due to bribes he accepted from Arman Gabee who sought land leases to house county offices in the Hawthorne Mall.
Related: Former L.A. County employee to plead guilty in real estate bribery probe
Are these library’s tied to the now fired Thomas Shepos and is MRT trying to cover his ass? We are still waiting to see if MRT and his son Sebastian Ridley-Thomas will be indicted for that dubious donation to USC. Stay tuned.
