The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 20

1 8 Part I Tuesday. March 30, OosAngelco (Uimeo TELACU: Agency Created Few Jobs man who lives with his invalid sister, said work crews came lust September and painted his white house bright yellow with maroon trim. He said he was not given a choice of colors, and the yellow paint is al -ready chipping off the walls. "It was very bad work," Pacheco said in Spanish. "It's no good." He complained that work crews refused to come inside and repair his home's crumbling interior-warped floors, peeling plaster, rotted window sills, rusted sinks and a broken heater.

Despite some criticisms of the program, most homeowners said the work crews were well-intentioned, and the program provided repairs they could not have afforded oi her wise. "This house you should seen it," said Freda Martinez, fill. "II was terrible. They (TELACU) saved our neck. I don't know what we would have done." East Los Angeles homeowners have hud difficulty getting home improvement loans because hanks have discriminated against I hem.

TELACU officials said. And this has been a crippling factor for many small businesses as well. So TELACU set up its own net -work of financial services to help the community by providing loans and business advice. Please sec TELACU, PKe 20 and most of them were grateful for the free service. "I had gone three years without the shower working," said 78-year-old Alvin Boyd.

"I had to tape the bathroom pipes because 1 couldn't afford plumbers." Other homeowners had their kitchens and bathrooms remodeled, window screens installed, houses painted and yards cleaned. A bedridden woman had a special wheelchair ramp built, and another woman even got her doghouse painted. But one homeowner complained of a two-year waiting list, while others criticized sloppy workmanship. Cesar Pacheco, a tall, lean old one of former President Jimmy Carter's appointees to the National Commission on Employment Policy. Escarcega has headed TELACU's social services division for more than five years, except for a suspension in 1980 after he was accused by six women employees of sexual harassment.

Among the projects Escarcega directed was TELACU's senior citizen program. The Times has found that Escarcega and his two brothers own the building where the senior citizens center was located until last year. One of the brothers, David Escarcega, said TELACU paid rent of a month for "about three years." But he added that the rent money produced "a very, very minimal profit." Roy Escarcega hung up the phone when Times reporters tried to question him. And TELACU's spokesman Echeveste had "no comment." Refuses to Be Interviewed Escarcega's top aide, Rachel Henkel, also refused to be inter f1 SIMON'S guarantees you can't beat our prices! UNIVERSITY DEGREES' BACHELORS MASTERS a DOCTORATES fcniMtt, KnajanMrtna. IdwcHM aoc(afl Soaanow Kanalrigton Unrvaraity It now taking apoUcatloni from matura parxma lor aceap-tanoa In aprxorxlata rJagraa programs Camrma artandanca la not raqiarad RalalMl work axpartanca will ba avaluataO for acarjamlc cradll Faculty will gulda and asalal dagraa candtdatas through comptauon or ramikxng coursa work via InrJa-panrjanl aturjy.

Sand raauma or curriculum vttaa for avaluanon or wrltacall KENSINGTON UNIVERSITY Glendale. Calif 91206 213245-7224 KitchenAid IlCil Ask for Jackie (213) 371-9433 "We gave them the pattern and showed them how to use the machines," he said. "It's a pretty simple thing. But they (the chair legs) came back two or three times all the wrong way. They weren't even sanded right." The delay cost him some accounts, Sanchez said, but the clincher came 18 months later when TELACU offered him the chair legs free.

"There were about a couple hundred pieces," he recalled. "We picked them up and used them for firewood. It was a waste, man." TELACU, nevertheless, considered the program successful because 37 of the 82 employees later obtained "permanent, unsubsidized employment in the private sector," according to a report. TELACU further claimed that "more than 90 of them were working" when surveyed eight months later. The Times obtained the names of 16 of the workers TELACU claims got jobs, and reporters located 13 of the employers.

Only two said the workers stayed on as regular, but seasonal, employees. Five said they had no record of ever employing ihe laborers. Five others said the workers lasted no more than six months and one lasted only 12 days. One worker who was employed a year was finally fired for being "constantly late" and displaying a "poor and belligerent attitude," records show. This may or may not be typical of TELACU's success, since officials refused to open their books for more comprehensive verification.

Through a variety of government Continued from 10th Page Kt'hcvcste said. "It's understood that they (tenants) will employ people from the area, but I don't think we can enforce it," said George Pla, who has since resigned as TELACU's executive vice president. The park's two major tenants, with more than 500 employees, said that when they moved into their new quarters, they brought their workers with them. "We basically relocated our labor pool," said Omar Boyd, president of Stationers which moved from downtown Los Angeles and employs about 400 people. "We lost very, very few people," Boyd said.

the Federated Group, the park's second-biggest tenant, moved from the Los Angeles airport area. "We thought we might lose some people," said Wilfred Schwartz, Federated's chairman. "But we didn't lose an employee." About 90 of the park is occupied by large corporations. The rest is divided into small units occupied by 18 firms that are "all minority-owned or -operated businesses," Echeveste said. However, of the 13 firms The Times was able to contact, five are neither minority-owned nor minority-operated.

Three others also are not owned by minorities but employ minorities in supervisorial positions. TELACU bought the park site for $5 million, paying far more than what three other bidders said they thought the property was worth. Three Los Angeles real estate developers said they bid between $3 Make Arrangements with David Oreell Silk Floral Arrangements Custom Created For You! From s3.95 per stem Today Only! March 30 Northridge March 31, Aprill Sherman Oaks April 2. 3 Beverly Hills Our experts will create a Usuililul silk (lin.il arrangement just for you as a courlesy Irntii mil incredible selection oi silk downs never seen before. Drew Bretkenridqe noted nationally lor his custom (lower clesiijns at Bloniniiigilulcs, TELACU paid $5 million for the industrial park site, far more than 3 other bidders offered.

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i wm 1 1 VJnVIII pyKLL Northridge 885-1661 Fashion Center Beverly Hills 272-3355 320 N. Rodeo Dr. 90210 iV.ilel parking Rodeo I)r al Dayton Wayl till, III! I Lower level anil ley 37 Fi.shmn Squau Farmers Market 936-2426 Third Fairfax Sherman Oaks 783-2424 South Coast Plaza 3333 Bristol 714-545-5889 viewed by The Times about reports that she drove a TELACU-owned van about 4,000 miles on vacation to Racine, and back. "It was common knowledge that she took the TELACU van," one former CETA employee said. "She I came back and gave us a glowing report at a staff meeting." A TELACU spokesman said he did not know about the incident, but explained that certain TELACU of- ficials were provided company cars "which they were then free to use on their own time.

As far as I know there were no restrictions on how far you could travel in those cars." Former CETA workers have also told both The Times and federal in- vestigators that federally paid job crews were put to work making im- provements on the homes of TELA- CU officials. Henry Garcia, a former CETA worker, said he helped lay a patio and widen a driveway at the homes of two TELACU officials. 'Not Sure' It Happened Asked about these reports, TELACU spokesman Echeveste 'said, "I'm not sure that happened." If it did, added attorney Rubalcava, "I assume that would be a conflict." Through its "handyman" and "weatherization" programs, TELACU has provided training for unemployed laborers working on the homes of residents who could not afford to take care of the property themselves. TELACU claims it repaired more than 4,000 homes from 1979 to 1981, but officials refused to provide any names or addresses for verification, citing concern for the privacy of homeowners. The City of Los Angeles, which channeled the bulk of the funds to TELACU, also refused to supply addresses.

The county, which has criticized TELACU in audits for failing to verify the ownership or income of residents before authorizing repairs, did furnish The Times with a list of 38 houses that TELACU repaired under a 1980-81 county grant. The county gave TELACU to repair 70 houses. TELACU spent 78 of the money, but repaired only 38 homes little more than half thus ranking second-lowest in meeting its goal among 17 community groups funded by the county for the same service. The Times was able to locate 27 of the 38 residents whose homes were repaired under the county grant. tfiMfilCffllrm rem war iKgmTmLFM million and $3.5 million for the property.

"It was astounding to us how high it (TELACU's bid) was," said one of the bidders, Wayne Ratkovich, president of Ratkovich Bowers Inc. "They (the seller) got an inflated price that the private market couldn't afford to pay." The industrial park was built with TELACU officials planning to bring in their own bank and set up labor-intensive companies manufacturing aquariums, wallpaper and furniture. TELACU invested more than $1 million in government funds in these ventures, but only the aquarium company moved into the industrial park and it is now out of business. One manufacturing project that a former TELACU employee called a "fiasco" was launched in 1978 with a $500,000 government grant. The idea was to set up an assembly line to train laborers in making skateboards, beach sandals and furniture parts.

The workers made 6,000 skateboards, but after interviewing skateboarders from age 4 to 24, TELACU officials concluded in a report that their product was "four or five years behind the times." As for the beach sandals, nobody would buy them because of "a distinct imperfection of having too much clearance between the main toe strap and the sandal, causing the sandal to disengage," TELACU acknowledged in a report. Meanwhile. Ernie Sanchez Sr. had agreed to buy about $5,000 worth of chair legs from TELACU for his Baldwin Park furniture programs, TELACU claims that it trained and found work for 2,144 people between 1969 and 1981. Much of the money spent on job training has not yet been audited, but more than 50 program violations were reported in a 1979 county audit of $1.1 million.

In some cases, auditors found that federal money was spent training people in occupations for which they had already been trained. Some trainees did not meet residency requirements and failed to state their annual income on application forms, while in other cases time cards were pre-signed and pre-stamped by supervisors, auditors reported. The Times found that some participants were relatives of TELACU officials. The aging mother-in-law of TELACU's general counsel, Carlos Garcia, was enrolled for a short time in the CETA program. The woman's daughter said her mother had been in a convalescent home for several years.

Garcia refused to discuss the matter with The Times. But TELACU's attorney, Domin-ick Rubalcava, said, "I don't think she was on (the payroll) for a protracted period of time." He added that he thinks she met the program's income and residency requirements. Served on U.S. Panel TELACU's job-training programs, as well as its other government-funded social service programs, arc headed by Roy Escarce-ga, vice president of urban development, who also served two terms as WHAT'S YOUR REAL ESTATE FINANCING YOU JUST FOUND A NEW HOME AND NEED A DOWN YOUR HOME SOLD BUT YOU CARRIED BACK PAPER INSTEAD OF GETTING AIL THE CASH YOU NEEDED YOU NEED AN ASSIGNMENT LOAN. 1L PAYMENT, BUT YOU HAVENT SOLD YOUR OLD HOME YET.

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