Trutanich "Man of the Year"

December 30, 2009

Ron Kaye and the folks at OurLA.org voted Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich is the Man of the Year!

Please take a moment to view the excellent video that OurLA.org have put together:

Read the full article explaining why OurLA.org selected Nuch for this honor by clicking here.

Santa Nuch and Helpers Give Toys and Joy

On Friday, December 18, City Attorney Trutanich and his “Santa’s Helpers” spearheaded a toy and gift collection within the City Attorney’s office to benefit the children of Para Los Niños.


Unique dolls were donated by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and were handcrafted by female inmates at the Century Regional Detention Center. The other toys were purchased in the Toy District downtown, thanks to donations by the City Attorney and his staff.


Para Los Niños was established in 1980 in response to the plight of children living in Skid Row hotels. Today, in its 29th year of operation, Para Los Niños provides integrated educational and family support services to nearly 9,000 economically challenged children, youth and families throughout Southern California.

LACA Roundtable Discussion on Child Abuse

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich hosted a Meet and Greet/Roundtable Discussion with more than 40 representatives from City and County Child Abuse Agencies.




The City Attorney, along with Tracy Webb, Managing Attorney for the Crime Prevention and Youth Protection Division and Director of Child Abuse Policy, Earl Thomas, Chief of the Criminal and Special Operations Branch and Maureen Siegel, Deputy Chief, Criminal and Special Litigation met with a wide variety of city and county child abuse experts to discuss prosecution and prevention issues important to the community and to examine how we can focus more resources on collaborative and partnership efforts to protect children. In attendance for the event were:

Deanne Tilton-Durfee, Edie Schulman and Cathy Walsh from the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect;

Eric Marts, Xiomara Flores-Holguin and Emilio Mendoza from DCFS;

Nancy Hayes and Erin Kelley - UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital;

Vince Neglia and Moses Castillo from LAPD's Abused Child Unit;

Marge Graf, General Counsel from the Los Angeles Archdiocese
and Suzanne Healy, Los Angeles Archdiocese Victim Assistance

Monika McCoy, PhD - Los Angeles Community Child Abuse Councils;

Assistant US Attorney Sally Meloch;

James Owens from the County Counsel's Office;

Bill Dworin, Retired LAPD Detective and coordinator of "It's Not a Secret;"

Sue Spears from LAUSD

Carol Baker, Ruel Nolledo and Mayra Gomez from First 5 LA, Laura Romero and Maria Velez from LA Universal Preschool;

Victoria Adams and Pam Booth from the LA County District Attorney's Office;

Rosemarie Belda, Lead Attorney of the LA County Children's Special Investigation Unit, Attorney Richard Schwab, Michael Pines, PhD, Marie Russell, MD - LAC+USC Hospital and Debi Biederman from the LA City Domestic Violence Council and Mara Abrams from the Remedee Foundation.

Carmen Trutanich, the Grand Marshall

Our Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was this year's Community Grand Marshall in the 29th Annual Spirit of San Pedro Holiday Parade.

This year's theme was "Celebrating Holidays Around the World".

Carmen and Noreen Trutanich rode in a 1958 Cadillac belonging to Dr. Denis Paglianno.

Cindy Shin Represents LACA in Korea

City Attorney's Office Public Information Officer Cindy Shin recently visited Korea where she visited Sung-Kyun-Kwan University (Seoul) and Catholic University of Daegu (Daegu) to speak to students about the structure and functions of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.



Cindy's presentations were made to a class called, Understanding English Speaking Countries and which is taught at both universities (led by Professor Hyun-Gook Shin, Ph.D.).

Cindy presented an overview of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office which included information regarding how it serves the City of Los Angeles, and the efforts of the City Attorney to improve the quality of life and public safety for its citizenry.

Students also learned about the Office's Public Information Office and its daily tasks and functions as well as efforts in the Asian American Community.



Professor Shin said the students were delighted with the presentation and gained a new perspective and insight into this government entity. He added that they were very happy to learn not only about the City Attorney's Office and working for the government but also the lifestyle in Los Angeles and studying abroad in the US.

Cindy also visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of Korea (SPO), which is, as the headquarters for a multitude of prosecutorial activities, responsible for directing, supervising and supporting all prosecutors' offices around the nation. During her visit, she toured the facility and met with the leading spokesperson, supervising prosecutors and city beat news reporters.

Dress-A-Bear/Dog for the Holidays!

The Los Angeles City Attorney Police Litigation Unit is once again participating in the Dress-A-Bear/Dog holiday program for the Salvation Army. The bears/pups come "naked" and are lovingly named and dressed by our generous City Attorney employees (PLU). The bears/dogs are dressed to accommodate both boy and girls preferences. Our bears/dogs come in many varieties from precious ice princesses, cheerleader, Ursula and surfer for a girl to Jedi, fireman, pirate and Viking for a boy!

The program benefits families in need who are registered with the Salvation Army in Whittier, CA. The families receive food baskets for the holidays and parents are allowed to pick a bear/dog for their children.

This is the second year the Police Litigation Unit has participated in this worthwhile program.


- Sonia L. Garcia