Martin Ludlow
Encyclopedia
Martin Ludlow was a member of the Los Angeles, California
, City Council, representing the 10th district
. He resigned effective June 30, 2005, when he became the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. He pleaded guilty in state and federal courts the same year to charges that he had used union workers and union money to help his City Council campaign. In 2008 he was doing "part-time consulting work."
| |}>
Ludlow was born in 1964 to a black father who served in the military and a white mother. He was placed in a foster home and named Marty. In 1965 he was adopted by a white couple, Willis Ludlow, a Methodist Minister, and Anne Ludlow, a clerical worker; they renamed him Martin after Martin Luther King. He was brought up in Idaho Falls
and Pocatello, Idaho
. The elder Ludlow ran for Congress in 1972; he won the Democratic nomination but lost the election by a wide margin.
The Ludlow family moved from Idaho to Washington, D.C.
, Syracuse, New York
, and finally to Oberlin, Ohio
, in 1976. He attended Ohio State University
but did not graduate. He moved to California and attended Santa Monica City College, then became an intern for U.S. Representative Julian Dixon, after which he worked with at-risk youth in the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. He was a field representative for the Service Employees International Union
.
In 2004, Ludlow was married to Kimberly Roxanne Blake in a private ceremony performed by her father, Bishop Charles E. Blake
, pastor of the West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ. They have one child of their own, Martin Jr., and are parents of five others.
, and in 2001 he was named political director of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor under the executive secretary, Miguel Contreras
. In 2002 he became a member of the staff of Assembly member Herb Wesson
.
With the backing of organized labor he won election to the City Council in May 2003 in a runoff election over Deron Williams by a 56-44 ratio. He was also endorsed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
"and other business groups." He was sworn in for a term beginning July 1 by his mother, Anne, and Ethel Bradley, the widow of former Mayor Tom Bradley
, in a public ceremony dedicated to Willis Ludlow.
Ludlow was appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
board, and in early 2004 it became known that he was the subject of an investigation into his relations with a firm that proposed to build a West Los Angeles transportation yard for a fleet of buses. No charges were filed.
In June 2005, Ludlow was appointed interim secretary-treasurer, the chief official, of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, as of July 1, and stated he would quit the City Council on June 30. He won the job permanently at a union election in June and proceeded to successfully fight the plans of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
to limit the ability of public employee unions to collect political money from their members.
In February 2006, he announced that he would resign as a result of the criminal investigations into the financing of his City Council campaign, and news surfaced that a plea deal was being arranged. Sources told reporters that Ludlow actively encouraged Service Employees International Union Local 99 "to provide illegal help to his campaign," some $53,000, "and the money involved came from labor union accounts that the federal government oversees." He said in a statement:
and $45,000 in fines and costs for conspiring to illegally divert school employees' union funds to his 2003 election campaign. Ludlow was banned from holding elected office for four years. In June of that year, federal Judge Manuel Real
sentenced him to five years' probation and 2,000 hours of community service and ordered Ludlow to return $36,400 to the school employees' union. Ludlow was barred from serving in leadership position with any union for thirteen years. Ludlow had earlier been fined $105,000 by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for violating city campaign laws.
Ludlow's financial problems have resulted in a "warm embrace" by Los Angeles civic leaders, a Los Angeles Times article reported, including at least one fund-raiser dinner and other kinds of help.
In a critical editorial, though, the Times said that the fundraiser amounted to "a collective smirk to the people of Los Angeles," and the Los Angeles Daily News
editorialized that: "Astonishingly, Ludlow has gotten nothing but sympathy from the city's elite, as if he were the victim of wrongdoing and not a criminal."
In June 2008, Times columnist Kurt Streeter wrote that Ludlow had found "full redemption" through his volunteer work at Dorsey High School as a volunteer coaching assistant "working to keep kids on the straight path with his buzz saw energy, boundless optimism and a humility forged by the crucible of public humiliation."
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, City Council, representing the 10th district
Los Angeles City Council District 10
Los Angeles City Council District 10 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council. It includes parts of Palms, Koreatown and South Los Angeles. Herb Wesson has been the incumbent since 2005....
. He resigned effective June 30, 2005, when he became the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. He pleaded guilty in state and federal courts the same year to charges that he had used union workers and union money to help his City Council campaign. In 2008 he was doing "part-time consulting work."
Biography
Ludlow was born in 1964 to a black father who served in the military and a white mother. He was placed in a foster home and named Marty. In 1965 he was adopted by a white couple, Willis Ludlow, a Methodist Minister, and Anne Ludlow, a clerical worker; they renamed him Martin after Martin Luther King. He was brought up in Idaho Falls
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
and Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...
. The elder Ludlow ran for Congress in 1972; he won the Democratic nomination but lost the election by a wide margin.
He sufficiently angered his employer with his politics that he lost his job in Pocatello — a pattern that would be repeated. . . . Martin Ludlow vividly recalls the rallies and picket lines and sitting in church pews with his father, who died in 1998. His own activism, he now realizes, stems largely from the man who adopted him. "My father did it partly because he was an underdog," Ludlow said. "He suffered from being an idealist."
The Ludlow family moved from Idaho to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, and finally to Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
, in 1976. He attended Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
but did not graduate. He moved to California and attended Santa Monica City College, then became an intern for U.S. Representative Julian Dixon, after which he worked with at-risk youth in the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. He was a field representative for the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
.
In 2004, Ludlow was married to Kimberly Roxanne Blake in a private ceremony performed by her father, Bishop Charles E. Blake
Charles E. Blake
Bishop Charles Edward Blake Sr. serves as the Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., a 6 million-member Pentecostal-Holiness denomination. On March 21, 2007, he became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., as a result of Presiding Bishop...
, pastor of the West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ. They have one child of their own, Martin Jr., and are parents of five others.
Political life
In 1998, Ludlow became chief of staff to state Assembly Member Antonio VillaraigosaAntonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa , born Antonio Ramón Villar, Jr., is the 41st and current Mayor of Los Angeles, California, the third Mexican American to have ever held office in the city of Los Angeles and the first in over 130 years. He is also the current president of the United States Conference of...
, and in 2001 he was named political director of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor under the executive secretary, Miguel Contreras
Miguel Contreras
fernando Contreras was an American labor union leader. He "was known as a king-maker for both local and state politicians."...
. In 2002 he became a member of the staff of Assembly member Herb Wesson
Herb Wesson
Herb J. Wesson, Jr. is an American politician. He currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 10th district. He served in the State Assembly representing the 47th district from 1998 until 2004. He served as Speaker of the California State Assembly from 2002 until 2004...
.
With the backing of organized labor he won election to the City Council in May 2003 in a runoff election over Deron Williams by a 56-44 ratio. He was also endorsed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A...
"and other business groups." He was sworn in for a term beginning July 1 by his mother, Anne, and Ethel Bradley, the widow of former Mayor Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley
Thomas or Tom Bradley is the name of:*Tom Bradley , mayor of Los Angeles, California*Tom Bradley , American novelist and essayist...
, in a public ceremony dedicated to Willis Ludlow.
Ludlow was appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority was a public agency formed in 1951. Its original mandate was to do a feasibility study for a monorail line which would have connected Long Beach with the Panorama City district in the San Fernando Valley via Downtown Los Angeles.The agency's powers...
board, and in early 2004 it became known that he was the subject of an investigation into his relations with a firm that proposed to build a West Los Angeles transportation yard for a fleet of buses. No charges were filed.
In June 2005, Ludlow was appointed interim secretary-treasurer, the chief official, of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, as of July 1, and stated he would quit the City Council on June 30. He won the job permanently at a union election in June and proceeded to successfully fight the plans of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
to limit the ability of public employee unions to collect political money from their members.
In February 2006, he announced that he would resign as a result of the criminal investigations into the financing of his City Council campaign, and news surfaced that a plea deal was being arranged. Sources told reporters that Ludlow actively encouraged Service Employees International Union Local 99 "to provide illegal help to his campaign," some $53,000, "and the money involved came from labor union accounts that the federal government oversees." He said in a statement:
It has been my joy, my honor, and my privilege to be a part of the most dynamic labor movement anywhere in the United States of America. However, as a result of errors in my judgment, I must take these steps to begin to accept full responsibility for the mistakes that I made."
Post-conviction
In April 2006, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Horwitz sentenced Ludlow to three years' probationProbation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
and $45,000 in fines and costs for conspiring to illegally divert school employees' union funds to his 2003 election campaign. Ludlow was banned from holding elected office for four years. In June of that year, federal Judge Manuel Real
Manuel Real
Manuel Lawrence Real is a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He was nominated in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He is most well known for his January 22, 1970 decision ordering Pasadena Unified School District to adopt a plan to correct racial imbalance...
sentenced him to five years' probation and 2,000 hours of community service and ordered Ludlow to return $36,400 to the school employees' union. Ludlow was barred from serving in leadership position with any union for thirteen years. Ludlow had earlier been fined $105,000 by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for violating city campaign laws.
Ludlow's financial problems have resulted in a "warm embrace" by Los Angeles civic leaders, a Los Angeles Times article reported, including at least one fund-raiser dinner and other kinds of help.
"Why do I support him? L.A. needs him," said attorney Connie Rice, who was among 16 people, including actor Danny GloverDanny GloverDanny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
and Rep. Diane WatsonDiane WatsonDiane Edith Watson is a former US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
(D-Los Angeles), who were part of the "reception committee" at a recent fundraiser to benefit Ludlow. "The reason he's important is that he bridges every L.A. divide there is — whether it be racial, class, city, immigration. He is genuinely loved in every community."
In a critical editorial, though, the Times said that the fundraiser amounted to "a collective smirk to the people of Los Angeles," and the Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
editorialized that: "Astonishingly, Ludlow has gotten nothing but sympathy from the city's elite, as if he were the victim of wrongdoing and not a criminal."
In June 2008, Times columnist Kurt Streeter wrote that Ludlow had found "full redemption" through his volunteer work at Dorsey High School as a volunteer coaching assistant "working to keep kids on the straight path with his buzz saw energy, boundless optimism and a humility forged by the crucible of public humiliation."