The Firebrand Family Still Aflame in Local Politics

The Chacon surname in political circles will provoke varied reactions and for good reason. Players associated with the family have graced headlines for various unbelievable and often questionable reasons throughout the years. Let’s review of some of the highlights in their bizarre history.

In April 2011, Brad White of the Whittier Police Department found a man asleep at the wheel in the middle of Mar Vista Street. The man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol and drugs and then later charged with a DUI.

When asked his name and birthdate, records identify him at the time as Montebello School Board Member, Hector Chacon. The situation seemed pretty straightforward until a full two years later when the real Hector Chacon found a letter from an alcohol rehab facility that confirmed his enrollment into a treatment program for a DUI arrest that he never was involved in.

Enter Arturo “Art” Chacon. Art Chacon, Central Basin Municipal Water District Board Member and Hector’s older brother, turned out to be the man arrested that night who gave authorities false information and incriminated his younger brother, Hector. Within those two years since the initial arrest, Arturo Chacon acquired two bench warrants and Hector, his younger brother, could have been arrested with something as simple as a routine traffic stop during this period with no knowledge of the risk during his daily commute. Eventually, Hector Chacon was able to procure legal representation to clear his name and decided not to press charges against his older brother.

All in the Family

The Chacon’s have built quite the reputation over the years as “political gatekeepers” of sorts. The title is not without merit but the tactics are not beyond scrutiny. Dating as far back as 1993, the Chacon’s have stormed the political landscape with strategies that include blatant disregard for campaign finance rules, intimidation, and nepotism.

In 2012, the LA Times took a look at how their rise to power came to be. Beginning with then 26-year-old UCLA dropout Hector Chacon’s victory as Montebello Unified School Board Member serving as the spark that rallied his family on a journey of specializing in various facets of political campaign infrastructure.

Hector Chacon, Arturo Chacon, and half-brother Hugo Argumedo came to serve as leads via an elected office or through a myriad of dubious “consulting” businesses to their siblings and made the Chacon apparatus, a one-stop-shop for aspiring candidates that capitalized on deception and misinformation. One such occasion was in 2006 when Art Chacon decided to run for a board seat in the Central Basin Municipal Water District. He dubbed himself president of Chacon Water Advisory, a business that no one could substantiate as actually legitimate in conducting business.

On the rare occasion that a Chacon business or entity did actually conduct transactions, they would find themselves either fined, as Argumendo did in 2009 for the sum of $9,000 for missing financial reporting deadlines, or suspended, as Hector Chacon did in 2003 for failing to pay taxes for consulting firm. Many of the alarming dynamics, however, are upon inspecting the trend for the Chacon family to use campaign fundraising to generate paydays for one another. According to the LA Times article referenced above:

“Last year, Art Chacon drew a $30,000 penalty from the FPPC for failing to report transactions made by his campaign committee, among other things. Some of the unreported payments went to his siblings, the commission said.

In fact, the Chacon brothers used funds from their committees to pay siblings or other relatives at least 30 times over the last six years, according to campaign finance records reviewed by The Times.

In 2010, Art Chacon’s campaign committee awarded $5,000 in consulting fees to his brother and sister, even though he was running unopposed for the Central Basin water board. (No election was held: Chacon was proclaimed the winner.) Hector Chacon said the money was for work completed before the family learned that Art had no challenger.”

The Future…

The Chacon family’s influence is not what it used to be. The landscape has changed but it seems their tactics, namely that of using blunt force, have not adapted to a more nuanced approach and it’s causing understandable frustration. Most recently, the Chacon touch seemed to be involved in a violent brawl that broke out at the Contract Cities Association Conference in May earlier this year.

Witnesses stated that all three were involved in the drunken brawl. The altercation seemed to stem from differences in how local government in Commerce should work with the Cannabis industry. The Chacon family and their allies seem to be out of their element on this one. Only time will tell if the coals are still burning at the heart of this political machine or if they see the writing on the wall and swap for some renewable green energy that’s so trendy these days.