Barbara Ferrer (Ph.D.) joined the LA County Department of Public Health January 2017. She implemented protocols that dramatically changed how things work at LA DPH. This was previously overseen by Jonathan Fielding, an internationally-respected epidemiologist.
According to several long-time employees who’ve spoken to RedState, LA DPH was not the place for patronage jobs, but that all changed when Barbara Ferrer came to town.
As her partner-in-purpose George Gascon would do the next year, one of the measures Ferrer took was to install allies in key positions to warn against potential mutinies, and leverage the considerable powers of appointment she had to do favors for people whose support she would need… namely, her bosses, members of the Board of Supervisors.
This is how a politically-connected, recently-released felon who was convicted of filing a fraudulent tax return (for failing to report $750,000 in “lobbying” income, including nearly $220,000 from a drug trafficking kingpin), Carl Kemp, came to work as a Public Affairs Manager in the Environmental Health Division of the LA County Department of Public Health.
Environmental Health, while not the most glamorous part of county government, is still a very important one. The department is responsible for performing inspections of restaurants and can issue permits to businesses that are approved based on environmental issues in the surrounding neighborhoods. In other words, it’s an area in which opinions can be shifted based upon whom one knows — and how much money gets into the right hands.
Kemp has a great deal of contacts and needed to find work after he got out on federal parole. Claudia Gutierrez was his wife and long-time legal assistant to Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas. A confidential source told RedState that the couple leveraged this to hire Kemp as Chief Communication Officer soon after Ridley Thomas’ federal parole. Ridley Thomas was facing 20 federal bribery, and other corruption charges. This is according to an indictment dated October 20, 21. These charges do not relate to Kemp.
Kemp was an ex-government relations specialist based in Long Beach. He was sentenced to prison on November 2016. John Melvin Walker is his client and was a twice-convicted felon. Walker’s attorney established a few corporations to install owners that were eligible for marijuana dispensaries. However, Walker was the real owner. Walker used his connections to Kemp and Richard Bridenstine to harass at most one local business. Walker gave Kemp $4,500 cash per month over a period of many years to lobby and perform spokesman duty. Kemp also admitted to knowing that the money was coming from a criminal organization as part of his plea deal. Walker’s indictment is sealed, but there are a few details that have been made public about the raid on his properties:
Federal Drug Agents [Walker] was one of the major players that they have prosecuted in Southern California’s medical marijuana business.
His cash stash shocked detectives as they searched the property. One location found more than $390,000.00 hidden in four grocery bags within his Long Beach garage. The couple also discovered a Beretta handgun, a shotgun and an AK-47 fitted with a bayonet. They also found stacks of cash hidden in furniture at another home, which totalled over $700,000.
Department employees tell RedState that Ferrer herself announced Kemp’s hire in a department-wide email on September 3, 2019, though Liza Frias is his immediate supervisor, not Ferrer.
Ridley Thomas gave Barbara Ferrer a glowing endorsement when she visited Los Angeles in January 2017.
“Dr. Ferrer is uniquely qualified to lead and serve Los Angeles County’s diverse populations, and has a gift for engaging youth and families. I look forward to the energy and creativity that she will bring to protecting the health of our communities during this time of uncertainty in federal healthcare policy.”
When Ridley-Thomas left the Board of Supervisors in 2020 for the Los Angeles City Council, Kemp’s wife remained in the office and now works for Supervisor Holly Mitchell.
Kemp is also supported by Janice Hahn, a longtime Supervisor.
Carl Kemp is one of our most special people. @CountyofLA employees) for organizing today’s #Juneteenth Celebration and bringing us together to recognize this important moment in our nation’s history. pic.twitter.com/jbCguQg5Kn
— Janice Hahn (@SupJaniceHahn) June 19, 2021
While Los Angeles County has a Fair Chance Initiative, which allows those with criminal records to be hired, it’s unbelievable that Ferrer was able to hire Kemp, who had never worked for the County before, in such a position just two years after he went to prison on public corruption-related charges. The terrible details of what happened in Kemp’s case will be discussed in an upcoming article.
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