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Stories of Corruption for TV Series?

C

CLander

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Joined
Aug 6, 2024
Messages
2
Location
Glendale, CA
Hello,

My name is Christian Lander. I'm a TV writer in Los Angeles. Here's my IMDB Page

I'm developing a show about a couple that takes government jobs intending to be corrupt enough to afford their own house. From my limited research, I see that the world of building inspectors, planners, etc., seems like a great way to make some corrupt money. Living in Los Angeles, we've seen so many of our officials get busted (looking at you, Huizar).

I wondered if anyone here would be willing to talk to me about their experiences with corrupt officials. No names or locations are needed—just general stories from your careers.

Thank you so much, and I hope I have posted this in the appropriate forum.
 
Not a great idea. It just raises my blood pressure.
 
Last edited:
CLander said:
I wondered if anyone here would be willing to talk to me about their experiences with corrupt officials. No names or locations are needed—just general stories from your careers.
Click to expand...

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: While there are without question some corrupt (and/or incompetent) building inspectors and building officials, in my experience the vast majority are honest and just trying to do their jobs. A television (or Netflix) series portraying even one corrupt building official will contribute to a wider impression that ALL building officials are corrupt and that corruption in building departments is the status quo. I have no interest in furthering such misconception.
 
CLander said:
that takes government jobs intending to be corrupt enough to afford their own house
Click to expand...
They would have to be a politician. Lowly Inspectors, Building Officials, and Planners don't have enough political clout do anything questionable that they could ask for anything more than a dozen doughnuts on the job site or a bottle of booze placed in their truck.
 
Yes it does, I worked for one and they did build a house. Worked 9.5 years for the county and embezzled over $70,00.00 That the state could proof because we only had 6 years of actual records.
Embezzlement is more lucrative than bribes and favors.
 
mtlogcabin said:
Lowly Inspectors, Building Officials, and Planners don't have enough political clout do anything questionable that they could ask for anything more than a dozen doughnuts on the job site or a bottle of booze placed in their truck.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you would be surprised by what happens in a major metro.
 
Mtlogcabin, that must have been in Florida and not in Western Montana!
mtlogcabin said:
I worked for one and they did build a house. Worked 9.5 years for the county and embezzled over $70,00.00 That the state could proof because we only had 6 years of actual records.
Embezzlement is more lucrative than bribes and favors.
Click to expand...

I'm thankful that I never witnessed or experienced a bribe in 24 years of construction and 22 years in Code Inspections. But I've heard plenty of stories... From expensive Whiskey to lunch sacks with "greens" put in the inspector's truck.
 
CLander, welcome to the forum! Most of the people around here deal with day-to-day code issues, and there's not much money to be had at this technical level of life/safety compliance, despite what you saw in The Towering Inferno.
Most of the corruption I have read about occurs at the level of city council / board of supervisors / school board members: the people who either approve the scale of a development, or approve government funds or contracts related to a development. More about misappropriation of funds, less about cutting corners with the building code.

Here's one I remember from back in the day regarding Alatorre: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-apr-22-mn-41836-story.html
Search on the development firm named in that article, and it will take you into the web of East LA political power brokers and their stories.

Also, if you are looking for tales of corruption but don't care if it relates specifically to construction, just check out any So Cal city that has a small number of registered voters and a relatively large industrial tax base: City of Bell is a classic template.
 
CLander said:
Hello,

My name is Christian Lander. I'm a TV writer in Los Angeles. Here's my IMDB Page

I'm developing a show about a couple that takes government jobs intending to be corrupt enough to afford their own house. From my limited research, I see that the world of building inspectors, planners, etc., seems like a great way to make some corrupt money. Living in Los Angeles, we've seen so many of our officials get busted (looking at you, Huizar).

I wondered if anyone here would be willing to talk to me about their experiences with corrupt officials. No names or locations are needed—just general stories from your careers.

Thank you so much, and I hope I have posted this in the appropriate forum.
Click to expand...
Buy yourself a plane ticket to the AVP airport near Scranton, PA and bunker down for a few weeks, stopping at municipalities in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. If you do your job right, you will leave there with more stories than you can handle. Mostly on the politician end with sprinkling of inept code officials mixed in.
 
Inspector Gift said:
I'm thankful that I never witnessed or experienced a bribe in 24 years of construction and 22 years in Code Inspections.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same as IG, 10 years construction and 20 years in code inspections never witnessing any of that nonsense.

Good luck, I don't think it's going to sell or be interesting, unless you have Dirty Harry doing the investigating, then I might tune in.

In all the commotion, I can't remember if I used five or six nails? "Do you feel lucky punk?"

Go ahead, make my day!
 
Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread or reached out to me. All of this has been great for research and moving forward. I cannot thank you enough, and the show will almost certainly not sell or if it does it will be a long shot to get made. Still you have to try. Honestly can’t thank you guys enough for replying.
 
While on a family trip out of my area I met someone who was a retired contractor/developer in the Bay Area. He had some pretty wild tales that could make some good TV.

There was a rival developer who had strategically placed family members in multiple different agencies, a cousin in the planning department, nephew in the building department, in-law at the fire department. This was achievable because they had a huge family network and they could get the right people in the right place at the right time, then bribe the supervisor/manager/HR doing the hiring. Once they had this network in place they could get just about anything approved, by the time anyone noticed a problem it was too far along to stop. This was in the late 70's and through the 80's so things were different. By the time it all came crashing down they had made their money, they just called it good and walked away. A few arrests, but bail and legal fees covered, no problem.

The other funny anecdote he told me was one inspector he delt with on a regular basis would usually start his inspections by saying that he was going to Vegas that weekend and wanted to know if anybody wanted to place any bets. This contractor didn't get it, so he thought this guy was just a gambling addict and didn't think much of it. The guy would do his inspections and find every little thing he could to write as a correction. He didn't mind because he actually cared about doing a good job, so he wanted to make everything right anyways.

Finally, one of his subs overheard one of these interactions and told him after that the inspector was looking for a bribe. He didn't believe it so the next time it happened he told the inspector, "Sure, what the heck, I'm feeling lucky today." He gave the inspector $500 and asked him to "put it on black." The inspector smiled and signed his inspection off without looking at anything. He said the next time he saw that inspector he asked him if he won anything on black and the guy looked confused. Apparently, no one had ever asked him if they won. The inspector said no but he would try again that weekend. The contractor said no, that once was enough, he didn't want to lose any more money. The inspector was flummoxed and grudgingly did the inspection. The next time he called for an inspection a different inspector came. He never saw that one again.
 
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