There was no return address on the package and no note inside, but the first page of figures matched our Ninth District public records dollar for dollar.
The handwritten entries detailed specific, private payment schedules for Ward Waste Management under a section labeled Annex B.
This was the missing piece of the public registry, withheld because it contained the private payment terms for Wayne Ward’s company.
I turned the heavy green ledger over in my hands, noting a small gold-embossed seal of a private accounting firm on the bottom corner of the back cover.
I packed the book into my canvas bag and drove across town to the university.
Raymond Ellis, the UCLA political ethics professor who helped us analyze district budgets, had his office in the basement of the library.
The small room was crowded with towering stacks of state finance reports, and the only light came from a green glass desk lamp.
Raymond adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and laid three years of Wayne’s campaign disclosure forms across a long oak table.
“Look at the timing of the contributions,” Raymond said, pointing to a column of five-thousand-dollar checks from Wayne’s logistics companies.
