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Valentin Amezquita

Accountability & Transparency

Residents deserve clear information about how public money is spent and how major City projects are managed. This page summarizes official public records about one project, the Salt Lake Park Aquatic Center, and links to the source for each statement.

Those records include the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s announcement that it executed search warrants at 11 locations in February 2025, among them the homes of Karina Macias and Graciela Ortiz.

Salt Lake Park Aquatic Center

The figures and entries below come from City of Huntington Park records and from the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Each statement is attributed to its source, and amounts are reported as those sources state them.

Key figures

Sourced timeline

  1. City Council minutes

    City Council approves a design-build approach with JT Construction

    The City Council approved a design-build approach with JT Construction for the Salt Lake Park Aquatic Center, in an amount not to exceed $24.5 million.

    The minutes state that Council Member Graciela Ortiz made the substitute motion approving the approach. The motion passed 4-0-1.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, City Council minutes, August 6, 2019 · City Council minutes

  2. City statement

    Original award process is challenged; City starts a new bidding process

    The City’s Aquatic Center Investigation page states that the original award process was challenged in December 2020 and that the City initiated a new competitive bidding process.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

  3. City Council agenda and City statement

    City considers and approves another design-build contract with JT Construction

    The City Council agenda for August 17, 2021 lists a recommendation to approve a design-build approach with JT Construction Group, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $23,994,426.13. The City’s timeline states that the City awarded a design-build contract to JT Construction on that date.

    This is a later contract award for the same project. The 2019 and 2021 not-to-exceed amounts are successive awards and are not added together.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, City Council agenda, August 17, 2021 · City Council agenda

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

  4. City statement

    Former-landfill site and environmental restrictions

    The City states that the site is on a former landfill and that environmental and regulatory restrictions affected construction. It reports that a Local Enforcement Agency cease-and-desist order prohibited further construction until regulatory approvals were secured.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

  5. City statement

    City halts payments to JT Construction

    The City states that payments were halted in September–October 2024.

    The City’s page also states that approximately $9.24 million was paid to JT Construction and that more than $6.4 million was, at the time of its published review, “unaccounted for in terms of clear deliverables.”

    This is the City’s own description of the payments as published on its page. It is not a finding about where any money went or about any person’s conduct.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

  6. District Attorney announcement

    District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation executes search warrants

    The Los Angeles County District Attorney announced that its Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at 11 locations as part of an ongoing public-corruption investigation it calls “Operation Dirty Pond.”

    The District Attorney stated that the investigation began in November 2022 and focuses on the potential misuse of millions of dollars in public funds allocated for construction of the aquatic center at Salt Lake Park.

    The locations the District Attorney listed included:

    • Huntington Park City Hall
    • Salt Lake Park
    • The residence of Efren Martinez, described by the District Attorney as a former Huntington Park City official
    • The residence of Graciela Ortiz, described by the District Attorney as a former Huntington Park City Councilmember
    • The residence of Karina Macias, described by the District Attorney, at the time of its announcement, as the current Huntington Park Mayor and City Councilmember
    • Additional contractor and City-official locations

    An investigation or search warrant does not establish that any person committed a crime.

    SourceLos Angeles County District Attorney, news release of February 26, 2025 · District Attorney news release

  7. City statement

    City authorizes an independent investigation and audit

    The City states that the City Council authorized an independent investigation and audit of the Aquatic Center project in May 2025.

    SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

Current status

As described on the City’s Aquatic Center Investigation page:

  • A financial audit was initiated to determine the validity and value of project payments.
  • The City is pursuing a new vision for Salt Lake Park, which may include a revised aquatic or recreation component.
  • A new architectural firm has been engaged. The City describes the new design work as independent of the previous project structure.

SourceCity of Huntington Park, “Aquatic Center Investigation” · City webpage

This describes the sources as published. Check the City page and the District Attorney’s office for the latest information.

Sources

Every entry on this page comes from one of these official documents.