Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo faces another potentially embarrassing disclosure on another day.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Delgadillo enlisted members of his office staff to run personal errands and baby-sit his two boys, ages 6 and 3, including taking them to museums and other local attractions.

Delgadillo confirmed through a spokesman Wednesday that he relied on his staff to attend to some family and personal needs.

"On occasion, city staff members, some of whom the city attorney has known for many years, have watched the Delgadillos' children on their own personal time," according to a statement released by the city attorney's office. "They were personally paid by the Delgadillos, but sometimes declined payment.

"On rare occasions, city staff have run errands for the city attorney on their lunch breaks or other personal time," the statement said.

Sources with firsthand knowledge of the arrangement were quoted by the Times, as saying, that staffers often attended to Delgadillo's personal needs and children during normal business hours. The favors sometimes coincided with business hours, but employees used personal time, said Delgadillo spokesman Nick Velasquez.

Los Angeles City Ethics Commissioner Bill Boyarsky, a former Times city editor, said that even if employees did such work on their own time it was wrong of Delgadillo to use them. He said employees might feel coerced into volunteering for fear the boss otherwise might retaliate.

In recent days, the city attorney has been the subject of multiple disclosures, all apparently reflecting inattention or an above-the-law attitude by him and his wife.

Michelle Delgadillo was sentenced Wednesday to one year of summary probation and slapped with $431 in fines stemming from a 1998 misdemeanor charge of driving without a driver's license.

She pleaded no contest to the charge at the Airport Branch of Los Angeles Superior Court, the same day The Times reported she had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear in court after the Aug. 1, 1998, citation was issued. The Santa Monica City Attorney's Office agreed to drop charges of driving without insurance and in an unregistered car.

"When she learned that this bench warrant was active, Michelle took immediate steps to remedy the situation," Velasquez said, adding she was "very sorry for what has happened."

The sentencing came two days after the city attorney admitted he had "occasionally" allowed his wife to drive his city-owned vehicle for personal errands, a possible violation of ethics rules.

Michelle Delgadillo also apparently was involved in an accident in 2004 while driving her husband's city-issued 2004 GMC Yukon, which was repaired at taxpayer's expense.

Delgadillo announced Monday he had reimbursed the city for the $1,222 repair after avoiding questions from reporters for about a week. He also said he did not realize he had been an uninsured motorist for about a year and his wife, for more than two years.

The Times reported Wednesday that the Delgadillos were chronically late in paying fines for at least five parking tickets.

The disclosures started pouring out after Delgadillo successfully pressed for Paris Hilton to serve a 45-day prison term, expected to end up being 22 days after credit for good behavior, for violating probation by driving with a suspended license.

He was alleged to be applying a double-standard since Michelle Delgadillo never served time for driving with a suspended license. His office said the two cases differed since, in the case of Michelle Delgadillo, no alcohol was involved.

Sheriff Lee Baca, who unsuccessfully tried to have Hilton serve her sentence at her luxurious Hollywood Hills home on medical grounds, has said the 26-year-old hotel heiress was subjected to a harsher standard than normal by the courts because of her celebrity status. She is scheduled to be released from a women's jail in Lynwood June 26.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)