Critical of Firm With No Permit, Gadfly Has No License for His Own

Former Lawndale Planning Commissioner Gary McDonald, a longtime city activist who last month publicly lambasted a local business for having no building permits, has operated his development consulting business for almost six months without a business license.

McDonald’s license expired June 30, according to city officials, and he faces administrative fines and a possible misdemeanor charge.

Asked about his license, McDonald, who has announced his intention to run for mayor in April, said he will renew it.

“I just forgot,” he said. “I more or less put it off.”

Mayor Sarann Kruse said McDonald, a longtime political opponent, should be held accountable for the violation.

“Mr. McDonald is the first one to criticize anyone who makes an honest mistake,” Kruse said, but when McDonald makes a mistake, “he expects everybody to laugh it off because it’s just Gary.”

Assistant City Manager Paula Cone said McDonald was sent a notice in May warning him that his license was about to elapse and another warning a month after it expired.

Cone said operating a business without a license is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail. She said the city also charges violators 10% of the cost of the license for every month it is not renewed.

That means the $74 license will now cost McDonald $111.

During a City Council meeting last month, McDonald criticized the operators of Unified Schools of America because the automotive trade school had performed construction work on its Lawndale facility without obtaining building permits.

McDonald, who said he saw the construction work during a visit to the school, charged that it failed to meet city codes and endangered the occupants.

“I was absolutely shocked at what I saw,” he told the council.

The school, in the 15000 block of Hawthorne Boulevard, opened its doors in October, defying a City Council decision to deny the school a business license. A week later, city officials issued two misdemeanor citations against the school for operating without a business license. The city has also cited the school for violations of the Fire and Building codes.

In an interview this week, Councilman Larry Rudolph, a friend and political ally of McDonald, said many businesses in the city are operating without a license. “I don’t think it’s right to single anybody out,” he said.

But Rudolph added: “Gary McDonald shouldn’t be treated any better or any worse” than any other violator.

Cone said it is difficult to determine how many businesses in the city are operating without a license because many owners do not notify the city when they move out of town or close their businesses.

She said the city usually fines violators but does not normally send inspectors to determine if a business is operating without a license. If city officials do learn that a business is in violation, she said, a misdemeanor citation is issued.

McDonald, an activist who is politically allied with the council majority, acknowledged that his failure to renew his business license provides fuel for his political opponents.

“I’m negligent in getting a business license,” he said. “But it’s not that earth-shattering.”