City Claims New Evidence of Deal Cut by Developer

Los Angeles city attorneys claim to have new evidence of a secret $200,000 deal cut by developer Jack Spound to gain Pierce College’s support for the controversial office project he wanted to build on land adjacent to the school’s Woodland Hills campus.

The payment was never made and would not have been illegal. But city attorneys say they want to learn more about the deal in order to defend the city from a lawsuit brought by the developer. Spound and his partner, Johnson Wax Development Corp., are seeking $100 million in damages, arguing that a 1990 zoning change that blocked the project was illegal and unfairly denied them the value of their property.

The attorneys say in court papers that evidence regarding the deal with Pierce, as well as other issues, was withheld by the plaintiffs and that this justifies a five-month delay in Spound’s lawsuit in order for the city to prepare its case.