Disgraced pols, Bay Area versus SoCal

It’s been a rough year for disgraced politicians in the Bay Area: Nadia Lockyer (meth possession charges), Mary Hayashi (pictured, shoplifting) and Ross Mirkarimi (spouse abuse) being the headliners. Now it looks like Southern California, which gave us all those wonderful folks in the town of Bell, is playing some real catch-up.

This week a couple of noteworthies pleaded not guilty in court. LA County Assessor John Noguez, arrested on corruption charges, proclaimed his innocence. So did LA councilman and former state senator Richard Alarcon and his wife, who face 24 felony counts of perjury, voter fraud and other crimes.