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It turns out that when Controller Wendy Greuel was on the City Council, her office made use of the special desk to handle, um, delicate requests from elected officials for special handling of parking tickets. That's according to the mayor's office, which also let it be known that Greuel voted for the contract that called for the special desk. Greuel has been denying that she had any knowledge of the desk.
LA Biz Observed: Mark digs deeper into it