My pal Antonio missed his calling. With his gift for turning the truth on its head, he could have been the greatest salesman of his era. He could have been rich.
Of course, he does live like a rich man in an elegant mansion, surrounded by servants and gofers, chauffeurs and bodyguards, wined and dined at the finest joints, his every need looked after. First class all the way.
On "Which Way L.A.?" Wednesday night, the master
salesman sold a worn-out used city as if it were the hottest property in the world, his lackluster record as a gold-plated standard of achievement and his inattention to his job while jet-setting around the world --- well, it's a sacrifice that he makes for us.
He reminded me of the governor down South I knew who got caught taking bribes and proclaimed: "Sure I stole but I stole for you."
How an intelligent guy like Warren Olney could let him get away with this is beyond me, unless of course he was happy to let the mayor get away with murdering the truth.
I'm not going to make this easy for you and parse every sentence. It's too important that you listen to it yourself.
Olney did ask some tough questions but they turned into softballs because he didn't ask tough follow-up questions and certainly didn't provide the relevant facts that would have put the lie to the mayor's outlandish claims that he's a miracle worker who fixed the schools, got traffic moving, solved the gang problem and saved L.A.
OK, he actually said he's courageously tackled all those problems and is making great progress and would solve them all if only the penny-pinching public would give him the "resources."
The No. 1 point that Olney ducked in helping the mayor turn his re-election campaign into a coronation was the money.
There's the mayor's unchallenged claim that people from all over the world are donating the millions he needs to chase away challengers because they love L.A. Sure, a few might have some business they want to do in the city but really folks they're giving generously because they love this town.
How could anyone interview the mayor and not slam him for turning the biggest revenue surge in the city's recent history into the city's biggest budget shortfall in history?
OK, Ryan Seacrest did earlier in the day but Olney? It must be love.
How could anyone interview the mayor for most of half an hour and not tabulate all the fee increases and rate hikes and new taxes and not ask where all those hundreds of millions of dollars went?
Don't look to me for answers. I'm just an unemployed newspaperman with nothing better to do than ask some tough questions.
Of course, he does live like a rich man in an elegant mansion, surrounded by servants and gofers, chauffeurs and bodyguards, wined and dined at the finest joints, his every need looked after. First class all the way.
On "Which Way L.A.?" Wednesday night, the master
salesman sold a worn-out used city as if it were the hottest property in the world, his lackluster record as a gold-plated standard of achievement and his inattention to his job while jet-setting around the world --- well, it's a sacrifice that he makes for us.He reminded me of the governor down South I knew who got caught taking bribes and proclaimed: "Sure I stole but I stole for you."
How an intelligent guy like Warren Olney could let him get away with this is beyond me, unless of course he was happy to let the mayor get away with murdering the truth.
I'm not going to make this easy for you and parse every sentence. It's too important that you listen to it yourself.
Olney did ask some tough questions but they turned into softballs because he didn't ask tough follow-up questions and certainly didn't provide the relevant facts that would have put the lie to the mayor's outlandish claims that he's a miracle worker who fixed the schools, got traffic moving, solved the gang problem and saved L.A.
OK, he actually said he's courageously tackled all those problems and is making great progress and would solve them all if only the penny-pinching public would give him the "resources."
The No. 1 point that Olney ducked in helping the mayor turn his re-election campaign into a coronation was the money.
There's the mayor's unchallenged claim that people from all over the world are donating the millions he needs to chase away challengers because they love L.A. Sure, a few might have some business they want to do in the city but really folks they're giving generously because they love this town.
How could anyone interview the mayor and not slam him for turning the biggest revenue surge in the city's recent history into the city's biggest budget shortfall in history?
OK, Ryan Seacrest did earlier in the day but Olney? It must be love.
How could anyone interview the mayor for most of half an hour and not tabulate all the fee increases and rate hikes and new taxes and not ask where all those hundreds of millions of dollars went?
Don't look to me for answers. I'm just an unemployed newspaperman with nothing better to do than ask some tough questions.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
He's someone reaching into your pocket and steals $10. Then, he gives back $1. See, don't say I didn't give you anything.
He's no salesman. Nobody believes anything he says. He's a thief. His support comes from the clients to whom he fences his goodies (the leftovers of that $10).
The problem is that almost all local "journalists" practice "press release journalism:" they merely repeat, as true, whatever career politicians like Villaraigosa put in a press release.
The most glaring examples concern the budget. Villaraigosa has gotten away with claiming the City is strapped for funds, and needs to raise fees, taxes, etc. to pay for more police.
"Journalists" in this town are so lazy that they don't even bother to look at the actual budget documents themselves. If they did so, they would know revenues have skyrocketed over the past few years. The City takes in $1.7 billion more PER YEAR than in 2004-05.
Let me translate that into a number we can understand: that's $4.6 MILLION MORE PER DAY.
So the only reason we supposedly have a deficit is that Villaraigosa and the City Council have increased spending by more than $4.6 million per day.
Heck, the journalists don't even have to read the budget documents to find this stuff out. They could simply read my newsletter, and check my assertions for themselves.
That is why Ron's efforts to get us members of the public to take action ourselves is so important. We cannot rely on the local media for accurate information any more than American troops could rely on Tokyo Rose in World War II: local "journalists" are part of the problem.
Luckily, we live in a time when the internet lets us review actual source material -- e.g., budgets -- ourselves. But that power is inconsequential unless we USE it.
So I hope anyone reading this will read Ron's blog each day, as I do, along with other alternative sources of information, including Mayor Sam's blog an my blog, for that matter. Don't take any L.A. Times or Daily News story at face value. It may be accurate, but it may be just another piece of "press release journalism."
Walter Moore
Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles
http://WalterMooreForMayor.com
OK, Walter, I'll ask again: Enough of the mad-as-hell rhetoric for minute and explain to me how you - someone whose never been elected to anything! - plan to become the chief executive of the nation's second largest city. And don't tell me everybody's fed up. I want hard numbers.
Antonio had the nerve to laugh when he was being asked tough, fair questions by a respected journalist. That was disgusting.
You'll ask "again?" This is your first time.
It's really up to the voters of L.A. If enough show up on the right day, I win.
I note that around 239,000 people showed up to vote against Prop S, even though our budget for the "no" campaign was $5,000 vs. the Mayor's $3.2 million budget.
Voter turnout was extraordinarily high because it was a presidential primary. I doubt many of the "yes" votes will show up on March 3, 2009.
If we have even 225,000 of the 239,000 "no" voters show up, we win in the primary, without even needing a run-off, if we have the same turn-out as in March 2005.
Are there any guarantees? Of course not. It's up to people who are "mad as hell" to take action. Mad won't fix the city. Action will.
I think Skeptical's question is fair, Walter. You've got a truckload of folks running against Vilar. He is appealing to a section of voters who confuse warm fuzzy feelings and talking in circles with results. And he is an incumbent. The latter is tough to beat.
So, how do you fix this city? Send in ICE to round up illegals? Revoke Special Order 40? Compare what L.A. gets from the State and Federal Govt's against other big cities? Make the private and public sectors compete for the public dollar?
I don't expect Antonio to be asking the true-test question, ''Are you better off than you were four years ago?''
(And if the answer is "Yes," the response is probably from a developer or one of the mayor's other cronies.)
When Tom Brokaw interviewed Schwarzenegger on Meet the Press 2 weeks ago, he said: "If you were CEO of a public company, you would have been FIRED by now"! Great opening statement, and one that would have served Olney well!
Villar is oily, unctuous, furtive, and sleazy! He reeks of lies and deception! His canned, stock,buzz words and phrases are older than my first pair of shoes!
My skin crawls every time I hear him speak...he's worse than a used car salesman!
He's also a little coward...4 years ago I attended a little get together at Mort's Deli in the Palisades where Villar was campaigning. No one really knew much about him them, but one person did ask him about MeCHa, and if he had given up his 'ties' to MeCha. Well, he stumbled and bumbled, and disappeared out the back door! Everyone was stunned! He would NOT deny his affiliation with MeCHa!
He has that 'hit and run' mentality! Don't ask him the tough questions...he'll just run like hell, or hang up the phone!
I'm sorry that Tim Russert never got a chance to interrogate him on Meet the Press!
For those of you who come here and to the other local blogs to read the political tea leaves, watch and see how often Ron is personally criticized when he really has nothing to do with the subject of the thread. Then ask yourself why? Who would be threatened by the respected former editor of a local newspaper who might - if we're lucky - run for office not because he wants the job, but because he wants his opponent to do his job? The most dangerous foe is one who has nothing to lose.
All of these letters are doing the one thing that it will take to change LACITY. Thank you, Ron, for getting us to pay attention to what is going on!
The one comment that I would like to talk about - is the one that questioned Walter Moore's right to run "without prior experience." He is entitled to run if he has the guts and fortitude.
In fact someone mentioned a long time ago that it would be wonderful if people who love this country enough to serve it would run for any office and when his/her term of office (if elected) expired, someone else (new to politics but capable of living a productive life) could take a turn.
The way it is now, career politicians who do nothing but run for office are the ones who are ruining our society - our schools, our neighborhoods, our opportunities. We need to vote everyone out and replace them with rank amateurs who will take a personal responsibility for their actions just like they do in everyday life.
If you go to the S.L.A.M. site you will see a list of problems that need to be solved. Can you figure out a solution like you would a cross-word puzzle? Try it out, then watch for the meeting and go to it and see what others think. Do not worry if they are "experienced" or ordinary people with families. We all share the same problems that any entity has, we need to find a way to make things better with the available resources. Passing bonds for the future generations to pay off is not a valid solution. Living within a budget is.
This is no game, it is for keeps. And our lives
are the stakes.
All of these letters are doing the one thing that it will take to change LACITY. Thank you, Ron, for getting us to pay attention to what is going on!
The one comment that I would like to talk about - is the one that questioned Walter Moore's right to run "without prior experience." He is entitled to run if he has the guts and fortitude.
In fact someone mentioned a long time ago that it would be wonderful if people who love this country enough to serve it would run for any office and when his/her term of office (if elected) expired, someone else (new to politics but capable of living a productive life) could take a turn.
The way it is now, career politicians who do nothing but run for office are the ones who are ruining our society - our schools, our neighborhoods, our opportunities. We need to vote everyone out and replace them with rank amateurs who will take a personal responsibility for their actions just like they do in everyday life.
If you go to the S.L.A.P. site you will see a list of problems that need to be solved. Can you figure out a solution like you would a cross-word puzzle? Try it out, then watch for the meeting and go to it and see what others think. Do not worry if they are "experienced" or ordinary people with families. We all share the same problems that any entity has, we need to find a way to make things better with the available resources. Passing bonds for the future generations to pay off is not a valid solution. Living within a budget is.
This is no game, it is for keeps. And our lives
are the stakes.
no one was questioning walter's right to run. The issue was whether he should start his elected career by running for mayor of los angeles.
obviously he has decided to do something about which he cares deeply. I admire that in everyone. You have a right to do that as well.
Don't you agree that is our right in a country where we are born free? You do not have to vote for him. That is your prerogative.