Measure J -- the L.A. Community College District's $3.5 billion bond issue -- won passage with nearly 70 percent of the votes last week thanks to a well-funded campaign that has money left over, in no small part to LACCD's liberal use of taxpayer funds to sell the public on its worthiness.
And now the trustees who approved spending public money on advertising to promote the bond issue -- the district's third in just a few years -- get their payday.
Call it pay-to-play, call it politics-as-usual, call it whatever you want but it doesn't change the facts: The insider political culture of Los Angeles makes a mockery of the whole idea of elections and democracy and believes, perhaps rightly, that it can get away with anything.
Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. you can breakfast with LACCD Board of Trustee President Kelly G. Candaele -- if you put up $1,000 as a supporter, $2,500 as a sponsor or $5,000 as a host. Here's the invitation if you want to contribute to Candaele's re-election on March 3 laccd-Kelly G. Candaele 11.11.08.pdf but if you can't make it, maybe you can get to Trustee Nancy Pearlman's next Monday laccd-Nancy Pearlman 11.17.08.pdf
The invitations are identical except for the names and the events are too.
Both are being held in the luxury of the City Club on Bunker Hill high atop the Wells Fargo Center where the views of downtown that massive public subsidies helped build are magnificent.
It's a fitting place for such events since you can be sure most of the money that will be ponied up for Candaele's and Pearlman's re-election will come from the contractors and consultants who profited handsomely from the past bond issues and stand too profit even more from what is far and away the biggest yet.
The host of the events offers some insight into how the system works. It's none other than Michelle Gastelum, president of Summit Consulting and Engineering in Pasadena and a member of the California State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
In the small world of L.A. politics nobody thinks there's anything wrong with contractors and consultants throwing fund-raisers for politicians who have billions to spend on contractors and consultants.
And should anyone raise their voice in protest, they are drowned out in a blitzkrieg of advertising bought with special interest money and public money as well.
And so bond issues and tax hikes are passed and the same old faces get re-elected time after time and nothing changes, or will ever change, without a grassroots rebellion.
The March 3 primary provides an opportunity to start organizing to take back the city, the schools and colleges if community groups and activists decide to look past their differences and their preoccupation with the local issues and seize the day.
We can bitch and moan and rail against the injustice and corruption of the system for another generation. But doesn't everybody already know that?
Or we can set out an agenda on how to solve the city's problems and how to make the educational system work better and start getting the message out in our neighborhoods to convince people it's time for change, for hope.
It will take an army of ordinary citizens to bring about real change but it won't happen if we just keep talking to ourselves and muttering about our complaints.
And now the trustees who approved spending public money on advertising to promote the bond issue -- the district's third in just a few years -- get their payday.
Call it pay-to-play, call it politics-as-usual, call it whatever you want but it doesn't change the facts: The insider political culture of Los Angeles makes a mockery of the whole idea of elections and democracy and believes, perhaps rightly, that it can get away with anything.
Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. you can breakfast with LACCD Board of Trustee President Kelly G. Candaele -- if you put up $1,000 as a supporter, $2,500 as a sponsor or $5,000 as a host. Here's the invitation if you want to contribute to Candaele's re-election on March 3 laccd-Kelly G. Candaele 11.11.08.pdf but if you can't make it, maybe you can get to Trustee Nancy Pearlman's next Monday laccd-Nancy Pearlman 11.17.08.pdf
The invitations are identical except for the names and the events are too.
Both are being held in the luxury of the City Club on Bunker Hill high atop the Wells Fargo Center where the views of downtown that massive public subsidies helped build are magnificent.
It's a fitting place for such events since you can be sure most of the money that will be ponied up for Candaele's and Pearlman's re-election will come from the contractors and consultants who profited handsomely from the past bond issues and stand too profit even more from what is far and away the biggest yet.
The host of the events offers some insight into how the system works. It's none other than Michelle Gastelum, president of Summit Consulting and Engineering in Pasadena and a member of the California State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
In the small world of L.A. politics nobody thinks there's anything wrong with contractors and consultants throwing fund-raisers for politicians who have billions to spend on contractors and consultants.
And should anyone raise their voice in protest, they are drowned out in a blitzkrieg of advertising bought with special interest money and public money as well.
And so bond issues and tax hikes are passed and the same old faces get re-elected time after time and nothing changes, or will ever change, without a grassroots rebellion.
The March 3 primary provides an opportunity to start organizing to take back the city, the schools and colleges if community groups and activists decide to look past their differences and their preoccupation with the local issues and seize the day.
We can bitch and moan and rail against the injustice and corruption of the system for another generation. But doesn't everybody already know that?
Or we can set out an agenda on how to solve the city's problems and how to make the educational system work better and start getting the message out in our neighborhoods to convince people it's time for change, for hope.
It will take an army of ordinary citizens to bring about real change but it won't happen if we just keep talking to ourselves and muttering about our complaints.
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.
For a $1000 contribution, you can be a mere "Supporter". With $1,000 as the minimum suggested donation, it is easy to see that our college trustees cannot be bothered with $35 donations from real "constituents." Why bother with that when you can raise an obscene amount of money right out of the starting gate and discourage anyone else from running against you? These fundraisers are torn out of the play book of Antonio Villaraigosa -- and it worked for him.
Now, with the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised from construction contractors, architects, and engineers, the "constituents" of our community college trustees are the Capital Building Construction Complex that does not want the District to close down the construction program -- even though most of the construction plans are nearing completion. The Board of the Los Angeles Community College District has just joined the sleazy pit of construction industry lobbyists throwing contributions at the LA City Council, the MTA, and the LA County Supervisors.
One only wonders how many of the construction industry contributions are flowing from out of town interests that don't give a damn about our community colleges. They just care about paying the trustees for the privilege of continuing to get plump construction contracts awarded by the trustees themselves.
Welcome to the sleaze PIT, trustees.
It is business as usual as city hall goes on as though no one cared. I know that is not true, we do care. Now it is time to get seriously involved. Attend meetings, write letters and finally VOTE - this vote is as important as the November 4 vote is. There are a lot of us out there and we need to educate our family and friends. I am forwarding the so-called LEAP legislation proposed by Greig Smith for your information. He is an important factor and needs to hear from you because he is the chair of the committee making this proposal.The whole council will be involved after March 3 so that is why we need to study and decide what WE want for LA,