EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's the mayor's email blast on police hiring (mayorletter.rtf)
We are now well into the second quarter of the city's financial year and spending still exceeds revenue by more than $400 million.
That's nearly 10 percent of the annual operating budget but with less than nine months left in the financial year, it's creeping closer to 15 percent.
In other words, the money troubles that started with the housing bubble bursting more than two years ago and became a crisis more than a year ago with the collapse of Wall Street is now on track to become a catastrophe as the hole in the city budget gets deeper by the day, at least $1 million deeper by Controller Wendy Greuel's estimate.
Yet, the nation's highest paid municipal officials, lavished with endless perks and servile staff, flip and flop, waffle and debate, conspire in back rooms or palaces of fine dining and drinking, and continue to do nothing.
Today will be no different.
Item No. 7 on the City Council agenda is supposed to deal with the tricky issue of how to reduce LAPD spending by $129 million this year. That was supposed to take place over 12 months so it's now the equivalent of $160 million on an annualized basis and it will reach the $200 million mark by January.
Actually, it will be more than $200 million because the mayor and Council plan to put off making a hard decision on LAPD funding, as they have all the other hard decisions on city spending, until mid-January when they return from their lavish vacations to faraway places.
On Monday, the mayor, Council President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Dennis Zine, backed by LAPD brass wanting to be the next chief, announced they had reached an agreement that will put off further discussion until next year.
David Zahniser in the LA Times wrote they "have forged an agreement to keep the number of police officers from shrinking in the middle of a budget crisis...'There are no fights right now" between the city's elected officials, said Garcetti."
Rick Orlov in the Daily News was less charitable, reporting: "Villaraigosa had previously denounced the idea of a freeze at the Los Angeles Police Department, adamant that the size of the force be maintained at 10,000 officers. In an abrupt reversal, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday appeared to back a plan to freeze hiring at the Police Academy at least throughout the rest of this year."
Whatever your interpretation, the facts are the same and in line with the separate proposals of the Council Budget Committee and Public Safety Committee, both of which support a temporary halt in hiring new officers and a meeting "in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment."
.
At that time, they expect to look at their options with regard to the nearly 1,200 LAPD officers who are missing in action:
*. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions
* 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport
*.518 permanent light duty sworn personnel
* 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel
By then, Bill Bratton will be long gone to a place he loves far more than this collection of neighborhoods without a sense of being a city, a city called New York where leaders face up to their problems, where there's 30,000 cops, not less than 10,000.
Instead of tough-guy Bratton, the only political figure in LA that more people love than hate, Villaraigosa and the Council will have anointed someone more flexible about meeting their needs.
If this were a movie, it would definitely be played for laughs with Will Farrell, Jack Black, George Lopez and other comics in the cast.
But the consequences of City Hall's paralysis are real and serious.
The Coalition of City Unions is putting on a hard-sell campaign to win support for the Early Retirement Incentive Program, barely mentioning that come spring when the city runs out of money they will face layoffs, furloughs and other drastic measures that nullify most of the promises made to them.
A lot of city workers are already angered that the first E-RIPoff was withdrawn so how do you think they will react when they find out, this one is full of holes and the promises to pay them off handsomely within five years are hollow?
This is like watching a plane spiraling out of control with the pilot and crew merrily acting like nothing is wrong as the ground looms larger.
All I can figure is they think a miracle is about to happen, n economic miracle of historic proportions that will replenish the city treasury with tax revenue and save them -- and us.
And that's the point: This isn't about them, it's about us, our city, our lives, our jobs, our neighborhoods, our parks and libraries, our safety.
Read the item below on today's Council agenda and see how little they are offering with their hair-splitting motions and realize, I hope, that they are incapable of solving this crisis. Nothing will be done until it's too late unless we rise up as one and force them to come to terms with reality.
We are now well into the second quarter of the city's financial year and spending still exceeds revenue by more than $400 million.
That's nearly 10 percent of the annual operating budget but with less than nine months left in the financial year, it's creeping closer to 15 percent.
In other words, the money troubles that started with the housing bubble bursting more than two years ago and became a crisis more than a year ago with the collapse of Wall Street is now on track to become a catastrophe as the hole in the city budget gets deeper by the day, at least $1 million deeper by Controller Wendy Greuel's estimate.
Yet, the nation's highest paid municipal officials, lavished with endless perks and servile staff, flip and flop, waffle and debate, conspire in back rooms or palaces of fine dining and drinking, and continue to do nothing.
Today will be no different.
Item No. 7 on the City Council agenda is supposed to deal with the tricky issue of how to reduce LAPD spending by $129 million this year. That was supposed to take place over 12 months so it's now the equivalent of $160 million on an annualized basis and it will reach the $200 million mark by January.
Actually, it will be more than $200 million because the mayor and Council plan to put off making a hard decision on LAPD funding, as they have all the other hard decisions on city spending, until mid-January when they return from their lavish vacations to faraway places.
On Monday, the mayor, Council President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Dennis Zine, backed by LAPD brass wanting to be the next chief, announced they had reached an agreement that will put off further discussion until next year.
David Zahniser in the LA Times wrote they "have forged an agreement to keep the number of police officers from shrinking in the middle of a budget crisis...'There are no fights right now" between the city's elected officials, said Garcetti."
Rick Orlov in the Daily News was less charitable, reporting: "Villaraigosa had previously denounced the idea of a freeze at the Los Angeles Police Department, adamant that the size of the force be maintained at 10,000 officers. In an abrupt reversal, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday appeared to back a plan to freeze hiring at the Police Academy at least throughout the rest of this year."
Whatever your interpretation, the facts are the same and in line with the separate proposals of the Council Budget Committee and Public Safety Committee, both of which support a temporary halt in hiring new officers and a meeting "in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment."
.
At that time, they expect to look at their options with regard to the nearly 1,200 LAPD officers who are missing in action:
*. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions
* 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport
*.518 permanent light duty sworn personnel
* 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel
By then, Bill Bratton will be long gone to a place he loves far more than this collection of neighborhoods without a sense of being a city, a city called New York where leaders face up to their problems, where there's 30,000 cops, not less than 10,000.
Instead of tough-guy Bratton, the only political figure in LA that more people love than hate, Villaraigosa and the Council will have anointed someone more flexible about meeting their needs.
If this were a movie, it would definitely be played for laughs with Will Farrell, Jack Black, George Lopez and other comics in the cast.
But the consequences of City Hall's paralysis are real and serious.
The Coalition of City Unions is putting on a hard-sell campaign to win support for the Early Retirement Incentive Program, barely mentioning that come spring when the city runs out of money they will face layoffs, furloughs and other drastic measures that nullify most of the promises made to them.
A lot of city workers are already angered that the first E-RIPoff was withdrawn so how do you think they will react when they find out, this one is full of holes and the promises to pay them off handsomely within five years are hollow?
This is like watching a plane spiraling out of control with the pilot and crew merrily acting like nothing is wrong as the ground looms larger.
All I can figure is they think a miracle is about to happen, n economic miracle of historic proportions that will replenish the city treasury with tax revenue and save them -- and us.
And that's the point: This isn't about them, it's about us, our city, our lives, our jobs, our neighborhoods, our parks and libraries, our safety.
Read the item below on today's Council agenda and see how little they are offering with their hair-splitting motions and realize, I hope, that they are incapable of solving this crisis. Nothing will be done until it's too late unless we rise up as one and force them to come to terms with reality.
ITEM NO. (7) - Motion Required - Two Reports on One File
09-0600-S142 BUDGET AND FINANCE and PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEES' REPORTS relative to reconsideration of the Budget and Finance Committee Minority Report recommendations 13a and 13b, relative to amending the emergency declaration to include sworn furloughs in the context of continuing negotiations with sworn personnel, and related matters.
A. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Recommendations for Council action: 1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to cease hiring after the October 2009 class and that an evaluation be conducted on a monthly basis, with a re-evaluation of hiring to be done when the number of sworn personnel drops below the 10,000 number. 2. INSTRUCT the LAPD and the Personnel Department to stop recruitment efforts inasmuch as over 1000 prospective applicants are currently in the candidate pool. 3. INSTRUCT the Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees to meet in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment. 4. RECEIVE and FILE the Motion (Hahn - Zine) relative to instructing the LAPD to suspend sending any future letters out for new police officer hiring inasmuch as Recommendation No. 1 of this Committee report addresses this matter and no further action on this Motion is necessary. 5. INSTRUCT the City Administrative Officer (CAO), with the LAPD, to report back at the mid-January Joint Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees' meeting on options to address the impact on the LAPD of: a. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions; b. 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport; c. 518 permanent light duty sworn personnel; and, d. 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel.
B. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE Recommendations for Council action: 1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to cease hiring after the October 2009 class and that an evaluation be conducted on a monthly basis, with a re-evaluation of hiring to be done when the number of sworn personnel drops below the 10,000 number. 2. INSTRUCT the LAPD and the Personnel Department to stop recruitment efforts inasmuch as over 1000 prospective applicants are currently in the candidate pool. 3. INSTRUCT the Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees to meet in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment. 4. REQUEST the City Attorney and INSTRUCT the City Administrative Officer (CAO) to reconfigure the Emergency Resolution to include information relative to sworn furloughs, with the Resolution to specifically state that it not be implemented without a specific vote of the City Council. 5. RECEIVE and FILE the Motion (Hahn - Zine) relative to instructing the LAPD to suspend sending any future letters out for new police officer hiring inasmuch as Recommendation No. 1 of this Committee report addresses this matter and no further action on this Motion is necessary. 6. INSTRUCT the CAO and LAPD to report back at the mid-January Joint Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees meeting on options to address the impact on the LAPD of: a. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions; b. 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport; c. 518 permanent light duty sworn personnel; and, d. 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel. Fiscal Impact Statement: Neither the CAO nor the Chief Legislative Analyst has completed a financial analysis of this report. Community Impact Statement: None submitted.
09-0600-S142 BUDGET AND FINANCE and PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEES' REPORTS relative to reconsideration of the Budget and Finance Committee Minority Report recommendations 13a and 13b, relative to amending the emergency declaration to include sworn furloughs in the context of continuing negotiations with sworn personnel, and related matters.
A. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Recommendations for Council action: 1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to cease hiring after the October 2009 class and that an evaluation be conducted on a monthly basis, with a re-evaluation of hiring to be done when the number of sworn personnel drops below the 10,000 number. 2. INSTRUCT the LAPD and the Personnel Department to stop recruitment efforts inasmuch as over 1000 prospective applicants are currently in the candidate pool. 3. INSTRUCT the Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees to meet in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment. 4. RECEIVE and FILE the Motion (Hahn - Zine) relative to instructing the LAPD to suspend sending any future letters out for new police officer hiring inasmuch as Recommendation No. 1 of this Committee report addresses this matter and no further action on this Motion is necessary. 5. INSTRUCT the City Administrative Officer (CAO), with the LAPD, to report back at the mid-January Joint Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees' meeting on options to address the impact on the LAPD of: a. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions; b. 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport; c. 518 permanent light duty sworn personnel; and, d. 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel.
B. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE Recommendations for Council action: 1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to cease hiring after the October 2009 class and that an evaluation be conducted on a monthly basis, with a re-evaluation of hiring to be done when the number of sworn personnel drops below the 10,000 number. 2. INSTRUCT the LAPD and the Personnel Department to stop recruitment efforts inasmuch as over 1000 prospective applicants are currently in the candidate pool. 3. INSTRUCT the Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees to meet in mid-January 2010 to assess future LAPD hiring and recruitment. 4. REQUEST the City Attorney and INSTRUCT the City Administrative Officer (CAO) to reconfigure the Emergency Resolution to include information relative to sworn furloughs, with the Resolution to specifically state that it not be implemented without a specific vote of the City Council. 5. RECEIVE and FILE the Motion (Hahn - Zine) relative to instructing the LAPD to suspend sending any future letters out for new police officer hiring inasmuch as Recommendation No. 1 of this Committee report addresses this matter and no further action on this Motion is necessary. 6. INSTRUCT the CAO and LAPD to report back at the mid-January Joint Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees meeting on options to address the impact on the LAPD of: a. 65 sworn personnel currently working in civilian administrative positions; b. 16 sworn personnel assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport; c. 518 permanent light duty sworn personnel; and, d. 634 temporary light duty sworn personnel. Fiscal Impact Statement: Neither the CAO nor the Chief Legislative Analyst has completed a financial analysis of this report. Community Impact Statement: None submitted.
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.
Brilliant headline!
Disturbing subject matter. Can bankruptcy be far behind?
Patty, what`s your take of your beloved pretty Eric after readings Ron`s facts?
Yes, let's all rise up and DEMAND an end to the phony phone tax and doubling [or was it tripling] of trash fees to pay for more cops and DEMAND our money back.
If that money had been spent on more cops instead of being suck into the garbage disposal known as the 'general fund,' we'd have more cops.
It's way past time to recall or impeach Villaraigosa (if we can find him) and every city council member.
We need to clean house and do it quickly or we'll all be sucked down with the sinking city ship of state.
They can drown alone; that's one "shared sacrifice" I'm not willing to make!
"EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's the mayor's email blast on police hiring (mayorletter.rtf)"
Rather than ".rtf" format, I think Villaraigosa should use his standard ".wtf" format.
Hey, I never promised to be profound.
The city is dying for a competent candidate that gets to work early, reins in the Unions and won't put his family on the payroll and his friends before the city. We need someone to vote for. Where is he or she?
The city wouldn't be in this mess if only some of these same council members would have voted YES to hire the 320 additional officers back when Mayor Hahn included them in his budget. There's a pattern here with these council members not placing public safety as a #1 priority but they complain when crime happens in their districts. Mayor Hahn in 2005 wanted to place a 1/2 cent sales tax to hire more police which would have been the cheapest way to go and not hinder the homeowners of the city. BUT NO, some of these same council members said NO to that as well. Now, they are going to continue to collect millions in trash fees and we will never have enough officers like New York at 40,000 patroling a smaller area because their politicians "get it."
Monica, I am glad the city didn't approve a 1/2 sales tax -- cutting spending THEN in the days of Jimmy Hahn, when money was flowing IN from taxes aplenty, would have been the thing to do. Instead Villar inherited a spend-happy liberal establishment personified by his sister, the "never met a tax I don't like or want to add" Janice.
Besides, even if there were a tax it probably would be swiped into the General fund like the current Phone Tax S and the trash fees (which are a whopping $40.00/ month from 12.00 a couple years ago). Meanwhile Jimmy's sister Janice is intent on adding another tax that hits only homeowners for "her" own gang programs, when she's been shown to be incompetent to manage the programs she's already been in charge of. Even if that Fox 11 report is exaggerated as a rightwing station, there's some smoke under that fire and the woman is a grandstanding phony who blathers on to get support from the likes of Latino housekeepers who work at LAX-area hotels, etc. (That issue has embroiled the city in lawsuits because she singled them out unfairly.) So let's leave the Hahn era in the dustbin -- no Janice for Lt. Gov., she and Jimmy coasted by long enough on their daddy's name.
Let's deal with here and now: getting Smith, Parks, Koretz and the others to honor the commitment the Mayor made to us about using the trash fee hikes and Phone Tax S for cops and public safety. And balance the budget going forward, even if some unions don't like it.
Meanwhile, as L A Observed notes, the San Diego Tribune has been amazed that LA Times has become so provincial, writing numerous stories attacking Nahai on a mere $82,000 contract he'll work for (he could have sued for termination, severance etc.) -- mostly David Zahniser, who's a mouthpiece for certain anti-Villar blogs and may have picked up the outrage from them -- while the MWD (Met Water District) is set to approve a 25% INCREASE in worker pensions worth $70,000. That can cost each household AN EXTRA $1000/YEAR, a decision to be decided upon in a couple of days. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE OVER THAT? RON can you bang the drums a bit - that should have been an issue for OurLA.org and some pro bono lawyer like what Noel did for Measure B.
That was an extra $70 MILLION/year not thou - extra for MWD - though it may well amount to that per pensioner.
Dear god, Walter that was FUNNY!
1:10/1:13
Good points, every one.
But as for the LA Times: While the MWD issue is something that has been observed by many of us, particular those who have seen the burning forest beyond the great big eucalpytus that is DWP, it's only natural that ratepayers are worried first about what's getting ready to explode in their back yards (and in their streets.) As such, it's a pleasant surprize that Zahniser and a few others get a few inches in edgewise.
The Time has long ceded as peripheral the readers of the zoned edition areas, where they once provided some token staff wherever there was enough regional adbverting to poach from adjacent market dailies.
VC Star seems mute on the MWD increase, but kudo's for what's left of San Diego's monduopoly, and for the OC Register. But I doubt any of them would have the resources to fight both battles.
Fact is, both the DWP and their first cousin MWD have been in bed together since their inception. Ratewise, the MWD can always be counted on to be the Bad cop, which then justifies the DWP to up the rates reciprocally, but how much is left over to up the transfer the General Fund? Anyways, in both cases, the pension issue was lit by the embers of the same economic holocaust that has already burned the ratepayers.
The common alarm should be sounded to finger the pension fund arsons who kept piling dead wood when they new that the housing market only needed a spark to blow up in everyone's faces.
News alert: The Pension increase for MWD has been dropped.
Good news indeeed, KK.
They can make it up with REAL Economic growth through productivity...if only we can find something to produce other then Services.
With the demise/consolidation of the aerospace industry, which brought the wealth that built the suburbs, which only then fueled the Entertainment Industry...that's all we have left?
Pulling the thin film solar rug out from under the Chinese sounds good for the time being, but even if the market wasn't so subject to bubblezation, the global question would remain as to whether we can continue to do it best.
Best NOT to have city hall decide which industry to incentivize. DO use this opportunity to sweep out the debris from years of fiscal debauchery. By all means pay the best and the brightest, and fund their retirment. But don't artificially protect the weak links in the process.
Bring some propriety to the Departments and Bureaus, and parcel out the social programs' budgets back to the community, where grass root organizations can be empowered to realize localized solutions to build Community, as opposed to buying into foundations and think tanks which are two degrees away from either party's fat cats.
LA Now...City officials and police union reach deal to avoid LAPD furloughs, but details are sketchy
Los Angeles negotiators have reached a tentative two-year contract agreement with the city police union that apparently will avert the need for officer furloughs and shave $50 million to $100 million from L.A.’s $405-million budget shortfall. To become official, the proposed deal must be ratified by the 9,900-member Los Angeles Police Protective League and approved by the City Council. Details of the confidential contract agreement were not disclosed.The council approved the tentative agreement during a closed-door session today. Council President Eric Garcetti said the proposal would save the city “tens of millions of dollars." He said a majority of members were opposed to furloughs or any other action that would reduce the number of police officers patrolling city streets.
To: October 13, 2009 9:26 AM
Eric is showing his leadership skills. These are unprecedented economic times. It took 8 years of mismanagement at the Federal level to make the worst economy in 50 years. Now California and Los Angeles are paying the price. It would be easy to walk away from this. But Eric is hanging in there, bringing all sides to the table to work out the problems we face.
Yes it will be tough for a few years, but we will come out of it thanks to tough leadership from our City Council President.
Am I missing something? I thought that LAPD needed to cut 128 million from its budget.
Thank you Patty, for reminding me of a point I want to make a point about this fantasy league city government.
But first of all, we understand your code of "8 years of mismanagement at the Federal level" to mean everything is "Bush's fault". Not poor misled CEO's who fell victim to greedy homebuyers. Not the terrorists' vile subterfuge, infiltrating ACORN and passing the CRA which was never exposed by either party's congressional delegations. So glad we can "Move On" into utopia, after just a few more tough years.
Yes we know that Garcetti is Obama's guy, having drawn the straw Left after el mejor had doubled down on Clinton II. But while your naval reserve hero is certainly more qualified then our recumbent, his priorities have been questioned upon occastion, and would have been on others had he dared to face Gary Slossberg in a debate.
So please don't be alarmed if some of us are leery about his priorities.
Let's be clear. What this article is about, is the tendency for politicians of any color to hire the best and the brightest speach writers, image consultants, webmasters, and twitter mavens; to statisticize focus groups and cross pollinate platform priorities with those of the special interests who are targeting the same Demographs; and devise the best pitch they can, to sound like a leader. They SAY the correct things, because it is right there on the teleprompter.
Then, they hope they can either make claim to be the wizard who pulled the strings for the successes (which may fall into place to degrees beyond their control -aka sympathetic magic) or find some infidel to blame for failures.
Another man who had Navy as a footnote on his resume spoke more glowingly of those who would take responsiblity as they "spend themselves in a worthy cause...." A Nobel Prize winning President he was, who in his inaugaral address said "We know that no people needs such high traits of character as that people which seeks to govern its affairs aright through the freely expressed will of the freemen who compose it."
So, while many on this blog or elsewhere are waiting for a rough rider to rescue us, what we need to do is get off our high horse, stand on our own two feet, and storm the hill ourselves.
Why is it that all the "well read" activists can't figure out what's going on? READ IT HERE:
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/treasury-loan-currency-FDIC/index/a/20840
To increase those odds, the government will then transfer wealth from the productive ones among you to those who have to pay back that debt. They will pay the healthcare and education and give poor jobs to people in debt. They will borrow the money to do this from our children. Essentially they will create money today and worry about paying it back later. When you create money, you devalue the money.
This is what the government plan is: To further destroy the value of the currency to try to help people and the economy. But remember: An economy is based on production, not the ability to borrow. The standard of living is based on wealth, which is created by production or income generation, not the ability to borrow that wealth from someone else.
We were borrowing from the rest of the world to keep our standard of living high. Now we're increasingly borrowing from our children, who will eventually experience either much higher taxes or a much lower dollar; either will lower their standard of living.
I don't speak Spanish so I can only guess that "El Quixotian" means "The Moron". You can storm any hill that you wish, for all that it does. Your windy, hot air has little substance. Politics doesn't change by knowing the issues. It changes by knowing politics. And in politics, image is everything. So, you'd be better off getting someone on a "white horse to rescue you" than by getting "someone to explain how the white horse works". Debate this all you wish. It amounts to much ado about nothing, except whining. It would be better to debate who would be the best leader and why.
It's a wonder how someone can say so much and mean so little.
q.e.d.
Right back atcha...you're arguing morons who say things that don't make sense?
Look in the mirror, pal.
ALLLLLways expect a comeback from EQ.
She's so gabby.
gabby, gabby, gabby.
Not heavy, not forward-thinking.