Monthly Archives: August 2010

Budget Quicksand: More Cuts to Parks, Libraries and Other Core Services

Posted on August 18, 2010 by

It took only seven weeks for the LA city budget to blow up.   Imagine that: Thousands of six-figure workers with huge lifetime pensions and health benefits, the nation’s highest paid municipal elected officials with huge staffs and lucrative perks, … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

The Siege of Fortress DWP: Will the Failure, Secrecy and Mismanagement End?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by

ACTION ALERT: The first public hearing on creating an independent Rate Payer Advocate and other reforms of the DWP will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at LAPD’s Devonshire Youth Center, Wilbur Avenue and Parthenia Street, in Northridge. Fortress DWP … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Stench of a Dirty Deal: Will Council Give $4.5 Million Gift to Profiteer in Runaway Production?

Posted on August 17, 2010 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again, the City Council in a 41-minute meeting Tuesday put off without comment discussion of the CRA deal with Hal Katersky’s Santa Monica-based Pacifica Ventures, raising questions about what’s going on behind the scenes with the controversial … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

The Miseducation of Teacher Union Head A.J. Duffy — Ignorance Tops Knowledge

Posted on August 16, 2010 by

If knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss, United Teachers Los Angeles union head A.J. Duffy has clearly sided with the know-nothings — something that goes a long way towards explaining the failure of LAUSD over the last three decades. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hot Topics, LAUSD, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Trust in God — Not the Planning Department: Michael LoGrande’s First Big Test

Posted on August 13, 2010 by

A city’s General Plan lays out the broad guidelines for all new developments that are then refined through community plans that provide detailed rules block by block so that residents and developers know exactly what is allowed and what isn’t. … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Los Angeles 2010: A Failure of VIsion

Posted on August 12, 2010 by

Nearly 40 years ago in a historic turning point, Tom Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles.   The narrow-minded bigots who had wielded so much power for so long were toppled and a new liberal leadership took over with … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

The Business of LA is Business — So Where’s the Vision, Leadership for a Great City?

Posted on August 11, 2010 by

“We are not allowing for more corruption.” — LA Ethics Commission President Helen Zukin arguing that the limit on gifts to politicians be raised from $100 to $400 in the light of the mayor’s flagrant disregard of the laws on … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Sweetheart Deals and Opportunists: How to Destroy a City

Posted on August 10, 2010 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: The City Council’s first action Tuesday was to put off for at least a week the two items approving the CRA deal with Pacifica Ventures. With the complicity of our elected, appointed and hired officials, the jackals are … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Bruno, LA’s Watchdog: Cheap Shot at Cheap Date

Posted on August 9, 2010 by

Steve Cooley is not just another pretty face.   And he may be the cheapest date in town — especially if you compare him to our mayor.   The San Francisco Chronicle, in a story Sunday that reads like it … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruno Watchdog L.A., Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Money, Power and Corruption in LA

Posted on August 7, 2010 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written for Nina Royal’s North Valley Reporter. What started 18 months ago as a David vs. Goliath struggle between ordinary citizens against the DWP and its IBEW now appears to be within eyesight of being … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments