UPDATE: Dakota Smith’s take at CurbedA. and the Wall Street Journal’s story (wsj-vinest.doc)
Emboldened by their election triumph over ordinary citizens committed to fixing what the city’s leaders broke, the City Council Wednesday moved swiftly to approve the $4.7 million gift for the Cesspool on Vine project and moved forward on massive tax gifts to the Wilshire Brand project.
Both required project labor agreements as payback to the unions and massive subsidies of taxpayer money as payback to the developer community for their generous contributions to re-electing LaBonge, Huizar, Cardenas and Wesson and installing Englander, a friendly vote in the Northwest Valley.
You can take wannabe mayors Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry at their words that these are great projects well worth your money because they will create union jobs and your tax dollars to the Community Redevelopment Agency, or its successor if abolished by the state.
Or you can see through the public stories that have nothing to do with what really has gone in private behind the scenes.
Only Paul Krekorian, the biggest winner in Tuesday’s election, dared to vote against Garcetti’s pet project at 1601 N. Vine St., an office building for a developer beset by bankruptcy proceedings over his runaway film production facility in New Mexico and lawsuits over his many other dealings.
It was a whitewash of the first order by the Council President who never mentioned it took him 14 tries to finally bully his colleagues into submission by arguing “a lot of incompetence” by the CRA occurred but it’s too hard to know by whom so it doesn’t matter.
The Wilshire Grand project is another story. It has taken 22 months to browbeat Korean Airlines and its actual developer, the king of downtown development Jim Thomas, into submission.
We won’t know the true cost to taxpayers until March 29, two days before the deadline to approve the deal set by Perry.
What we do know is there will be lots of digital billboards, tax breaks and twin towers — luxury condos in one, luxury hotel rooms in the other and 21 bars.
It’s just what LA needs or at least what we, collectively, voted for or, in the case of the 88 percent who didn’t vote, abstained on.
Good luck.
88% abstained.
That’s not Democracy – It’s dictatorship. It’s taking public money and putting into the hands of Private Company’s. 88% abstained. When the receipients of the CRA_LA show up its like Welfare Moms having more kids….
Why wait for 2 years…get involved now…help stop, change, or modify the 710 Tunnel Project by participating in the EIR process…come join us at the next SR-710 Conversations meetings…help us hold our elected officials and governmental agencies accountable..Lord knows we need all the help we can muster:
http://www.metro.net/projects/sr-710-conversations/
Join the fight…to make it right!
Voters and registered voters who didn’t bother to show up committed mass CITICIDE on Tuesday.
Sandy… you are tragically correct it seems. The mass of voters who remain disengaged and uninterested is appalling. The incumbents would argue that these people are content with what they have in Los Angeles — that the City is doing a “good job” for the overwhelming majority of the people. That is one way to look at it.
Or it may be a lack of civic engagement because people feel the system is rigged against them — so why bother? We must continue to fight City Hall, expose its grotesque corruption.
6:21 a.m.: I would add one more thing into the mix; the miserable failure on the part of the media. Only interested parties such as union members and political junkies knew there was an election on Tuesday.
I wish someone would have done an exit poll on the occupations of those who voted. My money’s on city employees, union members, friends of the mayor and council, land developers, their families and employees.
Except for the editorial pages, the print media just about ignored the election. The electronic media completely ignored it.
After all, we all know the “easy” stories like murders, traffic and weather are so much more important. Heaven forbid the pretty faces on TV should work up a sweat going after the political scandals and backroom deals that swirl around City Hall.
Post election coverage put the teensy city of Bell’s election returns over gigantic L.A.’s, and that was pretty much limited to incumbents win; voters rubber stamped all the council’s measures. Go to our Web site for complete details.
We need a Bell scandal, Federal investigations and perp walks before the electronic media gives L.A. politics a dribs-worth of attention.
We are not able to perhaps consider gonna that seaside without getting a seaside large outdoor umbrella! That UV sun rays in the seaside tend to be extreme and they are the telephone number one particular reason behind body cancer tumor. Seaside umbrellas own take place far away within designs, colours in addition to sizing’s. You will discover almost anything you desire, nonetheless remember better that textile utilised greater solar safety you obtain.
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In the actual Aconcagua Provincial Recreation area you can easlily discover the best heaps in the united states as well as inside the European Hemisphere. Presently there, walking routines bring a growing number of enthusiasts daily. For anyone who is a kind of experience supporters, and then never wait for vacations this particular part of the actual Andean Huge batch Array regarding outside the house backpacking.
From The fall of fifteenth, a single day with the thirty days what is the best the actual entry for the recreation area is usually allowed, as well as right up until 03 thirty-one next season, a bunch of routines usually are completed inside the Aconcagua Provincial Recreation area. Not just regarding athletics to look for the actual summit closes with the Gemstone Sentinel (Mount Aconcagua), but in addition to help you travelers as well as enthusiasts coming from around the globe for vacations this particular area.
One fine detail to help be aware is usually that the expertise usually are largely provided with the very same corporations in which promise the actual commercial infrastructure required for that use of the actual highs, plus they comprise exchanges with the area, food, tents,google, as well as many of the machines vital regarding experience travel and leisure. The actual allow for to get at the actual provincial recreation area need to be was able professionally along at the area involving Mendoza as well as being non-transferable.
In the actual recreation area we’ll locate a wonderful number of plans, which can be numerous with may be times involving sightseeing. The actual most desired will be backpack for the glaciers involving Plaza Francia (France Square), which can be some sort of three-day visit. The actual corners get something like 5 to help half a dozen several hours.
This visit starts off using the advent in Horcones, where by we’ll start off planning decrease the actual overeat with the sea to help Confluencia (Confluence). The 2nd point with the visit is usually following breakfast every day, while all of us abandon to help Plaza Francia, as well as 3rd evening all of us rewind decrease coming from Confluencia to help Horcones, as well as after that for the cash.
People who seem to train walking, as opposed to the actual pro’s, call for to be aware of just which will goods to look at, in particular simply because all of us repent anything that all of us get as well as all of us never apply. For this reason the actual encouraged machines will need to comprise a strong igloo tent, some sort of resting carrier, a strong insulation pad as well as a respectable pack having a smallest quantity involving 75 liters. Some sort of propane heaters can also be vital, together with few further costs. In a similar fashion, all of us may require some sort of torch, solar shades, sun’s rays blocker, some sort of water-resistant coat, backpacking shoes or boots, some sort of loath as well as devices to guard yourself with the sun’s rays, the actual chilly as well as bad weather. Since you can view, the actual woodland just isn’t just some sort of Mendoza’s your five Superstars Lodge.
It takes a City to fight City Hall! When I was younger, people used to say, “Good Luck, go fight City Hall”. Now that I am older, I use my voting privilege to make changes.
I wonder what it just cost our taxpayers to send out 2,060,913 ballots to all of our registered voters (1,644,647 City of L.A. and 416,266 outside of City of L.A.). We ended up with an 11.59% turnout @190,642 cast votes (of 1,644,647 registered voters) in the City of Los Angeles and only a 10.75% voter turnout @ 30,845 cast votes (of 416,266 registered voters) outside the City of Los Angeles.
It seems to me that there should be a small state or county penalty ($5 or so) for registered voters who fail to vote without a validated excuse similar to a jury summons procedure.
I have never been so disappointed in our community of registered voters in my life. As far as registered voting rights are concerned, I think that the old phrase “use it or lose it” should be applied to voter rights.
The deadbeat voters are interfering with our ability to make changes necessary to move forward and dissolve corruption. I propose crafting a dead beat voter bill with a penalty imposed to registered voters who fail to vote without a legitimate excuse! We can’t fight City Hall without a City!