Monthly Archives: June 2011

Utter Contempt: Even Rosendahl Can’t Get Civil Answers to Questions About AEG’s NFL Stadium

Posted on June 20, 2011 by

“We will report at the conclusion of negotiations.” Bill Rosendahl — the only city official who has any qualms about AEG’s brazen downtown NFL stadium proposal — sent three letters asking 38 questions to the top bureaucrats negotiating the specifics … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Death (Penalty) and (Wasted) Taxes: Exposing the Myth of Capital Punishment in California

Posted on June 20, 2011 by

Apart from paying the state’s legislators a single cent for the worthless work they do, it’s hard to think of a bigger waste of money than the $184 million extra we pay to house 714 cold-blooded killers on Death Row … Continue reading →

Posted in Hot Topics | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

A legislative system gone awry — My Sunday Column for the News-Press & Leader

Posted on June 19, 2011 by

I don’t know how to break this bad news to you, but for all the fun and games our legislators are having in Sacramento these days, the joke is on us — the taxpayers, the residents, workers and students. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Glendale-Burbank | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Brown Wastes No Time: Budget Vetoed

Posted on June 16, 2011 by

Here’s the full text of the governor’s veto message: I am returning Senate Bill 69 and Assembly Bill 98 without my signature.   In January, I presented a balanced budget solution with a mix of deep spending cuts and temporary … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Political Californication: Partisan Promiscuity and Pomposity of Petty Pugilistic Pols

Posted on June 16, 2011 by

The California Legislature — on strike against the public since Prop. 13 passed three decades ago — reached yet another new low on Wednesday with passage on deadline of a phony budget that protects their $400-a-day paychecks and does nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Development/CRA, Hot Topics | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Abolish the CRA: End Nepotism, Favoritism and Welfare to the Rich

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

The last item on the Community Redevelopment Agency’s commission agenda for Thursday says a lot about how City Hall operates and why it is so badly manages the public’s money and bungles most of what it is supposed to do. … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Development/CRA, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

A City Without Leadership Is a City Without Hope — The Wilshire Bus-only Lane Fiasco

Posted on June 14, 2011 by

Years of studies, test programs and debate over a bus-only lane on the most heavily used public transit corridor in Southern California came down to two hours of muddled City Council posturing Tuesday and a decision that amounted to pandering … Continue reading →

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

Rate Payer Advocate at DWP: A Stark Example of Why City Hall Cannot Reform Itself

Posted on June 13, 2011 by

Three months after voters approved setting up a Ratepayer Advocate and independent watchdog agency on the Department of Water and Power, the City Council got around to taking the first tentative steps needed to bring it to life. The meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The incessant buzzing of the gadflies — My Sunday Column for the News-Press & Leader

Posted on June 12, 2011 by

“If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me,” Socrates declared in arguing that his role as a gadfly was “to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Glendale-Burbank | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Caruso’s Sweet Song Hits Right Note with Valley Business People

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

Developer Rick Caruso tested the waters of the San Fernando Valley business community Friday morning and found a highly receptive audience for his campaign for mayor. Not the Caruso is running for mayor any more than Zev, Wendy, Jan, Austin, … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments