Results tagged “AEG” from Ron Kaye L.A.

By Jonathan Wilcox, guest columnist

Randy Newman may still be singing "I love L.A.", but these days he might be in smaller company than ever.
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With the unemployment rate t nearly 14 12 percent and budget deficits the soar past $1 billion in two years, no one seemed shocked when former Mayor Richard Riordan casually predicted Los Angeles would be bankrupt by 2014.  In fact, the strongest disagreement came from economists who believe Riordan is dead wrong: The city will go belly up at least a year earlier.
 
Knowing this, Angelenos can be expected to do what they always do when the going gets tough: Embrace our local sports teams.  But even that refuge is being eroded.
 
The city is still very much in cringe-mode from the shocking scenes of violence, destruction and mayhem that marked the immediate aftermath of this year's Lakers' championship win.  From the beginning, city politicians have falsely claimed that what happened was a form spontaneous combustion.  It wasn't.

I was there at noon on the day of Game 7.  Thousands of people had already started gathering near the Staples Center, at least six hours before tipoff.  Hardly any of them had tickets.  It may have been the first slow-motion riot in history.
 
The list of victims of the riotous rampage go far beyond the shopkeepers, hotels, restaurants and loft lobbies that just happened to be within a thrown-brick's distance of the savage mob.
 
And the biggest loser may in fact be Anschutz Entertainment Group (known in these parts by the familiar AEG), the owner of the Staples Center and its mega-development L.A. Live, which includes the arena, adjacent Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Hotels, the Emmy-hosting Nokia Center and several higher-end eateries.

Quite an array in one place, but for AEG, it's not enough.  What's their next big idea?  Tear down the West Hall portion of the Los Angeles Convention Center (mere steps from the Staples Center) and build a new NFL stadium there.

AEG should forgive if the public - having seen what a basketball game can produce - is a bit hesitant about a football-sized crowd that could be at least five-times larger.
 
Before the post-game Lakers riot, this had a real chance of succeeding.  But now important questions are being asked, leading to more than a few second thoughts.
 
The West Hall contains about 250,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting space and its demolition would automatically eliminate the center's ability to attract any national conventions or meaningful trade shows (such as the highly successful Electronic Entertainment Expo - E3 - which happened to be at the Convention Center the day of the riot).

According to media reports, the proposed demolition would occur in 2-3 years.  Seem like a long way off?  Major conventions and trade shows routinely utilize that much lead time, and while other conventions already booked during this period would likely have to relocate to other cities, wouldn't L.A. have to pay millions in damages to these booked conventions and trade shows?

This also ignores the financial realities the Convention Center is today: nearly half-a-billion in debt, but employing 130 people; a realistic candidate for privatization, but locked into deals where 15 of its 16 facilities are government-run.
 
Even if all these obstacles could be cleared, the proposed stadium would be woefully short of parking for a football game for a city that embraces its cars as birthright.
 
It is difficult to believe this idea could survive even passing public scrutiny.  But public scrutiny is not how things get done downtown, where the real power is wielded far out of sight.  That's where AEG throws as much weight around as anyone.
 
Now, a few pictures may be worth even a thousand lobbyists.  And the singular image that has captured the aftermath of the violence is that of Abraham Teferi - an Ethiopian immigrant and taxi driver who was stopped by the mob and dragged from the cab, which was then set on fire.
 
AEG's president and CEO Tim Leiweke flamboyantly presented Teferi with a check for $10,000, saying, "On behalf of all the knuckleheads, we apologize and hopefully that helps you get on your feet a little bit."
 
What a missed opportunity for situational seriousness.  Those were no knuckleheads on the streets that night.  It was a vicious gathering of violent criminals unopposed by police that nearly murdered Teferi and terrorized scores of others.
 
Whatever naming rights and concession deals the city may get out of a football stadium next to the Staples Center, many believe it will more than give it all back.
 
Hear that?  It's the sound a foundation cracking, with gleaming L.A. Live, the JW Marriott and Wolfgang Puck's restaurant giving way to the chilling images of tens of thousands of Angelenos (some carrying Mexican flags) taking to the streets to destroy their city.
 
Is a football stadium one tight spiral away from the worst of the rioting something to consider right now?  If history repeats itself, will Tim Leiweke be there to hand us a check, pat us on the head and help us get back on our feet a little bit?

It was an historic moment, July 1, 2005, the inauguration of LA's first Hispanic mayor in 133 years and there was a throng of dignataries from Al Gore to Jesse Jackson, the current and former governors of California, mayors from most of the nation's biggest cities.

"Dream with me..." was the message of Antonio Villaraigosa as he inspired the city to reach for the stars, and promised to "be a mayor who takes responsibility and ...work as hard as you do every single day."

"We need to start thinking big again, and facing up to our biggest challenges. I intend to be a mayor who confronts those challenges...Let's raise our eyes skyward. Let's imagine the pinnacles that we can reach together...let's make Los Angeles a city of Purpose! Let's dare to dream! Let's dare to dream together!"

Five days later, he issued Executive Directive No. 1: Ethics in Government (AntonioExecOrder1.rtf). It starts:

"As public servants to the residents of Los Angeles, we must commit ourselves to
a standard of conduct that maintains and enhances the public's trust in our local
government. To fulfill this mandate, our individual and collective decision making
processes must be based upon the highest possible ethical standards."

That same day, July 5, 2005, Antonio held his first press conference, declaring:

"Let's be clear. Honesty and ethics in City Hall start at the top. We are the public's servants. We must set a higher benchmark by our actions to restore the public's faith and trust in local government. Today, we have begun to do just that."

He then appeared before the City Council which unanimously adopted four new laws aimed at issues "raised by the grand jury probes, including a ban on city commissioners participating in the process of evaluating and recommending city contracts that their commissions will eventually vote on."

QUESTION May Mayor Hahn use his officeholder account to pay to attend the Academy Awards, GRAMMY Awards, and sporting competitions such as the NBA All-Star Game, and similar events held in the City?

Jimmy Hahn was boring and unimaginative but he wasn't stupid or an incompetent lawyer and he didn't think he was anything except the mayor of Los Angeles -- not its king.

That's why he asked the Ethics Commission in 2004 how far his official and ceremonial duties extended and how he should deal with attending major sports and entertainment events.

Here's the heart of the answer LeAnn Pelham, executive director of the commission, gave him (read full letter hereEthics-Advice.pdf:

"The Mayor acts not only as the City's chief executive but also as its business ambassador and chief marketer. As such, officeholder account funds may be used for the Mayor to attend the Academy Awards, the GRAMMYs, or the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, subject to the application of the blackout period
Your letter also inquires as to whether Mayor Hahn could use officeholder funds to pay to attend events "similar" to the Academy Awards, GRAMMY Awards, and NBA-All Star Game held in the City of Los Angeles. Without further information as to the specific nature of those events and the role the Mayor would play in attending them, we cannot provide advice to you regarding whether officeholder funds may to used to pay for him to attend such events."

In other words, pay for the tickets out of the $75,000 you can raise a year for your officerholder account and represent the city at these major events. The blackout period she referred to is the 12 months before an election which means Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa could not use this reading of the law from March 2008 to March 2009 when he was narrowly elected to a second term without a runoff against runner-up Walter Moore.

This is the document the mayor's lawyer Brian Currey distributed to the news media Friday along with records of 99 event freebies -- documents the mainstream media reported shed little new light on the conflicts of interest the mayor had in taking valuable tickets from AEG and others.

The gap between the advice given Hahn by ethics officials about paying for tickets and the propriety of attending major events like the Oscars in his official capacity and taking freebies to just about any event he wanted to attend and bringing friends and family with him was filled by none other than AEG, the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars in city subsidies.

AEG lobbyist Chris Modrzejewski asked Villaraigosa to attend the Lakers home opener on Nov. 3, 2005 and recognize the Lakers Youth Foundation in a halftime ceremony, saying in an email exchange with staff:

"For the mayor to accept the tickets he must have an 'official' role. For tomorrow it would be to at half time present a certificate to the Lakers organization for their work in the community. He will present it to either [former Lakers star] Magic Johnson or [team executive] Jeanie Buss depending on availability...I'll get you some language for a cert (certificate)."

Around the same time as that email, David Zahniser of the Times noted: "Villaraigosa supported a plan -- ultimately approved by the City Council -- to provide at least $246 million in tax breaks for a hotel planned for the AEG development known as L.A. Live. AEG shows up in the mayor's records as the donor of two tickets for Lakers games. Villaraigosa's records do not show who paid for the mayor to attend some of the concerts held at AEG facilities, including performances by Shakira, Juanes and Tina Turner."

Prior to Nov. 3, the mayor's event log shows he attended only two events: Chivas vs. America soccer game and an Aretha Franklin concert, presenting certificates at both. He participated in the Latin Grammy Awards pre-show the day of the Lakers opener and only one more event in 2005, the UCLA-USC football game. His freeloading gathered steam in 2006 with 24 events listed.

According to the ethics advice letter to Hahn, elected officials are barred from using their officeholder accounts to pay for events and various other things during the 12-month "black-out period" before an election .

"These types of expenditures are prohibited from the officeholder account during the black-out period so that they are not used or perceived to be used to benefit the officeholder's campaign for re-election to elective City office," the letter states.

The mayor attended more than 20 events between March 2008 and the March 2009 but since he's a freeloader he didn't violate the city ethics law in that regard since he didn't pay for any of the tickets and didn't report them.

But by his own admission that he was always in every case acting in an official capacity, he violated the law by promoting himself and his campaign for re-election -- not to mention promoting the city as its "business ambassador and chief marketer."

Maybe we should just forget the whole thing like the mayor suggests on the first page of the 422 pages he released.

"Applicable regulations provide that a ticket or pass received by an elected official is not a 'gift' if the official performs an official or ceremonial role or function on behalf of the agency. If the ticket or pass is not a 'gift,' it is not reportable and is not subject to gift limitations. Thus,
there was no requirement that the Mayor maintain records about the number, source, or value of the tickets or admissions received."

His attorney Brian Currey reiterated that view at Friday's press briefing, according to Rick Orlov in the Daily News.

"It has been the mayor's practice to engage in official acts while attending these events. He feels, very strongly, it is part of his job to attend the important entertainment industry, cultural events and sporting events in the city of Los Angeles."

As to all those concerns about conflicts of interest hidden by the mayor's failure to report his freebies, Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Szabo offers this ends justify the means logic:

"Do you remember what downtown looked like?" Szabo said. "It is part of the mayor's duty to promote development."

Maybe we shouldn't just forget about the whole thing but say, "Thanks, Mr. Mayor, job well done."

All of this reminds me of the Alabama politician got re-elected after being caught taking bribes and kickbacks by declaring, "Sure I stole but I stole for you."

Villaraigosa now says he will pay for the tickets or pay fines if the Ethics Commission investigation finds he violated the law. "If it's determined that the mayor needs to reimburse for guests, then he certainly will do so," Currey added.

The mayor's bigger problem is the likelihood District Attorney will more from making an inquiry to conducting a full investigation with subpoenas and a grand jury and look beyond "Ticket-Gate" to meals and fine wines he's taken as gifts and the links between fund-raising for the mayor's various political and other campaigns and the mayoral favors bestowed on donors.

If the mayor gets away with this, he will have achieved something historic: Abolished the rule of law with regards to city and state ethics laws meant to prevent political corruption.

For that he would deserve a place the Political Hall of Fame -- or it is Shame.

Like a Rottweiler with a steak bone, Channel 11's John Schwada has bit into the "Ticket-gate Scandal" and he's got our mayor running like a Chihuahua with his tail between his legs.

The question - if I can stretch this ad nauseum - is whether our District Attorney and U.S. Attorney are bulldogs or lap dogs? 

And The Dog Trainer?  Well, they're just copy-cats., or maybe the overly abused word for feline females. Certainly not up to the job of watch-dog.

For those of you in bed at 10 last night or watching the Dodgers lose - again!! - this time to the Angels, Schwada provided yet more evidence Antonio has been playing fast and loose with the facts concerning all the free tickets he's been receiving to sporting events, concerts and awards ceremonies. 

Antonio has argued all this was, well, work: that he was performing his official duties as mayor.  But Schwada went back over his schedule and found - surprise! - that many of those events were blacked out as "personal." 

Oops! He was covering his butt on one issue and got something else stuck in the wringer on another. 

And when confronted with the evidence -- and the fact that DA Steve Cooley is now looking into the matter along with the Ethics Commission -- Antonio yelped that everything he does is official and ran away from the cameras like a frightened puppy. 

See Antonio run and hide for yourself: 
 

 
 

The Dog Trainer played up the story up this morning, embarrassed that a TV guy -albeit a former print slob - broke the story and has been ahead of them from Day One. The best they've managed so far is a sarcastic, but relatively mild editorial. 

Remember, Jimmy "Don't Ever Touch Me" Hahn paid for all his tickets and three PR guys close to his administration got convicted of overbilling the DWP despite the fact their company repaid the city 10 times what they were charged with overbilling -- and they weren't even accused of getting a free tickets to a Little League game. 

So, Antonio, what's good for the goose ..... (Yet another animal.)  Just paying the city back doesn't work if you've committed a crime - and lots of smart people think you have. 

Let's see how smart Steve Cooley is.  After all, he thinks he's smart and tough enough to be California's Top Cop. 

Do you? 

Woof!

The threads of the story have become so entangled it's like a crazy dream that is so vivid you think it's reality.

How dumb do they think we are?

That's the question that has come to mind thousands of times over the years as I've observed the insanity that passes for our local government.

Today, what came to mind for the first time is "How dumb are we?"

The evidence is mounting everywhere that it's us who are out of our minds, not them. They are just selfish little people who will do and say anything to protect and serve themselves. We are the fools who keep on paying the bills and electing them to office.

They conned us into paying billions, nearly $20 billion, to build mammoth monuments to miseducation that cost as much as $400 million each but now can't pay the salaries of teachers to staff them so they want another tax for that.

It was all for the "sake of the children," they said, so we taxed ourselves to build parks and libraries that will soon be shuttered.

But they've got money lying around to build yet another park to connect City Hall with the DWP, presumably so city and county workers will have a place to nap in the daytime and the homeless to sleep at night since they've been rousted from Skid Row so developers given huge subsidies can build luxury apartments that no one can afford.

How dumb are we?

I'll tell you how dumb we are, we borrow a fortune to build a new Convention Center because the old one is a bust and subsidize it to the tune of $40 million a year and then when it starts making money, we are going to sell it to the billionaire who is getting even richer on Staples Center and LA Live that were built with our generosity to provide playgrounds for the rich.

We give slick operators like the CIM Group everything they want and when their deals flop, like Hollywood and Highland, we bail them out.

We cut secret sweetheart deals with the emirs of Dubai and New York billionaires for the Grandiose Avenue Project and we forgive them millions in penalties when they don't deliver.

We watch our elected officials beating their breasts because their incompetence and cowardice puts the future of our city in jeopardy and sit silent as they piously talk about firing contractors and their workers to save the jobs of city workers they no longer can afford to pay. It would be wrong, they say, to make our horrifying unemployment numbers worse even as they make them worse.

Oh, the horror, the horror...

But instead of storming their palace of self-service, we come as peasants begging for a crumb from their lavish marble and gold table.

We are fools. We are dumb. We are slaves and they are masters. We have gotten what we deserve.

Nothing will change until we -- business, labor and the community -- get up off our knees and stand up like free men and women and show them who's boss, show them we will not be fooled  any longer.

City Attorney Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich took a beating last week in the press and at City Council for trying to solve the billboard mess created by City Hall over seven years.

It's a good thing he's a tough guy from San Pedro and takes pride in being a pig-headed  bull in a china shop. He broke a lot of dishes again last week and hopefully his repeated references to the commission of crimes will soon be backed up with the evidence to produce indictments.

In the 10 weeks he has been in office, Nuch has demonstrated he has no more respect for the exquisite sensibilities of the Council than for the power of AEG's Tim Leiweke, developers or anyone else.

Poor Ed Reyes' trust is shaken by the breakdown in unanimous acquiescence , Richard Alarcon is saddened at seeing department heads told to obey the law, Greig Smith is outraged at the prospect the law might override sweetheart deals and Jan Perry, her voice quivering with emotion, is out for revenge.

Good work, Nuch. We've waited a long time for this, a city official who doesn't give a damn about the niceties of the fine art of political corruption, whether misfeasance or malfeasance, and just wants to see an effective law in place to end the runaway proliferation of digital billboards that blight our landscape.

They call him a bully for standing up to the people's interest. They say he is abusing his authority for trying to bring control to billboards and marijuana shops, and end giveaways of public money without public benefit.

Maybe the Neighborhood Councils and homeowner groups can learn something from Nuch and stop saying thank you every time a city official talks nice to them while picking their pocket.

It's been 17 years since Rodney King, of all people, asked the question that is at the heart of what's wrong with LA: "Why can't we all just get along?"

King's his plaintive plea came at the height of the 1992 riots that followed acquittal of the officers who beat him half to death a year earlier.

This time it's not the poor who are looting stores, burning down buildings and firing guns into the night. It's the middle class that is angry, people who vent their grievances without engaging in mayhem in the streets.

They are fed up with being treated like feudal peasants, of being squeezed for every dollar they have without getting anything in return, of seeing their neighborhoods wrecked by developments that turn the law on its head, of services being cut, their futures being mortgaged and theircity lurching toward bankruptcy.

They want to know how come City Hall gave hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to AEG so the company could reap billions in profits with arenas, luxury hotels and condos and expensive restaurants 90 percent of the people can't afford.

They want to know how come homeowners' trash fees were tripled to hire more cops and most of the money was used for other purposes and now we've stopped hiring cops altogether.

They want to know how come they are being slugged with one water and power rate  increase after another and we've got water mains bursting all over town and the dirtiest power plants in California.

There's a thousand other questions people have about what's going on at City Hall so if anybody asks today why we can't just get along, the answer is: City Hall is at war with its people, engaging in one dirty back room deal and bureaucratic dirty trick after another.

It's clear nothing will change without a fight that brings City Hall back under the control of the people.
 
So give 'em Hell, Nuch! It's about time somebody stood up to the power structure and starting getting answers.

.Editor's Note: Please observe how the two-minute warning clock doesn't run when Tim Leiweke is speaking but it does when John Walsh is mocking him and the the City Council.

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Unable to get on with the job of fixing the city they have broken, the LA City Council kowtowed Friday to AEG's Tim Leiweke's bullying, repudiated the elected City Attorney Carmen Trutanich for his efforts to clean up the billboard mess they created over seven years, and then repudiated him for being a bully.

What a day it was! Only regular viewers can fully appreciate the ironies and absurdities:

* Leiweke who's made billions off of the city subsidies of Staples Center and LA Live threatening to sue LA for hundreds of millions of dollars if he had to wait a week for a judge to rule on whether giving him six more giant billboards at the new Regal Cinema complex on top of the 16 already up would make the 2-month-old billboard ban illegal;

* The Central City Assn. and Chamber of Commerce lined up with ironworkers and IBEW electricians to demand the Council live up to their commitments to make AEG even richer because nobody else is creating jobs, union and living wage, and Leiweke gives generously to politicians and their favorite charities;

* One Council member after another, even best pal Dennis Zine, taking off the kid gloves and punching Trutanich's chief deputy Bill Carter, accusing Nuch of violating their bond of trust by fighting for what's right and legal;

* After spending most of three hours crucifying Trutanich before voting unanimously -- a foregone conclusion -- to reject Carter's entreaties to let the federal court decide whether giving AEG all those billboards would make the ban unconstitutional, the council needed 10 minutes to agree to stop hiring cops, temporaily unless it becomes permanent;

* And finally for something entirely different, the agreed to throw a crumb to the populace by letting a couple of Westside farmer's markets off the hook for newly imposed fees for two more weeks because the Chief Legislative Analyst couldn't get around to sorting out the details of how the onerous new system is supposed to work before the law takes effect Monday.

There's a lot of ways to look at this but the one of my choice is Trutanich is a dangerous man and must be stopped.

At least that's the view of the City Hall power structure which is not used to anybody having power not being owned by those who have power and money.

They accused him of threatening them with prosecution if they committed crimes, of failing to tell them the total ban on new billboards might queer their endless commitments to AEG, of engaging unprotected legal advice, of contradicting theadvice of his predecessor in the City Attorney's office who went along with anything they wanted.

It was a feeding frenzy and many of the Council members were foaming at the mouth.

But no one rose to the occasion more than Leiweke himself  who strode to the public comment lectern without being called like ordinary citizens as if he owned not just the Council Chamber but the whole of City Hall and laid down the law as if God, him or herself, was speaking through him

You made commitments, you will honor those commitments, you will cost me hundreds of millions of dollars and ruin my financing based on all the corporations paying fortunes to advertise on LA Live's digital billboard, you will pay dearly.

There was no doubt who was boss in this town.

Yet, Leiweke didn't merit a mention in the LA Times online story headlined "L.A. Council ignores Trutanich warning, backs signs for theater at L.A. Live."

Instead, the focuse was on Building and Safety interim general manager Raymond Chan saying he plans to issue the permits despite Trutanich's warning in great part because he believes the ban passed in August does not cover projects already approved and substantially underway, including the AEG's theater at L.A. Live.
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also supports issuing the permits, said Jeff Carr, the mayor's chief of staff.

The Times said that once it receives the permits, AEG will put up four giant movie posters, including at least one for the Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It,'' which premieres Tuesday, which Carter repeatedly said already were legal as onsite signs, and signs for two of L.A. Live's sponsors, Coca-Cola and Toyota. Even the Coke ad would be legal since it's sold on premises.

Christine Pelisek at the LA Weekly's blog picked up on Councilwoman Jan Perry saying had  been threatened with criminal charges by Trutanich and arguing that AEG has had exclusive developments agreements with members of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District, including AEG, since 2001.

"I am not comfortable about being represented by a guy who might get me turfed over to the District Attorney's Office. I am doing my job."

She also quoted Trutanich's interview in the Daily News where he said:

"I'm just enforcing the laws. Right now there is a ban on digital off-site billboards. Where I grew up (San Pedro), when you said 'no more,' it means 'no more.' Up here in the central city, I guess it means something else."

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich told the City Council Tuesday that his investigation of how the city became liable for the cost of the Michael Jackson funeral at Staples Center has taken a surprising turn.

He said the investigation could lead to civil and criminal charges, adding the Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz's company, AEG, owner of Staples and LA Live, has been asked to turn over various documents.

After reading his 5-minute statement, Trutanich went into closed session for more than an hour with the Council to discuss the civil case.

The council is expected to order a thorough audit of all city expenses for the memorial, and members specifically want to know why the city paid $48,826 for the 3,500 lunches handed out to police officers providing security and may also establish policies that dictate how much the city will spend on such "extraordinary, non-emergency, multi-departmental, large-scale events,'' the Times says.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn calling for a complete accounting of the tourism benefits derived from the memorial. Hahn said the memorial promoted Los Angeles as a global destination for Jackson fans.

Editor's Note: My email inbox is loaded with comments about City Hall starting the fiscal year with a $320 million deficit and still footing the bill for the Michael Jackson memorial extravaganza at Staples Center when many stand to make huge profits exploiting his death. Some note the mayor and City Council president are all out of the country. Monica Harmon, a passionate Eastside activist and strong LAPD supporter, sent out this email blast along with this list (city-fee-waivers.PDF)of 1,000 fee waivers approved in the last year.

By Monica Harmon
OurLA.org writer

Thankfully we are all on the same page and outraged the taxpayers of Los Angeles are footing the bill for  the Jackson memorial. 

AEG stands to make millions on this event, had a $17 million insurance policy on Michael Jackson and received millions of dollars in tax breaks from the city.  I've attached a document of 1,000 special event waivers City Council have passed some for non profits but many for corporate companies that could easily afford the fee but the city absorbed their cost.

LAPD has already had their budget cut. For 12 days officers have been stationed at four locations 24/7.  It is absurd they get the burden of the cost of this event.

The most incompetent and irresponsible statement Jan Perry made at the press conference on Friday was this: "Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."   Does she not know LA is in a financial crisis?   Not one politician has had the courage or leadership to speak out for the taxpayers of LA and say this is not right.
 
Media web site blogs are posted with negative statements from Angelenos who agree with us. Yet, why aren't the reporters who we all know and are blind copied on this e-mail here reporting it? Do they not read their own blogs?

Thank you for the feedback and to those who stated they are taking this issue to their neighborhood council boards.   Contact your council member and ask others to do so.

Click here for information on how to contact your Councilmember. 

And check out Tuesday's City Council Agenda: (Item #65 council spending $500,000 for another "study",  Parks waived $60,000 for a fireworks show, $1,218,055 for new Bureau of Street Lighting positions, $70,000 to fund a park,   $200,000 on a Traffic plan, Perry waived fees for Farah Fawcett memorial service, and more special event waivers)

17,500 -- The number of tickets available for Tuesday morning's memorial service for the late entertainer Michael Jackson.

500 million -- The number of hits in the first hour on the Staples Center website where you can register for the lottery  to win tickets to the 10 a.m. service.

Billions of dollars -- What the Jackson family, Sony and Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz' AEG company that owns Staples and was arranging the Michael Jackson tour stand to make in exploiting his death, his music, his celebrity.

Millions of dollars -- What LA taxpayers will spend for police and other services Tuesday at AEG's Staples Center and LA Live -- both heavily-subsidized to begin with -- for the Michael Jackson service.

It doesn't make any sense at all, does it?

Why should the long-suffering taxpayers of LA -- who have given hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to Anschutz and massive tax breaks to Sony and other entertainment companies that continue to support runaway production -- pay for the exploitation of Michael Jackson's death?

The answer is we shouldn't.

Huge crowds, their emotions at a fever pitch fed by the media frenzy, will show up for this event which is being used by all those who stand to profit handsomely from the death of this tragic figure.

Cops on overtime will be needed to avoid a riot. There will be tons of trash. It will go on for hours and hours and tie up traffic throughout the downtown area.

I guess it really doesn't matter. The city is going broke, its leaders lack the will to do anything about it, so why not live it up because there's no tomorrow.