Results tagged “bill clinton” from Ron Kaye L.A.

 I don't know about you but this is the last straw for me.

The guy who oversaw the highest water and power rate hikes in DWP history, who talked big about environmental concerns but kowtowed to his political and union bosses, who tried to bilk the public out of billions for a solar energy boondoggle, who dismissed the breakdowns in the power and water supply as routine, who alienated his underlings as much as the public he saw as nothing but cash cows -- that man who was paid well over $300,000 a year is going to get even more money from a consultant's contract?

Give me a break.

They fired David Nahai and left him the dignity of saying he resigned. Fair enough. But he was forced out by the mayor and no one more so than the back-stabbing David Freeman who not long ago declared Nahai the "white knight" who the people could trust to do the right thing.

If the people of this city don't rise up and demand a blue-ribbon commission that includes citizen activists who have worked long and hard to end the corruption in the DWP, then they deserve to see their rates double and triple and insiders make fortunes by profiteering.

If the people of this city don't rise up and demand a seat on the DWP commission for someone of their own choosing and an independent Ratepayer Advocate to protect their interests, they deserve what's coming.

Billions of ratepayer dollars have gone into the pockets of contractors, consultants and the  overpaid DWP workers while the water and power infrastructure has been allowed to rot, while LA has become the least green big city in California.

And now David Freeman whose only achievements as General Manager of the overstaffed DWP a decade ago was to squander hundreds of millions of dollars in a sweetened early retirement deal for a few thousand workers and create a series of scandals before he was shown the door -- he's come back to run the DWP again?

And Nahai's going to get a golden handshake and a face-saving appointment as an adviser to Bill Clinton's global climate foundation?

That's the same Bill Cliinton who has his clutches deep into Antonio Vlllaraigosa in LA and the overly ambitious Gavin Newsom in San Francisco. With those two in his pocket, Clinton might as well run for Governor or the Senate and treat us to a real political theater.

Who's kidding who?

All I can tell you is the mayor and City Council have failed you. City Hall has failed you. Moral corruption has so deeply infected City Hall, it defies all logic not to believe it has turned criminal.

I'm just an old guy with a blog and a dream of creating a news and information platform that will help create a more democratic and just society.

I'm probably wrong about a lot of things. But I'm not wrong about this: David Nahai doesn't deserve a DWP consulting contract, not even one for a dollar a year.

Gang czar Jeff Carr got the top billing in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's shakeup in the leadership of his vast personal staff.

But the real play is the appointment of high-flying Jay Carson, the 32-year-old named to revive the mayor's political fortunes in the newly-created post of Chief Deputy Mayor.

The shakeup announcement (CarrCarson.doc) stressed Carr's role and downplayed Carson's and for good reason. Carson will be in the center of where the power and money are, the missing link in Antonio's circle of 'friends.'

The link that matters in this case is Stephen Bing, heir to a vast fortune who has thrown nearly $100 million into Democratic causes and campaigns, including Villaraigosa's, and even more into buying his way into Hollywood movie making.

It was Bing who brought Carson to LA early this year in a top post in his Shangri La business enterprises. And it's the Bing connection that creates a huge ethical cloud over Carson's role as Chief Deputy Mayor, one that the mayor glibly kissed off at his press conference last week although serious questions need to be answered.

Not long after Carson joined Bing, the mayor threw himself across the tracks as head of the board overseeing the MTA and kept the staff from eliminating AnseldoBreda as a competitor for a $300 million rail car manufacturing deal because of the Italian firm's poor performance on a previous contract.

The key to keeping the deal alive is the partnership between AnseldoBreda and Bing's Shangri La Construction to build a rail car manufacturing plant with heavy public subsidies in the five-mile strip near downtown that the mayor has dubbed LA's Green Tech Corridor and made the centerpiece of his second term.

Bing stands to profit handsomely from the project which is just the first step in reaping  billions of dollars in profits from construction of the California high-speed rail lines -- deals where Bing's political influence are sure to stand him in good stead.

Carson faces an almost impossible ethical dance since he worked for Bing and his duties as Chief Deputy Mayor include "Education, Housing & Economic Development, Transportation, Energy & Environment, and Commercial & Residential Development," according to the mayor's press release.

Those are the most controversy-laden areas of city government, the areas where special interests with all their cash flow for politicians collide head-on with the sentiments of many residents. Specifically, they are the areas of responsibility that come into play in Bing's deals.

The mayor casually threw out that Bing will "recuse" himself from involvement in the Bing rail car deal.

But how is that possible?

He's not a legislator recusing himself from voting on a measure because of a conflict of interest.

He's the man in charge supervising the people developing strategies, cutting deals and implementing policies that affect Bing. How can they be insulated from being influenced by Carson and his clear connection to Bing?