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LAUSD Whitewash: Girls molested,  principal charged, rules broken, mistakes made --no one's to blame or held accountable

One more reason to give LAUSD $7 billion more: No one is ever held accountable.

The sordid story of what happened at Markham Middle School in Watts -- a school designated for a model program on keeping kids safe -- has an ugly new chapter thanks to Howard Blume in the Times who had to use the California Public Records Act to pry loose a
"confidential" $200,000 report on how Assistant Principal Steve
Rooney got a second chance to molest girls.

Rooney was pulled out of Foshay Middle School and given administrative duties after LAPD warned the district he was suspected of having an affair with a student and threatening her stepfather with a gun.

In the end the girl wouldn't testify and administrators put Rooney into Markham without following the rules and conducting an internal investigation or letting each other know the whole story about Rooney.

The result is he is charged with molesting four girls now and awaiting trial.

In LAUSD, the result is nothing has changed. The same haphazard notification system is in place. The local district superintendent and another administrator were allowed to plead ignorance of the rules they didn't follow and the district is on the cuff for millions in damages.

"A teacher is exhibiting bizarre behavior, brandishing a firearm, and you're also told he's having sex with a minor," said Gordon Phillips, the attorney for the girls.

"What else do you need to hear?"

T'is the season for political dirty tricks even in Beverly Hills

It's the end of another election season -- this one featuring a seemingly endless multi-billion-dollar presidential campaign -- and that means political operatives are pulling out all stops to win at any cost.

"In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks - confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night," the Associated Press reported.

It is happening all over the country even in Beverly Hills of all places where voters decide whether to back developer Beny Alagem's massive project at the Beverly Hilton or reject it as "way too big" as opponents argue.

One of the opponents, Councilwoman Nancy Krasne, has found herself the victim of a dirty trick in the campaign's waning days.

On Friday, the Beverly Hills Courier -- recipient of lots of advertising revenue from Alagem and an ardent supporter of what he wants -- ran his full page ad claiming Krasne had switched sides and now supported the project, according to Martha Groves' story in the Times.

In fact, Krasne -- one of the two council members who opposed overturning the Planning Commission's unanimous rejection of the project -- had not changed sides but she did get a dose of Alagem's hardball style.

When she called the president of Alagem's company recently, she was put through to the big boss himself who she said became "extremely agitated and shouted numerous insults" at her, according to an incident report she filed Oct. 18 with the Beverly Hills Police Department.

Krasne quoted Alagem as saying: "I'm going to bury you, Mayor [Barry] Brucker and planning commissioner [Noah] Furie." Brucker voted against the project in May.

Whether naive or just intimidated by Alagem's threat, Krasne tried to make peace by giving Kahan a handwritten conciliatory note last week and a 1990 bottle of Dom Perignon champagne.

He turned down the champagne as inappropriate but used the note "Ted, All my friends seem to be voting yes . . . Good luck! Nancy" --.in an ad in the Courier.

It was headlined: "A Message From Councilwoman Nancy Krasne. Join Nancy Krasne's Friends and Vote YES on Measure H"
 

Short takes on another busy day:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reports raising $600,000 more for his re-election campaign but only $103,000 for his troubled Measure R Transportation Tax. His hit-man campaign strategist Ace Smith proves truth has no meaning at all to him with his boast about why the jet-setting mayor who fears a well-funded challenger entering the race has been able to raise $2.3 million for his re-election: "Angelenos are showing overwhelming support for the mayor's leadership in taking on the city's biggest challenges."

In the last fallout of the Hahn Administration scandals, former city commissioner Leland Wong got five years in prison for bribery, embezzlement and a host of other offenses. Wong was a fixture on the city's juice commissions -- Water and Power, Airports, and Harbor -- for three mayors.

Short takes on a busy day:

Struggling to raise money to buy votes for its tax-and-spend ballot measures, City Hall has suddenly awakened to the fact these are tough economic times for most people and the wrong time to be picking their pockets. What a year of foreclosures, job losses, high prices, long lines at food pantries couldn't do, sharp declines in their own rich stock portfolios seems to have achieved. David Zahniser in a terrific piece in the Times quotes Councilwoman Janice Hahn on her discovery people are scared: "They're nervous about whether or not they're even going to be able to hang on to their homes, and property taxes add to that anxiety."

One down, 10,999 to go: The city's gang injunction policy has scored its first victory with an unnamed ex-gang member winning his appeal to be removed from the list of those under court-ordered restrictions. At this rate of winning conversions from the gang life, it could take a really long time to solve the problem.

More in the Times on Ted Stein, the former ubiquitous city commissioner, and his demand for reimbursement of $143,000 in legal fees for successfully fending off prosecution in connection with investigations of wrongdoing during the Hahn Administration.

Short takes:

* You got to love the idea being floated that former Valley state Assemblyman Lloyd Levine will take over as head of the Department of Animal Services when they fire Ed Boks. By City Hall logic, Levine is perfect for the job: His dad Larry is a liberal Democratic political consultant and Lloyd supports euthanasia for human beings but not dogs and cats.

* Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is on the road again trying to top the $3 million mark to chase off opposition to his re-election. Pardoned ex-convict Henry Cisneros has organized a fund-raiser in San Antonio where you can be sure there's a lot of people who really about care the quality of life in L.A.

* Passage of Prop. 11 on the Nov. 4 ballot ought to be a no-brainer because all it does is take redistricting out of the hands of the politicians of both parties and put it in the hands of an independent panel -- a mild but needed reform after Republicans and Democrats conspired in 2001 to create nothing but safe districts that effectively froze out moderates from winning primary elections. George Skelton in the Times calls the Democratic-driven anti-Prop. 11 campaign "Orwellian" since it's calling the measure "a power grab by politicians" among other deceitful things.

Deja vu all over again, City Hall gets in trouble raiding airport funds

Is Ted Stein back at LAX mishandling airport funds to cover up holes in the city budget or does it just seem that way because the feds are investigating where the money went?

According to the Times, Federal authorities are questioning whether airport officials have been putting nearly $7 million a year into L.A. Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau, for the last six years -- a total of about $40 million.

Airport GM Gina Marie Lindsey is scrambling to prove the money somehow meets federal rules that airport revenue go to support aviation, not tourism, and she concedes that the law involved is "very general, with lots of gray areas subject to interpretation."

You don't need a weather man to tell which way the wind is blowing when you got a mayor who can predict rough economic times ahead

No new taxes, no new fees, no new ...well maybe water rates will go up and who knows what else.

That's Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talking to 500 business leaders at the annual United Chambers of the Valley luncheon Tuesday.

"We have raised the trash fee as much as
 we can and this is not the time to seek any
other increases," Villaraigosa said.

So how's he going to cover the $400 million
budgethole he created? Well, fake layoffs,
creative accounting and borrowing worked last year so maybe he'll just cut public services this time. Now that is creative.

REMINDER: Today's the day to let DWP commissioners know you support creating a Ratepayer Advocate:
ACTION ALERT 1: Contrary to the way the Department of Water and Power treated the public in the past. the utility's Board of Commission on Tuesday will consider creating a Ratepayer's Advocate -- a independent expert paid by the DWP who's mission is to keep the public informed about what's going on and to protect the public's interest.on community activists of every type in every part of the city to speak up  We urge you to join us at the board meeting at the DWP at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 7) at 111 N. Hill St., 15th floor. There's free parking at the DWP.

The markets are crashing, welfare rolls are surging, county prepares to make cuts, the end of the world is coming...

Well, maybe not. World stock markets are mostly up this morning, the actual increase in welfare rolls is relatively small and the county is only looking at modest cuts out of its $22 billion budget.

Still, a lot of people are struggling which makes you wonder why our local and state governments think it's such a good time to seek nine tax and bond issues on the Nov. 4 ballot, why it's such a good time to have raised rates and fees on everything.

Maybe it's because preserving government is their goal, not helping people get through a rough economic time. The Daily News runs a list of what meager help is available to those people.

Prop 5: "Drug dealers Bill of Rights" will help empty the prisons and put hardened criminals back in your neighborhood

Critics of Prop. 5 have focused on it being a large step toward legalization of drugs but Sen. Dianne Feinstein has honed in on its claim that it would only expand the number of "non-violent" drug offenders who can get rehabilitation rather than incarceration.

"Not only would Prop 5 reduce accountability, it could allow gang-members and other criminals accused of identity theft, domestic violence, child abuse, car theft, killing someone while driving under the influence and a host of other serious crimes to effectively escape prosecution," Feinstein said in a statement.

"Proposition 5 should be known as the 'drug dealers bill of rights.' Proposition 5 is a dangerous initiative that would cause far too much harm to our families, schools and communities."

The Nov. 4 ballot measure, heavily backed by billionaire George Soros, uses Section 667.5 of the Criminal Code to define the "non-violent" offenses for which treatment rather than prison is allowed so Feinstein is absolutely right about this.

At the Saving L.A. Project's Town Hall Saturday, retired parole officer Caroline Aguirre explained just how dangerous Prop. 5 is and how it will be used by criminals of every type who will claim they're really addicts and not responsible for their actions -- a dodge that will let them avoid prison.

Here's what she had to say:

Neighborhood Councils vs. Villaraigosa: How come the city is still in the red despite higher rates, taxes and fees?

The mayor will have to be at his smooth-talking best Saturday when he meets with hundreds of NC members for Budget Day or it likely will become a Day of Reckoning.

Until now City Hall has had an easy time of it as it gouged the public and gave away the treasury in sweetheart contracts and deals but the hole in the budget keeps getting deeper and resistance to the nine tax and bond issues on the Nov. 4 ballot is growing.

Concerted efforts by the Dept. of Neighborhood (Dis)Empowerment and the City Council have kept NCs fragmented and confused but they are growing more sophisticated and better organized and may be ready to challenge the way the city does business.

"I think one of the things the mayor and his staff will hear is that we understand the need to cut back," Jill Banks Barad, president of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils told Rick Orlov. "What we don't want to hear is more tax or fee increases. What we want to hear is where the city will be cutting back and that it's getting back to basics and don't start new programs we can't afford."

Cut city spending? What a novel idea. The truth is there's little room left for creative bookkeeping with a phony budget in place, revenue falling and costs soaring through with many employees getting raises of up to 5 and 6 percent.

School days, school days, dear old broken rules days -- Antonio wants union, student protections thrown out at his 10 LAUSD schools

You got to love life's little ironies like Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa figuring out one month into the school year -- and three years after he wanted to take over all of LAUSD -- that there's 86 state laws that make it impossible to run good schools.

No kidding, he's cut a quiet deal with LAUSD to seek state a waiver from the 86 state laws that protect teachers and students from administrators who think they can do anything they want with public money. And the school unions are mad as hell.

So here's the guy who started as a teachers union organizer, the man who these days brings companies to their knees in labor disputes and now suddenly he wants to "waive all laws that can be waived." because he finds requirements on teacher certification, math training, the employee merit system, student promotion, student retention and dozens other issues.

"Everyone agrees that the regulations imposed by Sacramento have taken dollars away from our classrooms and wasted them on the bureaucracy," mayoral spokeswoman Emma Soichet to the Daily News' George Sanchez.

A lot of people who said the same thing for years -- like the Valley school breakup movement and other reformers -- got the cold shoulder from Antonio and his pals but this time it's different. "We need to do this quickly because things have not been working in the district for a long time," said school board president Monica Garcia.

UTLA head A.J. Duffy calls the secret process "absolutely appalling" and other union leaders offer similar sentiments. Welcome to the club, that's how every activist in town feels -- it's all back room deals as if we're all idiots who don't matter.

The state budget was three months late, tax revenues are falling and California is nearly broke -- no wonder there's nine bond and tax issues on the ballot

How could the world's sixth largest economy get into such trouble? Could it be the political system is what's really bankrupt? Nah, it's all Washington's fault.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer are in a lather because no one will lend the state $7 billion to pay its bills and it will run out of cash before the month's end.

The credit crunch is the immediate cause but the real reason is years of overspending and the failure of state officials to make tough decisions. Nothing shows the political bankruptcy more clearly than the fact that the city, schools, community colleges, MTA and state think this is the right time to borrow billions of dollars and raise taxes on people who are losing their jobs left and right and can't pay their food, fuel and mortgage bills.

Garcetti sees the light --  angry constituents force to take a second look at giant electronic billboard flashes in their eyes 24 hours a day

Besieged by the anger in Silver Lake over a new digital billboard, City Council President Eric Garcetti says the deal he helped cut with Clear Channel and other companies after the city won their case in court has ramifications that weren't clear to him at the time.

"You don't want a flashing billboard spewing light into your bedroom every night, so I want the city attorney to look at that," he told the Times.

Maybe citizen action does have an effect after all.

Sign of things to come: City starts cutting back on public services, laying off workers

When the city magically made its $400 million budget deficit disappear a few months ago without cutting anything, you knew it was only a matter of time before reality prevailed over their fantasies.

Now we learn, the parks department has started laying off about 140 temporary workers and reducing the hours for hundreds of others -- the people who clean toilets, rake the sandboxes, provide security and other basic services that keep the recreation facilities safe for kids and the rest of us.

Maybe those workers can move in with the DWP employees who are all getting 6 percent raises out of the increased water and power rates.

Trust me on this one, it will get a lot worse in the months ahead as the city finds it can't pay its bills despite massive hikes in rates, taxes and fees.
Cry-baby legislators squealing like pigs with lipstick over Arnold's 415 vetoes

It took the state Legislature a record 85 days after the constitutional deadline to pass a phony budget that won't make through winter but that doesn't stop legislators from whining because the governor nixed 415 bills.

Those vetoed included such momentous acts of legislative courage as a bill that would have required capitlizing "delta" when referring to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; one allowing a Catholic girls' school to use National Guard  property as a parking lot and another permitting funeral directors to return pacemakers to manufacturers.

That doesn't mean they didn't do a lot of harm with the 772 bills that made it into law. You can bet your next state income tax refund -- if you get one -- on the certainty that they didn't solve any of the real problems people face but did a good job of looking after a long list of special interests'..

Metrolink's tough-sell answer to expected lawsuits: "Our No. 1 concern is the safety of our passengers"

Lawyers held two informational meetings yesterday in Simi Valley as the process of rounding up clients to sue over the train collision in Chatsworth last month.

Given the deaths of 25 people and the injuries to more than 100 others, there will no shortage of plaintiffs -- or defendants for that matter. Sue Doyle in the Daily News offered this list: Metrolink, the MTA, Veolia Environmental, which contracts with Metrolink to provide engineers and conductors; Mass Electric Construction Co., Herzog Cos., Union Pacific and Bombardier, the Canadian designer and manufacturer of passenger cars.

Those are a lot of deep pockets and surely before it's over they will come up with a better argument than Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca offered which would be laughed out of court. Safety was clearly not Metrolink's No. 1 priority.

There's the problem of trains headed at each other on a single track, the engineer text messaging, bonuses doled out to train employees and middle management for keeping trains on time. Attorneys accused Metrolink officials of knowingly operating trains with mechanical defects, encouraging engineers to exceed speed limits and fudging records toward that end.

"Their chief concern is not what it should be," attorney R. Edward Pfiester Jr. said. "And that's the safety of their passengers."

You can bet the costs will be staggering in the end for the loss of life, pain and suffering and the punitive damages that will be imposed for the flagrant disregard of what Metrolink claims is its No. 1 concern.

If the city can't get rid of advertising trailers parked on our streets, what can it do?

Exemplifying the true spirit of free enterprise and American ingenuity, David Rosensweig deserves a place in the Hall of Fame of Capitalism --- a small place in a dank, dark corner to be sure.

As Rosensweig tells Barbara Correa in the Daily News, he got a brainstorm after he put up a mini-billboard in West Hills and got 12 quick responses. Today, his company AD-A-Glance has about 40 ad trailers parked on the streets of Los Angeles and is expanding across the Southwest.

OK, Rosensweig isn't exactly an entrepreneurial genius who made life better for humanity. He wasn't even the first one to start putting the 4-by-6 signs on miniature trailers but he is making a good living from these annoying portable billboards and doesn't understand why anyone would object.