Tag Archives: tom labonge

Sign of the Times: City Set to Authorize $40 Million in Tax-Free Bonds for Exclusive Buckley School in Sherman Oaks

Posted on June 25, 2012 by

Leave it to Tom LaBonge and Paul Koretz to step up to the plate on behalf of the exclusive Buckley School in Sherman Oaks to provide the city’s authority so it can borrow $40 million in tax exempt bonds to … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, LAUSD, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Fatal Flaw, Part One, The Coliseum: Officials’ Arrogant Abuses of the Law, USC’s Contempt for the South LA Community

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: The giveaway of public property — the Coliseum, Sports Arena and control of Exposition Park — to USC without public benefit ranks as one of the most outrageous acts by public officials in LA in years, especially given … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, LA County, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Dumb and Dumber and Dumbest – Who Better to Put in Charge of the Charade of the City Council

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

In retrospect, I’m sorry I mocked Eric Garcetti for his pious “Temple of Democracy…stay as long as you need to” phony crap and crucified Dennis Zine – his top fill-in running Council meetings — for being a two-faced, duplicitous, deceitful liar and dissed … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Race, Ethnicity, Class and Hipness — How (NOT) to Draw City Council Districts

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: Anger over City Hall’s puppet Redistricting Commission’s draft maps has inflamed long-simmering resentments all over town over how communities of interest have been ignored deliberately as part of the political machine’s divide-and-conquer strategy. On Saturday, about 50 residents … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Election, 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Battle for Hollywood: LA’s Moment of Truth

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com. Among the handful of ordinary people who made their way past security in time to get to the rooftop of the Hollywood Tower Monday morning for the mayor’s media event was Lucille Saunders, the La … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Development/CRA, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, OccupyLA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Want City Hall to Hear You? Forget Public Comment. Stop Writing Letters. Get a Lawyer.

Posted on November 15, 2011 by

Just like that with a snap of the fingers, good old boy Tom LaBonge got approval for the residents of Solar Drive high in the Hollywood Hills to install gates on their public street to keep out the riffraff, effectively … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Director’s Commentary on the ‘Temple of Democracy’

Posted on October 16, 2011 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was self-indulgent but I thought the movie I made from Friday’s City Council session which featured a long debate that depended on what the meaning of the word ‘local’ is — the city or the county — … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

They Corrupted Reform, Beat Secession, Rejected Fair Elections — Maybe Boroughs Could Save L.A.

Posted on July 27, 2011 by

The one idea that keeps coming back through all the efforts to solve the fundamental political disconnect preventing L.A. from realizing its greatness is Boroughs — the diffusion of power from City Hall to the communities in a way that … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, The Valley | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments

Olvera Street — The Movie: When the Public Story Is Not the Real Story

Posted on June 25, 2011 by

There’s a reason I go to all the trouble of interviewing people, googling deep into what’s published, culling public records and trying to make sense out of what the hell is going on in this city. It’s for love, not … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Desperate Tom LaBonge Dirties Himself with Last-Minute Smear Campaign

Posted on March 5, 2011 by

I was going to let this go because last-minute smear tactics on the weekend before voters go to the polls is distasteful, a violation of journalistic ethics that I’ve only seen violated once in the mainstream media when the LA … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, LA Clean Sweep, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments