NEIGHBORHOODS LA - One decade after the Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Councils were formed, one of them has declared its liberation from the corrupt morass which has engulfed this city.
On Monday evening, the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council [HUNC] voted to call for a Federal Grand Jury into the frauds swirling around the falsification of LAFD’s response times and the downsizing of Hollywood’s Regional 2 acre fire station to a one ½ plot located at Grid Lock Hell of Van Ness, Hollywood Boulevard, and the 101 Freeway.
Let’s make no mistake, the call for a Federal Grand Jury was based upon evidence of wide spread fraud. When the January 12, 2011 report for reducing the LAFD deployment was presented, no one admitted that the City lacked the data to support the report.
After Fix The City obtained the raw data and showed that the information in the January 12, 2011 report was false, the Fire Commission looked into the matter.
According to its April 17, 2012 minutes, the LAFD admitted that it was using antiquated software which the LAPD had abandoned in 2002 as it could not provide accurate information. In what universe would it not be material information that the entire data collection system was out-dated and unable to provide the necessary information to cut a penny from the LAFD?
The April 17, 2012 Fire Commission minutes also show that the LAFD was using the truncated responses time from Dispatch to On Scene while misleading the public into thinking that response time was from the moment the 911 call was placed until the paramedic reached the patient. Back in 2005, this type of misleading information had been labeled as “lies,” causing needless deaths. Yet, 6 years later that same deceptive data was used to cut LAFD deployment.
Although Council President Eric Garcetti and councilman for CD 13 where the 2 acre Regional fire station was to be located in 2006 asserted that it was too expensive to build the two acre station at the Florentine Gardens site, an analysis of the costs showed that not to be accurate. That was six years ago, and to this date, the City has failed to support its position that the 2 acre Fire Station was too expensive. The City refused to answer a host of questions back then including:
“The land for Permanent Supportive Housing Project at 1720 N. Gower cost the City $5.2 million for approximately 1/3 of an acre. The Florentine Gardens site is about 1.6 acres. Thus, the comparable value of Florentine Gardens is about $22 Million. They are located on the same city block. The city budget to acquire property at Garfield and Hollywood was $23.5 Million. Thus, the cost to buy the Garfield and Hollywood site was about $1.5 more than the cost of the Florentine Gardens.
“How does it work out that $23.5 million is a reasonable purchase price but $22 million is too great?
“The City's own figures show the cost to purchase 1.6 acres at Florentine Gardens and to build at that site plus build an annex at 1800 N. Bronson is $38 Million. The cost to purchase and build at Garfield-Hollywood is $44 Million. How can $38 Million be too expensive for a $44 Million budget?”
Rather than facts to prove that a 2 acre fire station was too expensive, Garcetti and LaBonge hid in a closed session where the council dropped the Florentine Gardens site. A Federal Grand Jury is the opposite of hiding in a closet; it throws open the doors for all to see.
Let’s be clear that the real target of the call for a Federal Grand Jury is the crimogenic nature of LA City Hall. As the residents supporting the call for a Federal Grand Jury stated:
One thing we know: The Firemen and the Paramedics Did Not Cause this Problem.
Until Monday, no other neighborhood council had the courage to stand up and declare its independence from City Hall. HUNC was the first and hopefully it will not be the last.
While the duplicity surrounding the 75% downsizing of Hollywood’s FS 82 was particularly dangerous for those living in the Hills, the situation became intolerable after the January 12, 2011 LAFD deployment report which was used to justify cutting the LAFD budget by $200 Million. Thanks to the efforts of LA’s own ‘Woodward and Bernstein’ working under the title, Fix The City, the years of Fake Good Response Times were made public Those damning revelations in all media touched off the mayor’s cover-up Task Force.
As expected, Angelenos got more fraud. Jeff Godown, the person whom the mayor selected to oversee the situation at the LAFD, quit due to lack of cooperation. We know that in political speak, “Lack of Cooperation” means “I won’t participate in a cover-up.”
HUNC had foreshadowed that it was running out of patience with the City’s deceptions. HUNC had twice rejected Garcetti’s Hollywood Community Plan. There was no mealy mouth equivocation, HUNC rejected the plan. On December 7, 2011 HUNC wrote to the City:
“At our November 14th 2011 Board meeting, the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council (HUNC) Board unanimously voted to reject the Hollywood Community Plan.
“Previously, HUNC had rejected the July 15, 2010 Hollywood Community Plan. The DEIR and FEIR do not address any of the concerns which HUNC raised. Rather the FEIR brushed aside legitimate objections of HUNC and of others who made material objections to the Hollywood Plan.”
The fundamental fraud in Garcetti’s Hollywood Community plan was that Hollywood was experiencing a population increase and we had to remove developers controls so we could build for 250,000 persons in 2030. The US Census data showed that Hollywood was in a twenty year population decline and that by 2030, the population was likely to be 190,000 persons. So why shovel tons of tax payer dollars into the pockets of developers to build high rises? HUNC said ‘no’ to the continuing fraud in Garcetti’s Hollywood Plan.
After Garcetti pushed through his Hollywood Community Plan on June 19, the City was sued under CEQA, and one of the main basis was the use of fraudulent data.
HUNC has stood up and declared Liberation Day. Angelenos need allies in their fight against corruption, and the only place we will find them is in a Federal Grand Jury.
The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council deserves some props for adding their voice to the considerable effort to make that happen.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Hollywood activist and an attorney. He can be reached at: [email protected] ) –cw
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 74
Pub: Sept 14, 2012