CityWatch

Skip to content

Wed02222012

Last update02:00:00 PM GMT

LOS ANGELES Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 10:57

Can the Expo Line Unite the City of Angels?

Ken Alpern 01.30.2012

GETTING THERE FROM HERE - After roughly the better part of a decade promoting major infrastructure projects such as the Exposition Light Rail Line (or "Expo Line"), I've never shied away from my belief that it could help link and bring together neighborhoods of different color and socioeconomic background. I've… Read More....

LA Code Harassment Bullies vs. Widows & Orphans

Stephen Box 01.30.2012

RETHINKING LA - Wilma was pretty busy taking care of her dying husband and raising three teenage children when the letter from LA’s Department of Building and Safety arrived in her mailbox.As Andino lay on his deathbed, Wilma gathered her family around the kitchen table. They read and reread the… Read More....

The Demise of California’s Redevelopment Agencies: The End of a War Against Ourselves

Mark Paul 01.30.2012

SACRAMENTO BLIGHT FLIGHT - The city of Sacramento, my adopted hometown, has always been at war with downtown blight. Do I exaggerate? It will not seem so to most Sacramentans, we who have arrived here, by birth or by choice, since city fathers first rolled out the big guns of… Read More....

Structural Deficit Demands Structural Change

Jack Humphreville 01.16.2012

LA'S BUDGET CRISIS - The Mayor and his staff have developed a very good Budget Survey that addresses the issues and choices concerning next year’s budget deficit that is estimated by the City Administrative Officer to be in the range of $200 million to $250 million. The survey questions involve… Read More....

Who Has the Backs of LA’s Homeless?

Janet Denise Kelly 01.30.2012

URBAN PERSPECTIVE - The homeless in our City of Angels should be on guard. There are no invisible force fields to protect them from harm when many walk past them as mirage. One can only wonder who has their backs.The four murders of homeless people allegedly by Izcoatl Ocampo in… Read More....

Teen Justice: LA Students Sit as Jurors to Hear Real Criminal Cases

Judge Steven Kleifield 01.16.2012

LOS ANGELES TEEN COURT - It may not be widely known that the Los Angeles Superior Court engages in community outreach, even in this era of economic problems and budget cuts. One of the most important and successful outreach programs is Teen Court. Read More....

The Party People of Wall Street

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship 01.30.2012

GUEST WORDS - A week or so ago, we read in The New York Times about what in the Gilded Age of the Roman Empire was known as a bacchanal – a big blowout at which the imperial swells got together and whooped it up.This one occurred here in Manhattan… Read More....

Year Today … Gone Tomorrow

Paul Hatfield 01.30.2012

PERSPECTIVE - David Zahniser’s article [link] in Friday’s Los Angeles Times was buried on page 3 of the LATEXTRA section, but the insight it provided as to the mindset of City Hall was worthy of above the fold material.The subject was how last year’s robust pension earnings for civilian and… Read More....

LA Pulse

Based on the Controller's damning audit of the LA Animal Services Department, should GM Barnette be replaced?

Connect with CityWatch

NewsWatch
MostWatched

1	US SUPREME COURT REJECTS PHIL SPECTER'S MURDER APPEAL
2	PROP 8 SUPPORTERS WANT FULL REVIEW BY APPEALS COURT
3	PETER O'MALLEY WITHDRAWS FROM DODGER BIDDING RACE
4	SUPREMES TO CONSIDER AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN HIGHER ED
5	NYT: LA MAYOR SETS SIGHTS ON BIGGER STAGE
6	LA DRIVERS CAN CONTINUE TO TALK ON HANDS-FREE DEVICES ... FOR NOW
7	MEG WHITMAN CONTRIBUTES $100,000 TO ROMNEY RUN FOR PRES
8	SUPREME COURT CONSIDERS DELAYING HEALTHCARE TO 2014
9	ALARCON'S LEGAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING NEW RUN FOR STATE OFFICE
10	NEW REDISTRICTING MAP DRAFT IS OUT

WE'RE WORKING FOR L.A.!

Time to Wake Up … Apathy Not a Political Option
Janet Denise Kelly / 01.23.2012

URBAN PERSPECTIVE - I am on a mission to encourage people to be less apathetic when it comes to politics. Our economic downturn and California budget crisis is attributed to people’s lack of engagem [ ... ]

POLITICS - Mitt Romney’s collapse in South Carolina reflects the larger, long-term decline of the American patrician class he represents. That decline was accelerated by the 2008 financial meltdow [ ... ]

This Is America's Moment, If Washington Doesn't Blow It
Joel Kotkin / 01.26.2012

THE ROAD BACK - The vast majority of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, and, according to a 2011 Pew Survey, close to a majority feel that China has already surpassed t [ ... ]

LA’s Train-To-Nowhere
Kay Martin / 01.26.2012

LA NOTEBOOK - I recently returned from a visit to St. Kitts and a remarkable thing happened while waiting in the airport departure lounge. I was seated within earshot of a group of 7-8 businessmen who [ ... ]

LA’s Redistricting Jigsaw Puzzle from Hell
Jon McDuffie / 01.26.2012

POLITICS - One of my Fire service heroes, Dr. Carl Holmes, [link] has an interesting aphorism: “If it ain’t ‘broke’ let’s break it. With all the brains in this room we can rebuild it better [ ... ]

MY TURN - Hearts For Hounds dog rescuer Bonnie Sheehan – arrested on 128 counts of animal cruelty charges for hauling some 140 dogs in a U-haul -- was released from a Tennessee jail Tuesday evening [ ... ]

Boardwalk Umpire: Deciding Who’s a Venice Artist
Vivian Rothstein / 01.23.2012

OUT OF FRYING PAN - Whenever a friend visits from out of town I take them for a stroll down Venice Beach where the diversity of Los Angeles is on brilliant display – tattoo diversity, mental health [ ... ]

LA Redistricting Process Lacking Sex Appeal
Ken Draper / 01.06.2012

REMAPPING THE CITY - Redistricting Los Angeles is not a very sexy subject around our favorite SoCal city. Not if you measure its appeal by the light attendance to date at the hearings hosted by the LA [ ... ]

Transactions, Transportation and Translation
Ken Alpern / 01.05.2012

GETTING THERE FROM HERE - So really, folks, what IS more fun—reaching for the stars, or cutting through the daily drivel and verbal debris being flung at us? And who says we can’t do both?

For [ ... ]

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE - They say you should never look a gift horse in the mouth and they’re not talking about bad breath.

Mayor’s $100 Million Deferral OK with Wendy
Paul Hatfield / 01.06.2012

PERSPECTIVE - By now, most of you have read David Zahniser’s report concerning Mayor Villaraigosa’s attempt to balance the budget by deferring payment of $100 million in personnel costs until af [ ... ]

Unlicensed to Kill
Don Rosenberg / 01.19.2012

30-DAY HOLD POLICY - On November 16, 2010 my son Drew, a 25-year-old was killed by an unlicensed driver in San Francisco. On June 14, 2010, Roberto Galo was caught driving the wrong way down a one wa [ ... ]