LOS ANGELES

CAL MATTERS--Six years ago, as California strained to emerge from the Great Recession, Gov. Jerry Brown worked a minor political miracle—a rebalancing of the massive state pension systems for public employees.

WORLD WATCH--To dramatically slow the flow of illegal immigration and even end it does not rest on building walls or sending troops to the border, or by heartlessly snatching children from their mothers’ arms, or by incarceration, deportation, or prosecution.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's NOT a secret that Donald J. Trump does not see eye to eye with many environmentalists, including the Sierra Club.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Note to CityWatchLA readers: United Neighborhoods for LA (UN4LA) recently sent this letter outlining an alternative to the proposed Purple Line Extension Transit Neighborhood (Up-zoning) Plan to the three-members of the City Council whose Districts include this potential Specific Plan.

COST OF LIVING, EXPLAINED--Following a much hotter late summer and early fall, LADWP received calls from customers who felt their bills were higher than in prior years. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Aye yai yai! How do these people keep getting elected? On Tuesday, LA City Council moved toward banning plastic straws that, while a promising ecological goal, exposed its preference for hyperbole misrepresented as the truth. 

EASTSIDER-A few weeks ago, I wrote a column that clearly demonstrates DONE has destroyed public records in violation of State law.

AT LENGTH-Clearly there was some tension in the air as people gathered at the San Pedro Boys and Girls Club Nov. 27 for the Bridge Home Information Fair hosted by LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino.

CORRUPTION WATCH-A Passion for Ignorance, Corruptionism and Group Rights act like three riptides at Venice beach to drag the American Republic out to sea and drown it. 

MY TURN-First, I must identify that I am a life-long liberal and Democrat and I don’t identify myself as a “Democratic Socialist.”

TRANSIT TALK-The oceans of the world, the water which cools the air, the major source of food for people on earth, is becoming more acidic because too much carbon dioxide from humans burning coal, petroleum products and gas are released into the atmosphere and is also being absorbed by the oceans.  

CAL MATTERS-- The resignation of California Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman comes at a particularly emotional moment in California politics—on the heels of historic wins for Democrats and after a year of bipartisan reckoning over the apparent culture of sexual bullying within the political class.

VOICES--In Erik Erikson’s “Age/Task Development” (Psychosocial Systems) model, certain tasks or jobs and “roles” (parts played in society) are associated with an age.  For example, persons in their mid-twenties as the present millennial generation would have completed educational levels, secured employment, and lived alone or with partners. 

DEEGAN ON LA-Malibu, already famous, captured attention a couple of weeks ago when it came perilously close to being torched and ruined by the horrific Woolsey Fire that forced a total evacuation by residents of the seaside enclave, as fire ravaged the hillsides and threatened the community.

VIEW FROM HERE--Surprised and disappointed to read the grossly inaccurate and offensive post from Dennis Zine regarding my involvement and that of my hardworking staff in response to the devastating Woolsey fire.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Between Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Times and this column, only one of us has ever told the truth about John Vidovich, (photo above, right) the now-retired 36-year Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall of the Los Angeles Fire Department. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--Although we've survived two years, now is not the time to become complacent.

THE CITY--An FBI investigation of powerful LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar is roiling City Hall, his wife Richelle has dropped her bid for her husband's seat, and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee that Huizer chaired is in disarray. 

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?-An FBI investigation of powerful LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar is roiling City Hall, his wife Richelle has dropped her bid for her husband's seat, and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee that Huizer chaired is in disarray.

VIEW FROM HERE-In Ramachandra Guha's book, Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1949 (Knopf), he writes, "Activists fighting for the environment, for refugees' and immigrants' rights, and against racial discrimination and violence continue to be inspired by Satyagraha, Gandhi's neologism meaning nonviolent direct action.

Is It time for Eric Bauman to Face the Music?