LOS ANGELES

GUEST COMMENTARY-If you’re looking for the quintessential Christmas experience, there’s only one place you should go: the Southern California desert. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--For as long as I can remember, as far back in childhood that I can remember, I both cherished my Judaism and had a profound respect for Christianity.

OTHER WORDS--This holiday season — a time so often associated with bringing family together — my thoughts keep turning to the families in the migrant caravans making their way to the U.S. southern border.

EASTSIDER-While trying to take care of my mother-in-law during her last months, I discovered a seriously dysfunctional side to the Department of Water and Power. 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-I never cease to be amazed how the lure of super-profits blinds the eyes of short-term real estate investors, elected officials and city staffers who enable them, and cheerleaders who lobby for them.   

GUEST WORDS--Socially sanctioned killing is called war. The word “war” may be the most powerful word in human history, because it creates a mask of respectability for — that is, it conceals — the dehumanization and mass slaughter of a designated enemy, along with limitless environmental contamination.

FIRST PERSON-In the past few years, artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved for the purpose of making communication easier.

CORRUPTION WATCH-Corruption means the system itself is more or less okay, but that certain people cheat.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti keeps a scorecard of the race and gender of everyone he appoints to dozens of City commissions, as well as in which City Council District the appointee resides. It is intended -- to be said in your best Garcetti monotone -- to ensure that everyone is represented fairly and evenly. 

ANIMAL WATCH-Mark Janda is overjoyed to have his beloved cats, Buzz and Jazz, safely back at home after the harrowing experience of losing them recently.

CAL BUZZ--We’ve barely recovered from the 2018 mid-terms, but the air is already thick with speculation about whether a candidate from California will enter the 2020 race for president. And some potential candidates are making moves that encourage that speculation.

DEEGAN ON LA-Los Angeles is known for many things: the beach, the movies, oil, the art of the personal makeover and reinvention, some of the best cuisine in the country, great art, endless ways to have fun, and even our gridlocked traffic are just the beginning. But, books? Libraries? 

CAL MATTERS--The southeastern quadrant of Los Angeles County consists of dozens of small cities infamous for their self-dealing politics.

GUEST WORDS--Rules for who can vote in the city’s neighborhood council elections — and presumably run for board seats — were made stricter by a Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday, but it is unclear if such a change can take place for nearly half of the city’s 2019 neighborhood council elections, due to a timing glitch.

GELFAND’S WORLD--In considering these year-end wrap-ups, we move increasingly towards extending our deliberations to the two years of the Trump presidency. This makes sense, as it is an unprecedented time in American history.

GUEST COMMENTARY--What does a State Assemblyman from Pasadena, a utility company, and the biggest fire in California history have in common?

About $10 billion dollars.

ALPERN AT LARGE--There have been and will be those who cannot divorce politics from health care--and they're probably part of the problem.

TRANSIT TALK-The Global Climate Action Summit was held September 12-14, 2018, in San Francisco. The summit was led by its Co-Chair, California Governor Jerry Brown. From the summit’s website: 

WHAT LA THINKS00 (SHPOA Board Members, SAFE Coalition leaders and other community leaders have had extensive contact with all elected officials in the northeast San Fernando Valley over the past four years related to the high-speed train project. We represent you.

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-The old Urban Renewal. Urban renewal was the grand strategy of the Federal Government in the post-WWII war era to reconstruct large sections of American cities through local agencies, such as California’s Community Redevelopment Agencies.

MONEY IN POLITICS-Despite being urged by a coalition of 52 local, state, and national organizations to amend proposed changes to Los Angeles's small donor matching funds system, the Los Angeles City Council passed without discussion a recommendation by the City Rules Committee to codify the package with only a minor change.