LOS ANGELES

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-- Since the recent April 6^th vote to create a Skid Row Neighborhood Council resulted in a lost effort by a mere 60 votes (in which over 1600 total voters participated), from which a “Vote No” cheating scandal was uncovered and a shocking dismissal by the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) of 3 valid election challenges by an Election Challenge Review Panel convened by DONE, the number one response far and wide is “Sounds like something the ACLU would take on” or “Have you guys (Skid Row Neighborhood- Formation Committee) contacted the ACLU?”

GUEST COMMENTARY--A cynic will feel welcome in the entertainment media landscape. 

In it, there are no promises of humanity — no assurances of justice — no unbreakable bond of truth. There is but one king: popularity (and more plainly, profit).

ROAD DIET OVERDOSE-Why does Mayor Garcetti think that it is a good idea to expose children to high levels of toxic fumes by constructing Bike Lanes in heavily trafficked thoroughfares?

GELFAND’S WORLD--Dear Mr City Attorney: If the Trump administration were to send federal officials into your office and announce that they were taking control of your department, you would no doubt feel rather put out. After all, you are an elected official acting under the authority of state law and the City Charter. The fact that Donald Trump doesn't like the way you interpret our sanctuary city status does not give him carte blanche to violate your lawful authority. May we therefore ask you to apply the same standards to our neighborhood council system?

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--A: Test me all night, baby.

No, really. Sign me up to be the subject of A/B testing. I’d even be willing to sign a blanket consent form, right now, so that all of Silicon Valley’s biggest brains can test me for the purpose of improving the human future.

DEEGAN ON LA-In the dark before the dawn, on the grimy streets of Skid Row, a small group of homeless men and women and a Superior Court judge meet in a unique everyone-is-equal-here relationship. No other elected official has gone to the same extreme that Judge Craig Mitchell (photo above, center) has by reaching out to a cohort of down and out homeless men and women, personally investing his time, compassion and hard work on behalf of people who many wish were invisible and often treat that way.

PRISON POLITICS-If you ever wondered what’s wrong with California’s state government, then mull over this simple example: While California cuts its prison population and staff, it’s increasing the amount of money it spends to operate its massive prison system.

SPECIAL CAPITAL AND MAIN REPORT--On June 15, 2003, before Los Angeles had its CicLAvia events, several thousand bikers and pedestrians descended upon the Pasadena Freeway for a bike and walk ride on the freeway. The event, called ArroyoFest, demonstrated the emerging capacity of LA bike groups. It also indicated a strong community presence in Highland Park, where the closing of the freeway for a few hours seemed like a magical moment.

ANIMAL WATCH-On April 10, LA Animal Services' GM Brenda Barnette issued a media release, entitled, "Canine Influenza Notice - Dogs Imported from Asia by Rescue group." 

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW-You are me and I am you. And we are one. We are here today to send a message loud and clear…We resist homophobia; we resist poverty, anti-Semitism, and we resist hatred toward Muslims and all religions. – Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles)

THE PREVEN REPORT--After the publication a few weeks ago of an article we wrote about Harvard-Westlake School’s plan to build a massive parking structure in the hillside neighborhood surrounding their campus, we got an email from a Harvard-Westlake parent who opposes the project. She made the following persuasive point: 

AT LENGTH-It is perhaps far too symbolic that Councilman Joe Buscaino will have his swearing-in ceremony for his second full term representing the 15th Council District at the reopening of Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park and Machado Lake on June 17. It’s going to be a very fun family day with lots of activities and performances. Everyone is welcome, except the homeless. It only cost $130 million in renovations, plus the eviction of Reggie the alligator and some 167 homeless souls, considered “invasive species,” and neither will be welcomed back.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Has paralysis on the part of the LAPD and LA City Councilmember David Ryu concerning a recent spate of San Fernando Valley mail theft burglaries led to a worsening of the situation?

TALKBACK--I’m a Volunteer at the LA’s West Valley Animal Shelter. I think this new policy, allowing finders of stray dogs and cats to keep the animals they find in their homes during the hold period, is a good idea. Since I work with dogs at the Shelter, I’ll direct my comments to dogs, but I think the same applies to cats. (This is in response to Phyllis Daugherty’s CityWatch column “Finders-Keepers: LA Doesn’t Want Your Lost Dogs or Cats in City Shelters.”) 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Last week I explained why Los Angeles is so poorly planned, but there is no reason that Angelinos must be tied to the substandard city planning that emanates from City Hall. It is one thing to explain it, as I did in my previous column, but it quite another thing to put up with it. 

CA LEADING THE FREE WORLD, NOT US--Over the weekend, as the acting United States ambassador to China was resigning from his post following the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, California Governor Jerry Brown was over in the Chinese city of Chengdu, hanging out with a rotating cast of Chinese diplomats as part of a weeklong trip aimed at climate collaboration. He also made time to see the pandas at an eco-tourism park in Chengdu.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Asking others, and asking ourselves, to do the right thing is often much, MUCH harder to do in the real world, the adult world, the world that IS, compared to the world that we wished it would be. 

BELL VIEW--When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, Channel 7 News had a weatherman we used to call “Crazy John Coleman.” Compared to actual 21^st Century media craziness John Coleman doesn’t really stack up. But he was undeniably a goof. He’s made his way back into the news by denying that manmade climate change is real.  

PET POLITICS--Earlier this week, Phyllis Daugherty published an analysis of some of the failures of the 2012 Los Angeles ban on cat, dog, and rabbit sales. Her piece is worth reading in full as the Senate considers a misguided bill, Assembly Bill 485, to ban these pet sales statewide. As a fellow animal advocate who also opposed the 2012 ban, I join Ms. Daugherty in shining a spotlight on what the state Assembly risked by passing AB 485 last week. 

EDUCATION POLITICS--Three of the nation’s five most expensive schools are in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Each ranks among the lowest performing schools in California.

GUEST WORDS-What should not be lost in the wake of our article exposing the lies used to manipulate the elimination of mandatory sentences for gun crimes is the cavalier dismissal of victims of gun crime.