In the News
Hertzberganary: The Second Edition
Unfortunately, the senator has embarked on a course of language manipulation as his strategy to significantly raise taxes for all Californians. The people who can least afford it will bear the brunt of Hertzberg’s money-grabbing obsession…
In California, Pro Football Is for Losers
CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--No one can know for sure whether any of California’s four National Football League teams—the 49ers, Raiders, Rams, a…
Lessons from Houston - Here in LA, Nature also Rules Supreme
PLATKIN ON PLANNING-In city planning circles Houston is (in)famous for its lack of zoning laws. Furthermore, Houston only adopted its firs…
Never Mind Irma, the Gulf Coast is Toast
GELFAND’S WORLD--The simple equation is that a garden variety hurricane passing above overly-hot seawater is what is required to create a m…
The Death of the Dream
BELL VIEW—‘When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the…
The Delta Tunnels: It’s Crunch Time
EASTSIDER-It seems clear by now that the phrase “climate change” means that we can look forward to erratic and wide fluctuations in our wea…
Top 7 Code Words for Gentrification in LA
STREET LEVEL REALITY-Los Angeles politicians and developers dread saying the words “gentrification” and “displacement.” In fact, Mayor Eric…
LA in a Rearview Mirror—Why So Many People are on a Road Out of Town
CORRUPTION WATCH-The City of Los Angeles is losing population, but no one wants to admit it. When the City bases planning for the future on…
Animal Alert! La Tuna Fire Causes Evacuation of Hundreds of Animals and Still Burns!
ANIMAL WATCH--As firefighters continue battling largest fire in the City of Los Angeles history, hundreds of horses, dogs, cats, goats, chi…
Buscaino Fights Windmills While Garcetti Grandstands
AT LENGTH-Two years ago, the City of Los Angeles woke up to the shocking realization that it had a homeless crisis after a young activist b…
Do We Really Have the Courage to Help Labor?
ALPERN ON LABOR--There are those of us who "Resist". There are those of us who want to "Make America Great Again". And then there are tho…
It’s Not Fake News: ‘Inactive List’ Voters Can Find Ways to Vote
BACKTALK---Denyse Selesnick recently authored in CityWatch an article entitled, “Fake News: My Very Own Focus Group.” In that article, she…
It’s Time to Fire DWP Ratepayer Advocate
LAST STRAW BETRAYAL-The Los Angeles City Council should reject a recommendation by Fred Pickel, Director of the Office of Public Accountabi…
LA Officials Reject Columbus but Grub Racist Cash
@THE GUSS REPORT-Race and racism come with an asterisk at LA City Council, where last week it discussed whether to locally change Columbus…
Labor Day Sparring: Trump vs California
LABOR DAY 2017--To many of us, September’s’ first Monday is a three-day weekend to close out the summer season with burger and hot dogs on…
What is Really Behind Those Vacant Stores at Westfield Topanga?
RANTZ AND RAVEZ-It was a Saturday night in August when I went to the Westfield Topanga Mall to eat at CPK with a friend. After dinner, we s…
And, the Big Buck Beat Goes On: Developer Lobbyists Paying Off LA’s Politicians
ARE YOU GOOD WITH THIS?--A new city Ethics Commission report reveals that developers continue to shell out eye-popping cash for lobbyists t…
Bocanegra Rides Again: Running LA Schools from Sacramento
EASTSIDER-I have no idea why Assembly member Raul Bocanegra (photo above) (D-AD39) continues to want to run Los Angeles from his Sacrament…
‘Downtown’ to Constituents: ‘Shut Up’!
ALPERN AT LARGE--It bears repeating--as stated in a previous CityWatch article, the problems facing Angelenos and other Californians are ma…
LA Could Learn Some Planning Lessons from the Emerald City
PLATKIN ON PLANNING-My roots as a city planner go back to Seattle, where I studied city planning at the University of Washington and worked…
