In the News
DWP Training Audit: Controller Admits Drop Outs and Poaching, but Ignores ‘Upside Down’ Pay Scale
EASTSIDER-Don’t misunderstand. I like Ron Galperin, and as both a lawyer and a budget guy, he is the real deal. Of course it is important to remember that auditors are numbers and data freaks, living in their own closed universe. On the pl…
Is Gov Brown Using Mayor Villaraigosa’s Playbook?
PERSPECTIVE--The first thought that popped into my mind when Governor Brown proposed his gas tax hike was former mayor Villaraigosa’s infam…
Is LAUSD … Really … Going Bust?
EDUCATION POLITICS-Not at the moment. All of the recent years for which final (“actual”) budget data are published show every single annual…
LA Politics: What Will it Take to Beat the Machine?
BELL VIEW-In 2009, I got involved in my first unsuccessful attempt to put an independent voice on the LA City Council. I didn’t run. A guy…
LA ‘Trashsamaritan’ Errol Segal: Recycling Community Trash and … Good Will
MY TURN-How about a change of topic today? I don't know about you, but the constant stream of nefarious political accusations is giving me…
Pricey Camps and Erratic School Calendars are Spoiling Our Kids Summer Vacations
MEMO TO LAUSD--My grade school summer vacations seemed to last forever, pairing well with the Beach Boys’ Endless Summer double album I wor…
Sports Politics: The Raiders … I Can Take 'em or Leave 'em
GELFAND’S WORLD--I have a scar running through my right eyebrow, and it symbolizes why I don't give a damn whether the NFL comes back to Lo…
A Little More Governing, A Little Less Grandstanding Please: LA’s Commendation Sweepstakes
THAT CEREMONIAL SPIRIT-In the Olympic spirit, the LA County Board of Supervisors and LA City Council have been vying to see which highly-co…
Adopted Pit Bull Attacks Toddler - Animal Shelter Sued for ‘Product Liability’
ANIMAL WATCH-On March 15, after adopting a dog named “Emmet” from the Clinton Humane Society, Kris and Ashley Greene took their new pet to…
April Fool’s Columns Are Not Always 100% Fake News
My April Fool’s column, Garcetti Says No to Higher Office, was based on the reasonable speculation that Mayor Eric Garcetti was not going t…
Attack on Valley Teen Inspires Jordan’s Law: Chatter or Political Progress?
THIS IS WHAT I KNOW-Last December, I first covered the social media-motivated attack on a West Hills teen. Jordan Peisner was on an after-s…
California: The Republic of Climate
NEW GEOGRAPHY-- To some progressives, California’s huge endorsement for the losing side for president reflects our state’s moral superiorit…
California’s Ferlinghetti: America’s Conscience
GUEST WORDS--A belated 98th birthday to California’s Lawrence Ferlinghetti, indefatigable poet, bookseller, anti-Fascist, First Amendment a…
Follow the Money: Who Profits Rampant Age Discrimination?
EDUCATION POLITICS-A recent 60 Minutes program reported on how the H1B visa is being used to get rid of an older, more expensive profession…
Garcetti Eats Las Vegas’ NFL Dust
@THE GUSS REPORT-Kudos to Las Vegas, with a population of about 600,000. It is the little city that could, and did, land what the City of L…
LA Arrests are In Freefall While Crime Spirals … Here’s What’s Really Behind It
VIEW FROM INSIDE--A recent Los Angeles Times story explored the recent drop in arrest rates, both in Los Angeles and across the state, stat…
No April Fooling: Getting Around LA Could Get Easier
TRANSIT WATCH--Everyone loves a good April Fools story, and the Expo Line to Catalina Island "Chunnel" was as cute a ditty as any. For yea…
Rethinking the Trumpster … The LA Times Editorial Board is Getting Edgy
GUEST COMMENTARY--The LA Times editorial board is as edgy as a scruffy blogger these days:
It was no secret during the campaign that Dona…
SLAPP: City Attorney’s Bogus LA Times Story, 911 Call and Criminal Charge?
@THE GUSS REPORT-The City of Los Angeles has a history of losing anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuits when…
TheaterWatch: ECT’s Romeo and Juliet Takes a Different Tack
GELFAND’S WORLD--Everyone remembers how Romeo and Juliet ends. But suppose that by the final scene you know Juliet well enough to really ca…
