LOS ANGELES

MY TURN-In this Rollercoaster world where we live, and each day brings a new revelation, it seems like an oxymoron to celebrate Thanksgiving let alone Tuesday, November 29 as the "International Day of Giving." But life goes on! 

Many Los Angeles organizations prepared Thanksgiving Dinner for those less fortunate. Some were sponsored, like the Midnight Mission servicing the Downtown location. One that particularly intrigued me was the annual Westside Community Dinner. 

They have over three decades of tradition serving the community a wonderful, free sit-down Thanksgiving dinner. They also provide free haircuts, blankets, clothing, hygiene kits, medical, optical, dental services, vaccination, a resource fair and a children's carnival. 

The Celebration was open to everyone -- no reservations necessary. They fed over 3000 people, both visitors and volunteers. Five hundred turkeys were cooked! It was an eclectic collection of groups and individuals -- students, singles, low-income families, seniors and homeless -- brought together to celebrate Thanksgiving. No one asked who they supported for President and although there may have been political discussions, nothing got out of hand. 

Each year the dinner has received more support. It was held on the grounds of the Westside Veterans Center, whose service personnel gave the attending Veterans information and referrals. The Mayor’s office also provided personnel to pass out information on services provided by the City. 

No videos or press are allowed and no one organization blows its own horn. Publicity for the dinner was handled by all of the Westside organizations and businesses. Everything was donated, mostly products and food, with some cash donations to purchase needed items. It truly is a community affair. 

Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC) President Terrence Gomes has been volunteering at this event since he was a young student. He remarked that one of his teachers turned him on to the importance of volunteering. "Chief Chef and civic activist Jay Handel was pleased that so many chefs from throughout the City donated their time and talent to help cook. 

This is the America I know and love. I have no desire to secede from the United States. Those who are talking about the West Coast doing a "Westexit" are frankly not to be taken seriously. 

It is comforting to be able to write about Americans doing good things together for causes they believe in. 

Aside from Black Friday and Cyber Monday having strong sales, we will also be celebrating on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) International Day of Giving. #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources. 

#GivingTuesday was founded by New York’s 92nd Street Y, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. Together, with a team of influencers and founding partners, they launched a global movement that has engaged over 30,000 organizations worldwide. 

It was created by the team at the recently renamed Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at the 92 Y -- a cultural center in New York City since 1894 that has brought people together around the values of service and giving back. #GivingTuesday connects diverse groups of individuals, communities and organizations around the world for one common purpose: to celebrate and encourage giving. A team of influencers and founding partners joined forces, collaborating across sectors, offering expertise and working tirelessly to launch #GivingTuesday and have continued to shape, grow and strengthen the movement. 

92Y is a world-class cultural and community center where people from all over the world connect through culture, arts, entertainment and conversation. For over 140 years, it has harnessed the power of arts and ideas to enrich, enlighten and change lives, and the power of community to repair the world. 

As a proudly Jewish organization, 92Y enthusiastically welcomes and reaches out to people of all ages, races, faiths and backgrounds while embracing Jewish values like learning and self-improvement, the importance of family, the joy of life, and giving back to our wonderfully diverse and growing community, both locally and around the world. 

These "giving" examples are from both coasts but I know, without a doubt, that similar types of activities are taking place in every other State. This is what makes me optimistic that as Americans we will do the right thing. There will always be people who need to feel superior; there will always be those who have the victim mentality and need someone to blame for their mistakes; there will always be people who think their God is the only one and their beliefs are the only true dictates of human behavior. Fortunately, they are a small minority! 

Do we have problems in this country? Certainly! Can we solve them? Of course! The very characteristic that fringe elements want to eradicate is what makes us great: our diversity, productivity and creativity. Each of us brings something to the table. 

Not everyone can donate money to a favorite cause, but each one of us can give something of ourselves to make the world a better place. So maybe "pay it forward" is a good idea for this Tuesday. As always, comments are welcome.

(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist. She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

THE ABRAMS REPORT-The nation is in a transitional muddle. Green Party Candidate Jill Stein believes that it is appropriate to count the votes. Putative President-elect Trump tweets that, “The people have spoken,” but apparently he is too impatient to take the time to find out what the people actually said. One drawback of tweeting in haste is that, “Yes, the People have spoken and by two million votes, they said that Hillary should be President.” Had Trump been more judicious, he might have issued a statement saying that the “Electoral College has spoken” -- but then, that too is not true since the time for them to cast their votes has not come. 

Assuming putative President-elect Trump ends up being the President, we are still in a muddle. In contrast to his campaign rhetoric, Trump’s policies, since he’s been briefed, appear to be in a quandary. We are no longer going to throw out 11 or 12 million illegals. The sanctuary cities object creating ethnic hostilities, having their economies destroyed and hamstringing their police departments by making them check everyone’s passport or green card. And the Wall? What Wall? Hillary thrown in prison? Oh, she’s too nice a lady. Who will be Secretary of the Treasury? Trump’s secret to defeat ISIS appears to be to ask the Generals who, a few weeks ago, “knew nothing.” 

While the “answers” are in disarray, we Americans are clueless about the government’s role in the one thing that upsets us more than anything else: the economy. 

The economy is particularly vital to people who are starting a family. As long as one is single, renting a loft or sharing an overly expensive apartment can be exciting. But when one wants to settle down, priorities change. Does the government bear any responsibility to plan for the future and for an economy that can support family life? 

Rather than answer that philosophical question, let’s look at the practical situation in which a city government ignores the desires of its new middle class and instead allows its policies to be dictated by an ever smaller clique of billionaires. 

Government at all levels impacts the economy. This has been true since the dawn of civilization. In 1776, Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations for this very purpose; and in 1936, John Maynard Keynes wrote his The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money [General Theory] for the same purpose. Both addressed the role of the government in setting the parameters of the economy so as to benefit the nation and its citizens. Yet the average voter never holds the feet of politicians to the fire when the government’s policies devastate the economy. 

On a local level, Los Angeles’ feudal city council which has divided the city into 15 fiefdoms ruled by overlords with absolute power, has turned LA from a destination city into an exodus city from which Family Millennials are fleeing. 

A major force driving Family Millennials away from Los Angeles has been the City’s anti-home ownership policy which has made owning a home in Los Angeles prohibitively expensive. 

On November 26, 2016, Wendell Cox wrote in NewGeography.com, “Progressive politicians, dominant in California, talk incessantly about housing affordability, but blindly pursue policies that will make things even worse. It should not be surprising that the housing-cost adjusted poverty rate in California is the worst in union, underperforming even Mississippi. It should also not be surprising that Californians of every age group, including Millennials, are leaving state in larger numbers than they are being attracted.” 

Under both former Mayor Villaraigosa and current Mayor Garcetti, over 21,000 rent-controlled units have been demolished, something that not only increases the number of homeless but increases the cost of the average apartment. The increased demand for housing in the category of “just above the rent-control level” from those who do not become homeless ends up increasing the housing prices. Also, increasing the minimum wage, while generally a good idea, can cause inflation when there is a shortage of a major commodity such as rental units. 

Particularly harmful to Los Angeles are the increasing number of mixed-use projects in what we call TODs (Transit Oriented Districts). TODs are areas near subways, light rail and bus lines where developers are allowed to aggrandize population density on the patently false belief that people who live in TODs do not need to own cars. 

A host of ills follow in the wake of TODs: 

(1) TODs make land values higher which increases the costs of units built there; 

(2) TODs’ construction costs are significantly higher as building standards are stricter as buildings are taller; 

(3) The City allows developers not to construct off-street parking; 

(4) Residents in TODs then overflow into surrounding neighborhoods seeking places to park; 

(5) Because few people who live in TODs use the mass transit, traffic congestion near the TODs becomes much worse; 

(6) As the city adds more offices to DTLA, Hollywood and elsewhere in The Basin, the commute times from the Valley are becoming unacceptable; 

(7) While population density in TODs increases, the occupancy rate is often too low to make developers happy, so the city gives them infusions of cash; 

(8) The billions of tax dollars which have gone to the developers since 2001 starved all the other infrastructure needs so that LA’s infrastructure has crumbled; 

Garcetti’s mania to pursue “Smart Growth,” despite proof that it is driving away Los Angeles’ new middle class, shows no let-up. Billions more dollars are flowing into TODs, augmented by the $1.2 billion from Measure HHH. 

The feudal nature of Los Angeles’ government deprives the citizens of any forum for challenging the City’s demise. Councilmembers who represent the Valley may not object to the excessive concentration of office towers in the Basin even though the added traffic congestion “over the hill” will make life much worse for their constituents. 

As detached single family homes become rarer, they become much more expensive. The threat from Granny Flats deters potential home buyers everywhere. No one wants to make the largest investment of their entire lives in a family home when in five to ten years, the R-1 streets will possibly be transformed into rental alleys. Granny Flats potentially turn every R-1 neighborhood into areas where each lot can have two houses with no backyard – just rental units. 

The potential for a developer to buy an R-1 home and then construct a second house on the lot in order to rent out both the houses forces up the sale price of the home beyond what a family can afford. The commercial value of lots where Granny Flats can be built is much greater than the value of a living space with a back yard, fruit trees and gardens. 

No one has pointed to any social, economic, or political force which will reverse the exodus of Family Millennials from Los Angeles. As the cost of housing escalates due to the Garcetti Administration’s catering to the pocketbooks of the developers, more employers will leave Los Angeles. Employers know that they ultimately bear the costs that the Garcetti Administration is forcing upon the average citizen. Employers foresee that their employees will not pay three times the price for a home in a deteriorating Los Angeles over what it would cost them a home in Austin, Texas, where all the measures of the good life are far better. 

People forget that it was not only the great weather that attracted people to Los Angeles starting in the 1890's, but it was also the vast expanse of single family homes. The war on the detached home mandated by “Smart Planning” has killed the American Dream for LA. A more descriptive word than “killed” would be “murdered.” The American Dream of owning a single family home with a yard in a decent school district has been deliberately murdered in cold blood – and the slaughter continues. 

Government policy affects people’s lives. In a feudal society where the serfs have been locked out of governance and have no power to influence policy, a mass exodus is the wisest choice. The same forces that existed in all the lands from which our forefathers fled are now operating in Los Angeles. 

When a tiny cadre of the ultra-wealthy seize control of the government, people look for a better life elsewhere.

(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

PERSPECTIVE-The outcome of the presidential election was a surprise to me as much as it was to anyone. What is not a surprise is the reaction to it. 

There have been some extreme events and outbursts, including rioting by some Clinton supporters and some nasty displays of neo-Nazism by the loosely organized Alt-right group. Fortunately, these reactions are not acceptable to the population as a whole. Most of us are moving forward and dealing with change in a rational manner. The checks and balances embedded in the Constitution will prevent significant, or even sudden, permanent changes to our government. 

However, one proposed remedy to Trump’s victory resurrects an issue this nation has faced before…secession from the United States. 

As a practical matter, according to an opinion piece in the Washington Post, it is virtually impossible, short of an apocalyptic disaster which throws our nation into dysfunctional chaos. Although there are many who believe we have been dysfunctional for a long time, I have news for you – the national government has not only survived, it has expanded its influence.

The Post article states: “Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution specifies how a state can gain admission to the United States. There is no stipulation, though, for the reverse. Even if Obama wanted to let Texas go — a thought that probably appealed to him for at least a second — there’s no mechanism for him to do so. There’s no mechanism for Congress to simply say, ‘Sure, off you go.’ Once you’re in, you’re in. The United States was born an expansionist enterprise, and the idea of contraction, it seems, never really came up.” 

To those proposing a Cal-exit, don’t waste your time, or those of the state’s voters, with a referendum to seek secession.  

Having said that, the topic is worthy of an interesting hypothetical discussion. 

Did the Civil War really resolve whether secession is constitutional? I touched on this subject in an article I wrote for Citywatch in connection with the Civil War Sesquicentennial. 

As I pointed out, the seven states that seceded prior to Lincoln’s inauguration could have gotten away with it had Fort Sumter had not been fired upon by Confederate batteries. Absent the catalyst the attack provided, the nation had no stomach for war, much less a civil war. Had Lincoln raised troops to forcibly end secession, it is likely the entire Upper South would have joined the Lower South, including the critical border states of Kentucky and Maryland. Washington would have been isolated; Lincoln’s administration would have been dead on arrival. 

A southern-leaning Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger Taney, a slaveholder himself, may have ruled in favor of the break. 

What the Civil War did make certain was the illegality of forceful secession. 

Does that mean peaceful or passive secession is permissible? 

As mentioned earlier, there is no process for separation via legislation. There is nothing in the Constitution to guide Congress; nothing even stipulating a voting margin for such an action. Any request by a state to secede would simply die. 

But let’s just say it did occur. 

Just like divorce, there would be a property settlement...and would that be costly to California! Do you think the rest of the states would transfer control of Yosemite and other national parks for a song? How about military installations and other federal government real estate? 

The financial obligations California would incur for buying out its share of the unfunded liability of Social Security and Medicare of its citizens would be worse. 

California claims to receive less monies from the federal government than it sends. That is so much BS. The benefits to the state from physical protection and security provided by the federal government is incalculable. In terms of economic trade, California’s primary trading partners are part of the Pacific Rim. Without the leverage of the federal government behind us, we would be at a disadvantage in negotiations with China and Japan, whose economies dwarf those of the Golden State.

Then there are details of establishing a monetary unit and a central bank. 

How about supporting embassies throughout the world? 

The nation of California would be bankrupt from the get-go. 

One other thing. There are regions within California which will not go along with the plan. Much of California’s agriculture and water is attributable to the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, respectively. Those regions would balk at the plan. They would form their own state, or possibly request to join Nevada. Sacramento would find itself isolated from the rest of its subjects. California would be totally dependent on a foreign government for food, water and energy. 

The secession movement is laughable until you realize its proponents really believe it is plausible. For their sake, I sure hope they do not receive Nigerian e-mail solicitations. 

But just the talk of secession further alienates California from the rest of the nation. 

One of our top attractions is Wine Country. We do not want to be labeled Whine Country.

(Paul Hatfield is a CPA and serves as President of the Valley Village Homeowners Association. He blogs at Village to Village and contributes to CityWatch. The views presented are those of Mr. Hatfield and his alone and do not represent the opinions of Valley Village Homeowners Association or CityWatch. He can be reached at: [email protected].) Graphic: Jeff Durham/Bay Area News Group. Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

LATINO PERSPECTIVE-Most Latinos in California were shocked earlier this month with the election of Donald Trump as President. But here in Southern California there is cause for celebration because diversity in the political arena is alive and kicking with the election to the United States Congress of three Latinos. 

These three Democrats, Lou Correa, Nanette Barragán, and Salud Carbajal were elected to represent parts of Orange County, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. This is very important coming from the most diverse state in the country. We now have the largest Congressional Hispanic Caucus in history with 31 members. 

Correa will replace Latina Rep. Loretta Sanchez who is a Democrat from Orange County in the 46th Congressional District after defeating another Democrat, the mayor of Garden Grove, Bao Nguyen. Sanchez lost her bid to be the next U.S. Senator from California. But what I think is important to notice is that Carbajal and Barragán are replacing white members of Congress.  

Lou Correa has been serving Orange Country since 1998. Over his 16 year career, Lou has represented the 69th Assembly District in the California State Assembly, served as Supervisor in Orange County’s 1st Supervisor District, and represented the 34th Senate District in the California State Senate. 

Lou Correa introduced himself to voters as the only homegrown candidate. As the son of working class parents, Lou saw first hand what it took to escape poverty and have a shot at the middle class. He ran for office in 1998 to fight for the same working families he grew up with, and ensure their children would have the same opportunity to succeed that he had. Lou has a track record of getting the job done and has developed a reputation with countless public officials as a dedicated civil servant interested in solving real problems, not playing partisan games. 

Nanette Barragán, the youngest of eleven children raised by immigrants from Mexico, Nanette Diaz Barragán beat the odds and put herself through UCLA undergrad and USC Law School. She knows what families need and the power of a good education. In Congress, she will fight to get more funds for our schools and better paying jobs for our communities. As a councilwoman, Barragán balanced fiscal common sense with the right priorities. She balanced budgets, fixed streets, helped expand afterschool programs and hired new police officers without raising taxes. 

Salud Carbaja, a Santa Barbara County Supervisor, won an expensive race against Republican Justin Fareed to replace longtime Democratic Rep. Lois Capps in the Central Coast’s 24th Congressional District, which also includes San Luis Obispo County. Salud earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his master’s degree in Organizational Management from the Fielding University. He served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty service during the 1991 Gulf War. 

In 2004, Salud was elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. During his tenure, he has demonstrated a commitment to protecting our environment, promoting sustainability, strengthening our schools, and enhancing the health and safety of our community. 

Drawing upon his own childhood experiences growing up in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, Salud shares a passion for improving the lives of at-risk youth. He found innovative ways to strengthen our schools by creating a job skills and mentorship program for at-risk youth and providing summer programming for our kids. Salud is married to his wife, Gina, and has two children, Natasha and Michael. 

Salud Carbajal and Lou Correa also have links in Spanish on their websites. 

After the election, CHC Chairwoman Rep. Linda T. Sánchez, Democrat from Whittier, said that the caucus would request a meeting with Trump in the coming weeks to “make sure he better understands the challenges our community faces and does not act on his extreme rhetoric.” 

The Latino caucus will work hard to protect our Latino communities, you can be sure of that.

(Fred Mariscal came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1992 to study at the University of Southern California and has been in LA ever since. He is a community leader and was a candidate for Los Angeles City Council in District 4. Fred writes Latino Perspective for CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

PARK LABREA NEWS REPORT--As the Miracle Mile Residential Association (MMRA) approached the finish line in a years-long effort to establish stricter protections from the invasion of McMansions, a different group of residents mobilized to try to hit the brakes.

Box-shaped homes like the one on the left dwarf existing structures in the Miracle Mile. Residents in the neighborhood agree that McMansion development needs to stop, but they don’t agree on the right tool to get it done.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission on Dec. 8 will consider the proposed historic preservation overlay zone (HPOZ) that will protect the Miracle Mile from developers who want to replace existing residences that were built between 1921-1953 with larger, box-shaped homes. “Mansionization” – the influx of the larger homes – started years ago, and the MMRA said it will destroy the character of their neighborhood if it continues. In September, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) concluded that the Miracle Mile neighborhood maintains its cultural significance to the city of Los Angeles. But other property owners have joined together to oppose the restrictions that come with an HPOZ.

“I first heard about the ‘No on HPOZ’ people literally five minutes before it was going to be decided on,” said Councilman David Ryu, 4th District, at an MMRA meeting earlier this month where dozens of residents waved red “No on HPOZ” signs.

“Even though you came in the last minute, I wanted to make sure [you were] heard.”

Opponents to the HPOZ argued that the preservation plan – which includes guidelines and review procedures for 1,350 properties – is too strict, and will stall the neighborhood’s growth and ability to attract new families. At the meeting, attendees waving red signs said they were worried that the proposed HPOZ will require residents to get approval from the HPOZ board or the city’s planning department to change any exterior component of their homes, and that it can be costly and time-consuming to obtain the permits.

The “No on HPOZ” group said they are in favor of stopping “McMansions,” but suggested the Miracle Mile instead rely on the city’s baseline mansionization ordinance (BMO), which they hope will be adopted in January. Jay Schoenfeldt, one of the leaders of “No on HPOZ” group, said they are against the preservation plan in its current form and asked Ryu to consider other options “aside from taking away property owner rights that can prevent mansionization.”

Ryu explained that the HPOZ measure was not created or intended to be “used as a tool to prevent mansionization,” and it has become an unintended cure for the phenomenon. But the process for the BMO is often delayed, and preservationists worry it could be too “watered down” to prevent mansionization by the time it is adopted. Further, the existing interim control ordinance that protects the Miracle Mile now expires in March.

Jim O’Sullivan, president of the MMRA, said the conflict arose from misinformation and misconceptions about the proposed HPOZ. Ryu blamed misconceptions on the language in the proposed preservation plan, and said the city’s planning department “really created a mess.”

“I have to admit, the planning department really screwed up with the report,” Ryu said. “They should have done a much better job because a lot of the things they told us, they didn’t really turn out that way. So we’re fixing it.”

Ryu’s office met with MMRA leaders and the “No on HPOZ” group after the annual meeting to clarify language that the MMRA agreed was “somewhat obtuse.” The MMRA explained that the intent of the HPOZ was to devise a plan that was unrestrictive and flexible.

“Both sides agreed that the language in the preservation plan, as written, was too ambiguous and could be interpreted to be more restrictive than desired,” the MMRA reported in its newsletter. “This resulted in a collegial and successful discussion of how to simplify and revise language in the plan to accurately reflect the will of the community.”

In addition, the groups clarified specific details. For example, the preservation plan will not regulate paint color. The exteriors of all properties in their present condition will be “grandfathered” once the HPOZ is adopted, and there will be no regulations on any property’s interior, or any planned additions that cannot be seen from the street. There also will not be landscaping regulations “as long as at least 60 percent of the front yard is planted with some sort of greenery.” Second story additions will also be allowed with certain setbacks.

On Wednesday, O’Sullivan said they were waiting for final clarification from the planning department. He said he is hopeful but cautious after the meetings with Ryu’s staff and the “No on HPOZ” group. The MMRA’s newsletter last week declared that the group does not expect any further obstacles in adopting the revised HPOZ Preservation Plan.

But Schoenfeldt said “that’s not exactly accurate.” On Wednesday, he said they did clarify a lot of the issues during their meeting, but that other issues were disregarded, such as boundaries of the HPOZ that fall outside of the MMRA’s jurisdiction. He said that’s a major concern because those homeowners might not have been informed or consulted. At the MMRA meeting, residents from Council District 10 asked that their homes be taken out of the Miracle Mile HPOZ. Schoenfeldt described the preservation plan as “overwhelmingly restrictive” with 255 design guidelines, of which they said 40 percent need further review.

“We felt this really needed a second meeting,” Schoenfeld said, adding that agreements made to revise the HPOZ language were not approved by planning staff, and the scale of the rewrite will be “daunting.”

The Miracle Mile HPOZ covers approximately 1,347 properties bordered by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, San Vicente Boulevard to the south, La Brea Avenue to the east and Fairfax Avenue to the west. The CHC found that most properties reflect styles associated with the designated period of architecture.

The Planning Commission will consider the HPOZ on Dec. 8 at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, in Room 340. The meeting time has not yet been determined.

(Gregory Cornfield is managing editor at the La Brea News where this report was first posted.)

-cw

VOX POP--Developer Michael Hakim shelled out more than $1.2 million in campaign contributions, lobbyist fees and payments to City Hall trust funds until finally his controversial Koreatown skyscraper was approved by the LA City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti. It didn’t matter that nearby residents and even LA’s City Planning Commission opposed the mega-project.

As a life-long Beverly Hills resident, Hakim detested overdevelopment in his posh, leafy city — in 2009, as a Beverly Hills City Council candidate, he made it one of his top campaign issues. Then he wanted to build a 27-story luxury housing skyscraper in a low-slung, working-class section of Koreatown on South Catalina Street.

Hakim apparently forgot his campaign platform from 2009, when he ran unsuccessfully for Beverly Hills City Council. “For years,” he wrote in an election guide, “people of our city have endured traffic gridlock and parking nightmares. This must change!” He strongly urged for better public transit and “controlling overdevelopment.” 

In Los Angeles, Hakim’s Koreatown skyscraper went against all zoning protections, and residents realized it would destroy the character of the community — and possibly force them out of their neighborhood due to gentrification.

Since nobody is allowed to build skyscrapers on South Catalina Street just south of Eighth Street, a few doors away from a school, the City Planning Commission rejected Hakim’s plan. The LA Times quoted planning commissioner Maria Cadildo as calling it “wildly inappropriate.”

But Hakim paid $41,400 for a lobbyist to woo LA Planning Department officials so he could demolish what exists there now: three apartments providing housing to 14 families. He also needed special spot-zoning favors from the City Council: a “General Plan amendment” and “height district” change.

If the developer got those things, with the swipe of a pen from City Hall, his land would skyrocket in value and he would become millions of dollars richer.

Hakim spread other money around. He gave a $1,000 campaign contribution to L.A. Mayor James Hahn in 2005; $2,200 to LA City Council Member Herb Wesson between 2006 and 2014; and $700 to  Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who was running for and won the Council District 8 race in 2014. That’s $3,900, according L.A. City Ethics Commission filings.

But the really huge money poured in recently, aimed at Mayor Eric Garcetti and Herb Wesson. 

In April 2015, Hakim agreed to contribute $1 million to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and place $250,000 into Herb Wesson’s Council District 10 “Community Benefits Trust Fund.” Sounds like a lot, right? Not really. It’s only enough to build two or three affordable housing units, which each cost $450,000 and up. And don’t forget, Hakim will destroy 14 inexpensive housing units.

Garrcetti liked the looks of that $1 million. He overrode his own Planning Commission and pushed through approval of Hakim’s “General Plan amendment” and zoning changes. Garrett is eager to bring a skyscraper to a congested residential neighborhood that is among the most dense in the Western United States.

Garcetti, the L.A. Times noted, “rejected a decision by a panel of his own appointees.” 

Neighborhoods activists are still fighting against the Koreatown skyscraper.

The wildly inappropriate mega-project is just one glaring example of why we need the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, which has been placed on the March 2017 ballot.

LA’s rigged, unfair and broken development approval process is controlled by developers, who then get special favors from City Hall politicians — and ordinary people suffer the consequences of gridlock traffic, ruined neighborhoods and the displacement of longtime residents.

We must return power back to the communities.

(Patrick Range McDonald writes for 2PreserveLA.  Check it out. See if you don’t agree it will help end buying favors at City Hall.)

-cw

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW--The feverish pace of development in LA has reared its head in the rash of high-density apartment buildings that will be sprouting west of the 405, along Santa Monica Boulevard and Ohio Avenue in West LA, with multiple sites cleared from Barry to Westgate. The city planning department appears to be tapping into Assembly Bill 744 in the hush-hush granting of building permits in the neighborhood. Signed by Governor Brown in October 2015, AB 744, which goes into effect in January, allows developers seeking a density bonus to reduce the minimum parking requirements by half when building affordable housing near qualifying transit. 

Anyone who has attempted to find a parking spot on the Westside knows parking is at a premium, even with permit-only parking for residents. Now, multiply the number of residents (and probably cars.) Nevertheless, residents and property owners near the development sites are only notified when they live or own property within a hundred-foot radius. Yes, one-hundred feet. 

Robert W. Logue of West LA says, “Sometimes, no notice is required so there are no hearings and nobody in the neighborhood even knows this feverish building activity is going on.” Logue suspects the push to approve projects seems to be “done in coordination with elements pushing for new transit lines” and may be “afforded special treatment because of the hopeful development of nearby rapid transit.” The absence of half the number of parking spaces in the new buildings might encourage residents to forgo owning a car in favor of public transportation but that’s a pretty strong “might.” 

“At a hearing I attended in connection with a building proposed for construction at 12444 Venice Blvd (Rendering above), part of the objective of the density combined with few parking spots would force an outcry in support of immediate implementation of rail transit,” says Logue. “At this hearing I was only afforded 120 seconds to state my views about the project.  There were no audio or video recordings made at the meeting nor any reports about it that will be made available to the public.” Logue adds that for most of these projects, the financing sources seem “cloaked in mystery.” 

Pushing through a large scale addition of high-density apartment projects without adequate public transit to increase the need (and acceptance) of public transit on LA’s Westside is a chicken/egg proposition or perhaps, there will be substantial growth in Uber and Lyft. 

(Beth Cone Kramer is a Los Angeles writer and a columnist for CityWatch.)

-cw

GUEST WORDS-(Editor’s Note: This column was posted in CityWatch 10 years ago … in 2006. We post this Flashback to remind you how little LA politics have changed. It is yet another ‘book cooking’ column about the misuse of your money. Question to you: what will it take and how long will you hide before you’re upset enough to do something?) 

Hard as it may be to believe, it was just six months ago that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated his managerial triumph by getting the long troubled L.A. Housing Authority (HACLA) back in the good graces of the federal government.
The mayor boasted that HACLA "has reached an important milestone in its efforts to reform ... and successfully met federally mandated reforms covering the City's Section 8 voucher program, putting the department back in good- standing and ending federal oversight of the program." 

"For the first time in years, this agency is solvent, functional and in a strong position to deliver much-needed help to low-income families in LA." 

Oops, maybe Antonio spoke a little too soon.

A new report from federal housing authorities -- that has gotten no visibility in the press -- says he spoke way too soon ... to the tune of a $27 million problem, nearly $28 million actually.

"The Authority's accounting records showed that it improperly advanced and expended more than $27 million in restricted funds to cover its operating losses for its other programs," reported Regional Inspector General Joan Hobbs in the Housing and Urban Development Report dated Aug. 21.

"The authority contended there was no misappropriation of funds, but rather the way the accounting system presented its financial transactions; however, we were unable to validate its contention."

The focus of the audit was to see if the city was still screwing recipients of Section 8 vouchers that let them live in decent units at a price they could afford but it expanded when suspicions arose that the highly-paid HACLA head Rudy Montiel  (more than $300,000) was juggling the money without regard to federal  rules or regulations.

No surprise there, the city of L.A. doesn't believe in obeying the law.

It's not entirely clear from the audit what exactly Montiel was hiding or why he was moving the money from account to account other than to conceal losses in specific areas, but HACLA's history suggests it has a lot to do with mismanagement of Section 8 housing vouchers.

From what I can see I'm willing to bet Montiel -- who's gotten a lot of favorable media treatment -- was cooking the books to make it look like the Section 8 funding problem was fixed when he, like just about everybody else at City Hall, was doing the mayor's bidding.

And in the housing area that means carrying out the mayor's insane policy of densifying the city to "address the affordable housing crisis in Los Angeles" -- a crisis manufactured by the philosophical commitment to providing new housing to any poor person who wants to live here.

Well, at least some of the people who want to live here. Because the long-standing accusation is HACLA is that it's selective about who it helps and who it doesn't.

Even as HACLA was being brought under control by federal authorities for its abuses, a coalition of public interest law firms and civil rights groups last year filed a class-action lawsuit charging it broke the law when it effectively raised the rent for more than 20,000 poor residents.

So much for the myth Antonio and his pals really are helping the poor.

HACLA disputed the finding that it lacked "prudent oversight" of its federal funds, violated any rules or misappropriated any money. The agency blamed "accounting problems," but it's telling that after getting its protestations of innocence in the record, the agency obeyed HUD's directives and reimbursed the money -- $27,801,379 of it.

Now ask yourself, what would you do if you were one of those 15 City Council members, especially those who claim they care so deeply about the poor?

Wouldn't you be mad as hell? Wouldn't you be calling Montiel on the carpet and holding public hearings and making sure this was the last time HACLA cheated the poor?

Of course, you would. But you can't because the City Hall game is fixed and the public doesn't stand a chance.

It's not like the council has shown much interest in all the troubles HACLA has had over many years.

Have they looked into why the agency is spending $7 million a year or so on outside lawyers, something that has caused so much concern when it involves bumbling City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo?

Was anybody worried when Montiel last year fired his own whistleblowing chief investigator, Abel Ruiz, after he alleged that people inside the agency interfered with his efforts to get to the bottom of an $800,000 bid-rigging scheme.

The firing followed disclosure in the Times that a housing authority manager, Victor Taracena, had awarded construction and design contracts to family members and to three firms with ties to present and former City Council members in the 14th District, the seat now held by Jose Huizar.

You don't need to ask whatever came of all that -- I told you the game is fixed.

(Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Daily News and the activist behind the Save LA Project. Read more Ron Kaye at www.ronkayela.com ) 

CityWatch

Vol 6 Issue 74

Pub: Sept 12, 2008

DEEGAN ON LA-If a tourist-filled “chop-top” open-air tour bus were to be crunched like an accordion if hit from behind or if it recklessly crashed into something ahead, it could become a death trap. The “crunch” could be caused by the vehicle’s structural integrity being compromised once the roof has been cut off. 

In our “post-truth” world, where the appeal to emotion outweigh the facts, the scramble for inside info about celebrities seems to outweigh reality as tourists rush to board these often unregulated, open-air vans to fulfill their dreams of rubbing shoulders with fame. 

It’s a wonder these possibly unsafe vehicles are allowed to operate. 

There are lots of chop-top buses cruising through the Hollywood hills, filled with tourists who may not realize the risk they are taking when they respond to celebrity tour barkers promising “behind the scenes” insight into Hollywood royalty supposedly living on their routes. 

A scary public safety point about chop-tops was made toward the end of a two-hour “Tour Bus Town Hall” that was held in Hollywood a few nights ago with a panel of fifteen officials, moderated by Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council President Anastasia Mann. Present were community members, state and local political figures, and law enforcement officials who gathered to air many issues concerning the tour buses that use the Hollywood Hills by-ways to entertain tourists with fantasies about stars who often don’t even live there. This group searched for solutions to problems caused by the proliferation of chop-top tour buses -- multiple traffic violations, illegal parking, misinformation about celebrity homes, sneaking onto side streets, endangering the lives of tourists, and the many buses and driver/guides who operate unsafe vehicles that may not even be registered or insured. 

Councilmember David Ryu (CD4), representing the Hollywood Hills, kicked off the forum, saying, “We are working with our state representatives to identify solutions.” Some of those state officials were represented on the panel, including the California Highway Patrol, the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission, and the office of State Assembly Member Adrin Nazarian (46^th District.) Local representation included CD4 David Ryu and his deputies, Catherine Landers and Nicholas Greif, officers from the LAPD (including the Hollywood Commanding Officer,) the presidents of various neighborhood councils and homeowner associations, and tour operators. 

Several dozen members of the hillside community spoke forcefully about the intrusion of these buses into their neighborhoods. Numerous practical ideas were presented, although it was stressed that the state Public Utilities Commission has the final word on licensing tour buses; local government and police need to work through the PUC and state legislature to effect change.

Regulating public safety has to take priority over many of the other complaints voiced by the community. The possible lack of structural integrity of these passenger vans with their tops chopped off in order to give an open-air experience and a better view to the riders, poses potential dangers that must be the first priority for authorities. 

Some relevant solutions were offered, including one successfully used by a homeowners association that was able to get the Department of Transportation to use “weight” for controlling access to their neighborhood streets. Sheila Irani, President of Lake Hollywood Estates Homeowners Association (adjacent to the Hollywood Sign) explained, “The HOA adopted weight control signs and worked with LADOT to post them at all street entrances leading to the Vista. After that, we worked with CD4 and LAPD to create a task force that ticketed overweight vehicles in July 2014 and since then the tour vans coming to our area were reduced from 40 a day to one or two.” 

Another suggestion that received positive response from the CHP officers was to post “designated routes” for the tour buses to keep them off side streets. “Our office is looking into these suggestions (designated routes and weight limits),” responded Ryu. 

Tourism has a bottom line: $2.5 billion in state and local taxes were driven by tourism employment in 2015, according to Ernest Wooden Jr, President of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, the official tourism marketing organization for the City of Los Angeles. Wooden adds, “LA Tourism's focus is on ensuring that visitors to our city have a memorable and authentic Los Angeles experience.” 

Given the problems associated with top-chop tour buses, it’s time to add “safe” to the list of what LA is promising our tourists because, in the end, death has no replacement value price tag.

(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

GELFAND’S WORLD--What would massive resistance look like? (Massive resistance ended the Vietnam war—photo above.) 

In regard to the expected reactionary onslaught, Erik Loomis writes the following in the blog Lawyers, Guns & Money: 

"All we really have in the end is massive resistance. That is where we are heading–acquiescence or resistance. You and I will all need to make our choices about whether we will stand up against oppression in ways that a lot of our ancestors did not stand up to Jim Crow, to Chinese Exclusion, to the Japanese internment camps, etc." 

This is his conclusion after considering what Donald Trump has already done since the election. He summarizes the bad news: 

"I don’t actually have confidence that we will have a functional democracy by 2020. It’s entirely possible that historians, assuming they exist in a century, will see 2016 as the end of a period of American history where rights generally expanded. That’s because Trump, Giuliani, Sessions, Gingrich, Flynn, etc., etc., and most importantly huge chunks of the Republican base, simply do not respect the fundamental tenets of democracy and they are seeking to roll back two generations of social progress. Despite what I might have believed a mere few weeks ago, they are in fact reasonably likely to succeed. 

Some of the proposed rollbacks include the end of Medicare as we know it, the reversal of the Roe v. Wade principle, and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Voter suppression will be part of the recipe. Those are just a few of the likely outrages on the domestic side. On the international side, we have almost no idea what will happen. 

The outrages will most likely be presented in legal form -- as bills before congress and as judicial appointments. What then, constitutes massive resistance? 

There are two potential paths. The first, requiring only a small number of people, is that a few Republican senators may quietly decide that they don't want Trump's power to be left unchecked. Their best approach is to leave the senatorial rules in effect, particularly the one that requires 60 senators to break a filibuster. It's the rule the Republicans used so effectively in thwarting Obama when the Democrats held a senatorial majority. It would only take three Republican votes in the senate to maintain the current rules. 

If that should happen, then it's up to the Democrats in the senate to resist and obstruct at every possible point. They should go hard on the more objectionable cabinet appointments. Even the appointments that eventually go through should be subjected to aggressive and prolonged questioning at the committee level. 

Democratic opposition is particularly important in terms of a Supreme Court nominee. If the Democrats can delay a Trump appointment permanently, that would be righteous payback and it would be protective of our system. 

It would be up to the rest of us millions and millions of people to back up the Democratic senators. We would march in the streets when necessary, and flood our senators and congressmen with mail and telephone calls. 

But if the Republicans stick together and go for a change in the senate's rules, then the deluge is upon us. It will be up to the American people to figure out what we mean by massive resistance. What would it consist of, and how can we make it effective? 

The first order of business is to decide that we are serious. To borrow a phrase from an old movie, it's called commitment. It will take tens of millions of people, acting in concert, to make the point properly. 

Here's a for instance. The first time that Paul Ryan or one of his lackeys proposes to phase out Medicare, we need to act aggressively. That means visiting the office of every congressman, writing letters (in our own handwriting), and marching in the streets. It also means raising funds in advance, so Democrats can send out mailings to the people who will be most affected. 

Imagine a television ad which shows somebody on Medicare saying, "It was great to finally get free of the health insurance companies. Now the politicians want to put me back in their clutches." 

Given the views of the congressional Republicans, we are going to have a lot to dislike. It's long since time that the saner among us form their own version of the Tea Party, but one that upholds traditional liberal values.

It's about time that the more powerful unions got on board. The dockworkers can close down shipping. They've done it before in limited jurisdictions, but suppose they were willing to carry out actions on both coasts and on the Gulf. The same argument goes for railroad workers and airline pilots. It's what should have happened (but didn't) when Reagan fired the air traffic controllers. 

One other idea, albeit a long shot. We badly need a national union of white collar workers, part time workers, and temps. It's been attempted on a limited level by graduate students and college athletes, but it never got very far due to governmental interference and a general lack of will on the part of the workers. There are at least 80 million Americans who fear and resent the Trump victory, and it's time that they unified to represent the interests of the worker bees. (Curiously, the idea that Democrats should have spoken out for blue collar workers in order to win the Michigan and Wisconsin votes has been out there since the day after the election.) It shouldn't take long before the working class realizes that Trump isn't really their guy. We should take the old country tune "Take this job and shove it" and make it into a political movement that isn't on the side of the Republican Party. 

I might add that the title of the Loomis column is a takeoff on the famous quote from H.L. Mencken, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." It's a bit cynical for my taste, but the result of the Trump election is consistent with Mencken's point of view. Loomis continues: 

"And I am disappointed in myself for not seeing this more clearly before the election. Democrats and liberals were holding on strictly to the presidency as a buffer between us and the apocalypse. Between gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a bloody ineffective DNC strategy to operate on the state level, Republicans had already grabbed most of the levers of government. And while Trump is uniquely bad in some ways, in many others, he really isn’t that much worse than your bog-standard mainstream Republican governing class such as Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Paul LePage, Rick Snyder, or, of course, Mike Pence." 

We should make use of the judicial system where possible, in particular fighting for voting rights and against gerrymanders. It won't solve everything, but it is part of the overall approach. 

We also need to create a new language of opposition. The fact that Donald Trump is treacherous, lazy, and greedy is becoming increasingly obvious, but we need to build the arguments against him using the right words and phrases. Based on Trump's most recent statement that he actually won the popular vote if you subtract out millions of illegal votes, I think that the term crybaby would be a start. 

(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected]) 

-cw

GELFAND’S WORLD--If the big earthquake hits, do you know where you would go to get food, water, or medical attention? Most of us don't. At a more proactive level, have you stocked the equipment, food, and water that you might need to survive? This is where the sense of urgency comes in. 

We have been discussing these issues at the Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness Alliance (NCEPA) for the better part of a year. We've heard from many experts in the field, and we have some conclusions to present for your consideration. 

We find that most Angelenos are not yet sufficiently prepared to deal effectively with a real disaster scenario. We find that the government agencies that form the set of first responders -- the LAPD, LAFD, and LASD along with the emergency command structure -- are well trained and well prepared. What's been missing in the equation is the rest of us. For some reason, our government hasn't done a good job of creating a process in which the first responders will seamlessly interface with the remaining 3,900,000 inhabitants of Los Angeles. 

We think that there is a way forward and that there is room for optimism. 

We've been developing some ideas that involve using our already-in-place community organizations. We intend to deliver a workable plan to our 96 neighborhood councils, this in the hope that each will be the point of crystallization for effective local response preparation. We expect the neighborhood councils to recruit their neighborhood watch organizations and other local groups to provide the focal points for training and organizing. 

In theory, this should not be very difficult. What we've found is that training programs already exist. Systems for organizing an area as small as a single block (or even an apartment building) have been worked out. The 5-Steps program is one such approach that shows some promise. What has not been worked out is how to motivate the thousands of small areas in our city of four million people so that they will get started. 

Here's a bit of good news. What we've learned is that your own effort on the individual level need not be all that extreme. There is a training program called CERT that the LAFD developed starting in 1985. It requires 17 hours and teaches you the basics of evaluating injuries in yourself and your family, and teaches you about evaluating your immediate area for human injuries and structural damage. CERT training will make it possible for you to respond to a disaster in coordination with others, on an organized basis. 

Hold that thought and consider this sobering consideration: In the event of a big earthquake, the authorities are more likely to provide immediate help to areas that have a working disaster response organization. That's because, in the first few hours, the LAPD and LAFD won't have time to evaluate every damaged structure in the search for the injured. But if you have a local response group, it will have evaluated the area, learned what injuries exist, and communicated this information to the professionals. 

Why will help go preferentially to areas with organization? You have to consider the challenge that will be facing the professional first responders in a situation which involves damage to tens of thousands of structures and injuries to hundreds or perhaps thousands of people. Simply put, the fire department and the police will be busy. They won't have time to poke through all the damaged structures right away. But if your response group has reported specific injuries to the appropriate listening post, the helpers will at least know where to go. 

Here's what the CERT website says about your vulnerability: 

It is important to know, if a major disaster occurs, the LAFD, paramedics, police…WILL NOT COME! They will be deployed FIRST to major incidents such as collapsed buildings. That is why you constantly hear…You MUST be prepared to take care of yourself. In the CERT course they say…“The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number of People.” When you are trained, you are far more equipped to deal with your circumstances without needing aid from outside sources. 

That's pretty blunt. But if the people of Los Angeles begin to take emergency preparedness seriously, we can become the solution to the problem. 

Here is a preliminary summary of the overall NCEPA plan. We will visit the 96 neighborhood councils and discuss what they need to do in order to get their inhabitants organized at the micro level. We will provide training materials and specific instructions. We will leave the geographical analysis to the locals. We figure that each neighborhood council has knowledge of the specific neighborhoods, organizations, and neighborhood watch programs within their boundaries. It will be up to the locals to figure out how to subdivide their own responsibilities, and it will be up to NCEPA and the city government to provide teachers, instruction manuals, and lists of items that individuals and neighborhood councils should stockpile. 

One issue came up in our most recent discussion. Right now, the CERT program is administered by the LAFD and recruits trainers from within its own ranks. We believe that it would be possible to develop CERT trainers who are not fire fighters. This would help to fill the gap in the needed number of trainers. If only five percent of the population of Los Angeles were to have CERT training, that would amount to about two-hundred thousand people. The current system of trainers and classes is orders of magnitude short of that capability. This is essentially a political problem, in that the city is fully capable of developing the required number of trainers and classes should it so choose. 

NCEPA will have one additional request to make. The idea of making nearly 4 million people a part of disaster preparedness is an ambitious idea. We will expect the city to think about budgetary requirements. If the city were to set aside a mere one-tenth of one percent of the annual budget for the emergency preparedness process, that would amount to something like five million dollars. This would be more than enough to create dozens of new CERT trainers, to print training materials, and to send city employees to local meetings. 

Here is one way to imagine a scenario in which we succeed. Think of a block consisting of single family homes, and imagine that there are two CERT trained people living on that block. The two trained people will talk to each other, and out of that process, they will become motivated to bring the block's families together. The whole block will become aware of what they need to do to prepare, and how they can deal with an unexpected disaster. 

There are obviously other possible scenarios for successful disaster preparedness on a citywide basis. It is our job to consider the possible scenarios, find the best ones, and to work with the city's professionals to make them happen. 

Addendum: Most of the ideas and findings expressed here come from the participants in the numerous NCEPA meetings. We have Mary Garcia to thank for pointing out that we need to communicate the urgency of preparedness to our city.

(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected])

-cw

THANKSGIVING SPECIAL-Late on a Thursday night in Woodland Hills, California, the recessed lights of the Maserati Auto Gallery spotlight a gaggle of sleek, luxury automobiles; like carbon fiber and plexiglass statues standing in relief, their muscled torsos gleaming, they show off their voluptuous curves, bold coloring, and clean, sharp lines. Masterpieces of human ingenuity, these works of art demand to be ogled, gazed at and above all else … to be seen. 

In the foreground like in a soothing mural of a city at sleep there's a man, but he's not made of paint. Seemingly oblivious to the world -- just as the world is to him -- the man is sprawled on a bus stop bench. He lies so close to the Maseratis that their cool light refracts off of the storefront glass, illuminating the remaining white of his soiled, tattered shoes.  

Across the street, rummaging through a trash can in front of Whole Foods, is a middle-aged woman; she's got straight shoulder-length grey hair, a weathered noble face, and at least three layers of clothing on despite the lingering mugginess leftover from the day's heat. 

Stoically, this woman forages, inspecting her finds quizzically but also in an experienced and depressingly practiced way. Periodically, she will sigh deeply, and sometimes she will add a plastic bottle or soda can to her burgeoning collection; already piled high, it threatens to topple down from her overly-full shopping cart.  

Visible under the woman's recyclables is a cornucopia of blankets, clothes, foodstuffs, a battered (but maybe not broken) clock radio, an umbrella, a few books, and a magazine -- last week's New Yorker. The New Yorker lies on the cart's bottom rung next to a framed photo of a smiling young woman; it's a spitting, albeit much younger, image of the grey-haired woman now picking through the detritus of the rich, just to survive. 

The beaming woman in the picture wears graduation garb and she holds a diploma high above her head like the Statute of Liberty holds her torch. If you look closely you’ll see that the glass of the picture frame is cracked. 

Seeping from doorways and neighborhood storefronts of still-open restaurants and bars comes contented laughter; the sound is shrill and jarring as it whistles down the boulevard, swirling past the man who is sleeping (or maybe not sleeping) with the Maseratis. Occasionally, an unintelligible shard of conversation -- happy, animated voices -- punctuates the din of the night air, before dispersing, slowly disappearing. 

Soon young men and women the same age as the smiling girl in the picture frame, their dress immaculate -- with hair, makeup, and expensive outfits still impossibly fresh and unwrinkled despite the lateness of the hour -- will emerge from the various establishments. They’ll spill out onto the sidewalk like a ragtag collection of wayward sheep. Shepherdless but feeling satisfied, with sloppy stumbles now and again, they successfully make their way to their own Maseratis or Maserati-like cars. Revving well-maintained foreign motors, some lighting cigarettes for the road, they head for home. 

Barely taking noticing of this departure, the woman in front of Whole Foods digs deeper -- she's reached the bottom of the barrel now. And across the street, the man on the bench rolls to his other side and pulls the drawstring on his hoody tight; he's already home.

(Stephen Cooper is a former D.C. public defender who worked as an assistant federal public defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015. He has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers in the United States and overseas. He writes full-time and lives in Woodland Hills, California. Follow him on Twitter @SteveCooperEsq) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

-cw

MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS OBLIVIOUS--In high school, we all read with horror of the broken promises of the U.S. government to the Native people. Today, the marvels of technology afford us the opportunity to observe first hand the continuance of this ignoble tradition. Turns out the breaking of treaties is not just for the history books. It’s happening right now. 

As I write this article, I am witnessing first hand via Facebook Live Native children and elders, water protectors and their allies from around the world being pummeled by Dakota Access Pipeline Security company mercenari es, Morton County police officers, and National Guard soldiers deploying concussion grenades, mace, tear gas, chemical, rubber bullets and water cannons in temperatures below freezing. 

The fight is on in Standing Rock North Dakota - where citizen journalists are struggling to maintain a live feed of events in spite of jamming by drones. The mainstream media appears to be completely void of interest. 

The attacks are brutal. These first people are not militia. They are unarmed men, women and children. 

As I watch the assault of the U.S. government, local law enforcement and company thugs on the most poverty stricken people in the country as they continue to insist on their sovereign right to protect their water and their sacred burial sites, I can see on my computer screen that a fella named Richard B. Spencer is calling for ethnic cleansing and throwing down the Nazi salute at a sizeable meeting in Washington D.C. 

The rain pours down hard tonight in Los Angeles. We’ll need it if we’re going to have enough water to survive. 

The level of impunity regarding the contamination of our most precious resource is astounding. From the lead contaminated waters of Flint to the Enbridge cover up exposed by John Bolenbaugh, it is clear that our water supply is of paramount importance at this time. As Donald Trump continues to appoint those who promise to continue to imperil life on earth, it is more urgent than ever to act. 

This Thanksgiving, I am thinking of the courageous people in Standing Rock North Dakota who are fighting for the right of all of us to have the clean water we need to survive. 

Please take a moment to call the numbers below and voice your concern. We’re in this boat together. Let’s make sure we stay afloat. 

NEED TO KNOW: 

• Here’s a video of the father Sophia Wilansky, a 21-year old girl who is about to lose her arm due to the police attack: 

• Another video distributed by Mark Raffalo on Facebook of Saturday night’s attacks: 

• LIVE FROM STANDING ROCK - CALL THESE NUMBERS AND TAKE A STAND!• ND Office of the Governor: 701-328-2200• Morton County Sheriff's Department: 701-328-8118 & 701-667-3330• ND National Guard: 701-333-2000• ND Governor's office 701.328.2200;• Army Corp of Engineers 202.761.8700;• Amnesty International 212.807.8400

(Jennifer Caldwell is a an actress and an active member of SAG-AFTRA, serving on several committees. She is a published author of short stories and news articles and is a featured contributor to CityWatch. Her column at www.RecessionCafe.wordpress.com is dishing up good deals, recipes and food for thought. Jennifer can be reached at [email protected].  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennifercald - Twitter: @checkingthegate ... And her website: jenniferhcaldwell.com) Photo credit: Stephanie Keith/Reuters

  -cw

PLATKIN ON PLANNING--Cities, like Los Angeles, have no shortage of politically inspired schemes to sandbag good city planning, especially the successful updating of their General Plan. They can: 

• Understaff and sideline the units responsible for maintaining the General Plan.
• Prepare the General Plan’s elements out of sequence.
• Implement the General Plan through new zoning ordinances adopted before the plan is actually updated.
• Neglect monitoring and enacting mid-course corrections to the plan.
• Use old or inaccurate population data to skew the plans’ demographic assumptions.      
• “Forget” to calculate the build-out potential of existing zoning.
• Fail to connect the General Plan process to the City’s operating and capital investment budgets and work programs. 

When cities, like LA, resort to these strategies, the resulting vacuum is filled by the wavering impulses of real estate investors. Because fluctuating interest rates, available capital, tax laws, and changing consumer tastes quickly change, the decisions of real estate speculators also quickly change. When this happens, their short-term penchants substitute for the planning process, and the public then pays a steep, long-term price. 

This is my initial list of such hidden costs, but I have no doubt that City Watch readers will identify other harmful outcomes.  

Consequences of bad, negligent, and delayed city planning in Los Angeles. 

• Corruption. As revealed by the LA Times reporting on illegal campaign contributions for the Sea Breeze apartment complex in the Harbor Gateway area, when city planning land use decisions are determined by real estate speculators, City Hall is rife with corruption. Campaign contributions determine which ambitious projects qualify for building permits, not the General Plan and its implementation through zoning. 

• Traffic Congestion. Auto-centric mega-projects, like Caruso Affiliated’s luxury high-rise at 333 S. LaCienega obtain their approvals by claiming they are transit-oriented developments. But, they are not, and when built, they add to LA’s terrible traffic congestion, in this case at an intersection so gridlocked its local nickname is the Bermuda Triangle. 

• Inequality. Zone Changes, General Plan Amendments, and Height District Changes yield enormous financial benefits for property owners. These gains, however, only generate increased property taxes when the owners demolish existing buildings and replace them with new ones. As for the rest of us, our only dubious benefits are more colorful election flyers and more upmarket places to shop. 

• LA’s housing crisis began in late 1980s, and thirty years later there is no end in sight; homelessness, overcrowding, high rents, and lack of middle-income and affordable housing prevail. But, good planning would tell us where there is the greatest need for new housing, where there is existing planning and zoning capacity for by-right housing construction, where sufficient public services and infrastructure allow for increased population, and where existing affordable and rent stabilized housing has already been lost and the remainder should be preserved. 

• Climate change requires extensive local mitigation and adaptation. The General Plan is the obvious way to plan and monitor such efforts as reducing the generation of Green House Gases, hardening infrastructure, adjusting to long-term drought, converting homes to decentralized rooftop solar electricity and hot water, and building transportation infrastructure for non-automobile modes. 

• Economic development requires a detailed assessment of the city’s work force, market trends, industrial land, and supportive infrastructure, such as the transportation system. But, in LA, economic development only means pitches from the Mayor’s office to attract and serve high-end real estate investors. 

• The continued maintenance of and investment in public services and public infrastructure is essential to Los Angeles. But the General Plan elements for infrastructure and public services date back to the 1960s. Now, a half-century later, the city’s streets are filled with potholes and bursting water mains, sidewalks are crumbling and buckling, and a maze of overhead wires is a disaster waiting to happen. Furthermore, private parcels, which comprise 20 to 40 percent of local communities, have become the preoccupation of City Hall, not the public realm and public improvements that are essential to the city’s residents, employees, and visitors. 

• The lack of accurate, frequently updated data generated by careful General Plan monitoring means that public policy is determined in a vacuum, allowing the well-oiled requests of real estate speculators to prevail. 

• City Hall has incrementally responded to stalled General Plan updates by adopting an incomprehensible mosaic of overlay zones and site-specific approval conditions. In order to appease opponents of discretionary land use decisions, these overlay zones and conditions make reliable plan check and code enforcement impossible. 

• Urban design. Since the mega-projects blessed through the political process, like 8150 Sunset, clash with the scale and character of existing development, they degrade the appearance of a city that is already burdened by unsightly communities, corridors, and buildings. While some of this also results from slip-shod code enforcement, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative could prevent a big part, especially if it can be followed up with the design review of new public and private construction, similar to Beverly Hills. 

• Downward spiral of bad planning. As effective city planning is stymied, City Hall weaves a downward web of self-imposed hardships. Real estate lobbyists and expediters then repeatedly claim that an outdated General Plan warrants parcel level spot-General Plan Amendments, spot-Zone Changes, and spot-Height District Changes. Their unstated assumption is that more permissive zones would have appeared if the ageing plans had already been updated, and, hey, their clients need them now. But, there is no basis for their claims and the precedents they set. In fact, in many communities there has been negligible demographic change or even, like Hollywood, population decline.  When these trends appear, the proper response is to either keep existing zoning in place or in some cases, reductions in permitted planning and zoning, not increases. 

Last, but hardly least, shoddy city planning thwarts City Hall's grandiose plans to transform Los Angeles into a world or global city. Anyone who spends time in London or Paris quickly learns they have wonderful transit and other public services, high design standards, and carefully controlled public and private construction. In contrast, Los Angeles needs far more that 3.9 million people and struggling entertainment and import-export industries to eventually become a city of this caliber.

(Dick Platkin is a former LA City Planner who reports on local planning issues for CityWatch. He is also a supporter of the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative [[ http://2preservela.org/faqs/ ]]   and welcomes comments and corrections at [email protected].) 

-cw

EASTSIDER-Last week, Angelenos were greeted with two very different visions of short-term rentals for Los Angeles. On the one hand, there was a press conference at the 8^th & Hope Building, sponsored largely by UniteHERE. That event drew around 70 people who shared their experiences and concerns about where Los Angeles seems to be headed with their proposed short-term rental ordinance. It has seemingly landed in a “dead zone” vacuum created by the City Council. For more on this, take a look at Keeping Neighborhoods First. 

The other vision for Los Angeles started the next day, a tightly controlled international event called Airbnb Open 2016, set at four downtown Theaters, not to mention events all over town including a Festival on Saturday, that had music by Maroon 5, a special screening of LA LA Land and all kinds of other performances. Speakers were as glitzy as you would expect, with a veneer of authority provided by none other than the former U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder (who, one can presume, was well compensated for this event.) 

The juxtaposition of the Press Conference and the Airbnb event tells you a lot, as does the tightly controlled outreach by Airbnb. I mean, they had to spend a zillion dollars on this massive event, international in scope, held all over the city, to tout their “new vision” of being more than simply a house or apartment-renting app. And yet, there was virtually no grand hurrah in local media, no blasting out of “see me, see me” for the wonderful events on TV. So, you have to ask why? 

This was clearly an insider deal, aimed squarely at current supporters of Airbnb and the hosts, designed to show them at their best and dazzle the attendees with hi-profile speakers, even as they announced their new areas of expansion. 

For Airbnb, this is “it” -- the beginnings of the IPO that is going to make them all billionaires, and what better venue than Los Angeles as the model for international everything? To prove I’m not making this up, just read the Wired article from Thursday November 17. There it is, confirmed by Brian Chesky himself. 

I think there were a couple of basic reasons that the event was so “under the radar.” First, Airbnb did not want to risk nasty picketing or negative press in the media -- nothing to take the shine off the prize. Second, the proposed short-term rental ordinance in LA City is not yet final, and while we cynics know that the Mayor and the Council are all bought off (or in), they are loathe to publicly admit they have no interest in an equitable ordinance. Especially after they had just successfully pushed for a bunch of municipal tax measures on the November ballot. It might make them look bad. 

Of course, Airbnb did not totally escape without notice. During the event’s grand finale on Saturday, hundreds of protesters marched at their multiple locations. You can read about it here. Actually, this may be the only place you will read about any protests, because this is Los Angeles, land of glitz and corporate censorship. 

In Europe and Other American Cities, Airbnb Has to Play Nice 

Also under the radar, is the fact that Airbnb has had a lot of pushback from their nicey-nice new age techie public image -- despite paying a lot of money for lawyers, lobbyists, and even buying a few politicians for a fake “advisory board.” In Europe, for example, particularly Paris, Berlin, and Barcelona, much of the populace is not happy and legislation to curb Airbnb’s freewheeling business model abounds. 

While Airbnb has been quick to litigate, as in San Francisco, I should point out that they recently lost that case, which is similar to suits they filed against Anaheim and Santa Monica. Not to mention their litigation problems in New York. 

Other cities, all more interested in their residents than Los Angeles, have also pushed back. For more information, check out a recent, detailed article in CurbedLA.  They took a relatively balanced approach in explaining the history and the two very different sides of the Airbnb tsunami. 

So What’s the Deal in the City of Los Angeles? 

Almost all the articles on Airbnb point out the inherent conflict between their public vision that the entity publicly promotes – that of Airbnb simply being a cool new way to connect “hosts” together with travelers to rent a room or bed in a real community, enhancing the feeling of being in a real neighborhood and experiencing a sense of belonging -- with the reality that the real money in the Airbnb business is in a full time business model. 

The trick is how to merge their “sharing economy” idea of the short-term renting out of a room to make a few bucks versus the business reality of converting houses into permanent “short-term” rentals which, in bulk, can alter or even destroy the character of a neighborhood, turning neighbor against neighbor. 

In Los Angeles, the current state of the law is that short-term rentals in residential areas are illegal, period. However, the LA City Attorney has failed to enforce the law in a manner that now gives new meaning to the phrase “scofflaw.” I covered this in a previous article, “The Feckless Feuer Dilemma - To Enforce Airbnb Law or to Pretend to Enforce Airbnb Law.” 

Well, the jury is back in on that issue and the verdict is just what we thought: LA is up for sale, law or not. C’mon down, not to worry. 

While this fight has been kicking around for a couple of years, and all the insiders like Airbnb and City Hall and the Mayor have known the outcome before there was even a draft, there is still no short-term rental ordinance in place -- even though the Council file on the matter started back in 2014. 

So Why Hasn’t the Ordinance Passed?

I can posit a couple of worthy, underhanded reasons why the ordinance hasn’t already passed. First and foremost, there were two really important dates that had to go by first: the November 8 General Election and the November 7 through December 12 deadlines to file a declaration of intent and nominating petitions for the March 7, 2017 LA Municipal primary election. 

That’s right, the cutoffs for when some incensed citizens might get together and run someone against the incumbents for Mayor, Controller, City Attorney, and Council Districts 1,3,5,7,9,11,13, and 15. And you thought that politicians couldn’t count. 

You see, after the cut-off dates, it largely doesn’t matter what anyone does. With the exception of CD 7, vacated by the vacuous Fuentes and where everyone is running, there are usually very few significant challengers to incumbency in LA City, absent a major scandal or revolt. Since less than 10% of eligible voters are likely to even bother to vote, and close to a majority of them will vote by mail, the election is already locked in for the majority of incumbents. 

The other reason is simple. The City has already sold out, but they don’t want the troops to know that. This is no longer about short-term rentals, which are defined as the rental of a home or portion thereof for less than thirty (30) days. Think about it. As I pointed out in an earlier article, this ordinance is now called the “Home Sharing Ordinance.” 

The other big picture reason that the ordinance hasn’t passed is equally naughty -- while the ordinance is in limbo, entrepreneurial “hosts” can rent out their homes 365 days a year as a commercial business, even though it’s illegal. And the City doesn’t even care, since they’re now getting tax money in a separate deal already in place -- without any ordinance at all! 

Follow the logic. As reported back in July by the LA Times, the City announced a deal with Airbnb whereby LA City will collect hotel taxes on their “short-term” rentals, even though short-term rentals are illegal. Ya gotta love it. Franz Kafka and Albert Camus were optimists. 

Thus, there is no rush for the Airbnb “hosts” to want any ordinance passed. They will never have it this sweet. The Wild Wild West rides again, and nobody gives a darn. Except, of course, those people living in residential neighborhoods who have not cashed in on the Home Sharing market and don’t want it. You know, the people who paid big bucks to live in nice neighborhoods, even as their infrastructure crumbles under the weight of increased traffic, power and water usage, etc. which will not be paid for by anyone. Not to mention those people who have seen their affordable housing morph into permanent vacation rentals in places like Venice Beach. By golly, it’s political perfection. 

A Nagging Question 

Nobody I know has actually seen final language of the agreement between the City and Airbnb over the tax deal, even though I am anecdotally told that the City is even now getting money. Maybe some brave soul will file a Public Records Request to obtain these documents to find out for sure. 

I ask because a question arises in my random, non-attorney mind. If short-term rentals are currently illegal, and the City Officials are deliberately refusing to prosecute that illegality in exchange for money gained from the illegal acts, are they engaging in a criminal conspiracy subject to prosecution? Would the generally blanket immunity for public officials save them? 

Of course we will probably never know, since the odds of the District Attorney actually doing anything about this are right in there with the odds of Donald Trump appointing Loretta Sanchez as Attorney General. 

Still ...

(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

@THE GUSS REPORT-I once sat in on humorist Stephanie Miller’s radio show when her guest, pornographer Larry Flynt, was asked, what the difference was between him and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Flynt’s response, “He sells his thing and I sell mine,” is as applicable now as ever, especially with all our Thanksgiving discussions only a few days away.

With that in mind, here are some notes for your Thanksgiving consideration. 

To the proverbial baker who does not want to make a cake for an LGBTQ wedding: 

You may find this hard to believe, but gay people are not trying to seduce you. They probably do not find you attractive. They are not trying to change your religious views, if that is the reason why you do not want their business; nor do they want to delegitimize your own marriage. They are simply trying to live their lives as you are living yours. 

It is hard as hell for anyone to be different than the majority, whether that difference is being gay or anything else. Being asked to use your talent to blend ingredients, bake them to perfection and decorate the resulting cake into a thing of beauty does not mean you “approve” of gay marriage, and truth be told, nobody asked for you to approve it. Try not to be crippled by other people pursuing their happiness. 

LBGTQ couples come to your bakery because you are nearby and apparently quite good at baking. So what if it presses your buttons? Bake the cake with joy and deliver it with a smile if, for nothing else, out of professional pride. If you think your God will disapprove (if there is a God) you apparently don’t understand the whole God-concept and the words in Psalm 86:5 speaking about how the Lord is “… abundant in lovingkindness to all.” It applies to all people and, truth be told, all living beings. 

Please don’t come back at me with an opposing Biblical “oh yeah?” I had to look that up on the internet. Bake the cake. Make the money. Get a good Yelp review. Rise above it because it’s the yeast you can do. 

To the LGBTQ couple hoping to get a cake from that baker: 

You learned long before you met your betrothed that the world is often illogical, unfair, uneven and unkind. Someone, apparently including this baker, was raised in a way or developed thoughts in which they feel threatened by how others live. But instead of hating them, why not instead reward another baker with your business because that one respects you and makes as good, if not a better, product? The laws are now in your favor and are becoming ever more that way. 

You are in the right. But sometimes, the best way to be accepted by those who do not accept you is to not necessarily exploit it by suing. Why not look upon them with pity because their vision is so myopic. Why not take a broader vision than they do and understand that, most likely, they do not hate you, but that they are paralyzed by fear of the unfamiliar? By exercising your right to sue, putting them out of business and their employees out of work, whose mind will you change? 

This is why Yelp exists. Praise with a 5-star review the baker who welcomes and appreciates you, and give a 1-star review to the one who didn’t, and explain why. Maybe turn the other cheek, as it were. 

On the issue of abortion: 

We can all agree that it is one of the most difficult decisions a woman may ever make. Depending on your belief system, it is somewhere between terminating a life and terminating a potential life, and there is nothing to celebrate in that. Ultimately, it is a yes or no decision and, anatomy being what it is, nobody has a greater overall stake in the decision than the woman. Those who are pro-choice should try to understand that those who are pro-life might feel that the fetus has an equal if not bigger stake in the decision. Those who are pro-life should understand that the decision does, and can only, belong to the woman, and that making it less accessible is less productive than preventing unwanted pregnancies in the first place. We will never all agree on where sustainable life begins, but it is somewhere therein. 

On the issue of the U.S. Supreme Court: 

There is a great chart on Wikipedia showing the liberal/moderate/conservative balance of the SCOTUS. With the death of Antonin Scalia less than a year ago, the conservative bent presently has Roberts, Alito and Thomas remaining, with Kennedy in the middle; the liberal bent has Breyer, Bader-Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor. (The chart, made at Berkeley, lists Kennedy as moderately conservative, but he is in fact moderately liberal.) 

If ever there is a place for balance, it is here, especially in an era where SCOTUS is increasingly accused of legislating from the bench, when the separation of powers dictates that legislating be done by the Legislative Branch, that is, Congress. Both sides should understand the others’ fear of a 5-3-1, or an even more unbalanced court. The pendulum always swings, and a 4-4-1 balance is always a great idea. 

As for myself, I spend a great deal of my life advocating for animals and, therefore, have a lot of friends in the vegan, vegetarian and humane advocacy universe. The world has always, and probably always will, exploit animals, the horrors of which I will spare you in this column today. But please Google, as a favor to me, the phrases factory farming, vivisection, what “No Kill” really means and dog meat festival so you are not fully detached from the brutal realities of their lives. It is my hope that we always move toward less animal exploitation, and treat them all better while they are alive. 

The whole point of today’s article is simply this: try to at least see the other’s side. It almost always helps. 

Have a great holiday.

(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a contributor to CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640 and Huffington Post. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

MY TURN-With half the country cheering and the other half expecting Armageddon any minute, these are strange times. I have read many comments asking how we can we celebrate Thanksgiving with the country in chaos. 

As Americans, how can we not celebrate Thanksgiving? Regardless of our political preferences we still live in the best country in the world. Each and every one of us can find something to be thankful for -- be it good health, family and friends, etc., etc., etc. Before you accuse me of having a "Pollyanna" attitude, let's be realistic. 

This last election has a silver lining: It shows how important it is to vote. The people who stayed home have no right to complain about the results. Those who put their heart and soul into promoting their candidates and/or initiatives and lost have the right to have a pity party, at least for a short while.

Perhaps now, more people will be motivated get involved in knowing what the government can and cannot do. 

Yes, the Electoral College can skewer the election. Our Founding Fathers were not into Democracy. They figured the great unwashed didn't have the knowledge to choose wisely. They were snobs! In their wildest imagination they couldn't dream of how this country would look in the 21st Century. 

It doesn't matter how many people sign a petition to get rid of the Electoral College, or if our Senator tries to put forward a bill to do that…it won't change this election. Donald J. Trump will be the President for the next four years, unless he decides that having the press follow him everywhere he goes and not being able to make money is too oppressive and resigns. The sooner everyone faces this fact, the better. 

There is much discussion about “Fake News” which has become so widespread that it deserves to be capitalized. There is talk about whether it also helped skewer the election results. Facebook President, Mark Zuckerman is changing the way his portal treats certain news outlets by cancelling identifiable sites. He has said, however, that Facebook users have an obligation to notify the company if they see Fake News. 

Certainly the preponderance of Fake News has come from conservative and "Alt-Right" sources. But the left has participated in the same game either by accident or on purpose. And they are still doing it. 

A good example: I was getting ready to write this article when I received one of those "pass along this message to twenty of your friends” messages. Supposedly, it was advice from the "Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffet. It was pretty interesting and since my source was very reputable I was going to include it in this article. 

Even though CW is devoted primarily to opinions on the news, I try to fact check before I include something from a third party. This supposed message outlined ten ways to make Congress more efficient and productive. Warren Buffet is a very practical man but the ten points sounded too good to be realistic. I turned to his website which lists many of his more famous quotes and to Snopes.com, which is a very reliable neutral fact check site. 

Whoever put this list together, took his quote from an interview in July 2011 on how to solve the national debt. According to Snopes, "It was during that exchange that the Oracle of Omaha made his now famous statement about rendering ineligible for re-election all sitting members of Congress whenever the deficit exceeded 3% of gross domestic product. 

"So yes, it's true that one of the most respected businessmen of modern times did indeed voice the quote now widely ascribed to him in various e-mailed forwards, although his remark was more in the nature of a wry commentary on the workings of Congress than a serious proposal for tackling the budget deficit. 

"The rest of the lengthier e-mail in circulation has nothing to do with Warren Buffett. What is presented as the ‘Congressional Reform Act of 2011’ began circulating on the Internet in October 2009 as the ‘Congressional Reform Act of 2009.’ In a nutshell, what is presented as a proposed 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution isn't something that has been put forward by any member of Congress and thus is nothing more than a bit of Internet-based politicking." 

So when it comes to getting news from social media -- if it sounds too ridiculous or too good to be true, it probably is. 

I hope the Democratic minority in Congress doesn't act like the Republican majority under President Obama that swore to make Obama a one-term President by blocking everything he wanted. Revenge is no way to run a country. The mission should be to compromise on issues that will help the American people and to fight those things that will have a disproportionate negative effect on the majority of Americans. If you fight everything then nothing becomes important. 

The office of the President deserves respect. President-elect Trump was very disrespectful of President Obama. Remember what First Lady Michelle Obama said: "When they go low, we go high." We are just going to have to make the best out of a frightening situation. We also have to make sure that we don't tolerate disrespect from others -- including friends and family. 

We know that the President-elect is very competitive and hates to lose. He might just surprise us with some effective governance. As for most of us who live in California...we are insular. We don't relate, for the most part, to that “Middle America,” that seems to have a disproportionate influence on our political agenda. 

We are fortunate that our economy is growing and California has led the country with many reforms. But perhaps we made a mistake by being a little arrogant; we need to look outside our own "bubble.” House Speaker Paul Ryan, has a telephone survey on Obamacare. Check out his website for voting directions. Get involved and pay attention to what our congressional representatives are doing; attend their meetings locally and equally important, know what our local government is doing. Educate yourselves as to how we all can make this country better. 

No, ladies and gentlemen, Armageddon is not upon us...at least not yet! A suggestion for your Thanksgiving Dinner: Trump supporters, don't gloat…and Clinton supporters, don't whine. Both sides have much for which to be grateful. 

As always comments welcome.

(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist. She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz’ website includes photos of the councilmember celebrating the Expo Line’s opening. The site touts Koretz’ time on the Expo Construction Authority Board: “Councilmember Koretz served first as an alternate board member and then as a full board member of this body until 2015. He served on this body through the completion of Phase 1 of this project and through most of the construction for Phase 2, much of which travels through Council District 5.” 

But what Paul Koretz has delivered is the worst section of the Expo Line.

Koretz’ section has a mile-long gap in the bike path. Koretz’ section has kids walking in the street because of a missing sidewalk between the Palms Station and Lycée Français High School. Koretz’ section has an at-grade crossing at Overland Avenue that is worsening gridlock and leading to crashes that prompted neighbors to create a “Stop the Wrecks on Overland” Facebook page.

Koretz takes no responsibility for Expo’s flaws – flaws that were clear when he was a member of the Expo Board. At last night’s Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association meeting, he said “we kind of knew this would be a disaster.” For that, Kortez blames his predecessor. “Unfortunately, my election was kind of being too late to the party. The previous councilmember really was there when all of the negotiations were happening. And … at least regarding the Expo, I don’t think he did enough to protect the community.”

But Councilmember Koretz shouldn’t get off the hook so easily: he could have resisted widening Overland and he could have pushed for grade separation. Indeed, before he took office, the city of Los Angeles Department of Transportation wrote to Expo opposing the misguided widening – which was designed to dodge Metro’s grade crossing policy that required grade separation based on the per-lane traffic count without widening. Councilmember Koretz could have tried to stop it. He didn’t.

Now, Councilmember Koretz is claiming credit ($300,000 of taxpayer money credit) for reducing wheel squeal noise as the train passes Cheviot Hills. At last night’s meeting, Koretz spoke on Expo line “problems” including “an unanticipated screech of the wheels” stating: “We’ve been trying to figure out different ways to address that.…. So, we’ve actually gotten the Expo Board to approve a $300,000 expenditure to bring a huge wheel-grinding machine.”

But the wheel screech/squeal was not “unanticipated.” Indeed, the staff report [PDF] on the wheel-grinding motion says, “The FEIR indicated that wheel squeal was possible in specific curves along the alignment based on the curvature of the rail alignment. …. Rail grinding has been identified as a method to correct these track gauge variations in order to mitigate the wheel squeal.”

Expo’s Council District 5 flaws will cost millions to fix. If Paul Koretz wants credit for the good, he must take responsibility for the bad.

(Jonathan Weiss practices law, lives in Cheviot Hills, and served as an appointed representative to the L.A. City Bicycle Advisory Committee between 2009 and 2016. He is also a boardmember of Streetsblog L.A.’s parent nonprofit, the California Streets Initiative.) Photo Credit (top): Jonathan Weiss; (bottom) LA.Streets.blog

-cw

TRANSIT TALK-We can, without any hesitation, claim that Los Angeles County has "given its all" with respect to spending on its own transportation and infrastructure.  In addition to a host of water/sewage tax and bond proposals, LA County has over the years raised its sales tax FOUR times to pay for projects that should have been done decades ago. 

To its credit, Metro (or the MTA, if you wish to call it that) has worked with elected officials to focus on efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and operational soundness in its operations.  As much as many have raised a concern with Measure M (the most recent sales tax just passed) not going far enough, or being too expensive, it DID devote a lot of money towards ensuring operational costs. 

In other words, the risks of "build, build, build" without wondering how we were going to keep our roads and rails in good working order has been addressed--if not entirely, then at least a solid step forward.  And for those complaining about not having enough rail cars ... well, Metro and the manufacturers are going the fastest they can. 

And for those of you STILL reporting that no one will use these rail lines, perhaps you should ride the Expo Line to a Rams game or on a Sunday evening. 

But there are immediate and long-term gaps for us to fill in--in our cities, and in our counties, and in our state: 

1) Pass the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative! 

Isn't it only reasonable and pragmatic to consider Transportation Funding to be the equivalent of "income" and Planning/Development to be the equivalent of "spending"? 

Infrastructure, be it roads/rail, or electrical grid, or cell phone grid, or sewage pipes, etc. is the component on which we can all live in our city, county, and/or state.  Infrastructure is the critical lifeblood of our Economy, our Environment, and our Quality of Life.   

And Planning is the spending aspect of its Transportation counterpart. 

The Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, which we will vote on this spring, allows us to "live within our means" with respect to honoring legal Community Plans, prevents big developers from using their pet consultants to shimmy and lie their way through the Planning process, and focuses on what makes new housing both affordable and livable. 

Here's a hint, for all those who want Affordable Housing, Urban Infill, Smart Development, Mixed-Use Development, etc.:  unless they're luxury apartments/condos, a 2-3 story project creates homes, but a 5-20+ story project is just that...a "project" where people will live only if they've nowhere else cheaper to go to. 

2) Fix the Damned Sidewalks! 

Even with the passage of Measure M, we STILL don't have the funds to fix the City of LA's sidewalks in a timely fashion.  If anyone reading this is okey-dokey with a 20-30 year timeframe, then they must be as pleased as punch. 

But for the rest of us, a 5-7 year timeframe is more appropriate, and why developers, City budget planners and the rest of us all don't work together to expedite the resolution of this nightmare defies belief.   

Here's a hint, though, for all those who want to fix our sidewalks just like we did the 405 HOV Lanes and other major freeway projects:  our pension nightmare is eating up 20%--and going higher--of our City's budget.  Fix and confront that painful problem, and we can better assure that our sidewalks will be built and fixed in our lifetime. 

And don't elect anyone this spring to the City Council unless they promise to fix our sidewalks in a 5-7 year timeframe.  This problem is NOT resolved! 

3) Fill the gaps in our freeways! 

Like it or not, our freeways will be a critical part of our mobility for decades to come.  Part of Measure M includes widening the I-5 to the I-710 freeway, and a host of other freeway fixes from the ports to the borders of our county. 

And that's a good thing, as well as the need to enhance and improve our freeway intersections. 

But the big fixes are yet to come--and they involve getting out of the cult of "rail only". 

One big fix includes the establishment of a freeway along the La Cienega corridor from LAX to the 10 freeway--this would enhance north-south mobility and traffic in the Westside. 

The other big fix:  L.A. own Big Dig.  An upgrade of the east-west chokepoint of the I-10 between the I-110 and East Los Angeles.  Some of it might be underground, and some of it might be on the surface or elevated.   

But mark my words:  someday, somehow, and some time in the future, the freeway infrastructure of Downtown LA will need an upgrade from the 1950's...particularly because Downtown LA is no longer an economic sinkhole but an increasingly vibrant part of the economic powerhouse of LA City and County. 

4) Fill the gaps in our rail systems! 

Considering how much rail planning and building and spending we're doing, this may seem pretty strange to bring up.  But there ARE going to be glaring gaps in our rail systems, and we can either confront them now or face a lot of angry voters in the future. 

a) The Harbor Subdivision Rail Right of Way should be more than a cute bikeway.  It should be extended from the Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail Line from Inglewood to the Blue Line to the Eastside Gold Line and Union Station.  It will be the critical LAX-to-Downtown that will relieve both freeway pressure and rail congestion on the Blue, Crenshaw and Expo Lines, and will be one of the most heavily-ridden lines in LA County. 

b) Connect the Norwalk Metrolink station to MetroRail via an eastern extension of the Green Line. And consider having Orange and Riverside Counties help share the costs, because commuters from those counties will almost certainly benefit. 

c) Coordinate the Metrolink and Eastside Gold Line Extension projects.  What the heck is Metrolink and Metro Rail doing not ensuring easy and convenient access from one system to the other? 

d) Build the Anaheim to Las Vegas rail line.  This might be a fix that is done directly, or via the High Speed Rail Line and Desert XPress projects that connect at Victorville, but it's needed. 

e) Build the doggone South Bay Green Line Extension and connect it to the Blue Line--must commuters have to use the 405 South Bay curve for everything? 

f) Work with Orange County to create 2-3 commuter line alternatives to allow access from LA to/from Orange County--again...must we use the 405 freeway for everything? 

So here we are--we're spending, and we're building, and we're planning. 

And now that we've put our money where our collective mouth is, we have every right to demand that our Sacramento and Washington representatives come through for us.  Or they're gone, to be replaced with those who WILL come through for us. 

We've got to control our planning and development, and we've got to raise our expectations of what our state and nation can do for us with our trusted taxpayer dollars/investments. 

To do no less makes no sense.  Certainly, no Common Sense.

(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D. is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties.  He is also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at  [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)

PUBLIC RIGHT TO KNOW-Accountability and transparency in government starts with streaming your public meetings in real time and having them posted online within 24 hours of the meeting’s end. 

In 2016 -- soon to be 2017 -- the Los Angeles Police Commission is still not live streaming or posting their meetings within 24 hours. Yet, by their comments, the commissioners themselves would have you believe that both accountability and transparency are their top priorities. But it can’t be when they can’t even manage to use any of their power or the millions of dollars raised from the public via taxes to do one very simple task. 

There is no reason at all why Angelenos should not be able to turn on LA Channel 35 and watch the police commission meetings or go online and watch them live from a computer or from their mobile phones. I would much rather see their meetings than another propaganda episode of “Inside the LAPD.” The fact you can call in and listen to the meetings via phone (when they bother to turn on the audio) seems to be a secret and isn’t even promoted to the public by the commission. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t take complaining publicly via social media for over 72 hours for them to be posted online. It just shouldn’t. 

We know that the City, Los Angeles Police Department and commission are not quite as technically challenged as they would have the public believe because, even though they haven’t uttered a word about it publicly, they commissioned and paid for a mobile app to allegedly aide them in their accountability and transparency efforts. It’s just that they’re keeping it a secret for now. 

Unlike the LAPD’s iWatch app, which was announced with much fanfare when asking the public to “say something if you saw something,” the Inspector General’s app is said to be the first of its kind in this country by allowing the public to file complaints or compliments about Los Angeles police officers that go directly to the police commission’s Office of the Inspector General. This might seem particularly useful in light of the LAPD’s repeated failure to find any evidence of “biased policing” or racial profiling among the thousands of allegations made against its officers. Yes, that part. 

The police commission has the money and the means but apparently not the will (or the needed push from Mayor Eric Garcetti) to open their meetings up to a wider audience of Angelenos who may be interested in what is happening with their police department but find it impossible to attend their Tuesday 9:30 a.m. meetings in downtown Los Angeles. 

If the Los Angeles Police Commission can’t manage to make their meetings reasonably accessible to everyone and in a timely manner, what faith should the public really have in their capabilities to do anything else as it relates to transparency or accountability with Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and the LAPD? 

The Los Angeles Police Commission talks a big game on transparency and accountability when it comes to the LAPD but fails miserably at its own. And that needs to change.

(Jasmyne A. Cannick lives in Los Angeles and is a frequent commentator on local and national politics, social and race issues. Cannick is an occasional contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

A City Council and mayoral plan to address LA’s homeless emergency with fast-built homeless housing on 12 parcels of city land has turned into a farce, with developers this week proposing everything from “affordable” to luxury housing — but not much homeless housing.

In a report quietly released Wednesday by the LA City Administrative Officer — the same day that a federal study found LA leads the U.S. in chronically homeless — developers proposed only 500 units of housing, total. And only a modest portion of it is earmarked for the homeless. 

City leaders, faced with opposition from residential and business areas where the “homeless housing” was envisioned, have been quietly backing away from their own homeless housing concept for weeks.

City Hall had identified public land in West LA, Westchester, Lincoln Heights, Venice, South LA, Sylmar and San Pedro, often near schools, churches, parks and homes.

The Los Angeles Times reported in October that elected leaders and city officials “spent months developing plans for converting as many as 12 city-owned sites into housing for the city’s homeless residents.”

No longer, it seems.

Behind the scenes, city officials quietly turned their emergency homeless housing initiative into the vaguely worded “Affordable Housing Opportunities Sites” plan. The proposal released yesterday even suggests “market rate housing” — luxury housing — on some city land.

The famously slow-moving City Council might be able to house more homeless, and do it faster, by tapping the empty Parker Center police headquarters not far from their own offices at City Hall.

City Hall’s much watered-down new concept is set to be discussed at a hearing today. According to the  recommendations, two of the 12 city parcels — closed-down fire stations in San Pedro and Westchester — should be sold and the money placed in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

It was only weeks ago that the LA Times reported City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana was overseeing “the homeless housing initiative,” which was “aimed at building permanent supportive housing — the kind that includes substance abuse counseling or other services.”

But the widely awaited report suggests that elected officials are enthused about erecting homeless housing only at one locale — a city-owned traffic island in South Los Angeles adjacent to the 110 and 105 freeways.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, LA is home to nearly 13,000 chronically homeless — and 95 percent of them live outdoors in cars, tents and encampments.

(Patrick Range McDonald writes for 2PreserveLA.  Check it out. See if you don’t agree it will help end buying favors at City Hall.)

-cw