The Stench on Vine
LA WATCHDOG
Jack Humphreville

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There is the good news and bad news regarding the proposed CRA gift of $4.6 million to a Class A office building at 1601 North Vine in Hollywood, located between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards.   

The good news is that for the second time, on August 17, the City Council deferred action on this $57 million project.  The Community Redevelopment Agency is proposing a sweetheart deal to sell this prime piece of Hollywood real estate to Hal Katersky’s Pacifica Ventures for $825,000.  This is a $4.6 million (85%) discount from the October 2006 purchase price of $5.4 million, indirectly paid to Ullman Investments, the subject of an unfavorable 2000 audit by the Controller. 
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If Apple Computer’s Steve Jobs Ran City Hall, What Would He Do?
THE CITY
Stephen Box

CounActive Imagecilmembers Garcetti and Krekorian have both utilized iPhone Apps as tools for connecting their constituents with City Hall, earning accolades for their innovation and vision. This small step begs the question, what would happen if LA simply rebooted City Hall, embracing the way of the iPhone’s creator … Apple Computers, Inc …  and installing the latest iGovernment Operating System?
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Such a Deal
PERSPECTIVE
Paul Hatfield   (Village to Village)

MayActive Imageor Villaraigosa is crowing about the recently approved proposal offered by the city to the EAA. [LINK] I think it’s more like eating crow.

Let’s see, the EAA members will now cover 5% of their health premiums; the contribution was zero.
The co-pay will go from $10 to $20 per visit.
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Westside Transpo: Contrasting Projects
ALPERN AT LARGE
Ken Alpern

It's easActive Imagey to just complain and whine about what's wrong with L.A., including its horrendous laissez faire Planning paradigms that threaten to undermine any advances made to transportation or other infrastructure, but progress IS being made to transform areas like the Westside, Eastside and Downtown regions into a 21st-century place to live and do business (we'll see about quality of life).

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LA’s Best … and Less than Best
TEACHERS
Edited: Sara Epstein
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The Los Angeles Times is currently publishing a series of articles on LA’s teachers and schools … including evaluations called  ‘value added’ ratings. About 6,000 Los Angeles elementary school teachers and 470 elementary schools are included in the ‘added value’ data base. (Click here to find out how your children’s teachers and schools rated.)   

 -cw

 
Christian or Muslim, I Don’t Give a Damn!
BLOG SOAP
Tommi Avicoli-Mecca    (BeyondChron.com)

You’dActive Image have to be a Martian who just woke up from a few centuries of suspended animation not to have heard that according to the latest survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, one in five Americans think that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. The number is up substantially from last year when one in 10 Americans thought the president wasn’t a Christian.
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Alpert: “We Now Have One of the Best (LADWP) Commissions”
TALKING POINTS
Lee Kanon Alpert

(Note: This is a response from LADWP Board of Commissioners President, Lee Kanon Alpert to Jack Humphreville’s CityWatch article “Something is Out of Whack.”)


Thank  you for your article regarding the work and effort of our team in attempting to protect the finances of our ratepayers, responsibly protect the environment and resolve the issues relating to once through cooling.
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Do You Really Want LA to Become NY?--The Choice is Ours
THE DENSITY SOLUTION
Richard Lee Abrams

AngeActive Imagelenos can revert to the 19th Century or move ahead towards the 22nd Century; it’s our choice.
   
In the last several years, Wall Street diverted billions of dollars of our retirement funds and other savings away from productive investments into various scams like credit default swaps. 

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Tony V’s Style at Play in Unions vs. City Smackdown
PENSION BATTLE
Ken Draper

RecenActive Imaget months aside, Antonio Villaraigosa has gotten quite a bit of what he wanted over the years. The Mayor’s skills … divide and threaten … honed on years of union organizing and negotiating and  maneuvering  the Sacramento political maze … were responsible for much of that success. They were apparent again this week in the announcement that he has struck a deal with the Engineers and Architects Association that will see the EAA members picking up a bigger share of their healthcare costs.
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Something is Out of Whack!
DWP PROTECTING RATEPAYERS?
Jack Humphreville

You kActive Imagenow something is out of whack when our environmentally oriented Department of Water and Power is willing to take on the politically powerful, well financed environmental lobby over the obscure issue of Once Thru Cooling (“OTC”).

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Design Guidelines Battle: LA’s Planning Department Wants to Eat Your Children!
DEBUNKING THE LIES
Jeff Jacobberger

LaActive Imagest week, the Department of City Planning released draft Residential, Commercial and Industrial Design Guidelines, which are aimed at improving the quality of design for new construction in Los Angeles.  Unless you think that Los Angeles’ commercial streets are paragons of beauty and a pedestrian paradise, this is a good thing. 
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Do the Billionaires Really Need Our Money?
POST BELL WORLD
Greg Nelson

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The city of Los Angeles may be broke but you can bet your last dollar that there will always be a handout available for rich and powerful.

Two weeks ago we learned from a Los Angeles Times article [LINK] that the mammoth Hanjin International Corporation and Thomas Properties Group are again proposing to tear down their Wilshire Grand Hotel and replace it with a new hotel and related projects. 

BUT they want help from the taxpayers.
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The Parking Screw Job
LA WATCHDOG
Jack Humphreville

The City is wishing and hoping that the sale of the City’s revenue producing parking facilities will result in a $53 million contribution to the General Fund.  However, this money will essentially be flushed down the toilet. 
...
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Beware FAIR’s and Feuer’s Foists
PERSPECTIVE
Paul Hatfield

Voters in California could become victims of a classic pincer movement on November 2nd.

It’s a simple strategy that’s been used in warfare throughout the centuries.  General Grant would have appreciated the crafty maneu...
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If I Were King of LA for a Day …
VOICES
Jay Handal

As we continue through a bad budget crisis, it is becoming more apparent that there is truly NO plan in place for the short and long term fiscal health of Los Angeles.

So, if I were mayor, here’s what I would do:
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California Stumbles Again in Race to the Top—Here’s Why
SCHOOL FUNDING LOST
Celeste Fremon    (WitnessLA.com)  

The Obstructionists-Once again, California lost out in its bid to win a share of the $4.35 billion in federal education grants under the comp...
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Let’s Get the Hating Straight
AMERICANS DIEING TO LIBERATE MUSLIMS
Tina Dupuy    (TinaDupuy.com )  

Right after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, a dry cleaner’s storefront was vandalized and set ablaze in Modesto, Calif...
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A Blood and Guts Plan to Fix California’s Fiscal Mess
ALPERN AT LARGE
Ken Alpern

There’s lots of talk about how to solve California’s financial problems.  Talk is cheap, however, when it comes to seriously acknowledging that we’re making our children indentured servants to our excesses. So do we really, REAL...
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Planning for Billion Dollar Project: LA City, County MIA
LA: TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS
Stephen Box

This past week, nine people gathered at the Metro's 405/Sepulveda Project headquarters in an effort to prepare for a meeting they did not intend to attend. If not attending a meeting requires the participation of nine engineers, consultan...
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One Overpaid City Manager, Two Reporters … An Incredible Experience
INSIDE THE BELL HIGH SALARIES EXPOSE
Paresh Dave      (NeonTommy.com)

Two reporters walk into a bar.

And everyone inside gets up, walks to the door and awaits the opportunity to shake thei...
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The Next Bubble
PERSPECTIVE
Paul Hatfield

 “Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and caldron bubble.”

There has been some pretty nasty bubbling in recent ...
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Port of LA: A Lesson in Contradictions
GETTING CONNECTED
Stephen Box

To look at the Port of Los Angeles from deep inside is to gaze upon the character of the City of Los Angeles. I say this not because I've been readi...
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Renters Fight for Right to Know Who Landlord Is
TENANT WATCH
Larry Gross

The Coalition for Economic Survival is a member of The National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT). NAHT is the leading national organization of HUD tenants ...
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States Take Stand Against New Healthcare; Could California Follow?
GUEST COMMENTARY
Katharine Russ

Missouri became the first state in the country to block a provision of the federal health care reform with a ballot initiative in the August 3rd p...
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Billboards that Can Watch You, Your Pockets and Purse
SUPER SNOOPERS
Dennis Hathaway    (BanBillboardBlight.org )

Almost everyone’s either seen or ...
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