The Sound of Death on LA’s Streets … and No One is Listening
LA Traffic
By Stephen Box

Active ImageTwo weeks ago, in the early evening of a warm Friday night, Michael Duffin parked his car on Hazeltine Avenue, across the street from his home in Valley Glen, a quiet residential community in the south Valley of Los Angeles.

He pulled up behind two of his neighbors who had just parked on the street and who were standing next to their cars engaged in a conversation.

Hazeltine Avenue, in the half-mile stretch between Oxnard and Burbank, is a dimly lit street with parking on both sides, one lane of travel in each direction and a median strip to accommodate left turns. It has no crosswalks, no stop signs, no signals, no speed bumps, nothing to slow down the traffic that flows unimpeded through the neighborhood.
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Rocky’s Silence is Deafening
Illegal Billboards
By Dennis Hathaway

On April 9, 2007, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office issued a press release with the following title:
CITY ATTORNEY ROCKY DELGADILLO  PROPOSES TOUGH NEW LEGISLATION TO ELIMINATE BILLBOARD BLIGHT.

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The legislation referred to was State Senate Bill 563, which would have allowed cities like Los Angeles to require the removal of billboards over a period of years without paying monetary compensation.  The bill would have also removed a section of state law that “presumes” a billboard  to be legal if no official complaints have been lodged against it within five years.

In his press release, Delgadillo said “This legislation will give California some of the toughest billboard regulations in the nation, and put an end to the rampant outdoor advertising blighting our communities.  When signed by the governor, this law will give cities and counties the ability to go after illegal billboards, pursue real sanctions against the worst violators, discourage future abuses, and reclaim our skyline.”
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Commission Shoots Down Public Participation on Rate Payer Advocate Panel
Showdown at the DWP
Edited by David Lowell

Active ImageDespite an impassioned plea from President Nick Patsaouras, the LADWP on Tuesday voted to put their members on a proposed Rate Payer Advocate body, but refused … typical of its arrogant history … to allow the public a seat at the table.

Here’s some of what Ron Kaye wrote immediately after the exercise in futility:
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Alternative to Freeway Jams: What’s Not to Like?
Getting There from Here
By Ken Alpern
 
Active ImageTo be honest, I was as excited as I was skeptical about the potential of freeway toll roads in L.A. County.  Freeways are supposed to be free, right?  Of course, I also know that the 91 Express Lanes I use once or twice a week when I travel to my part-time clinic as a dermatologist in Riverside County is pretty darn nice, and that these carpool lanes would probably never have been built in a timely fashion without the private sector intervening to build them.
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Judge Puts a Crack in City Hall’s ‘Circle of Deceit’—Demands Transparency in Agendas
The City
By Ron Kaye  (Posted first on RonKayeLA.com)

Active ImageIn a far-reaching opinion Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ruled this week that the city's efforts to use agendas to obscure what they're doing like referring to an item with major environmental consequences as ENV-2007-2939-MND violates state law.

How would anyone know what that means, which is the argument attorney Robert Silverstein made on behalf of the La Mirada Avenue neighborhood in Hollywood. The community claimed the city Planning Commission's agendas explained the issues before it except when it came to those that are often the most important -- issues covered by CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act.
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Come to the Congress: Catch Some Magic
Perspective
By Ken Draper

I was at the first Congress of Neighborhoods six years ago and I’ve attended every citywide Congress since. It’s interesting how little the subjects on the program have changed.

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Time for DWP to do the Right Thing
Talks Start-Finally
By Tamar Galatzan

The most fulfilling aspect of being a member of the Los Angeles School Board is the opportunity to help a school maneuver around (and sometimes over) government bureaucracies.
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The Legal Theft of Homes from Elderly and Disabled
Golden State’s Dirty Secret
By Glen Bell    (First of a three-part series)

Imagine if you will that you are a 72 year old widow. Twenty five years ago, you and your husband of many years decided to buy a home in a lovely hamlet, to reside in for the remainder of your go...
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Union Files Complaint against DONE GM
City Hall
By Greg Nelson

Last May, CityWatch subscribers read about some tough challenges that this column felt would be faced by BongHwan Kim if he were to be confirmed as the permanent general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.  Click Read more...
The Congress: Attend but Demand Results
Empowerment Report
By Greg Nelson

The Congress of Neighborhoods will be held at City Hall on Saturday.  I will go, but not enthusiastically, because I think it will end up being another missed opportunity for the system.

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Bailout Blues
Voice in the Cheap Seats
By Charles Tarlow

$850,000,000,000.  What happened?  Who won? ... Who lost? ... Who is getting screwed?

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What a Difference a Day Makes
One Last Tribute
By Rickey Gelb

From September 11th to September 12th, we have come a long way.  From the sadness of the Metrolink tragedy that occurred in Chatsworth, comes a learning lesson.

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LA Can do More to Tout Its One Great Art Form
ArtsWatch
By Robert Gelfand

October 10, 2008 -- Pordenone, Italy -- Here at the annual convention of silent film scholars, fans, and audience members, distance provides perspective, and one small bit of that perspective involves our national inferiority complex over culture.
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NCs in the News
Media
Edited by Greg Nelson

Neighborhood councils are constantly in the news.  It demonstrates the  important role that they play in improving the quality of life throughout the&nbs...
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NC Almanac - October 7-13
1993
    
The mayor and city manager of Claremont, CA determined that the best way for the city to face its fiscal problems was to involve the public beyond the typical public hearings, which put the public i...
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Let’s Honor Our NC Heroes
A Modest Proposal

Los Angeles newspapers, including CityWatch, told us of the heroic efforts of members of the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council, who like so many other heroes before them,...
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DONE GM: Gathering Conflict Info No Witch Hunt
BackTalk
By BongHwan Kim

This is to address Greg Nelson’s article in the September 16 issue of City Watch: Déjà Vu All Over Again: DONE Off on Another NC...
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LADOT Offers Less than Exciting Plan for Working with Neighborhood Councils
WeekAhead
By Ken Draper

LA’s Department of Transportation and neighborhood councils have had their problems connecting over the years. Unlike, for example, NCs and the DWP or Planning or Public Works. 
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Stretching the National Debt from Here to the Moon
Millions, Billions and Trillions
By Harold Katz

  As I listen to talk radio and watch the talking heads on TV I am reminded that most of us have no real conception of what a Trillion Dollars represents.   ...
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DONE’s New Role: Advisor to City Hall
Perspective
By Ken Draper

Greg Nelson reported earlier this week in CityWatch on a Department of Neighborhood Empowerment memo asking staff to collect pro and con info on ...
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Transparency? I’ve got Your Transparency Right Here
Empowerment Report
By Greg Nelson

Government likes to treat the public as if they were mushrooms: they keep us in the dark and feed us fertilizer.

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SuperPlanner

 
Saturday, October 11, 2008
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MEETINGS & EVENTS

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
HEARINGS

Oct 11-
Congress of Neighboroods
***
CONGRESS OF
NEIGHBORHOODS
&
BUDGET DAY
October 11
City Hall
 ***
DWP Fall
Budget Workshops
for NCs
Oct 18 (9a-n)
DWP Hdqtrs
1st & Hope Streets

-CW