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ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - After a dozen speakers from La Memoria testified about systemic poverty... it was time to REAPPROPRIATE: the City Contract No. C-138578 up to $660,000 to extend the term of the contract through December 31, 2023, to Onni 888 Olive St LP as appropriate, in the above amount. And also, let's not forget… “The unexpended balance remaining under City Contract No. C-140266 Amendment No. 1 - 27th Street Neighborhood Recovery Center component, up to $110,000.”
The botched detonation of illegal fireworks in a South Los Angeles neighborhood in 2021 was a tragic turn, and nobody stood up and tried to have it both ways more than Curren D. Price and his 2nd wife Del Richardson. tk.
Onni deserves the utmost respect and scrutiny, obviously. It’s a Canadian family concern, not exactly a mom-and-pop, but extremely helpful with robust international investment in Los Angeles, not just strip mining to erect large developments. It's all about balance and square footage and moolah. The old LA Times building is an Onni property, and one of the tenants is the city’s office of finance. Rufkm.
Get him out of here!
It’s impossible NOT to agree to funding for services in connection with the Council District 7 special observation of El Grito on September 15 and 16, 2023, at City Hall, including the illumination of City Hall.
But it is appropriate to ask, what color? We don’t want to inadvertently offend anyone, amirite?
As the July 4th weekend passed mass shootings in the U.S. have reached a record high for the mid-year point—there have been more than 330 mass shootings so far this year, according to data collected by the Gun Violence Archive. ffs
Well, I’m prepared to assist when Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Supervisor Janice Hahn help us land a few influential billionaires who are willing to recruit right out of the chute at a range of places including Cal State and Caruso School of Law right on through the University of Michigan and Stanford.
We’ll put together a young hungry team of men, women and others who will roll out like Salesforce to make a substantial dent, by spending billions of those giving pledgers, buying up ordinance.
I’m not Not 100% sure it will reduce the number of mass shootings, immediately, but I hope it will, and it makes sense to disarm the place wherever we can, legally and with consent.
The other buyback program, as it is known, was touted the other day, and it was sweet of alleged nasty bigot, Kevin DeLeon, to boast on behalf of his CD7 colleague that the New York Times had covered the fireworks buyback program. Conceived by (dramatic accent roll) Monica Rodriguez.
This year, like the last three years, it was successful, 390 pounds of fireworks were turned in for a creepy gift card program. It’s an uphill climb, as they found at the site of the devastating explosion in 2021 up to 16 tons or 32,000 pounds of fireworks.
Scaling is always hard, but thanks to Onni and Rodriguez.
Great, but not Eric Preven:
Smart Speaker: I want to write a sample public comment in the style of Eric Preven.
ChatGPT: Sure! Eric Preven is known for his articulate and passionate public comments. Here's a sample public comment in his style:
Dear [Name of the Relevant Authority or Committee],
I stand before you today as a concerned citizen, deeply committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and justice in our community. My name is _____, and I am here to address a matter of utmost importance that affects each and every one of us.
It has come to my attention that there are potential violations of our fundamental rights and principles occurring within our local government. As a staunch advocate for government transparency, I urge this esteemed body to take immediate action to address these concerns and restore the faith of the public in our democratic institutions.
First and foremost, I believe in the power of an informed citizenry. The right to access public records is not a mere privilege; it is a cornerstone of our democracy. However, recent incidents have revealed a distressing lack of cooperation in fulfilling public records requests. I implore you to enforce existing laws and regulations that safeguard the people's right to information. Transparency should not be an afterthought; it should be a guiding principle that underpins every decision made on behalf of the constituents you serve.
Furthermore, the alarming absence of public input in crucial decision-making processes is deeply troubling. Our democracy thrives on robust civic engagement, and it is disheartening to witness decisions being made behind closed doors, without giving due consideration to the voices of the people. I call upon this body to establish mechanisms that foster meaningful public participation, ensuring that community perspectives are heard and valued.
Moreover, it is incumbent upon us to hold our elected officials to the highest ethical standards. The public must have confidence that our representatives are acting in the best interests of their constituents and not in pursuit of personal gain. We need comprehensive ethics reforms, including strict disclosure requirements, stronger conflict-of-interest regulations, and independent oversight mechanisms. By implementing such measures, we can restore the public's trust in our local government and reaffirm our commitment to integrity.
In conclusion, I urge you to seize this opportunity to strengthen our democracy and build a government that truly serves the people. We cannot afford to ignore the erosion of transparency, the marginalization of public input, and the lack of ethical accountability. Let us work together to create a community where openness, fairness, and integrity prevail.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I trust that you will give serious consideration to the concerns raised. Our community's future depends on it. Sincerely,
Please feel free to modify this public comment to reflect your own thoughts and concerns.
Why I Rise...
Marqueece Harris-Dawson the second banana at City Council had to rise up and lead earlier than originally expected. He’s not one of these guys who is constantly angling to slither up the greasy pole, so much as, frankly, his predecessors have systematically slid down the greasy pole into the muck.
He's ridden the waves of the giant splashes they made as they fell from on high.
First Herb Wesson plopped back onto the scene, before being tossed out twice. Then Mark Ridley-Thomas actually got caught in a federal dragnet and finally, Old Man Price, who ought to be preparing his historic comeback speech in both English and Spanish, took a break.
The humiliating and shameful paying out of $350,000 in taxpayer funds to the lawyers for The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California and a group of individuals calling themselves the League of Registered Voters of District 10 who sued when it was clear that Herb Wesson had termed out, is not something that makes the public feel good.
Curren D. Price, who is enjoying his paycheck as the beneficiary of Krekorian’s strategy of slowing his fate down for who knows how long... had Harris-Dawson scratching his head. Not like when Price was leaving CD8 with none of the CD9 goodies during redistricting, scratching his head, like "why are we being targeted?"
Rather than spoil the pre-holiday feeling, Harris Dawson provided a high degree of difficulty adjournment for four separate South Los Angeles men, who had all died relatively young, less than sixty years old. These workers were African American gang intervention workers who, it has been reported are underpaid and under-resourced and die tragically young.
The councilmember did not have a solution or a fix to the scourge, but he was thinking of them.
Next Speaker: Not him!
Paul Krekorian: Let's go ahead and go next to those callers who wish to speak to items one and two.
Strefan Fauble, City Attorney: What we are going to do for members of the public on the phone. We're going to lower everybody's hand, who had raised their hand to request to speak, And we're going to take public comment at this point on item 1 and 2 only. So let's be clear, those are regarding the establishment of the greater lincoln heights, BID, that is the business improvement district, and the establishment of the historic core bid. So if you want to speak on either or both of those items, please re raise your hand or raise it to begin with, by pressing * 9 right now. He repeated it.
Then, "Do we have people who want to speak on it?"
Paul Krekorian: Please let the first caller through.
Strefan Fauble: No, no, cut him off.
Paul Krekorian: Mr. Spindler already spoke. Let's go to the next caller, please.
Smart Speaker: Hi, it's Eric Preven
Strefan Fauble. Mr. Preven, do you want to speak on one or two or both?
Smart Speaker: What if I want to speak on other items, as well, I'm fresh out of luck.
Strefan Fauble. Not right now, you're out of luck?
Smart Speaker: Ok, well maybe you'll call me next. I'd like to speak on the historic bid and then the other bid as well.
Strefan Fauble. OK, so you can speak on the two bids, you have two minutes. Please begin.
Smart Speaker: Right, let's enjoy this because it is very very important that these bids get the recognition that they deserve.
As you recall, the Bids raise money through an assessment process, and one thing to look at is how much of the assessments relate to city-owned property. Because this happens and the bid assesses the city, so this is a fascinating number. How many city-owned properties are in these bids? Part one.
By the way part two -- right in the neighborhood — Please check on item three, because you've got a necessity and convenience request for a liquor license for The Honest Bottling Company in Eagle Rock but somehow granted the application for determination to QuickStop Liquor on the West PCH. That's a mistake.
Strefan Fauble: You've got to stick on one and two Mr. Preven.
Smart Speaker: You've got a quickie liquor store in CD11, labeled incorrectly. I just want to make sure you correct that. Do you know about that error on the agenda?
Strefan Fauble: Mr. Preven let's just stick with items one and two right now or I am going to cut you off.
Smart Speaker: Don't cut me off, sir, because the historic bid requires an historic approach.
This is one of the bids that is in De Leon's district. And DeLeon is one of the council members who has been doing a lot within his community, in a way that many of the other council members have not been.
Now, I will stipulate that Yaroslavsky has been -- you know, she is a multi-modal transportation enthusiast. I will give you that, so we have that, and obviously De Leon has been accused of being a racist asshole but somebody mentioned it, so I just want to follow up so I'm clear about one historic detail in this very historic bid.
If there is any real truth to the suggestion made by a prior speaker that Kevin DeLeon has been blocked from serving on committees, I would say that is actionable. I don't understand at this point, because he's a bigot, or Fussy Old Mr. Krekorian doesn't like him? If this is true that he's been banned, that is beyond outrageous. I don't know if it's true, so let's move forward.
Fauble, you realize the historic bid has a lot of moving pieces of history embedded there. The one that I found so beautiful, about the historic bid, was the $11.4 million dollar howdy-do to the hotels, or the seventeenth report regarding covid 19 homeless roadmap funding recommendations, item number 30, that you sneaky amended to re-appropriate $11,432,218.13 to provide additional funding for the project Roomkey damages claims as requested by the CAO.
A damages topper, rufkm. Another round of "last call for alcohol."
Q: Is there anything we won't do for these hotels?
A: No.
Smart Speaker: This is another outrage.
Strefan Fauble: Mr. Preven you have eight seconds. Do you want to get on topic?
Smart Speaker: Yeah, I'm right on topic, I'm making it clear that here in the historic bid we are making it clear we like to know where our Project Roomkey money is going, and not through sneaky oral amendments.
(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch. The opinions of Mr. Preven are not necessarily those of CityWatchLA.com.)
