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ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - I am not a fan of Hong’s. I’m referring to Mr. Steven Hong, currently a Deputy City Attorney IV here in Los Angeles, one of the greatest cities in America when it comes to municipal corruption.
We met when Hong was covering one of three committee meetings that had all been slated to start at 1 pm, making it nearly impossible to provide public testimony, without a coordinated strategy. As an award-winning pain in the ass, I updated the chairs of the committees, that I would be quick but intended to deliver the public remarks. The three hearing rooms were all situated near enough to accomplish the task. But no.
Hong was the City Attorney who stood alongside Stephanie Uy, who was standing alongside, Greig Smith, who standing in for Mitchell “the felon” Englander. It was Krekorian's time.
The obvious move for Hong was to allow the public speaker the minute, but Hong was tenacious and said that public comment had already been closed.
Regret is an occupational hazard in the shady city attorney game.
As it is for the Park Rangers who go out there every single day to provide "upcoming enforcement" in Studio City.
The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners of Los Angeles convened a Regular Meeting at 9:33 a.m. in August. Present were, Vice President Luis Sanchez, Commissioner Fiona Hutton, Commissioner Marie Lloyd and Commissioner Benny Tran. Also present were Jimmy Kim, General Manager, Matthew Rudnick, Executive Officer and Deputy City Attorney IV Steven Hong.
The following Department staff members were alos in attendance, Cathie Santo Domingo, Deanne Dedmon, Brenda Aguirre, Noel Williams.
The meeting lasted about an hour and Mr. Kim gave a few updates referencing that there had been multiple shootings in the past couple of months at our parks. He stated the department is working closely with LAPD, the Mayor’s office, the Council offices, and intervention officers to come up with a solution to reduce shootings in our parks; including providing mental health counseling.
He also mentioned Pedlow Skate Park where staff have communicated with the constituents to mitigate… some concerns. The Maintenance division would follow up on the Westwood Gardens Park, and staff, he said, would ensure that Pershing Square events end at the posted end times. "Remember, nonevent times the park is open to the public."
At Dearborn Park the GM said, we are still working on mitigating issues with illegal permitting.
And for the big kicker, beginning September 7, 2023 RAP, the commission that oversees 181 city parks, will be disallowing call-in testimony.
All PUBLIC COMMENTS (going forward) must be made in person.
Smart Speaker: Or in CityWatch!
City Attorney Stephen Hong: Doh!
There was no comment about the serious problem in Studio City.
Smart Speaker: You mean the invasion of Weddington by Harvard-Westlake, who are busy gagging the LAFD from saying anything unfavorable about a 2000 person arena!
Edgar Khalatian (soundalike): Actually, 1950 persons.
Smart Speaker: You're time has expired.
One Tin Soldier: [Brian Potter / Dennis Earle Lambert]
Go ahead and Hate your neighbor…
Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own
So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill
It came an answer from the mountain
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
All the riches buried there
Now the valley cried with anger
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
"Peace on Earth" was all it said
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
Expiration Dates Fast Approaching...:
The city’s new general manager of animal services, Staycee Dains, claimed recently that her department had issued about 1200 breeding permits this year and is expecting to issue another 600 more before the new year. She also says the staff ratio for caring for animals is one person per 85 animals, while the industry standard is one person to 30 animals.
One solution is to encourage people to adopt or foster shelter pets and volunteer or donate to local shelters.
“We should be careful not to vilify the folks who rescue the animals,” a very Smart Speaker with three good boys said. “The dog owners are doing the best that they can and they are stressed and tired and they are still showing up every day to walk these dogs.”
So, the LA City Park Rangers should redouble their efforts to prevent gun violence in Griffith Park. Once that’s resolved, and once the crisis in the shelters is handled, then the city can deploy resources to the… leash law. But, to be clear, people agree that dogs are welcome on leashes. Some people prefer drones to dogs, Some people prefer noisy motorbikes, unlawful jumpy tents, un-permitted barbecues.
So, let’s get a report back from Hong on the dozens of vacant positions for animal care technicians we've been aiming to fill over the last several cycles of the next 30-45 days.
We battle the same demons.
Scooping is zeitgeisty.
Upcoming Enforcement:
We were tipped off that a raid would take place in Studio City any time now. “Hello everyone, I just wanted to take a moment and advise everyone about an issue we are having at Studio City Recreation Center/ Beeman Park. “ In the past few years, there has been countless (enormous amounts of) complaints from citizens about owners having their dogs off leash at the park. CPRA: to arrive October 21
The Los Angeles Park Rangers and LAPD also has the authority to issue citations for dogs being off a leash at a park and will be issuing citations starting any time now.”
The Senior Lead Officer went on to say that there has been an effort to make part of Beeman Park into a real dog park, where dogs will be free to roam off-leash (eyes narrowing)...
Smart Speaker: That’s funny, we know nothing about this. CM, Raman is this your idea?
Ranger Rage:
Thu, Oct 12 at 9:31 AM
Rap Commissioners <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] ,
Strefan Fauble , [email protected] , David Michaelson
Good afternoon,
The Department of Recreation and Parks (Department) is in receipt of your information request for:
Please provide a digital copy or link to of all communications and complaints to the Studio City Recreation Center & park or to the Department of Recreation and Parks Los Angeles Park Rangers requesting enforcement of LAMC at Studio City Recreation Center & park from and including: Sunday, January 1, 2023 To, and including Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
You can expect a response to this request on or before Oct 21, 2023.
Please reply to this email if you have any further questions regarding this matter.
Unwelcome:
The United States is a good country for those who want to live right, the woman said. “If you live well, you’ll live in peace.”
The Colony Ridge a huge area where you can buy real estate cheap and do what you want outside of Houston, featured in the New York Times, got me thinking about the inevitable refugees that will emerge once the fighting stops. If the fighting stops.
In Liberty County, Texas, a Republican part of the state, there’s been a boom. The sheer size, low land costs, low taxes and proximity to a major city have put the place in high demand by people who would otherwise be renting an apartment.
The developers believe that there are plenty of people who want to be left alone to do what they want on their land, even a small piece of land.
One woman, Raquel Reyna, 42, has two plots in Colony Ridge she made into a makeshift farm and animal shelter. She’s got 50 chickens, many cats, several goats and, at the moment, 23 stray dogs, some of which, she said, were bound for adoption in New York.
If the dogs make it to New York, I recommend they see Gutenberg the Musical at the James Earl Jones Theater. It’s magic, the chemistry between Josh Gad and Andrew Rannels is extraordinary. Five stars!
Reyna started rescuing when she told the Times, “We saw so many dogs in the street, my heart broke.”
While the idea of no rules nor regulation on Land Use in Texas could work elsewhere, the school district has nearly doubled in size to about 11,800 students in three years. This has caused problems.
Voters in the region which includes Colony Ridge and where Republicans control all the elected offices, have rejected proposals for new bonds to help Colony Ridge schools expand.
Tip of the Spear:
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “Representative Sherman has always been the tip of the spear when it comes to fighting for federal funding that invests in our communities directly.”
By directly, they mean without the inconvenient public. The plan that the congressman is attempting to pour money into is allegedly for "much-needed improvements … enhancing the quality of people’s lives, promoting healthier futures, and creating new opportunities."
Opportunities for whom?
Imelda Padilla of CD6, who would love to see Harvard-Westlake develop an athletic complex.
The plan to knock down our small Rec Center and put up an enormous high school regulation basketball court in a grassy field, as I explained to the new Council member Nithya Raman and Representative Brad Sherman, is a terrible idea.
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Dear Mr. Macdonald, [Brad Sherman's Chief of Staff]
I saw the sneaky December 23rd eblast about all the exciting valley projects and the $20 million in funding.
For the Studio City Recreation Center – City of Los Angeles. Amount Secured: $3,000,000. The project would be used to construct a new gymnasium and community center in Studio City CA.
Please share if there were any public hearings on this Studio City plan before requesting this funding.
The plan that Studio City Slickers saw several years ago - barely as the outreach was severely defective - put a charming Rec center building that could be easily fixed up into a landfill, and called for a very tall new city building in our open space.
What are the rules about this funding? Do you know the full budget?
Can the $3m secured be added to another project that needs it, if the people of Studio City reject a big expensive gym? As you know, people have NOT been informed.
What are the alternatives?
Thanks,
Eric Preven
Dog Music - Can you hear it?
Cats and Dogs and (unarmed) Rangers
Funding has been secured for an $87 million one-acre bridge crossing on the 101 freeway in the West Valley, including a final $10 million allocated by the governor.
Once it is completed it will be the largest "non human" animal crossing in the world.
As for domesticated dogs at the park. No.
There was an egregious incident this week in which a longtime resident of Studio City was chased across the park on suspicion of walking his dogs through a darkened walkway enjoyed by leashed dogs on a routine basis.
The alleged reason for the takedown was the 58-year-old male human who was walking alongside two healthy male canines, dba good boys. One of the animals when he spotted the truck from a distance careening across the darkened field, bolted, wiggling out of his collar. Once the Ranger cornered the pedestrian with his vehicle, the member of the public said, "What the hell are you doing? Why are you driving on our field?
The Ranger got out of the large truck, real slow, and pointed at the door of the giant pickup truck.
It read, "City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreations."
He said, your dog is "off-leash" and cited 65.44 (B) 2. The resident was in disbelief and disagreed with his assessment but was happy to comply, as the one dog had run in fear.
When the owner moved to click the dog's leash, the Ranger, said, "Sir, you are detained!" and held his hand up indicating STOP.
The Ranger finally let the cat out of the bag when he admitted, under pressure, that he had received 10 complaints during the daylight hours about dogs being off-leash.
The dog owner pointed out that the Ranger had the wrong suspect. And since there were no animals around, why was he offroading at our park?
The Rangers, one of whom wore a loose-fitting cloth mask, and one wore nothing, finally said, "Give us your name and date of birth, or we're going to handcuff you and take you to jail."
The resident asked if the Rangers were making a recording of this delightful interaction and the Rangers said, no.
Finally, LAPD showed up and the longtime resident, asked the assembled: "Will you really arrest me for walking the dogs?"
After forty-five minutes, three Ranger Trucks and an LAPD cruiser all idling, despite the owner's objections that Blumenfield would be upset about that, he was let go.
The cat eventually went back in the bag.
Bidding:
In California, public agencies are required to put major contracts out to bid... so when I saw, the Department of AGING was seeking APPROVAL TO AWARD A SOLE-SOURCE CONTRACT for $10M to @foreverytable I listened carefully.
I was the only public speaker attending the virtual budget and finance committee meeting and I'd learned that the company had previously received $5.3M of investment from the brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and an entrepreneur in his own right, Kimbal Musk and other social impact investors, Acumen, Maria Shriver and TOMS Social Enterprise Fund [Now, thanks to the Draconian policy of Paul Krekorian et al. it is impossible to attend a budget and finance committee meeting and participate virtually).
Still, No bid is generally not a public benefit, even though the PBC in Everytable, PBC stands for public benefit corporation.
No matter how "Locally made every day with wholesome ingredients and big flavor."
No bid, not so good. Blumenfield reminded, that we could have gotten a better price… "with bidding."
Curren Price suggested, that maybe Aging could make a few agreements, rather than just one company. He understood it was a lot of work to support invoices from thirty restaurants, but "how about three?"
Rodriguez reminded me of the many jobs restauranteurs, and job creation that would be ... missed by going with this one firm.
So, why sole source?
Apparently, Eric Garcetti had had some experience with the firm during his Great Plates, initiative.
The company is high-tech... "Everytable has to leverage software and data analytics at every turn. It tracks data about which meals it sells and where, obsessively, to be able to forecast demand and avoid wasting food. Instead of housing a commercial kitchen at each location, Everytable sends prepared meals out from a central kitchen to its smaller storefronts."
As for the Waitlisted seniors with food insecurity who were isolated at home during the surge in Omicron cases throughout the city... they'll love it!
One idea would be for the "Los Angeles Foundation on Aging" who gave more than $5,000 to Eric Garcetti's Mayor's Fund, to put something together from all of the generous folks who gave to the mayor's fund.
For starters, the great land-use instrument, PSOMAS, is a mayor's fund donor.
And, I thought I read it wrong, at first, but apparently, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and the PwC Charitable Foundation each gave separately to the mayor's fund.
For those, who forgot, Thomas Peters, who worked as chief of the civil litigation branch in Mike Feuer's office, helped oversee the city’s lawsuit against PwC, the consulting firm that the city blamed for the 2013 billing problems.
And last month prosecutors announced that former DWP general manager David H. Wright agreed to plead guilty to bribery, admitting that he pushed the DWP board in 2017 to award a $30-million no-bid contract to an attorney hired by the office of City Atty. Mike Feuer.
Doh!
Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse is excellent. They gave more than $5,000 to the mayor's fund.
Who knew that, Insomniac, the rave producer, also dumped money into the mayor's fund.
We all know what the Mayor did for George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, so no surprise that the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation provided the love.
AECOM, Tutor Perini/O&G and the Gordian group join, AEG Worldwide among the many helpful companies with business before the mayor, like Athens Services, Management 360, and of course, Brookfield Properties Development.
And thanks to the banks: Axos Bank | BofA Federal Bank, IDB Bank, Union Bank, Bank of America, California, Bank of the West, Citizens Business Bank, City National Bank, and obviously, the Confidence Foundation. Without you, we are nothing.
The creme de la creme, though, is the fact that Eric Garcetti and Amy Elaine Wakeland themselves gave more than $5,000 to the mayor's fund.
And who knew Dale Goldsmith, was such a mensch? Armbruster and Delvac missed an opportunity.
When foundations like The Caruso Family Foundation and the Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg Foundation step up and give money to the mayor's fund, it gives others the confidence to do the same.
Like, Gilead Sciences and the white-shoe law firm, Jones Day and the self-driving Google company, Waymo LLC (and the Wasserman Foundation (Thx, Casey), The Weingart Foundation (Thx, Miguel), and how about a round of applause for Steven Spielberg's, Wunderkinder Foundation.
(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.)
