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ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - As summer winds down and election season heats up, a recent New York Times article shines a spotlight on the entrenched corruption plaguing Los Angeles City Hall. A dangerous blend of concentrated power, diminishing local news coverage, and a tuned-out electorate have created a breeding ground for scandal.
Smart Speaker: Go on.
With little accountability, a Democratic supermajority in state government further shields officeholders from consequences. Among the most notorious figures is former Councilman José Huizar, who’s lavish, bribe-fueled lifestyle epitomized the city’s broken political system. His dealings with billionaire investor Wei Huang, including a staggering $1.8 million in kickbacks and countless all-expenses-paid trips to Las Vegas, highlighted a much larger network of corruption. Huizar’s fall ensnared a City Hall aide, a deputy mayor, a lobbyist, and a fundraiser, all convicted. Apologizing at his sentencing, Huizar confessed he couldn’t resist the “shiny things”—the money, fancy dinners, luxury flights, and of course, the bobbleheads.
Shohei & Decoy.
C U Next Tuesday:
Smart Speaker: Thank you it's Eric Preven from Studio City and I'd like to speak on all items and a general public comment, and I'd like to request a special accommodation in the form of no interruptions.
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: So, you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general. Go ahead.
Smart Speaker: Which items?
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: The items that are open are 1 - 5 28-37 and 49.
Smart Speaker: Okay, first I'd like to thank all of ya'all over at Parks and Recs and the libraries for getting a look see on how many bathrooms, water stations and what have you we have citywide. The cost to fix them up and make them operational. This is so important, and I have been holding this one in for a long time... item 17. People need to use the facilities ... it's a biological imperative, and you don't need to spend a month in Paris on the public's dime to know that.
We have come up with an interesting structure, led by the idiots at the metro board. Not just Krekorian and Yaroslavsky, but the prior generation of Yaroslavsky too. They developed a long-standing policy to deny basic access to basic human needs in the hopes that the folks who need to relive themselves would go away.
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: You've exhausted your minute on that item, please move on to another item.
Smart Speaker: Thank you, but that was an interruption so that counts as one small violation. I'd like to add to the cc list of all the things we are going to be looking for in the restroom tally. Let's also do a tally on High School Regulation Basketball Courts within CD4. And let's to a 500-foot radius around the Whitsett library and see how many High School Regulation Basketball Courts there are for Private School students... in the last remaining open space that we really need more than more Basketball structures. No disrespect to Harvard Westlake the national champions in the ultra brat league and every other league.
I would ask Nithya Raman (CD4) to take a quick look over at Katy Yaroslavsky (CD5) then shoot a glance over at Mr. Harris Dawson and then repeat after me: Prop K is not for Krekorian, it's for the Kids. Open space is what our children crave.
Thank you. Now in terms of keeping housing affordable, item 27, there was a lot of support for that --
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: Item 27 is not open for comment, but you can speak to it in general so please stick to the other items.
OK, but my only question and then I'll desist on that, why is that not on the agenda? Why don't you want people to talk about it?
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: You know that this is not a Q and A session, so please stick to the items.
You could speak to it in general comment if you like.
Smart Speaker: It's not a Q and A and it's not a deposition. So, let's agree that we can move forward with me speaking on the items that are officially recognized by you and Krekorian -- would you stipulate to that? Groat?
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: Alright, you've been asked politely, to stay on topic I am going to move you to general.
Smart Speaker: I took note of the legal settlements today and there was one for 3.6 million dollars. Had to do with a rubber projectile - non-lethal - and the constant fighting and shameful denial... until the people get upset.
This is what happens, and I read in the daily news this week that the Mei Ling-related matter has resulted in a $38 million dollar payout on top of the $3.1 million a year ago... so great work you idiots. All your favorite old timers went into the back room and said "go away" we have budget problems. Well, now you really have a budget problem.
So the new generation... my heart goes out to Hernandez, Yarolavsky, Padilla, and Soto-Martinez not to be confused with that crook Feldstein-Soto... all the young whipper snappers who just got elected and are now going to have their hands tied directly behind their backs by Blumenfield and Krekorian and Curren Price and the wife, ... these leaders if you can call them that just didn't do what was needed, which was to step up, turn the light on and say, Mr. Preven is right, we should deal with this out in the open --
Jonathan Groat, Deputy City Attorney: Mr. Preven your time has expired.
A Pilot Program for LA's "Leaders"
Picture this: a bobblehead lineup showcasing the not-so-finest of Los Angeles leadership. As the city gears up for the Olympics and Paralympics, let’s give a standing ovation to our real MVPs—the petty tyrants, disgraced heroes, and masters of corruption who’ve lovingly sculpted LA’s political scene into the most corrupt in the nation, maybe the world.
Local canines wonder, "Where have all the picnic tables gone at Nithya Raman's (CD4) Studio City Rec Center?"
So why not launch a pilot program to immortalize these figures in bobblehead form? After all, if a bobblehead of Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy can draw 40,000 Dodger fans to line up ten hours before a game, imagine the turnout for a George Gascón or Nathan Hochman bobblehead showdown!
Introducing the "Collectible Corruption Bobbleheads" series, featuring all your favorite LA City Council members and LA County Supervisors—because nothing says "leadership" like a nodding replica of Paul Krekorian, the “Petty Pink Face Tyrant,” or a limited edition Marqueece Harris-Dawson, "Alright what's next?"
There has been a surge of demand for: Huizar and Englander, already sold out; and Mark Ridley-Thomas, with only two left—grab yours before they’re subpoenaed!
This isn’t just a tribute; it’s a lucrative opportunity. By cannily creating a massive market (and naturally, black market as well) for these collectible corruption icons, we will most certainly stimulate the local economy. We could have bobblehead giveaways at city council meetings—first 100 constituents get a Mark Ridley-Thomas! And just like Ohtani's special gold bobbleheads, we'll have rare editions: Bob Blumenfield's "Chief of Staff Series," or a glowing Kevin De Leon, perfect for late-night deals in areas where the copper has been ripped out of the streetlights.
Run do not walk to City Hall, where deals are happening and bobbleheads are waiting. In a city obsessed with real estate and a sporting events culture that's driving ordinary Angelenos off a fiscal cliff, why not immortalize the devious architects of this madness?
County Closed-Session Edition:
If we act quickly, we could also include the current five Supervisors: Hilda Solis, Holly Mitchell, Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn, and Kathryn Barger before they expand to nine - if they are lucky and the voters are crazy.
Chair Lindsey Horvath certainly deserves her own special edition bobblehead, just like Shohei’s, complete with her trusty sidekick, Winston, adding a dash of canine charisma to the collection.
And let’s give a nod to past Supervisors like Mike Antonovich, a lightning rod, and Don Knabe, an amusing Sir Topham Hat look-alike who was well-versed in American Golf course cash registers—not funny, but true. We can investigate a Matt Knabe - Special Lobbyist Edition, poor choice of words. Then there’s Zev "smart enough to know better" Yaroslavsky, and Gloria Molina, perhaps captured in her younger, fiery days when she was always hot under the collar and elsewhere.
And why stop at the electeds? Top-line staff and the lawyers who kept the gears greased deserve their due. I’ll take a half-dozen Skip Miller bobbles right now at market pricing. Imagine a set of these nodding reminders of why we’re hurtling toward a sports-obsessed cliff, collectible at your nearest council meeting or courthouse. It’s time for LA’s true bobblehead Olympics—where the only competition is how fast you can grab yours before they’re confiscated as part of a corruption probe!
LA City Council Public Comment Tess Taylor 08 27 24 720
Selected comment on the proposal to increase Sewer charge per parcel. Transcript below:
Tess Taylor, Public Speaker: My name is Tess Taylor. I'm the president of the greater Toluca Lake neighborhood council here appearing on its behalf to strongly oppose the rate increase and the manner in which it has been conveyed to ratepayers. All of the council members and their staff should have a copy of our community impact statement and my remarks today.
In bringing this matter to your attention, I in no way wish to make responsible for or diminish the fine work of the Bureau of Sanitation director Barbara Romero. Our community has come to rely on her and her department, all of whom set an enviable level of quality and service in city government and who have a difficult and awful and thankless job to perform. Thank you to her and her team.
However,(...) an intentional setup to circumvent good faith and meaningful due process and to achieve an unjust and virtually unopposed council approval has occurred. The city is circumventing a tax increase ballot measure by using its monopoly power to impose a massive cost increase on residents and businesses to offset the hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds lost on failed policies. This quietly doubles our sewer charges while conducting a de facto election under the guise of benign public relations. Let us know your thoughts on outreach.
No one, none except the greater Toluca Lake neighborhood council filed a community impact statement because no one knew that a council file number existed. No notices on this matter contain the council file number which as is well known here is a critical element in how the council is notified about the opinions of neighborhood councils through their own due process in accordance with the longstanding purposes of the neighborhood council system. A so-called grassroots democracy.(...) The absence of critical identifying information such as a council file number is a significant suppressant which has the effect of limiting the very opinions which each of you every elected council member should solicit welcome and encourage.(...) How coincidental is it that the advancement of this proposal occurs alongside three other significant policy proposals all scheduled during the same period during the month of August when most families are on summer vacations? It certainly culls the ranks of potential protesters, doesn't it?
An independent analysis is needed but it's absent an independent impartial third-party review and analysis including by the Office of Public Accountability and the ratepayer advocate who is not permitted to review the proposed sanitation rates is missing. What is the point of a public ratepayer advocate who is not permitted to advocate?
The only analysis we've received is a whitewashed public relations version promoted by the revenue beneficiaries themselves. Our public tax dollars are paying city staff to work against the interests of residents voters and taxpayers.(...) The way that this rate increase has been manipulated virtually guarantees adoption by this government as a largely unregulated monopoly utility. The burden of proof sufficient for approval has not been carried by the city of Los Angeles and to add insult to injury the council sits in judgment of its own institutional proposal.
The city is handling this rate increase in such a concealed manner as to be in breach of its fiduciary duty to voters by holding an election while pretending that we want to keep you informed but never stating that in fact this is a referendum that's disclosures for which are completely inadequate. A standard that a proposed rate increase will be approved unless a majority of ratepayers file a timely written protest is completely backward and counterintuitive and should be unacceptable to you as it is to ratepayers. I'm on my way to the city clerk's office to hand deliver 40 protests if anyone else would like to sign one please do we're taking them over now and we have blank forms. Copies of my statement are available for the public and the press.
Again, my name is Tess Taylor thank you for your attention president of the greater Toluca Lake neighborhood council.
Governance (self) Reform
The Goat Bobble:
When it comes to high-minded sanctimony coupled with collusion and collegial cooperation with numerous indictees, Krekorian is the real GOAT (greatest of all time).
There was an item, known among two insiders as the PKIG item which stands for the Paul Krekorian Inspector General . The idea is to install Inspector General’s office at the city to monitor Land Use corruption and reform.
When Krekorian said he wanted to “identify indicia of fraud…” several members of the public, first groaned, and then rushed the Bima!
It’s an obvious non-starter, for the public and a great idea for the incumbents.
Krekorian touted the fact that many other (big Democratic) cities have (ineffective) IG offices, and Los Angeles should too!
When he said, “we need this urgently because pay-to-play schemes” are corrosive.
A cry was heard, around the world, “Sit down, Mr. Preven”
The Ethics Commission, where Mr. Krekorian served a million years ago (1998), will report back.
The same Ethics group he has supported every budget request they’ve ever made.
The current President, Jeffrey Daar, has been angling at City Hall even longer than a million years ago.
Some of the former Ethics luminaries include Dale Bonner, Miriam Krinsky (CCJV), Gil Garcetti (Mayor’s Dad and Lobbyist), Nedra Jenkins (MRT aide), Erin Pak (Not-For-Profiteer/wife of Chris Pak), Nathan Hochman (Republican AG candidate), Ana Dahan (NBCUniversal & Huizar bestie) Jessica Levinson (Zev’s costar on KCAL), Serena Oberstein (disgraced commissioner) and Andrea Sheridan Ordin (former county counsel). Sheesh.
Smart Speaker: Wasn't the architect of all the laws that don't work Robert Stern, Zev's buddy?
Sit, down. Mr. Preven.
Dearest Sydney (CD4):
The Coro Foundation is a good bridge... for existential crises!
The year before I graduated from the University of Michigan and landed a gig on NBC's Soap Opera Santa Barbara as an entry-level office runner, charged with driving around Los Angeles with a Thomas Guide delivering scripts in a car I was renting, I met with the Coro Foundation in New York.
They took a pass!
I reconnected with the Coro Foundation in Los Angeles when I'd noted in a Communication from the Mayor relative to the appointment of Ms. Laurel Gillette to the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners for the term ending June 30, 2026, that she would be filling a vacancy created by Mr. Jasson Crocket’s withdrawal from consideration.
Why would anyone say no to the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti? I wondered... could it be the toxic vile...
Jasson Crockett joined Snap Inc in 2021, where he leads Public Policy and Government Relations for the Greater Los Angeles Area. He was the Director of Community Business for Garcetti. In this role, Jasson led engagement with small businesses and oversaw policy and business development in the life science, healthcare and tech sectors, as well as sports, and tax policy.
Jasson worked to connect companies of all sizes to resources within City Hall to enable their growth in the City of L.A., and develop a more connected ecosystem wherein companies can thrive.
Oy vey.
Coro is a very nice mix of treasured partners. You find a wide variety of usual customers from the Senator from California, Alex Padilla, to the Youth Policy Institute, the horribly corrupt not-for-profit run by Dixon Slingerland.
Alex Padilla wrote “For me, Coro is…a great blueprint for how to move our city, our region, and our society forward, whether it’s public safety, whether it’s water, whether it’s transportation infrastructure, or designing the economy of the future. I know it’s helped me immensely throughout my political career…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to the Coro experience and lessons learned at the time–or a lesson that finally clicked for me just last week–that has helped me in my job of serving people.'
On the Board, alongside Sheila Kuehl's besties from Liberty Hill Foundation, you'll find Ari Engelberg, the Head of Communications and Strategic Initiatives at Harvard-Westlake School. (offensive anti-public initiatives)
Herbalife Nutrition, who poach on poor Angelenos, is in the house with Tod Gimbel who serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs.
And Karly Katona, who served as Chief of Staff and Caretaker of Council District 10 well, Mr. Ridley-Thomas went to jail, but she'll be back.
Impressive, also, to see the President of Chief Strategies, Mr. Areen Ibranossian... up in there.
Areen deserves his own chapter because a few pieces fell out of his resume on the way to his new job; namely, six years of Krekorian dirty work.
Areen has been working at 360 Strategies, but when he opened his new shingle, he dramatically understated his service to Paul Krekorian in CD2.
Fun Fact: His wife Sara still works as Krekorian's top scheduler. She's very nice.
(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch.)
