LOS ANGELES

CAL MATTERS--What’s the sound of one man debating? California voters got an idea today at the first and only scheduled candidate forum in the 2018 U.S. Senate race.

DONE WATCH-The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) administratively and illegally has removed a board member from the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council (VNNC).

MY TURN--This statement may sound like I am using a broad paintbrush, and indeed I am.

CAL MATTERS-The latest conventional wisdom among state political insiders: There’s a good chance a Californian will be on the presidential ticket in 2020, and that Californian is likely to be Democratic U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris. 

BCK FILE--Since his election in 2016, Donald J. Trump has been alleging massive voter fraud by millions of votes in California and other blue states, baseless allegations meant to cause mistrust in our electoral process. 

CORRUPTION WATCH-“Build-out” is the term that means any increase in population density will exceed the infrastructure to support it.

INSIDE INGLEWOOD--Is Inglewood Mayor James Butts continuing to intimidate city employees to suit his own needs?

ALPERN AT LARGE--One of my life's greatest adventures was the fight to create an Expo Line, which is now one of the most ridden light rail lines in the LA Metro Rail Network

@THE GUSS REPORT-Just when you think a story has reached its conclusion, something remarkable happens.

NEW GEOGRAPHY-Long a hotbed of new technologies, California insists on seeing its transit future in the rear mirror.

CAL MATTERS--It’s perhaps no surprise that apartment owners, real estate interests and corporate landlords have spent $61 million to kill Proposition 10, an initiative that threatens their income by reinstating rent control in California.

MY TURN-Those of us that have watched and followed the horrendous anti-female GOP agenda over the last number of years have often been quite shocked that any woman would support such a party.

SKID ROW- For those that don’t know…..YES, last year’s Skid Row Neighborhood Council fight is still a thing … Seriously. 

FORCING REFORM-On Tuesday, the five members of the LA County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send the Reform LA Jails initiative to California’s March 3, 2020 presidential primary ballot.

RANTZ & RAVEZ-It all began with the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the promise to ignite renewed interest and economic development in vast areas of the city that had been neglected for years and fallen to neglect, decay and desperate economic conditions.

CLIMATE POLITICS--World greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2020, or it’s lights out! 

EIGHT MOST READ - Platkin on Planning:  LA may be another city in decline, but at least we know what awaits us when we near the bottom: 

EASTSIDER-Is the Sacramento Bee’s “The State Worker” just a shill for the CalPERS establishment, or is it still a legitimate news column? 

BELL VIEW--Leonard Cohen said, “You can keep the body as well-oiled and receptive as possible, but whether you're actually going to be able to go for the long haul is really not your own choice.”

ALPERN AT LARGE--You know, Mr. Bird/Lime/Dockless Scooter Company, I really think you guys are onto something.

LA PLANNING POLITICS--I have previously written for CityWatch on the question of fascism in the United States.