CommentsERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Rick Caruso who is running for mayor against Karen Bass said he’d met with former L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera in the same room where the infamous tape was supposedly recorded.
“It’s so out of a movie set,” he told a reporter. “I don’t know if I’ve been recorded, too.”
Hmmm. Note for Areen: why not leak a customized recording of Rick telling Herrera how it is and how it's going to be?! Will probably go viral, right?
If the LAPD is looking to charge the person who recorded the October 18th, 2021 meeting between Kevin De Leon, Nury Martinez, Miguel Herrera, and Gil Cedillo with illegal recording, it would appear to already be beyond the statute of limitations.
The charge for illegal recording is a misdemeanor, and per CA law, it's a misdemeanor that would have had to have been filed by October 18th, 2022 (one year since the time of the incident).
Smoove.
Name Callers:
As the foliage and verbiage turns hotter, we head into the deepest coldest part of name-calling season. Someone called for "Trumpanueva" to quit harassing the board of supervisors and the OIG. It wasn't Gustavo Arellano, because we know he went for a little walk with El Sheriff.
If you haven't yet voted, please do not burn too much fossil fuel to get it done this year, as no matter where you stand on any issue, we're doomed. jk srsly.
Apparently, LA is now infested with gangs.
The gangs that we've heard are endemic to our law enforcement organizations have now spread and continue to have great influence at the county hall of administration and even, dare I say it, the Temple of Democracy, dba LA City Hall.
And we are talking predatory, multi-generational gangs that violently exploit the poorer neighborhoods that support them. So this is bad.
The LA Times coverage has been comprehensive but one story about the Mexican mafia in the LA County jails recently reinforced how important nicknames can be as we try to keep the dozens of names on the November 8th ballot straight. The best part of the article was the nicknames of gang bangers from LA County jail.
Starting lineup:
Luis “Hefty” Garcia
Michael “Mosca” Torres,
Miguel “Peewee” Rodriguez
Eulalio “Lalo” Martinez
Robert “Peanut Butter” Ruiz
Miguel “Big Speedy” Calderon
Rafael “Stomper” Carrillo
Jose “Fox” Landa-Rodriguez
Darryl “Night Owl” Baca
In the bullpen:
Pete “Crazy Pete” Trejo
‘Big Mike’ Lerma
Without going more deeply here, there are two principal schemes the so-called Mexican mafia use to make money in the county jails. The first is called the “kitty.”
Inmates are allowed to buy snacks, toiletries and clothing at the jail’s commissary. For every $7 that a Latino gang member spends, he must contribute $1.50 worth of items to a collection, or kitty.
The other scheme is the “thirds” tax. The county jails are allegedly awash in narcotics. One dealer testified that he sold methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana — “most drugs you can think of” — while held in Men’s Central Jail.
These characters get arrested on purpose and like mules bring the contraband into the jails inside their bodies, in balloons. They shit it out later and bring it to market, so these products are fresh!
But the Mexican mafia drug suppliers are just one gang, among many and should not gobble up all the Times coverage.
F'rinstance, what about The crips, The bloods, The 501c3s, The LACDEM Harassers, The LAHSA (booze in the flidgelator) gang?
And what about the Most Wanted Gang of all in southern California?
The dirty tricksters and schemers trained at USC and MIT, and up in Sacramento, who run a 15 district, comprehensive pay-to-play protection racket.
Last week's TGIF scheme was vintage Sneaky Council and was executed with aplomb, by the new Council President and his old tonto, Matt Hale, who pitched his tent over at LADWP recently.
A large wave of LADWP employees who are paid about 30% more than a typical city employee filed into the chambers to fill up all of the seats about 90 minutes before go-time.
When the hundred or so critics and protestors showed up to blast Paul Krekorian and the thieves for meeting, they realized they'd been faked out. All the seats were taken, and so the 'GFY' message was delivered.
"Sorry, Charlie," but Krekorian explained that any dirtbag who wants to call in from somewhere else would be welcome and instructed Strefan Fauble, who has been shaken by all the tumult and deserves a weekend in Santa Barbara at KnockDotLA's expense, to read in the call-in information, and he did.
"So smart," that's what they say about Matt Hale, Paul Krekorian's boy wonder who left a couple months ago to set up shop at LADWP. His only assignment was to dredge up the water usage data for our mayoral candidates, Rick Caruso and Karen Bass. Smart, but... Fred Pickel, the ratepayer advocate, will know what to do.
City Cheat Sheet:
Eunisses 'the dentist' Hernandez, the woman credited with removing impacted molar, Gil Cedillo from CD1.
Paul "the goat" Krekorian, the legal custodian in charge of sweeping under the carpet. Bob "the FEMA" Blumenfield from CD3 and the "real Goat" Nithya Raman of CD4, the leader and best who unseated an incumbent Ryu, something unheard of until now. Those three form the Valley Nerd Alliance.
Paul "Pepita Pig" Koretz, a pony ride proponent who routinely finks out as the "daughter-in-law" of Carmeggedon Yaroslavksy takes over CD5. Nury "the racist" Martinez of CD6 and Monica "Big Black" (frames) Rodriguez are fighting for their turf as the poorest district helmed by Marqueece "Mr. Clerk" Harris-Dawson, fights against Curren "D is for Del Richardson, the recuser" Price, who remains the old guy from the new ninth who is going to make sure the George Lucas and Melody Hodson Narrative museum in Exposition Park is FREE to get in, like the Hammer Museum at UCLA.
City watchers remember the former council president arguing for Heather "the staffer" Hutt, to vote for CD10ists while "West side Mike" Bonin, the eleventh man... exits stage left.
To the right, "Staffer B" John Lee, who pitched in for Mitch "the itch" Englander, went to jail and loves Mitch "the bitch" O'Farrell who has a pre-election free rent scheme that is getting federal attention. And of course, the battle rages on in the "naybahood" where Kevin the "catalytic converter" De Leon is replacing "Chef Jose Menu" Huizar, the quicker picker-upper.
As for citywide, Mike "the dachshund" Feuer and "Daily Affirmations" Ron Galperin are the other city electeds flanking the "Pinball Wizard" Mayor Eric Garcetti, dba the "deaf dumb and blind kid."
KDL seems to have misplaced his evacuation plan. Which is why it's a good time to review Disaster Preparedness.
These Times:
The team that publishes stories and information that help people solve problems, answer questions and make big decisions about life in and around Los Angeles is called the utility desk.
One of the big chiefs over there, Jon Healey, used to wear a Nick Goldberg cowboy hat over at the Editorial board. Not a terrible guy.
Which headline should Angelenos check or does it matter when there are two?
The front page (website) headline was: "In L.A. races, law barring homeless encampments is a heated issue"
But in print, it had morphed into ... "Why L.A.'s ban on homeless encampments near schools, daycare has become heated election issue."
Confusion emoji
Penal Colonists: Zoom in closer...
One Twitterist suggested, "This is why we should bring back remote prison colonies. The worst criminals can't ever be successfully reintegrated. They must be expelled from society forever. In a distant place, murderers and rapists can make a fresh start and learn to live among humans all over, starting with each other. If they want to stay in touch with their relatives, there's always Zoom meetings."
Careful, the New York Times and Berkeley investigation "— based on more than 100 interviews with people previously held at Ware and current and former staff members, thousands of pages of records and court documents, and hours of security footage — reveals how a place meant to offer children care and rehabilitation instead descended into chaos and cruelty. Guards beat and choked their wards. Several forced children to endure sexual abuse as the price for phone privileges. They frequently maintained control by bribing children with food to assault other children."
They could have been talking about Los Angeles County Youth Probation. Or rather, they could have been funded to investigate the Los Angeles County Youth Probation camps and crises.
The article reminded me of the Chief here, talking about the county's travails. In the facility in Louisiana, "One favored takedown, they said, was “chicken wings”: Guards would cross your arms behind your back, then force them up until it seemed that your shoulders would pop out of their sockets. Patricia Bell, who still works at Ware, said in an interview in 2020 that the technique had been part of the training until 2018. “Now you aren’t supposed to do the chicken wing,” she said. “Of course, they still do.” In reports to the state, the nurses described carpet burns on children’s faces and head-to-toe bruises from restraints."
"They described a range of abuses, from suggestive comments and lewd gestures to rape. One girl said baring her breasts was quid pro quo for access to library books. Another said a guard forced her to take photos on his cellphone of her touching her genitals. A third said she was 13 when a guard raped her. The next time he tried she fought back, only to be sprayed with Mace. The time after that, she said, she stopped resisting. Boys were abused, too. This past April, a female guard was captured on surveillance video orally raping a boy.
But the eight women who described Mr. Parson’s conduct said it typically took place in the surveillance system’s blind spots — the nurses’ bathroom, the laundry room, the holding cells. Indeed, records show that abuse has been happening in those places for years.
The sheriff’s office would not provide The Times with records of investigations into Ware employees. But Captain Gallier expressed skepticism about the children’s allegations. “You can’t believe what these kids say,” she said, adding, “These kids come from all over the place, from down south, New Orleans, Baton Rouge. They’re different, they’re a lot rougher.”
(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch. The opinions expressed by Eric Preven are solely his and not the opinions of CityWatch)