LOS ANGELES

PLANNING WATCH - Large cities in the US, especially Los Angeles, are now filled with squalor, with tens of thousands of people sleeping on the streets, in tents, or in cars.

DEEGAN ON LA—-Tightening his grip on a final decision about a prospective mayoral run, businessman Rick Caruso, longtime registered as “no party preference,” made it official today with his announcement that “Today I am registering as a Democrat so that I can stand firmly on the side of the fundamental values that we will all need to invoke and enforce to thwart the coming attacks on our democracy.” 

COVID WATCH - Unauthorized pop-up testing sites have been reported in northeast Los Angeles, along the Wilshire corridor and across LA County. 

CRIME WATCH - In December 2021 Los Angeles City Council member Joe Buscaino made a resolution to reinstate cash bail for those individuals arrested for low level, non-violent criminal offenses throughout the whole of the county of Los Angeles. 

COMMENTARY - No less than the Editorial Board of the venerable Los Angeles Times has come out to castigate SoCal leaders for opposing the developer rip-off perpetrated in the name of California’s desperate need for affordable housing. 

THE DOCTOR IS IN - I very much prefer the company of children to that of adults, because only children act their age. 

LA RACE - Across LA groups are getting together to interview candidates for local races.

RantZ and RaveZ - While Mayor Eric Michael Garcetti waits for confirmation by Elected Representatives in Washington, D.C., to the distinguished position of United States Ambassador to India, his record as Mayor and 8 year leader of the City of Los Angeles can be described by some as an embarrassment to his Legacy as the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles.

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS - The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday called for the state to pass legislation requiring a minimum of five years of ownership before a homeowner can invoke the Ellis Act to evict tenants and take the property off the rental market.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Contrary to all the vitriol building up against Mike Bonin over the past several years (particularly after he was re-elected overwhelmingly 4-5 years ago), Mike Bonin was for most of his political career a champion and a friend to the Westside. 

LAKEWOOD STAKEHOLDERS - When Joan Didion passed away on December 23 of last year at the age of 87, Governor Gavin Newsom praised her as “easily the best living writer in California.”

EDUCATION COMMENTARY - If “zoom schooling” has taught us anything, it’s that we’re locked in and our kids are learning things that shock us.

2URBANGIRLS - The Citizens Redistricting Commission for LA County did what few other “citizen redistricting” bodies have done – stay independent.

PLANNING WATCH -  Public opinion polls consistently report that Angelinos consider the homeless crisis to be the city’s most pressing problem.

HOUSING WATCH - For as long as California has been a state, local governments have decided where housing will and won’t go and how much to allow. 

JUSTICE WATCH - Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at the funeral for 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was killed by a Los Angeles police officer December 23 while shopping at a North Hollywood store.

THE VIEW FROM HERE - Because early news reports always have errors, one should not accept early news reports at face value.

HOUSING WATCH - New laws that took effect on January 1 end single-family home zoning in California.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Perhaps all who closely follow L.A. City and local politics are well aware that--despite 25,965 legitimate CD11 signatures supporting Mike Bonin's recall--the City threshold of 27,317 signatures to qualify for a recall ballot measure was not met.

PLANNING WATCH - In last week’s Planning Watch column, I pointed out that LA’s underwhelming urban forest is a key indicator that the city’s planning glass is mostly empty.

PLANNING WATCH - From the Dog Bites Man Department:  The recently adopted Los Angeles 2021-2029 Housing Element met its first legal challenge, with the likelihood of more to come.