LOS ANGELES

TRANSIT TALK-Call it an obsession with mobility. Chicago, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles and a drive across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York State and Massachusetts. This month, “I’ve Been Everywhere” is the song I have been singing in my best imitation of Johnny Cash.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Whether it's taxpayer sentiment, parental sentiment, or City/State laws, the tyranny of the minority is just that--tyranny--if the voters and stakeholders are "heard" and then ignored.  To paraphrase Orwell, we're all created equal, but some are more equal than others.  

GENTRIFICATION FALLOUT-On a pleasantly warm afternoon, Aaron Flournoy is busy tightening the wheel on a young woman’s bicycle while three other cyclists wait nearby for his services. His mobile bike repair business, called Lil Bill’s Bike Shop, operates curbside at the busy intersection of Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard, directly across from an entrance to the University of Southern California campus.

ANIMAL WATCH-Two Los Angeles animal rescuers were sentenced on Friday by Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels after each was found guilty on one count of animal abuse and two counts of negligence. LA Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette issued a media release on August 23, 2017, announcing, “LA Animal Services investigation leads to animal cruelty conviction for Lucky Puppy Rescue owners." However, the two-week jury trial for Rachel Kennedy and Sandra Vasquez actually ended on August 16.

CAL MATTERS--Just because you're paranoid, the old saying goes, doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has a big problem. The “gelatinous one,” so named because he will never give a straight answer (e.g. is LA a sanctuary city or not?) wants to run for president, but both history and his resume say it will never happen.

JUST SAYIN’-Who would disagree that politics is defined by secrets, lies and deception? Not me. At our recent West LA Neighborhood Council Meeting, County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl sent her team of damage control folks to try to justify why they never told the community they were building a drunk tank in the heart of our revitalizing commercial district.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Over the past week, numerous angry comments have appeared regarding remarks by Kevin de Leon, the state Senate President Pro Tem. Basically, de Leon insulted neighborhood council members and what we try to accomplish. In a televised interview, he said that City Council members (who he left unnamed) were secretly asking him to pass a pro-development bill that they felt they had to oppose publicly. 

OBSERVER--As law enforcement officials release more information about Stephen Paddock, the suspect in the Las Vegas shooting that killed nearly 60 people and injured more than 500 Sunday night, much of the reporting on his identity has focused on the fact that he is a "local individual" and a "lone wolf"—terminology that critics say has been used to signify that Paddock was a white male, and therefore not a terrorist.  

RANTZ AND RAVEZ-Respect in and for America has continued to melt away along with patriotic support for our country and flag. Did this happen suddenly? No. It has been a growing trend for many years. Attacks on the system are nothing new. They’ve just gotten worse year after year thanks to our instant media and internet communications. Is there more to come? I am sure there will be. And it will take a major incident like the tragic 911 attack to wake up the people in our country who are concerned, as well as the many lazy, disconnected others in America. 

EDUCATION POLITICS--California legislators had a rare opportunity this year to make a significant improvement in the lives of millions of children at little or no cost – and they muffed it.

THE PREVEN REPORT-There's no better way to describe it: the vehemence with which Mr. Bonin reacted upon learning that our August 17 CityWatch article about his "road diet" policies ("But Councilman Bonin, You Promised!") had been posted on the Facebook page of the Palisades News, which is the Pacific Palisades' hometown newspaper.  

CALBUZZ REPORT—We interrupt our hiatus to file this breaking news report:

POLITICS--A funny thing happened after State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon shot off his mouth and attacked neighborhood councils, and all those volunteers strangling and handcuffing the Los Angeles City Council by their "NIMBYism": 

MY TURN--Two diametrically opposite events caught my attention recently and yet they shared an underlining theme: Freedom of speech.  What does the first amendment to the Constitution really mean?  I'm sure the Founding Fathers (FF) saw it differently than we do today.  Just like many other issues in our contemporary life we interpret differently. 

BELL VIEW-So, taking a knee disrespects the flag, the anthem, the troops and the Country? But waiving the Confederate Battle flag is your heritage? The essence of taking a knee, of silent protest, is respect. Respect for yourself and respect for the object of your protest. The players taking a knee are not burning the flag; they’re not spitting on the flag. They are engaged in silent, respectful protest. Just listen to Eric Reid, the 49’ers player who took a knee with Colin Kaepernick explain why he did it: 

“BEHIND THE SCENES, WINK WINK”--A firestorm erupted in LA neighborhoods this week after State Sen. Kevin de Leon (photo above an NBC press conference), the second-most powerful man in Sacramento, told KNBC that elected volunteers on LA’s Neighborhood Councils have “strangled” and “handcuffed” and issued “threats” against the Los Angeles City Council over housing development. 

ENVIRONMENT POLITICS--Union members, environmental justice advocates and green transportation activists packed a meeting room Tuesday evening in Downtown Los Angeles to send a loud and clear message to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC): the city and state should make electric transportation in the city and at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports a priority.

EASTSIDER-Outside of being the former Mayor of San Francisco, and (also) formerly being married to Fox News Contributor Kimberly Guilfoyle, what do most of Southern Californians know about Gavin Newsom, who is running hard to be the next Governor of California? Not much. 

GUEST COMMENTARY-Imagine the following: A candidate for elected office in California says to donors and voters that, if elected, he will innovate state services so they are as consumer-friendly and digitally-available as, say, Apple’s services. But the candidate also seeks the political support of government employees (e.g. school district and DMV employees) for whom such innovation would likely mean fewer jobs and stricter performance measures. Given that government employees are the largest contributors to political campaigns in California, what do you think the candidate, if elected, will actually do? The answer: Not innovate. 

DEEGAN ON LA-Now that we’ve had two years of announcements, promises, photo-ops, budget proposals, ballot measures and votes all aimed at improving the plight of people with homelessness, have you noticed less homeless people on the streets? Or does it look like more of the same…or worse? The answer may be a little bit of both: there’s been some looks-good-on-paper progress, but not much visual progress. And since visuals track more closely with the truth, this is not very encouraging. 

Let’s start with the sobering statistic that the city’s homeless count of just over 34,000 was up 20% from 2016, according to a May 30, 2017 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Report.  

If you add in the county’s numbers, the homeless population rose 23% in the year. Once a cheerleader for progress on the homeless issue, Mayor Eric Garcetti could only say, “There's no sugarcoating the bad news.” That’s a huge turnaround for a civic leader who promised from the steps of City Hall two years ago that there would be $100 million dedicated to solving the homeless crisis. 

As things turned out, that was a press release, not a fact. Garcetti’s next announcement was a $138 million allocation for the homeless in his recent budget, but that also under-delivered with lots of finger-pointing as to why. 

So, what are the facts? Ultimately, Bond Measure HHH providing $1.2 billion for housing the homeless was placed on the November 2016 ballot and was approved by 77% of the voters, a strong indication that people want a solution and are willing to pay for it. Property owners will pay an annual tax of around $33 per year for ten years. This will help finance the construction of 10,000 units of affordable permanent-supportive housing over the next ten years. 

That’s where the paperwork part of the problem looks good -- which is a great start -- but the upstream to completion will take years. Who knows how many more homeless will appear on our streets in the meantime? Will that negate the effects of a billion-dollar housing program designed to house only 10,000 homeless people? It’s possible that this effort will become part of Los Angeles’ mythology: our version of the Greek myth of Sisyphus who was forced by the gods to roll a huge boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down over and over again each time he neared completing his never-ending task. Like him, we may be pushing the homeless rock up the hill forever. Our enviable climate and easygoing lifestyle make Los Angeles a magnet for many, including the homeless. 

It’s not only about the City of Los Angeles: the homeless problem is evident in other cities like West Hollywood where plans are driven less by economics -- they show no signs of throwing lots of money at the problem -- and more by solutions provided by city government, particularly the public safety component. 

Their strategies are reminiscent of how the British defeated the Spanish Armada which sent its wind-driven warships into the English Channel in 1588 to invade Britain. The British responded with smaller craft, often oar-powered for mobility, so they could maneuver around the bigger ships without relying on wind strength and direction, eventually defeating the Spanish. The moral of that war story was “be nimble.” Perhaps our WEHO neighbors have something to offer for helping the homeless. Online news source WEHOville.com had a four-part series on the homeless last week about how they are tackling the homeless problem. 

The WeHo plan includes contracted-out substance abuse treatment, information sharing on outreach efforts and homeless services by the Sheriffs who attend homeless-related meetings with everyone from the Chamber of Commerce to Neighborhood Watch meetings. In addition, there are public speaking appearances by City staff members, the Mayor and Sheriff’s Captain; block captain training, including how to deal with the homeless, is provided by the Sheriff’s department. None of this required a bond issue. 

Is LA “too big” to succeed at solving its homeless problem? Are we the “Spanish Armada” versus the “British Small Boats” of West Hollywood? 

Adding some urgency to the problem is the announcement a few days ago by Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Public Health Director, at the weekly meeting of the LA County Board of Supervisors that LA is experiencing an outbreak of Hepatitis A. Recently the same outbreak occurred in San Diego, hitting the homeless population hard; a similar outbreak was also reported in Santa Cruz. 

Michael Weinstein, president of AHF (Aids Healthcare Foundation), responded, “This declaration must be followed with immediate and forceful actions: portable toilets and hand-washing stations should be deployed immediately and the City of Los Angeles should put an immediate halt to rousting homeless encampments and concentrate instead on improving overall sanitary conditions…This outbreak is a result of, and is likely to be further fueled by the deplorable living conditions of homeless populations in Los Angeles.” 

So, now a potential public health hazard has been added into the mix of the overall homelessness issue. Something more tangible and immediate than the prospect of a billion-dollar housing plan over ten years reminds us that microbes, not money, may be where the attention should go. Will bleaching the sidewalks of homeless tent encampments be next? The homeless do not even have the dignity of public restrooms yet, but the looming Hepatitis A problem -- a hazard for everyone -- may accelerate the decision to provide them. 

What do you think: are we on the right track for finding solutions for people with homelessness? 

Please take a moment and share your opinion about these issues by taking the brief poll below and press “view” to see how your responses compare with others.

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(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Photo credit: WEHOville.com

Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.