CityWatch Los Angeles
Politics. Perspective. Participation.
LA WATCHDOG - “We have a unique power – we elect our bosses. It would be difficult to think of workers anywhere else who elect their bosses. We do. We must take advantage of it.” Alex Caputo-Pearl, President, United Teachers Los Angeles
LA WATCHDOG - On December 12, 2022, Karen Bass will be sworn in as our next mayor.
LA WATCHDOG - The trial of former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar on charges of bribery and racketeering is scheduled for February 23, over four years after the FBI and IRS raided his offices and home on November 7, 2018.
LA WATCHDOG - The City Council wants nothing to do with Councilman Kevin de León. But the Councilmembers have not been willing to devote their time and resources to lead a recall effort to get rid of him.
LA WATCHDOG - Four years ago, on November 7, 2018, the FBI raided the offices and house of then Councilman Jose Huizar.
LA WATCHDOG - Controller Ron Galperin and former Controllers Wendy Greuel and Laura Chick are unanimous in their belief that Kenneth Mejia does not have the experience, character, and temperament to be our next City Controller.
LA WATCHDOG - In a word, NO.
LA WATCHDOG - The LA Watchdog’s Voter Guide for the November election focuses on local elections and ballot measures.
LA WATCHDOG - Disgraced Councilman Kevin de Leon has indicated that he will not resign from the City Council despite multiple calls for his head because of his participation in a meeting where City Council President Nury Martinez made numerous racially charged and incendiary remarks.
LA WATCHDOG - Do you trust the City Council?
LA WATCHDOG - The people responsible for $600,000 units for permanent supportive housing have placed on the ballot Measure ULA that is designed to raise up to $1.1 billion a year to be used for affordable housing and tenant assistance programs.
LA WATCHDOG - Underlying the recent article in the Los Angeles Times about an October 2021 meeting between Council President Nury Martinez, two other Latino members of the City Council, and the Latino president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor that involved racially insensitive remarks are the efforts by the underrepresented Latino population wanting to get its fair share of the pie.
LA WATCHDOG - Shall an ordinance funding and authorizing affordable housing programs and resources for tenants at risk of homelessness through a 4% tax on sales/transfers of real property exceeding $5 million, and 5.5% on properties of $10 million or more, with exceptions; until ended by voters; generating approximately $600 million - $1.1 billion annually; be adopted?
LA WATCHDOG - Shall an ordinance providing funding for parks, recreational centers, pools, playgrounds, waterways, beaches, green spaces, open spaces, childcare, and other facilities, and increasing park equity in the City of Los Angeles,
LA WATCHDOG - The opponents to the proposed development of the luxurious Bvlgari Hotel that is located in the environmentally sensitive hills of Benedict Canyon are mystified as to why the Planning Land Use Management (“PLUM”) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council has once again failed to act on a July 2021 motion that would stop this inappropriate development that is opposed by the surrounding neighborhood and numerous environmental groups.
LA WATCHDOG - On December 8, 2021, Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Paul Krekorian submitted a motion (see below), seconded by City Council President Nury Martinez, instructing “the Chief Legislative Analyst ….
LA WATCHDOG - There is a saying in Los Angeles that nothing gets done at City Hall without a lawsuit or ballot measure.
LA WATCHDOG - Unions and other special interests have collected enough signatures to qualify four initiatives for the ballot.
LA WATCHDOG - In March, the “City Council instructed the Department of Water and Power to prepare a Strategic Long Term Resource Plan that achieves 100% carbon-free energy by 2035, in a way that is equitable and has minimal adverse impact on Ratepayers.”
LA WATCHDOG - The Department of Animal Services and its shelter system is in “crisis” according to a recent editorial in the Los Angeles Times.
LA WATCHDOG - On June 10, the City Clerk certified that there were sufficient signatures for the SEIU-UHW sponsored Initiative Petition entitled Minimum Wage for Healthcare Employees Working at Healthcare Facilities* to qualify for the ballot.
