In the News
LA’s Pension Contributions are Ballooning: The Public Has a Right to Know
Over the next four years, the Annual Required Contributions are projected to increase by 42% ($556 million) to $1.86 billion according the City’s Four-Year General Fund Budget Outlook.
Since the City’s Annual Required Contributions ar…
Garcetti: What He Says v. What He Budgets
LA WATCHDOG--Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Eric Garcetti have prioritized the lives of Californians and Angelenos over the premature open…
LA Controller, LA Mayor Disagree on Proposed City Budget
LA WATCHDOG--The Mayor’s Proposed Budget anticipates General Fund revenues of almost $6.7 billion, an increase of $118 million (1.8%) from…
Garcetti’s Legacy … The Good and the Not So Good
LA WATCHDOG--Over the last month, Mayor Eric Garcetti has done an excellent job of communicating with Angelenos about the Virus and what we…
Labor Agreements and the Virus Playing Havoc with LA’s Budget
LA WATCHDOG--“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.” Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaw…
Will We Allow City Hall to Increase Our Taxes?
LA WATCHDOG--Rumors emanating from City Hall suggest that Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council are considering a tax increase to finance th…
The LA Corruption-Buck Stops with Garcetti, Wesson, and Martinez
LA WATCHDOG--One day, hopefully, sooner or later, we’ll knock down the new coronavirus that’s got people rattled. But there is no vaccine…
Will Mitch Englander Sing?
LA WATCHDOG-On Friday, former LA City Councilman Mitchell Englander “agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge stemming from his…
LA Must Take Drastic Action Now to Solve Its Impending Budget Busting Mistakes
LA WATCHDOG--Mayor Eric Garcetti will submit his Proposed Budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020 to the City Council on or be…
Who’s Next?
LA WATCHDOG--In November of 2018, the FBI and IRS raided the offices and house of Jose Huizar in connection with its investigation of pay-t…
LA’s Budget Virus
LA WATCHDOG--The impact of the coronavirus on the City’s already precarious finances has yet to be determined, but there is little doubt th…
Much More Than Mitch Englander
LA WATCHDOG--“One day, hopefully, sooner or later, we’ll knock down the new coronavirus that’s got people rattled. But there is no vaccine…
Musical Chairs at LA City Hall
LA WATCHDOG--On Monday, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced that he is running for Mayor and creating a fund-raising committee even though t…
The Truth About LACERS
REVIEW--Over the next month, CityWatch will run a series of articles on the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (“LACERS”), a $17…
Bank of Los Angeles: A Pet Project That Won’t Die
LA WATCHDOG--In November of 2018, 56% of the City’s voters rejected Charter Amendment B that would have allowed the City to establish a mun…
The Coronavirus, the City’s Precarious Budget, and Radical Transparency
LA WATCHDOG--“Any unanticipated economic stress in the future would put L.A. in a far more precarious financial situation.” Ron Galperin, M…
LA Budget Fiasco Demands Radical Transparency
LA WATCHDOG--“When Garcetti became mayor in 2013, he pledged to get “back to basics.” There should be nothing more basic than balancing the…
Even More Reasons for Angelenos to Reject Super Tuesday’s Prop 13, the $15 Billion School Bond
LA WATCHDOG--We are being “bloomberged” by the educational-industrial complex that is spending an estimated $10 million (if not more) to co…
Is Homelessness Really an LA Priority?
LA WATCHDOG--There are rumors emanating from the Mayor’s office and the Los Angeles City Council that they are considering placing on the b…
Garcetti’s New Green Deal: More “Leap of Faith” Financing
LA WATCHDOG--Last week, Mayor Eric Garcetti launched LA’s “Decade of Action” to fight the climate crisis by issuing a 2,600 word Executive…
Another School Bond? Why It’s Easy to Say No!
LA WATCHDOG--While it is not easy to say no to State’s nine million public school and higher education students, it is easy to say no to th…
Just Say NO to Professional Politicians: Wesson, Ridley-Thomas, & de Leon
LA WATCHDOG--While most of the attention on Super Tuesday (March 3) will be on the Democratic Presidential candidates, there are three “dow…
Profiles in Corruption: Mayor Eric Garcetti
LA WATCHDOG--“At the heart of LA politics is a hardened political operation fueled by an elaborate pay-to-play system where businesses and…
Transparency and Accountability: Why Jan Perry Deserves to be LA Supervisor
LA WATCHDOG-Jan Perry has literally earned our votes for Supervisor because her successful efforts to increase the transparency and account…
Your Voice is Needed: Where Do You Stand on the DWP Inspector General?
LA WATCHDOG--The following letter of January 13, 2020 to Mayor Eric Garcetti from Dan Schnur outlines his preliminary findings on establish…
Nury Martinez’ Non-Agenda
LA WATCHDOG--At her first meeting as President of the Los Angeles City Council, Nury Martinez discussed her Families First agenda that is b…
Big Money
LA WATCHDOG--In a September 27th op-ed article in the Los Angeles Times, Harold Meyerson called for “a new legal order that again breaks bi…
Is LA City Council a Steppingstone to the Mayor’s Office? Ask Mark Ridley-Thomas or Kevin de Leon
LA WATCHDOG--County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and former State Senator Kevin de Leon are candidates for separate seats on the Los Angel…
Controller Paul Koretz: The Fox IN the Hen House
LA WATCHDOG--Paul Koretz announced that he wants to be our next Controller. He cites his familiarity with the City’s budget, his focus on…
2019 Budget Busting Labor Contracts Bad News for Angelenos in 2020
LA WATCHDOG--In April, Mayor Eric Garcetti submitted his “balanced” budget to the City Council. He also claimed that the City had eliminat…
