LA, A Special Election for Mayor

To the Honorable Dean Logan, Registrar Recorder and County Clerk, Los Angeles County, in conjunction with LA City Charter 409 B.

Special Election. The Council may call a special election, and special runoff election, if necessary, by ordinance for the purpose of filling the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. The Council shall provide in the ordinance for the consolidation of the election with any other election and for the procedure for nominating candidates, including the amount of the filing fee, if any, to be paid by candidates and other matters pertaining to the election. The Council also may appoint a person to hold the office temporarily until the vacancy election is conducted and the election results are certified and declared:

Mr. Logan, please evaluate the following proposal:

The critical task of mayoral leadership change cannot be delayed and certainly not for another six months.

The upcoming referendum on Governor Newsom on September 14 would have been an ideal, cost-effective opportunity for LA voters to select a new mayor, but unfortunately that ship has sailed.

Having a December 28, 2021, Special Election could possibly seat a new mayor for the City of LA by January 2022.

The proposed schedule below is submitted with the understanding that a June primary and November 2022 general election will permit LA City voters a second or third bite at the apple as the democratic process unfolds.

Overwhelming Evidence of repeated ‘eyes wide open’ denial of public comment:

A person with Downs Syndrome had been working at a Walmart for multiple years. The Company made it harder for this employee to get to work by changing her schedule. A jury found that Walmart had engaged in disability discrimination after the EEOC brought a case. The resolution requires Walmart to pay $125,000,000 in punitive damages because of the way they hung this poor woman out to dry.

Kudos to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). By denying this woman her rights, the employee suffered. . .and so the company had to pay punitive damages.

The board of supervisors and the city council who have been engaged in a breathtaking systemic first amendment-based denial of public speaking rights, will never pay punitive damages, because the Brown Act was not conceived that way.

The remedy for being denied the right to speak is to speak out anyway. Fortunately, the Section 1983 of the federal code allows people to sue the government for civil rights violations. That can result in punitive damages.

But the public's tax money should not be spent this way, the officeholders who choose to abuse their office and suppress the rights of critics should pay.

You can't fake clarity. The officeholders should also consider the collateral damage arising from so many civil servants (too many to name here) who are being asked to onboard the horrible stress of obfuscation.

When a diligent employee is asked to participate in a scheme to deny or delay access to public records re: how much money has been paid to high priced attorney, Skip Miller, of Miller Barondess, LLP it takes a toll. How much of a toll?

Not sure. . .possibly $1.5M! That's the sum that Skip Miller recommended the county pay to Sachi Hamai the former CEO for enduring criticism from the elected Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, whom they loathe.

Miller has also led the defense against the charge that both the County and city of Los Angeles have been engaged in systemic constitutional violations as alleged in the Alliance lawsuit before Judge Carter.

Miller et al. have suggested that the whole thing be thrown out on account of the fact that his clients, the board of supervisors, are doing an excellent job.

Last Tuesday July 13, 2021 three of the Board of Supervisors abstained on item 27, an item calling for the modernization of "the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA’s) existing Governance and Structure in Partnership with the City of Los Angeles.

The public is obviously entitled to see what Skip et al. have been charging taxpayers for such highly questionable advice.

And it will be a whole year that we've been waiting for answers, on July 30, 2021. . .fast approaching.

Here's Skip's three-page missive containing allegations and settlement sent to the board July 30, 2020 by attorney Skip Miller.

Engagement:

When a KPCC journalist wrote a three-part series on elder abuse, the audience response was immediate and positive. Still, she knew there were older adults and caregivers who might not see their site or listen to their station and who could still benefit from the information. So her team set out to find them.

At its heart, engagement is about removing barriers for participation and creating a welcoming space so that more people can have access to the information they need to be their own best advocates. We used to have Open Forums in Studio City for that reason.

The LA Times just added a new engagement editor who had been successful at KNX NewsRadio 1070, by adding a million something or others during the pandemic. Kudos.

And John Lee and the CD12 operation under the disgusting leadership of now federal prisoner Mitchell Englander paid out $75,000 to a Former CD12 Field Deputy who went to work as Director of Community Engagement at LA Family Housing (LAFH).

Bob Blumenfield pointed out recently that LA Family Housing was the only representative on one of the LAHSA governing boards and acknowledged that though LAFH had a lot of field experience, he worried if a service provider like LA Family Housing should be setting the policy.

Blumenfield noted, "LA Family Housing is actually responsible -- are coordinating -- but also helping to develop policies. . .” By sitting on the governing boards of the Homeless industrial complex, "they have a financial interest," he nudged.

It's easy to spot the conflict of interest there if one has taken the AB1234 Ethics Certification course. The recent Studio City action cause the public to wonder if all the committee chairs are fully up to speed, ethically.

Community of Interest: And other COI. . .

I was awakened at 6:38 a.m. on Sunday morning by the Studio City Neighborhood Council with a Studio City NC Update from the President Randall Fried, a compromised but highly regarded CD2 proxy and henchman wrangler.

"Ordinarily, I would be writing to you about our upcoming board meeting that would be held this Wednesday evening," Fried wrote. "However, in light of an important redistricting meeting happening on Wednesday evening, we are going to cancel our SCNC meeting as we hope you will join us at this important City meeting instead. You must RSVP here.. . ."

The President then crossed the line by recommending Background and Talking Points that included a reference to an "obscene gerrymandered shape" and a request to join one influential community member in his unchallenged view that CD4 and CD5 have been drawn in a manner "which is not supposed to be allowed by law."

NC resources (including eblasts) promoting views about CD2 redistricting should not be used in this manner -- no matter how sound or silly those views may be. It's a fundamental misunderstanding.

The degree to which the President, who has a documented tendency to skip due process, agrees with the views is irrelevant.

The power to set a balanced agenda with items on it should not be abused. Eblasts alerting the community to the existence of the redistricting meeting is appropriate.

Try an Open Forum.

Valley Voice:

The views espoused are not far off the valley succession ethos that still lingers. That view may be appealing or unappealing to Angelenos, but it is a questionable misuse of public resources for any NC to tell the community what they are interested in and what to advocate for.

The redistricting commission link provided a series of interrogatories that do not amount to a CD2 power move for Paul Krekorian favored by the President and his henchman. Why should the community defer its concerns about CD2 a regional power play?

How about a community forum? The commission says it wants to know how a community’s relationship with the City has been and how it is affected by policy decisions made by the City Council. The Commission wants to know about what makes CD2 and Studio City unique.

I did a double take when I read that "A COI is a Community of Interest, a group of people in the same geographically definable area who share common social and economic interests.

Some examples are: Senior citizens, LGBTQIA+ communities, college students living near campus, people who live downtown or who want a neighborhood dog park, or community residents who share a common language, people that use the same transportation systems.

So, why would Studio City slickers one and all agree to sing the same old “fair share” of our Valley resources song. . .just because the President does?

People can think for themselves, and the redistricting commission has promised to onboard comments and place them into a database to help inform their recommendations to the City Council. Does Studio City have a shared culture, characteristics, or bond?

Maybe, but it may not be. . ."more power for Paul Krekorian because Randall Fried and Henchman #2's say so."

The commission asks participants to describe their community so that they (and Andrew Westall, Herb Wesson's carver in chief, and a group of well-appointed insiders) can have a deeper understanding.

Last time redistricting took place, Wesson, as council president famously screwed Bernard Parks et al. while carving himself into a favorable situation.

Here's a thought: What do Studio City Stakeholder's think?

All should be welcome and the commission has a special hearing on regional concerns in late August that would be another place to raise Valley “fair share” voices.

Corcoran:

"Puritan settlers, a famous witchcraft trial, and meticulous regulation are all part of an East Hampton legacy of dos and don’ts. The size of homes and the number of beach parking passes are sharply limited."

Dear Corcoran,

An agent earned a substantial commission from a rental transaction.

But because of Corcoran's reckless and negligent behavior, the agent signed off on a rental, as is and then totally recanted after signature.

Now, the owners plan to invoice Corcoran Group for the fee the agent took off the top before leaving the senior citizens out in the cold.

Once it was revealed and made clear that a Corcoran Group agent from East Hampton was both negligent and unethical in her duties, Corcoran looked away and attempted to wash its hands of the matter.

Because that agent made assurances and the client signed a contract based on those assurances, the owners intend to hold Corcoran accountable.

Once the client checked in, ignoring the agent's sign off, she created a huge punch list and refused to pay rent while squatting in the senior's vacation rental.

Had Corcoran properly supervised or trained the agent, there would have been a punch list and the elderly couple, who played competitive tennis locally, would have accommodated or had time to do so.

Had the agent apprised the owners of issues in advance, they could have taken care, but in this scenario, what will prevent these elders from being exploited? Respectfully, the answer has to be the Corcoran Group!

cc Barbara Corcoran, "The Shark"

How to introduce a motion through Neighborhood Council the right way. . .on an agenda:

October 2019 -- Government Affairs Committee Update –

MOTION 12A: The Board of the Studio City Neighborhood Council requests that council member Paul Krekorian widely publicize all future meetings regarding the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan Update and publish the contact information [email protected] to which stakeholders may submit their questions and comments.

MOTION 12B: The Board of the Studio City Neighborhood Council votes to send a letter to the US Attorney’s Office requesting a Special Investigation into the recent withdrawal of the payment processing lawsuit on behalf of ratepayers. (Page 1of link)

MOTION 12C: The Board also requests that the City Attorney, Michael N. Feuer, publish a corrective action plan to regain public confidence and seek independent advice as to how to continue or refile the case on behalf of ratepayers who deserve both answers and relief. (Page 2 of link)

November 2019 -- Government Affairs Committee, presents the following items for Board consideration.

A) 19-1309 Replacement Operator Subsequent to Youth Policy Institute (YPI) implosion

Proposed Community Impact Statement: to 19-1309

The Board of the Studio City Neighborhood Council is concerned about the closure of the locations in CD2 that create a tremendous void in services for families and their children in areas of the City where they are most needed. The Day Labor Resource Center Program in the City of Los Angeles is a public safety program, which allows persons seeking casual labor work to safely congregate and be matched with employers seeking temporary workers.

Dixon Slingerland, who was fired as YPI's chief executive in September, spent the nonprofit’s money (at one point $47 million a year) on an array of unauthorized and personal expenses, including private tutoring for his children, contributions to his wife’s pension. According to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing lodged by the nonprofit in federal court, he misspent $1.7 million on travel, furniture, ‘lavish’ meals and used the nonprofit's Amex for his property tax bill and some political donations.

The Board of the Studio City Neighborhood Council is _______ and looks forward to a quick but also fair and transparent process to obtain replacement operators.

Disgusted?

B) 14-1174-S6 Proposed CIS re NoHo Arts District Areawide Public Art (Project)

The Board of the Studio City Neighborhood Council would like to encourage the Councilmember and the Department of Cultural Affairs to consider subject matter for the art project that is reflective of both the possible future and the rich history of the area. Amelia Earhart, RED CAR from Vineland-Chandler and of course the Weddingtons. Perhaps, a component of the project could involve a district wide art contest?

(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch.)