In the News
Economy is Booming but Ordinary People Not Feeling Any Richer
The most basic is the state of the economy. It's supposed to work in favor of the president's party when things are up, and work against it when things are down. It's no wonder then that the White House is pushing the argument that the eco…
City Hall Digs Deeper Ditch for its First Amendment Troubles
@THE GUSS REPORT-If the government of the City of Los Angeles wanted to make its First Amendment troubles even worse than they were last we…
California AG Backs LA Harbor Community Fighting Toxic Project
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE-Anybody who's dealt with the Department of City Planning (DCP) in recent years knows that the quality of their enviro…
A One-Sided Sheriff’s Debate
SOCIAL JUSTICE POLITICS-Saturday morning the stage was set for a toe-to-toe battle between two men running to be the next Los Angeles Count…
UC-Berkeley Professor Rosen Leaves Out the Part About Close Ties to Corporate Landlords
DIRTY POLITICS--In the debate over Proposition 10, UC-Berkeley Professor Kenneth T. Rosen is not the independent expert he wants California…
Three Years In and the Airbnb Puzzle Remains Unsolved … But That’s the Way We Roll In LA
EASTSIDER-When the City Council can’t achieve a 15-0 vote by their usual “Brown Act? What Stinkin’ Brown Act” methods, the result gets mess…
The ‘Why I Left the Left’ Conversation Continues
CHATMATES--This is a response to Bob Gelfand’s piece, “Taking Issue with the Author Who Has Issues… With How the Left Presents Itself.”
The Question I Would Ask Judge Kavanaugh
BELL VIEW--Just before retiring from the Supreme Court in 2010, Justice Stevens took one last crack at Justice Scalia’s judicial philosophy.
The County Exposes Another Garcetti Housing Fraud
CORRUPTION WATCH-The County of Los Angeles has revealed another aspect of the Garcetti’s housing fraud.
Re-think Trade Education: Invest in LA
GUEST COMMENTARY-Is everyone fit for college? Is everyone going to be working in the tech world? The answer is NO.
Putting a Lid on the Global Warming Discussion
GELFAND’S WORLD--It's the ultimate irony -- watching professional climate-change deniers quoting the predictions of modern science.
On Grasping at Straws and Justifying Good Deeds
RANTZ & RAVEZ-In my last CityWatch article on August 30, I wrote about a Rave (a good deed) and how I assisted a man in search of his w…
Hidden Messages from LA’s Beat-up Sidewalks
PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Los Angeles’s sidewalks are far more than broken-down, unsafe concrete slabs long ignored and now overdue for major rep…
California’s Harris and Feinstein: Did their Performance at the Kavanaugh Hearings Win Them Any Votes?
CAL MATTERS--As fate would decree, both of California’s U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, sit on the Senate Judiciary Comm…
‘Best Practices’ for Neighborhood Councils: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!
ALPERN AT LARGE--One of the most sacred parts of the trust between government and its constituents (or, restated, the citizenry which is SU…
Analyzing the Tensions Around This Week's Climate Talks in San Francisco.
CLIMATE POLITICS--The Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this week is positively thick with solidarity.
Options, We’ve Got Options
VOICES--Once upon a time, in a town at the far end of the city, stakeholders actually got what their taxes paid for, and lived in a place t…
Los Angeles: The Virtue of Simplicity
CORRUPTION WATCH-The mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “seek simplicity and distrust it.”
LA’s Homeless: A Four-Bit Room Might Help
GELFAND’S WORLD--Back in 1964, Roger Miller wrote King of the Road.Maybe it wasn't quite at the level of perfection of Dang Me,but it does…
