LOS ANGELES

EASTSIDER-Back in the “bad old days” at the turn of the century (1900, not 2000) America was in the throes of crooked corporations and banks, employers who treated workers badly, and, oh yes, crooked politicians. Sound familiar? Like 2018? Time to check out a group of journalists referred to as the Muckrakers.  

CORRUPTION WATCH-At one time they were all the rage. They were going to transform America from a horrid land with suburbs and SUVs into the modern world of 100 story sky scrapers amidst flying cars and cubicle size apartments. 

BELL VIEW--It should feel good to be right all the time, but it doesn’t. It feels terrible. Arguing with people on “the other side” – whatever that is – of virtually every issue of importance to the survival of our species and the continuation of democracy can be a tiring exercise. Being right all the time doesn’t make it any less of a slog. I have friends – whatever that means – who have deleted everyone from their world who disagrees with them. They tell me that feels good. But I doubt it.

VIEW FROM HERE--Federal economic policy started with Alexander Hamilton. As the first secretary of the treasury, he insisted that the U.S. government assume the debt incurred by states during the American Revolution. Taking responsibility for the states’ war debt enabled the fledgling U.S. government to, in essence, establish credit with other nations. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--Last night, the Mar Vista Community Council (NVCC) Transportation/Infrastructure Committee spent a considerable amount of time and debate on a problem (in this case, the inability to remove unsightly and sometimes-dangerous tree stumps) facing Angelenos, and which is emblematic about other problems facing the citizenry in the City of the Angels: 

EDUCATION IDEAS-What to make of an online community college enabling working adults to upskill and keep up with technology, as well as to enable low wage workers to advance in career ladders? 

OSCAR POLITICS-Late in “Girls Trip,” when the central Flossy Posse is squabbling at a New Orleans hotel, the impulsive merrymaker Dina hurls a slew of expletives at her friends ― about “raggedy fake-asses” and the clap. 

EDUCATION POLITICS--Every single year since Proposition 39 was passed, facilitating infrastructure spending at schools by lowering the supermajority vote requirement for funding measures to 55% – ever since that passed in 2000 there have been collateral effects to infrastructure beyond mere fiscal impacts. 

RANTZ AND RAVEZ-People need to cooperate with the directions of law enforcement officers and not resist or fail to follow their directions. That way, everyone can be on their way and the law enforcement officers can go EOW (End of Watch) and return the next day to continue to “Protect and Serve” you, your family and the community-at-large. 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-According to legend, Mark Twain coined the expression, "Lies, damned lies, and statistics," to describe statistics that researchers use to support weak arguments.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?--In December, I was on a panel organized around the question of whether coming out is "like it used to be." All but one panelist declared that coming out today is much easier. I was the outlier.

CAL MATTERS--Gov. Jerry Brown wants to add millions in new spending on programs to help former inmates stay out of jail—a proposal generating bipartisan praise because of concern they are returning to prison in large numbers. But some say it still isn’t enough.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--For generations, California has offered its people an opportunity to own a home, start a business, and move up, whether someone came from Brooklyn, east Texas, Morelos or Taipei. That deal is still desired by most, but in a state that increasingly sees such activities as socially regressive and environmentally disastrous.

ALPERN AT LARGE--In a nutshell, we are all being overwhelmed by apathy, a tougher cost of living, traffic, homelessness, a lack of coherent affordable housing and transit-oriented development, and a lack of taxpayer-paid services in the City of the Angels.  No one has all the answers, but certainly raising the right questions is a step in the right direction.  But first and foremost, our greatest threat lies in the following three groups: 

CORRUPTION WATCH-Human beings prefer myths over facts, so why do myths have advantages over facts?

BCK FILE--One year after the first Women’s March, women, men, and children gathered in cities across the United States and the globe not only to protest the GOP agenda and policies but also to support flipping the House. A record number of women are running for seats in 2018. 

CAL MATTERS--Four-plus decades ago, the Legislature and Jerry Brown, then in the first stages of his two-part governorship, decreed that public employees had the right to join unions and bargain for salaries and other working conditions.

GELFAND’S WORLD—(This is part of a year-long effort by CityWatch to help inform and support city government reform.) In a previous article, I laid out the basics for creating substantive reform in the city government. The strategy is to make use of a ballot initiative process that we already have. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Last week marked 20 years since Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo was first elected to public office, yet he made a rookie error when he winged it during an adjourning motion, when members of the public who have died are memorialized by what are supposed to be a few thoughtful words. 

STANDING UP TO GREED-The Los Angeles Times announced on Friday that its newsroom earlier this month voted overwhelmingly to unionize, 248–44.

CAPITAL & MAIN-(Editor’s Note: A reminder here that constitutional scholar Chemerinsky also chaired one of the two commissions that created Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system. In those early days Neighborhood Councils were in good company amid great expectations.) Since Donald Trump took office once year ago, perhaps no American has called into question the legal and ethical behavior of the president with more persistence and authority than Erwin Chemerinsky. One of the country’s preeminent constitutional scholars, and the dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s law school, Chemerinsky has sounded the alarm from day one of Trump’s administration – most strenuously over the president’s alleged daily violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.