Comments
ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Peeved. That’s me, this morning, clicking through NYT DealBook only to hit a paywall at the WSJ. You’d think the mighty New York Times could arrange access for its subscribers. DealBook should negotiate that basic courtesy. We spend a fortune on the NYT, after all.
Same with the Los Angeles Times, now running readers’ letters as standalone opinion items, like today’s blistering note from Sol Taylor in Riverside:
“Billionaires shouldn’t exist while their employees live off food stamps… Jeff Bezos’ wealth display would make Hunger Games blush.”
Not wrong. Billionaires hoarding wealth while workers and the homeless suffer is grotesque. But I still want the damn links to open. Otherwise, these media empires are just another bottleneck in the public square, keeping the governed from the knowledge they need to govern back.
Studio City is building more high school regulation basketball courts (than anyone globally).
Zero Dollar Burnout
Tuesday’s LA County Board of Supervisors meeting was its usual circus of ceremonial empathy, targeted giveaways, and strategic neglect.
Pastor Darryl Beard opened with humility and grace. Supervisor Holly Mitchell introduced him with such warmth the microphones blushed. Lindsey Horvath delivered an acronym-packed tribute to veteran Tracy Cooper Harris, so dense it deserved its own federal earmark. A dog named Mimosa, “the perfect brunch companion,” starred in the pet adoption segment. Only in LA could brunch metaphors seep into animal services.
Then came public comment. IHSS caregivers begged for wages above “zero dollar proposals.” Their urgency was born of real hunger. The Board’s lips pursed in performative concern before briskly moving on.
I popped on the AT&T line (virtually) to note the million-dollar sole-source PR contract to flood TikTok with “Work for LA County” ads. Because flashy social media stunts don’t hide the burnout caused by all those unfilled vacancies. If everything is an emergency, nothing is an emergency.
Later, Dr. Scorza’s State of Black LA report laid bare inequities mirrored in Latino communities. I called for restoration, reparation, and perspective. The Supervisors passed a motion to protect immigrant families if parents are deported. I cautioned against involving DCFS – once in, few get out. AI might help sort who truly needs services, but only with strict oversight. Silicon Valley would approve. Ghaly? Sara Sadwhani Ph.D. will know what to do.
Sara Sadwhani Ph.D. of Measure G.
Finally, on the drugs flooding youth probation, it’s grimly ironic that rules ban parents from hugging their kids because moms are allegedly smuggling in drugs. Hardly heartwarming. I backed Supervisor Horvath’s motion but warned about narc-sniffing dogs and shady tutoring incentives. We need holistic solutions, people. I like the speaker from Credible Messenges. Let's hire him.
If governance were measured in certificates, LA would be paradise. Until moral courage arrives, reality waits outside, unpaid.
What a Pair? G stands for Ghaly!
Lindsey "G" Horvath (Lindsey P. Horvath)
Item 3 on this week’s Board agenda was policy poetry: “Update guardianship protocols for immigrant families.” Translation? When ICE rips families apart, DCFS stands ready to funnel kids into its bureaucracy. A 2023 audit found over 1,000 children in unsafe placements—proof the system is a revolving door of harm. Another dashboard. Another PowerPoint. No real progress.
ER visits are down 10-25%—a public health win forged in fear. But dragging kids deeper into DCFS? That’s failure rebranded as success.
Enter Dr. Christina Ghaly, head of LA County Health Services, now facing brutal budget cuts—clinics, hospitals, staff, all on the block. Enter her husband, Dr. Mark Ghaly, former state HHS Secretary, now Strategic Advisor at Pair Team, an AI startup promising to revolutionize Medicaid. Their pitch? Replace expensive providers with community health workers aided by AI copilots for documentation and triage. They call it “proactive equity.”
Get in here, Ghaly!
Pair Team touts 30% better patient engagement. But a 2024 study found 60% of AI triage systems misdiagnose complex cases. In other words, families get ChatGPT instead of doctors. When Christina’s department needs cost-cutting miracles, her husband’s startup stands ready to profit.
They call it synergy. I call it one big machine… in their living room.
This model is exactly what LA County craves to survive. Juicy conflict? Sure. But they’ll disclose it, claim transparency, and move forward. The Ghalys get richer. They already are.
Public health legends always find their goldmine. Dr. Jonathan Fielding built his fortune with Dimensional Fund Advisors stock, later gifting UCLA $50 million. Noble? Maybe. But his public decisions paved his private fortune.
LA governance is a family business. Don Knabe moved golf course motions while his son Matt cashed lobbyist checks. Janice Hahn inherited her father Kenny’s Supervisor seat. Harvey Englander lobbied while his nephew Mitchell went from Councilmember to federal inmate. Zev Yaroslavsky and daughter-in-law Katy Young Yaroslavsky now rule Westside policy.
Public service here isn’t a job—it’s a bloodline. One big machine. And LA just keeps paying the bill.
Measure G's Missing Link
Measure G is the proposed tax hike to fund LA County services. The website should be linked easily on the Board's website, ffs, Yen. Very important to have a clear message to the public about opportunities to participate and detailed transcripts of all the meetings. Stick a link on the board's site near all Mitchell's cluster meetings.
Staying On The Road
France is beautiful, but its roads can be fucking dangerous. One of my more questionable parenting maneuvers – up there with letting my young kids bike down a 28-mile volcano in Maui – was letting my freshly licensed son drive us across France in a Citroën. I may have “forgotten” to add him as an additional driver, possibly because he was too young. But he was great, and it let me lecture from guidebooks while he dreamed of Le Mans. And then… we were there. Lol.
I thought of this when I heard about Larry’s accident. June 21, the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – nearly became his last. Instead, it marks the start of a long summer of healing and, with luck, a return to the vineyards and roads he loves.
Visiting Larry and Constance at Château de Mille was unforgettable. The estate is older than any country I’ve lived in, and wandering its ruins between tastings and patio lunches. The wine was extraordinary, and Larry poured with that infectious laugh that makes you forget there’s rat poison in the cave (not that there is, but you wouldn’t care if there was).
Back when we were hitchhiking through Europe, our questionable appetite for risk was on full display. A car door got ripped off, yet we navigated life’s bumps – on the road, off the road, and doorless – with his unstoppable laugh leading the way.
Driving under Marseille’s tunnels feels like Tom Cruise might land spread-eagled on your hood at 100 km/hour. Speaking of stunts… William Friedkin, director of The French Connection, passed away at 87. That film may bear some blame for the world’s, and certainly LA’s, obsession with car chases. SoCal news could use car chase rehab. No disrespect – it won five Oscars in 1972.
I always thought Rémy Julienne was behind that chase, but it was stunt coordinator Bill Hickman. Still, I once met Julienne in Monaco filming a Judith Krantz mini-series. He pulled up in a rally-painted Volvo, then took three tries to parallel park. Even masters need practice.
But all of it is overshadowed by one truth: staying on the road is the miracle. Larry knows this better than anyone. Stay on the road, my friend. The vineyards are waiting.
Coming Next Week!
Blumenfield at Raging Waters. Markeezy touches a dolphin. Yaroslavsky gets a tick. Hernandez mobilizes the community in Kevlar.
Board of Supervisors Agenda PREVIEW | July 15, 2025
Opening with Father Paul Sustayta’s invocation, followed by Supervisor Barger presenting an adoptable pet. Code for: “Brace yourselves. Long day ahead.”
Consent Calendar Carnival
Item 2: Horvath declares July 30 World Day Against Trafficking.
Item 3: Hahn proclaims August 7 Purple Heart Day. Photos incoming. NOTE: All Purple Hearts welcome!
Items 4-6: Horvath waives fees from $841 for Palisades recovery to $30K for Zuma Triathlon.
Sheila, Get in Here!
Zev, Get in Here!
Big Money Moves
Item 7: Mitchell deploys $5.7M in the Bioscience Loan Fund to keep firms from fleeing. They're incubating here and then hatching in Austin!
Item 20: Measure B trauma property assessment goes up again, yielding an extra $86M. Catalina Island Health gets $6M to keep helicopters gassed up.
Usual Suspects
Public Works: $14M for Huntington Park Library, park fee hikes, $3.8M paratransit contract for routes Uber fears to tread.
Sheriff’s FIFA badge hustle returns. Because nothing deters crime like a collectible soccer badge.
Settlements (Items 37-40)
$14M wrongful conviction
$450K shooting
$190K inmate negligence
$175K disability discrimination at DCFS
Hollywood Hustle
Barger and Horvath push to keep film here with fee cuts, tech hubs, and an $80-100M Evergreen Fund for startups. Somewhere, a Teamster claps slowly.
Immigrant Rights & DCFS Alarm Bells
Items 8 and 12 expand guardianship protocols. Once again, DO NOT funnel kids into DCFS, ffs, it is a horror show best avoided.
(Eric Preven is a Studio City-based TV writer-producer, award-winning journalist, and longtime community activist who won two landmark open government cases in California.)
