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CityWatch Los Angeles
Politics. Perspective. Participation.
LA WATCHDOG - “We have a unique power – we elect our bosses. It would be difficult to think of workers anywhere else who elect their bosses. We do. We must take advantage of it.” Alex Caputo-Pearl, President, United Teachers Los Angeles
LA WATCHDOG - On December 12, 2022, Karen Bass will be sworn in as our next mayor.
LA WATCHDOG - The trial of former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar on charges of bribery and racketeering is scheduled for February 23, over four years after the FBI and IRS raided his offices and home on November 7, 2018.
LA WATCHDOG - The City Council wants nothing to do with Councilman Kevin de León. But the Councilmembers have not been willing to devote their time and resources to lead a recall effort to get rid of him.
LA WATCHDOG - Four years ago, on November 7, 2018, the FBI raided the offices and house of then Councilman Jose Huizar.
LA WATCHDOG - Controller Ron Galperin and former Controllers Wendy Greuel and Laura Chick are unanimous in their belief that Kenneth Mejia does not have the experience, character, and temperament to be our next City Controller.
LA WATCHDOG - In a word, NO.
LA WATCHDOG - The LA Watchdog’s Voter Guide for the November election focuses on local elections and ballot measures.
LA WATCHDOG - Disgraced Councilman Kevin de Leon has indicated that he will not resign from the City Council despite multiple calls for his head because of his participation in a meeting where City Council President Nury Martinez made numerous racially charged and incendiary remarks.
LA WATCHDOG - Do you trust the City Council?
LA WATCHDOG - Underlying the recent article in the Los Angeles Times about an October 2021 meeting between Council President Nury Martinez, two other Latino members of the City Council, and the Latino president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor that involved racially insensitive remarks are the efforts by the underrepresented Latino population wanting to get its fair share of the pie.
LA WATCHDOG - The people responsible for $600,000 units for permanent supportive housing have placed on the ballot Measure ULA that is designed to raise up to $1.1 billion a year to be used for affordable housing and tenant assistance programs.
LA WATCHDOG - Shall an ordinance funding and authorizing affordable housing programs and resources for tenants at risk of homelessness through a 4% tax on sales/transfers of real property exceeding $5 million, and 5.5% on properties of $10 million or more, with exceptions; until ended by voters; generating approximately $600 million - $1.1 billion annually; be adopted?
LA WATCHDOG - Shall an ordinance providing funding for parks, recreational centers, pools, playgrounds, waterways, beaches, green spaces, open spaces, childcare, and other facilities, and increasing park equity in the City of Los Angeles,
LA WATCHDOG - The opponents to the proposed development of the luxurious Bvlgari Hotel that is located in the environmentally sensitive hills of Benedict Canyon are mystified as to why the Planning Land Use Management (“PLUM”) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council has once again failed to act on a July 2021 motion that would stop this inappropriate development that is opposed by the surrounding neighborhood and numerous environmental groups.
LA WATCHDOG - On December 8, 2021, Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Paul Krekorian submitted a motion (see below), seconded by City Council President Nury Martinez, instructing “the Chief Legislative Analyst ….
LA WATCHDOG - There is a saying in Los Angeles that nothing gets done at City Hall without a lawsuit or ballot measure.
LA WATCHDOG - Unions and other special interests have collected enough signatures to qualify four initiatives for the ballot.
LA WATCHDOG - In March, the “City Council instructed the Department of Water and Power to prepare a Strategic Long Term Resource Plan that achieves 100% carbon-free energy by 2035, in a way that is equitable and has minimal adverse impact on Ratepayers.”
LA WATCHDOG - The Department of Animal Services and its shelter system is in “crisis” according to a recent editorial in the Los Angeles Times.
LA WATCHDOG - On June 10, the City Clerk certified that there were sufficient signatures for the SEIU-UHW sponsored Initiative Petition entitled Minimum Wage for Healthcare Employees Working at Healthcare Facilities* to qualify for the ballot.
LA WATCHDOG - Carmel Partners, a multibillion dollar San Francisco based private equity firm specializing in multifamily real estate, has proposed to develop a 28 story residential tower with 290 units at 1050 South La Cienega Boulevard, just south of Olympic Boulevard.
LA WATCHDOG - In six years, the City of Los Angeles will be hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics.
LA WATCHDOG - On November 6, 2018, 56% of the City’s voters rejected Charter Amendment B that would have allowed the City to establish a municipal bank.
LA WATCHDOG - Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang certified that the City’s Assessed Valuation as of January 1 of its more than 793,000 real estate parcels increased by $50.7 billion (7%) to a record $774 billion.
LA WATCHDOG - Councilman Paul Krekorian, the head of the Budget and Finance Committee, did not have a good week.
LA WATCHDOG - Jade Enterprises is requesting incentive payments over the next 25 years of $63 million in connection with its development of a three star, 300 room hotel that will be located within a half mile of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
LA WATCHDOG - In a rush to the ballot that did not include adequate planning, the ethically challenged Los Angeles City Council has placed the Parks and Recreational Facilities Parcel Tax on the November ballot.
LA WATCHDOG - Real estate developer Dae Young Lee (aka David Lee) was found guilty on June 27 by a jury of three federal criminal charges for his role in providing $500,000 in cash to then City Councilman Jose Huizar in exchange for his help in resolving an appeal by a group of construction trade unions of the permit for Lee’s 20 story residential development at 940 Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles.
LA WATCHDOG - In November, the City issued its Five Year Capital and Technology Improvement Program that outlined over 650 infrastructure projects with a project cost of $9.2 billion.
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