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CityWatch Los Angeles
Politics. Perspective. Participation.
LA SPORTS WATCHDOG--Once again, we are hoping for the Dodgers to end its 30-year World Series drought. And in that quest, many believed that the team should have signed Bryce Harper, a 26-year old wunderkind who was the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2015 NL MVP.
LA WATCHDOG--Ten years ago, on March 3, 2009, just over 50% of the voters of the City of Los Angeles rejected Measure B, Mayor Villaraigosa’s solar initiative to have the Department of Water and Power install 400 megawatts of solar power within the City limits.
LA WATCHDOG--The blue wave has caused politicians throughout the State to believe that money grows on trees in our back yards. Many are planning tax, rate, and fee increases, including LAUSD, DWP, Metro, the City, and the State. But at the same time, all are experiencing record revenues.
LA WATCHDOG--Our trust and confidence in the City’s elected officials and institutions has sunk to new lows as revelations about City Hall’s pay-to-play culture have been front page news ever since Councilman Jose Huizar’s offices and home were raided by the FBI in November.
LA WATCHDOG--Mayor Eric Garcetti’s hastily called press conference (photo above) on Tuesday morning, February 12, was essentially a pep rally for the Los Angeles New Green Deal team where he announced the depowering / phase out of the Department of Water and Power’s three coastal natural gas power plants that are a major source of reliable electricity for the City of Los Angeles.
LA WATCHDOG--The recent reports of rats, fleas, and vermin in City Hall have gone viral, eliciting comments from around the world. This includes an appropriately titled, front page article in The Wall Street Journal, “Politics is a Dirty Business – Starting with the Rats at Los Angeles City Hall.”
LA WATCHDOG--The process for developing and approving the City’s annual budget is not transparent because it does not allow Angelenos to have any meaningful input on how the City will spend our hard-earned money. Nor does it allow us time to review, analyze, and comment on the operational, financial, and policy issues that are contained in over 1,500 pages of mind-numbing figures.
LA WATCHDOG--“This is the eradication of congestion.” Phillip A. Washington, Metro Chief Executive.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering congestion pricing which, if approved by the voters, would charge motorists to drive on our freeways and streets. This new tax is intended ease traffic on our roadways and reduce the County’s carbon foot print by cutting down on the emission of greenhouse gases that fuel climate change.
LA WATCHDOG--The Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times believes that Mayor Eric Garcetti made the right decision in not running for President of the United States, stating that “Los Angeles is a big, complicated [see below] city with serious challenges and tremendous opportunities. It’s a city that needs a full-time, fully invested mayor.
LA WATCHDOG--More money will not solve the problems of the Los Angeles Unified School District because Angelenos do not trust the system to properly educate their children.
LA WATCHDOG--The management of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the representatives of the striking United Teachers Los Angeles have been meeting behind closed doors for almost a week, trying to come to an agreement over salaries, class size, fully staffed schools (librarians nurses, counselors), the reorganization of the District into 32 districts, and a limit on charter and magnet schools.
LA WATCHDOG--United Teachers Los Angeles and its President, Alex Caputo-Pearl, are asking the Los Angeles Unified School District for salary increases for its members, smaller class sizes, and fully staffed schools.
LA WATCHDOG--The Los Angeles Unified School District is closed for business because United Teachers Los Angeles and its over 30,000 members are striking for higher wages, fully staffed schools, and the curtailment, if not the elimination, of charter and magnet schools.
LA WATCHDOG--One of the consequences of the strike action against the Los Angeles Unified School by United Teachers Los Angeles will be the demand for a tax increase to finance the District’s inefficient operations.
LA WATCHDOG--The Los Angeles Times 2019 Wish List for 2019 listed 25 changes they would like see, of which only one involved City Hall.
LA WATCHDOG--Despite a booming economy and record revenues, our City’s finances are a mess.
LA WATCHDOG--In 2001, the voters of Los Angeles overwhelmingly approved Charter Amendment 2, the Modification to Fire and Police Plans.
LA WATCHDOG-The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) reported that its investment portfolio lost 1.9% for the first five months of its fiscal year (July to November).
LA WATCHDOG--You would think that the Budget and Finance Committee of the Los Angeles City Council would be doing everything possible to eliminate the projected $84 million budget deficit that was discussed in the Second Financial Status Report issued on December 6 by the City Administrative Officer.
LA WATCHDOG--The Second Financial Status Report issued on December 6 by the City Administrative Officer (“CAO”) said that the “currently projected expenditure imbalance of $83.9 million is still at a significant level.”
LA WATCHDOG--For true blue Dodger fans, the off season is one of great anticipation. The team is building its roster for the upcoming season to make another run at the elusive goal of winning the World Series.
LA WATCHDOG--The $8.1 million Silver Lake Reservoir Stormwater Capture Project is designed to capture 159 acre feet of stormwater (52 million gallons) from 171 acres surrounding the lake and to divert the cleaned up (but not drinkable) water into the out of service Silver Lake and Ivanhoe Reservoirs.
LA WATCHDOG--On Monday, about to be termed out City Council President Herb Wesson announced that he is entering the race to succeed Mark Ridley-Thomas, a long time County Supervisor who is also termed out in 2020.
LA WATCHDOG--On Saturday, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (“LANCC”) passed the following motion demanding that embattled Councilman Jose Huizar resign from the City Council.
LA WATCHDOG--Over the past two years, our DWP bills have soared beyond anyone’s expectations, significantly higher than was projected in the 2016 rate case.
LA WATCHDOG--Where there is smoke, there is fire, especially when it involves City Councilman Jose Huizar.
LA WATCHDOG--On March 3, 2020, a little more than 15 months away, in 67 weeks from now, and in 469 days from Tuesday, we will once again go to the polls as California will hold its Presidential Primary.
LA WATCHDOG--The City’s two pension plans had a 9.75% return on its investment portfolio of $36 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 according to the recently released actuarial reports. This is 2.5% higher than the targeted rate of return of 7.25%.
LA WATCHDOG--Charter Amendment B: Shall the City Charter be amended to allow the City to establish a municipal financial institution or bank?
LA WATCHDOG--While Eric Garcetti has been prancing around the country promoting his presidential pedigree, the City of Los Angeles is experiencing “over expenditures” of almost $100 million for the first two months of its fiscal year, blowing a hole in the City’s supposedly balanced budget.
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