CommentsTHE CITY-In LA county approximately 15 percent of the nearly 11 million residents live in poverty, but COVID has caused that number to rise.
In the developing nation of India where Eric Garcetti has been short-listed for an ambassadorship, hundreds of millions of people among the 1.4 billion Indians are living in poverty.
Though there were only 580,466 people who experienced homelessness on a single night in the United States in 2020 according to HUD, approximately 75,000 of that group are here in LA County. India may have 1.8 million unhoused people.
Speaking plainly, it is hard to see the job in India as a plum assignment when 4,194 Indians died of COVID on May 21, 2021 alone.
Since May 7, more than 4000 people have died from COVID daily, the seven-day average is 4,188 deaths.
It's not a pretty picture.
If Eric Garcetti does land the gig, it will be interesting to watch Garcetti collaborate with Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India who was described in the New York Times recently as having a "charisma, an allure, a magnetism, a very compelling personal story and has. . .developed an enormous personal credibility with the average voter."
Both leaders share a talent and knack for dressing up terrible news at the expense of the greater good. They both prioritize "secrecy and image management" over transparency. And it takes a village. . .a media village.
Modi may be a rock star but at various points in recent months officials made decisions that have come back to haunt India.
His government allowed a Hindu festival with millions of worshipers to take place and it quickly became a super-spreader.
The local press corps here has also been working overtime to salvage the. . .HMS Garcetti.
Mayor Garcetti can probably relate to Modi's guilt about the Hindu festival, as way back in March of 2020, he and the county public health director, Barbara Ferrer, allowed the LA Marathon to take place.
The rapid burial by the press of that terrible miscalculation should be written up for a textbook on bungle minimization or maybe a Pulitzer prize, when the real impacts of its spreading capabilities come out.
The expedience to act quickly in a self-serving manner is a Garcetti hallmark.
If he does make it over to India, Modi and the mayor can compare notes about surrounding themselves with allies rather than experts and sidelining any real critics. "Sir, you're--"
Consider, the recent re-couching of the brilliant money-saving, headline-grabbing deal to spend over $20 million dollars on N95 masks from Honeywell.
To be fair to Garcetti, as the LA Times always is, no one predicted the sharp increase in demand from COVID and it took the industry supply chain approximately a year to catch up.
Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar told the LA Times, the masks filled an “urgent need” at a time of uncertain availability and the city’s investment will make it prepared for future events."
Now we are in the business of reselling N95 masks to hospitals.
"Sir, you're disrupting the meeting."
That sucking sound:
A similar miscalculation occurred regarding the separation incentive program (SIP.)
SIP, where over 1,377 city employees took what appears to be over $50,000,000 in lucrative pay outs that resulted in what could be fairly described as a severe "brain drain" at City Hall, was not helpful.
The plan was intended to ease the budget pressure, but instead is costing a lot.
The most reckless and weird detail: over 250 civilian police personnel took the buyout, so now if one adds a bit of contorted police logic, "We'll have to replace the desk workers with sworn officers thereby taking them off the street. (A beat) Unless of course, the city can find more funding!"
Although President Biden’s American Rescue Plan is delivering less than initially expected, the losses have been more than offset by projected increases in key tax revenue.
The spending plan relies heavily on one-time money, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the city’s new programs. Deficits are projected for the city in coming years and the Mayor--
"Sir, we already took public comments on the one-item budget."
Stalking horse race:
The very same Democratic party faithful who Eric Garcetti tapped to help his party win the midterm elections in 2018 — and so boosted his national profile -- also underwrote the campaign of Mitchell Schwartz, the forgettable but most well-funded of the 2017 challengers.
It was revealing because Mitchell Schwartz, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars more than any of the other candidates in the field, was also a democratic party faithful fundraiser.
The term "stalking horse" originates from a hunter trying to conceal himself behind either a real or fake horse.
Schwartz raised all that money and took a lot of public matching money but espoused virtually the same policies as the Mayor and, pro-tel -- he ran a mailer of himself appearing shlubby next to the very handsome Mayor. Red Flag.
Garcetti never agreed to a single debate, using the unspeakably lame argument that if any of his 10 challengers drew at least 15 percent of the support in a poll administered by longtime ally Fernando Guerra of LMU, he might have considered it.
As my brother and I wrote, Candidates Refusing to Debate is The Unpardonable Sin of Politics, but it's common in Los Angeles.
The many flavors of our "compliant media” will be addressed in another column.
Walk and Talk and Pass!
During the period when Mayor Garcetti was diligently raising money and declining to participate in open discussions, while popping on to KNX news radio for a half hour on a weekly basis, a rare sighting of the Mayor-at-large occurred at City Hall.
I quickly stepped into stride with Garcetti and gave him a brief elevator pitch on the serious corruption in the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment elections.
The mayor promised to look into the details of the Studio City NC Election before ducking out town on one of a string of self-promotional tours.
When I approached Mike Feuer, the City Attorney, who is as long legged as he is long winded about the very same issues, he left his gun-toting security guy and the inquiring constituent. . .in the dust.
He's a very fast walker.
Even the FBI had agreed there was criminality but surprised us by saying that despite the very good evidence of election outcome tampering, the bureau was going to decline to prosecute on this one.
The young special agent told us over the telephone that "we're going to have to take a pass" on prosecution.
But as noted previously, it's a marathon, not a sprint!
On the road again. . .
Congestion pricing generally imposes price increases for services that are subject to temporary or cyclic increases in demand. The classic example we see is with Uber and Lyft. The more people who need or want something, the higher the price goes. Krekorian and Bonin wants to charge folks in different ways to use the public roadways, but "what’s prohibitively expensive for someone of limited means is a drop in the bucket for the affluent."
The rideshare companies deserve a proper column, focusing on the many issues there, but traveling across the country for a family event is instructive about the equity gap out on the road.
As a man who has traveled a lot, though not at all during the pandemic, I was admittedly out of practice.
The approach I chose for ground transportation was to park my own Subaru and shuttle in from FOX Auto, an off-airport lot. This was because many people have told me from personal experiences that due to the pandemic both reliability and pricing on Uber/Lyft are. . .variable.
Even at the old analog parking lot, the price for an SUV, requires an $8 per day markup. This up charge would make sense if the vehicle were, for example, so large that it took up two spaces. But an Outback always fits in a small space. Cha-ching!
American Airlines - a work in progress
American Airlines (AA) is the world's largest airline when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenger mile. The post-pandemic recovery is a work in progress, so the following comments should be tempered with all the privileges of the benefit of the doubt.
My original plan was to connect in Philadelphia but the outbound was going to be so late that after a brief half mile walk to Terminal 5 + 7 where I thought I'd catch an alternative flight to my ultimate destination of Albany via Chicago, I hightailed it right back to Terminal 4.
It turns out AA only offers ticket changes at Terminal 4. That is not reasonable.
Traversing the airport for the second time in twenty minutes, I was imagining a smooth process of accommodation. Certainly, given the very sophisticated marketing activities I'd been exposed to from the airline and the realities of modern air travel, I expected a computerized, comprehensive re-booking program. I assumed the computer had already recognized, "This guy is going to miss his flight. . .here's the perfect fix. Mint?"
It was not like that.
I stepped into line at the ONE "help desk" where a dozen or so folks were ahead of me.
As I got closer to the front of the cue that was located in a glassed-in room, that could have aptly served as a COVID incubator on account of all the hostility spraying off the travelers as they recognized just ONE ticketing agent was helping to "save the day."
When the fifth person finally shouted, “Can you please call for help -- or at least get more than one agent?" the one agent told the whole room that she'd heard every single comment from the growing number of dejected but hopeful travelers in line.
Sheila Kuehl says, "As you well know, the first amendment requires that you be able to speak, not that we are forced to listen."
At American, to their credit, they are apparently listening, and faintly suggesting retaliation, cc: Mark Ridley Thomas.
The collective blood pressure spiked when an older slower chap and his wife, who had refused to board a particular plane, were shopping around for different flights for tomorrow! "Tomorrow?"
People were in trouble TODAY, it appeared, like right now!
American should have installed a triage person to assess who might be saved, before ONE agent goes into a lengthy process with a traveler who is not even in a legitimate rush. The older-slower couple are just as entitled to services as anyone else, but could have been fully serviced elsewhere, though, evidently not in terminal 5 or 7. Sigh.
The agent finally agreed to call for a supervisor. Turns out it was not to assist more travelers more quickly, but rather to override a detail, so that the older-slower couple, who had clogged up the ONE line for thirty-five minutes, could get the lowest possible price.
I support low pricing, but unfortunately, the "Friendly Skies" were over at United on this day. A lot of members of the public were pissed and hungry.
American Airlines is a work in progress.
Homeboy in the LAX House!
My flight only took three minutes to reroute. I imagined that the agent was rewarding me for staying quiet and not speaking out as I am known to do. She told me, "forget about Philadelphia, you’re going to Ronald Reagan Airport in the nation's capital."
There, she explained I would catch a connection to Albany.
If this worked out, I would only be one hour late from my original estimated time of arrival. Joy. To celebrate, I zipped over to Home Boy Industries a lovely idea run by Father Boyle.
Though, Homeboy was at one time criticized by LAPD for glorifying gang life and harboring criminals, the organization has received recognition and praise for helping young people acquire job skills and seek employment.
How refreshing, I thought, to see one damn thing not be handed over to Wolfgang Puck.
I love Spago etc. but. . .no matter how energetic Frank Gehry is, there’s no water in the LA River and Wolfie should give someone else a chance!
Sheila Kuehl doesn’t agree with me on this, as she handed Puck a major concessionaire contract on county land, through an early negotiating agreement.
It was not surprising but disturbing that by quashing real competition as they do regularly, the board was blocking two African American entrepreneurs with good experience from getting involved.
Despite the endless self-congratulation from Sheila and the Fabulous Five about their endless good works, Kuehl is a creature forged out of time and "status quo."
But like the understaffed AA representative, if she really likes you, she’s prepared to bend the rules.
The No Help Desk!
Sheila once declined to help a senior citizen who had been ticketed in her district by the Sheriff's after the fact for hitting an orange road cone that was improperly placed in the public roadway.
The ticket, if you can believe it, was a criminal hit and run and it was delivered to the constituent's door.
It was so shocking. . .because the allegations were regarding a road cone.
The third district Justice deputy, Sherry Gold at the time, a horribly rude public defender who shall remain nameless, and an unhinged district attorney cost this senior citizen to have to incur over $3,000 just to get the scary criminal charge to go away.
The deputies, who wrote the ticket because a creepy security guard working for the contractor had spotted the Prius scrape-by the cone could have declined to do anything, but they didn't.
There was no damage or injury to anyone or anything, but the location was in an affluent neighborhood.
There were plenty of court fees to adjudicate a super ridiculous non-charge that the senior had left the scene of a hit and run.
The DA had no witness. . .it was absolutely horrible. The government at its worst.
Sheila was fully apprised and went well out of her way to do absolutely nothing to help.
I eventually collected back all the fees including the attorney fees that the senior had to incur from the contractor who left the cone in the road and frankly seemed as baffled by the county's conduct as we were.
She wrote to the Malibu Times:
Who is responsible for the sheriff’s deputies in the Malibu area? There has been a real dereliction of duty of late. The cones and barriers strewn across the roadway in the back of Ralphs (for as long as I can remember) are incredibly dangerous, but instead of enforcing the law and making the contractor follow the appropriate safety codes, the sheriffs are handing out tickets to Malibu residents trying to navigate the hornet’s nest. Is it some kind of revenue generator? I know several people who live on Malibu Road who have been cited in that exact location. The fines are huge, and they are billed as misdemeanor offenses (which I’m told is often done to scare drivers into paying the fine, instead of protesting).
Offensive pricing:
Regardless, Father Boyle has been fishing for travelers at LAX. To get the job done, he has a pre-prepared stack of cold cardboard style croissants that can easily be microwaved into a hot greasy mess.
I found myself wondering if Wolfie could possibly offer a (Free) consultation as to how to make things work smoothly; spruce things up.
He is among the top five wealthiest chefs in the world.
The staff at Homeboy were cool and efficient but to charge $3.49 for a slice of avocado on a sandwich is offensive.
Even as Homeboy charges well over $10 for a breakfast sandwich and coffee, a burger down the way, gets to be over $20 if you like a $5.79 bottle of water with your meal. The woman in front of me asked, and nearly did a spit take when the Homeboy rep told her the price.
At Reagan Airport in Washington, where I noticed Puck will be setting up a restaurant in July. . .it was $42 for a double-scotch, salad, and Truffle fries. $20 for a .5-mile ride to an airport hotel because the free shuttle stops at 10 p.m.
$4.55 for a cup of coffee and one glazed Dunkin’ Donut in Philadelphia and $16 for a smash burger.
This is clearly an equity issue.
Note: Pack a neutral lunch but DO NOT bring a 15-cent bottle of water because it will be confiscated, and you'll need $5.79 to replace. Do bring a container you can fill at the fountain.
Warnings:
They've added a lovely pre-flight warning on American flights a little reminiscent of county board meetings. Conflicts do still arise.
A family of four with three seats boarded late. They had one seat in my row of three and two seats reserved in the row behind me.
People are very nice. Some people.
Neither of the window seat holders -- one told us she was charged $60 for the privilege of sitting by her window -- agreed to accommodate this family.
I was happy to move. . .but without more of an opt-in, it was moot, so the 6' 9" father and his 18 lb. baby slid in to the middle next to me and the cranky guy on the window.
Behind us, the mother and her older 35 lb. child, 50 lbs. total including his car seat, were stuffed in next to the "$60". . .I'll call her Karen.
I could understand why Karen was not excited about giving up her window seat.
It is outrageous to have to pay for a window seat. But in a world where Father Boyle wants $3.49 for a slice of Avocado. . . Karen already had her children and really just wanted some peace and quiet.
Fair enough.
A few people muttered "what a bitch" but because everyone was properly masked. . .just like the "Good Lord" comment last week in response to a request to earmark $5.7 million to purchase Hillside Villas. . .the attribution is still under investigation. It was not me, though I would sign on to that assignation retroactively.
Getting stuck next to a youngster is a test. Grin and bear it is the correct approach. "We were all toddlers once."
At the midpoint of our flight, I was awakened by the child behind me who was definitely disrupting the meeting. He was cheerful but shrieking a lot in glee.
During his enthusiasm, he spilled a bit of his water on Karen's black stretchy pant leg. An apology was immediately issued by the parent and the young three-year old.
Karen marched off, and when she returned, she had brought a flight attendant in tow, and was demanding that the child be relocated.
I had been silent long enough. "Where do you want him to move?" I asked, rather than minding my own business. The flight was packed full.
Karen said, "I paid sixty dollars!"
The dad said, "We're happy to pay, but there's no place to go. I'll pay $100,000 dollars."
This guy may have been a professional athlete. I told him to calm down.
I said to Karen, "In my world, you can switch with someone voluntarily, but you cannot require a 35- pound child or anyone to move. They paid for the seat. And by the way, when they asked you to move, you politely declined."
The flight attendant called for the head flight attendant, who came over and behaved like the trier of fact.
Eventually, Karen slinked back to her window and started drafting her nasty note to the airline.
As we deplaned, an attractive woman approached me and asked if I'd had experience as a mediator? I told her I had a lot of experience with conflict because I cover a group of very naughty politicians and it’s difficult to remain polite, but I always try.
She was interested, but we were both late. . .she complimented me for helping to resolve the matter.
I asked her what she did, and she revealed, "I'm a law professor."
I considered changing my flight and following her to Dallas but banked the win and went to cheer on my daughter at her graduation.
Cornel West is a rock star.
(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Photos: Axios KTLA.)
