LOS ANGELES

AFFORDABLE HOUSING CATASTROPHE--While much focus regarding our housing crisis has been on issues like San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener's disastrous SB 50, falsely promising affordable housing when it’s really a vehicle to boost developer profits through the building of luxury units, the slow pace of providing housing for the homeless, the inadequate enforcing of the city’s Airbnb ordinance and new state rent gouging law, the lack of legislative movement to repeal Costa Hawkins and the explosion of “cash for keys” tenant buyouts to get them to move, one thing has been constant. 

EASTSIDER-Back in the days of the Vietnam War and the Watts Riots, Martin Luther King Jr. was characterized by a lot of folks as “way too accommodating” and establishment.

OTHER WORDS-With Greta Gerwig’s new take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th century novel, “Little Women,” in theaters, I decided to reread the book. 

AT LENGTH--The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Jan 14, unanimously approved a plan proposed by Supervisor Janice Hahn to use a vacant County building in San Pedro as an emergency homeless shelter for three years.

CLIMATE POLITICS-The northern continental shelves of Russia, inclusive of the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea (ESAS) are some of the least researched yet most controversial subjects in climate science today.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The ramifications of Speaker Pelosi’s incompetence are now on full display in the United States Senate.

ELECTION POLITICS--With thousands of residents of Porter Ranch still suffering serious health effects from the devastating Aliso Canyon gas leak of 2016, it would seem tone-deaf for any Democratic candidate in L.A. County to accept campaign donations from oil and gas corporations. 

HOUSING POLITICS--Early this year State Senator Scott Wiener held a press conference to present an amended version of his controversial bill, SB 50. Wiener's proposed legislation would override local planning authority to allow residential projects up to a half mile away from a major transit stop to receive waivers from limits on density and height.

DEEGAN ON LA-That sucking sound you may hear coming from City Hall could be the deep inhales from politicos hoping that when they exhale the results of the annual homeless count will be better than last year -- a time when the very bad news was an increase of 12%.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Martin Luther King encapsulated what so many of us dream when he stated his own dream of his children living in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. 

OUTSIDE THE BOX -The Houston Astros cheated, got caught, and got slapped on the wrists. No one is happy with the verdict, so now what? Play. It. Again. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--I’ll just refer to her as Sheryl, because she has a right to retain as much dignity as the jackals in city government have left her. And they are not trying to leave her much. 

VOICES-McKinsey & Co., a development consultant firm, has made the claim that California must build 3.5 million housing units by 2025.

LETTER TO THE SENATE--To the Honorable Members and Staff of the California State Senate:

ENVIRONMENT POLITICS -- The Alliance of River Communities (ARC) held its monthly public meeting on December 16 at El Rio de Los Angeles State Park in Cypress Park to hear the most current updates on LA River projects.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-Question: What is it called when a 79-year-old widow is forced to wash linens make beds, clean two entire houses with nine bedrooms and sweep the patios and sidewalks and then Judge Lippitt steals 150% of the widow’s wages? Answer: Business as usual in LA County’s Conservancy (Probate) court. 

PERSPECTIVE--The lawsuit recently filed by City Attorney Mike Feuer against the FAA and supported by LA council members Paul Krekorian, David Ryu and Paul Koretz, all of whom are voting members of the Burbank Airport Noise Task Force, is demanding that all departure paths from Burbank return to pre-Next Generation flight tracks.

GUEST WORDS--You don’t know me, but I’ve been a defense attorney in LA for almost 25 years. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-As the Tuesday morning celebration for City Council’s new president Nury Martinez died-down, she walked up the steps to the raised podium where the most influential lawmaker in the City of LA sits during meetings.

PLANNING WATCH-It almost seems normal that most of our national political leaders are marching us over a cliff to fossil fuel driven extinction. So no one should be too surprised when state and local leaders respond to immediate issues, like housing, with similar self-defeating approaches.

OTHER WORDS-As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it’s natural to remember his courageous advocacy for racial equity. But before he was assassinated, King had also begun to broaden his efforts to unify around economic justice.