LOS ANGELES

(PART OF AN ON-GOING SERIES) On July 6, 2017, I sent Mayor Eric Garcetti a memo that stated, in part, “While it is difficult to predict, I would not be surprised to see a 10-12% increase in the City’s contribution rate (to LACERS) between now and 2021. 

VOICES-The leader of the World Health Organization should resign immediately.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-People are all atwitter about former LA City Councilmember Mitch Englander’s indictment -- oh dearie, dearie, what’s next?

PERSPECTIVE--The demolition of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art - LACMA - has started, and one of the first casualties to disappear from the cultural history of Los Angeles is the Bing Theater.

ALPERN AT LARGE-If you read the title and expected either a pro-transit or anti-transit screed, you will probably be disappointed.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Shortly after LA City Councilmember Nury Martinez was chosen to be that body’s president, she was widely accused of not embracing the day-to-day function, tedium and responsibility of the gig. 

NEWS FLASH-Just as I finished this article, Bernie Sanders announced early Wednesday, April 8 that he is suspending his campaign. While I have changed the Takeaway, I stand by the analysis. 

TRUMP’S VIRUS-What is racism? Ultimately, it is fear. A personal fear of a threat a person feels powerless to control. 

PLANNING WATCH:  Even before the Covid-19 Pandemic, our gentrification statistics were grim, such as widespread evictions from demolished affordable apartments.

GUESTWORDS--For Donald Trump’s GOP followers, the real issue in the 2020 election is democracy itself. They want it abolished. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's not a shock to many of us in the health care profession, but warm weather alone isn't going to magically make the COVID-19 virus go away.

RANTZ & RAVEZ-Our conversations have changed dramatically in recent weeks.

PUBLIC HEATH-The CDC is now telling us to wear “Do it yourself” aka: DIY masks when we are out in public.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLITICS-Last year, I visited housing activists all over California, asking them about the street-level impacts of gentrification and unfair, sky-high rents in their cities.

VOICES--I understand the need to continue construction during the pandemic.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-America in 2020 has become a Kool-Aid generation, believing the myth that, “we are all in this together.”

TRUMP VIRUS-Trump’s outright refusal for weeks to invoke the Defense Production Act authorizing the president to prioritize the production and distribution of scarce materials deemed "essential to the national defense, specifically protective equipment (presumably face masks) and ventilators, has put millions of Americans at risk. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--This will be a discussion about what is necessarily going to happen over the next several weeks, including more isolation for those of us who manage to avoid the virus.

DEEGAN ON LA-A relatively new category of low-wage independent contract workers -- the “gig” workers -- are on the front lines of suffering as their employers, giants like Amazon/Whole Foods and Instacart, resist demands to give them major benefits. 

BCK FILE-As the total of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has spiked to over 300,000, with over 8,000 deaths as of Saturday, April 4, the Trump Administration appears to be taking at least some notice.

GUEST WORDS-The poet Langston Hughes once wrote, “I wish the rent was heaven sent.” With 10 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hughes’ words resonate now more than ever.