LOS ANGELES

ALPERN AT LARGE--There used to be a time when Transportation and Planning meant something like "discussion, debate, and public policy based on data and obeying the laws of physics".  Of course, now that they've been co-opted by the developers and activists, Transportation and Planning increasingly means: 

CORRUPTION WATCH-The phrase “Liar, Liar, pants on fire” may explain why judges wear robes. Due to their habitual lying, all their pants caught on fire. What will they do, oh, what will they do, if the taunt becomes “Liar, Liar, robes on fire?” 

@THE GUSS REPORT-The politicians at LA City Hall and other local electeds last week got a taste of their own “you can’t beat City Hall” medicine as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents descended into local communities to arrest undocumented immigrants with criminal histories, causing an unfortunate – and 100% predictable and preventable – consequence:  undocumented immigrants without criminal histories were scooped up from their beds, the breakfast table and workplaces, too. 

GELFAND’S WORLD-- (This is another article in a continuing campaign to inform, educate and energize  Angelenos on the reformation of city government … explaining the how, the why and the possibilities.) 

When I wrote the first of my series of articles on LA governmental reform, I received an inquiry from a fellow CityWatch author. He asked what I thought of the proposed initiative by governor candidate John Cox (photo above). Since I had never heard of the proposal, I didn't answer at the time. Here is my take on an interesting attempt that -- like so many other initiative attempts -- was dropped on the public without advance warning and most importantly, without an attempt to build a consensus among the voters that something like it would be helpful. 

CAL MATTERS--Well folks, it looks like we may have an old-fashioned, down-to-the-wire political race this year for governor, something Californians haven’t seen for quite a few years.

ALPERN AT LARGE--We're so used to presuming that the crises coming from the city, county, or state governmental halls of power are Truth that we've forgotten that they could be existing only because of stupidity, incompetance, or downright manipulation.  So Washington's declarations of a given crisis are to be ignored, but it's OK coming from LA or Sacramento? 

BELL VIEW-Living in Los Angeles for the past twenty years has driven home to me the power of the vote. The first time I supported a Quixotic campaign against an incumbent City Councilmen (and all of mine have been men since I’ve been here), our side got absolutely clobbered – when you looked at the results based on percentages. The incumbent got more than 80% of the vote. But when you looked at the numbers themselves – in the second-largest city in America – the margin of victory looked incredibly thin. Less than 8,000 votes separated victory from defeat.  

EASTSIDER-After a recent presentation by DWP about the status of remediation of underground water in the San Fernando Valley, I realized two things; first, they are doing a great job at building facilities to remove the underground toxins in these areas from the useful water for us Angelinos, and second, none of these measures are going to directly increase the water supply to Southern California. Which leaves us with a big question -- how do we ensure our water supply in this desert we inhabit? 

MY TURN--Whether you hate or love Walmart–they are not alone in locking up products.  

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Last week I heard from a number of readers about my recent CityWatch column critical of California Senate Bill 827. They told me that Scott Wiener’s proposed legislation would inflict far more damage on Los Angeles than imposing taller height limits, eliminating parking requirements, and gutting zoning overlay districts, such as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs). They told me it would also allow the construction of by-right apartment buildings on parcels that the City Council previously zoned for single-family residences. And, it will put the on-going, City Hall-supported gentrification of Los Angeles on steroids. 

RESISTANCE WATCH--Students who survived Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida unequivocally rejected the "prayers and condolences" offered by President Donald Trump—calling on him to enact strict gun control laws instead.

CORRUPTION WATCH-Which should rule the decisions of the Los Angeles City Council – Quality of Life or Profits of Developers? Since every developer project receives unanimous approval of the LA City Council, we know that Quality of Life plays no role. In fact, when ruling that the criminal bribery system that controls the LA City Council was above the law (i.e. non-justiciable), Judge Richard Fruin accepted as true the proposition that the LA City Council decade’s long violation of Penal Code § 86 was criminal. His ruling was that criminal behavior by the City Council was nobody’s business. Thus, the situation shall not be changing unless the federal courts decide that criminality is a bad thing. 

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA-Here’s the good news in Sacramento: “Lady Bird,” a coming-of-age film set in Sacramento -- and written and directed by the California capital’s own Greta Gerwig -- has been nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture. 

MORE THAN THE MIDDLE IS MISSING!--At Scott Wiener’s February 3 town hall in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset neighborhood, I was startled to hear the city’s state senator say that his controversial new bill, SB 827, co-sponsored by Senator Nancy Skinner and drafted by California YIMBY Executive Director Brian Hanlon, was all about fostering the construction of the “missing middle”—“small to mid-sized apartment” buildings that are three to five stories tall with “maybe 8 to 20 units.”

SMALL BIZ---In an address to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a non-profit which counts over 325,000 small business owners among its members, Vice President Mike Pence gushed that small businesses “create jobs.

TRUMP WATCH—I wasn’t going to comment on this, but the Rob Porter wife beating story is now going on its seventh day. And to the extent that this story has "legs," given the Hope Hicks angle, there are just too many available puns not to take this on.  As reported on yahoo: https://tinyurl.com/y9rhjq4h (Photo above: Hope Hicks with the President.) 

DEEGAN ON LA-Mansionization could be seen as kid’s stuff by some, compared to what’s being proposed in Sacramento -- in SB827 -- that’s being called a “transit-rich housing bonus bill.” 

LAND USE--I recently attended UCLA Extension’s 2018 Land Use Law and Planning Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Seated in long rows of tables under the glittering chandeliers of the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom, hundreds of elected and appointed public officials, developers, attorneys, and consultants are annually briefed by sharp pro-growth land-use lawyers and other like-minded experts on the latest California land-use legislation and case law.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Despite denying for the past year that he is a bigamist, Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr. is on the precipice of getting what he has pursued for the past dozen years: a divorce from Lynn Suzette Green, a Trenton, NJ, attorney, to whom he is presently married. Price is also presently married to Delbra Richardson, a Los Angeles real estate professional.

AT LENGTH-At a Jan. 10 news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the city’s economy is “a beast,” but some residents wonder if it isn’t a monster. 

EDUCATION WATCH-The privatizers’ ideal candidate for California State Superintendent, Marshall Tuck, recently suffered a serious blow to his credibility when he announced he was returning a contribution from a mysterious anti-gay zealot but keeping over $61,000 from a PAC. The situation revealed a campaign scrambling to maintain a narrative that appeals to California’s mostly progressive voters when the reality is much darker.