LOS ANGELES

STREET LEVEL REALITY-Los Angeles politicians and developers dread saying the words “gentrification” and “displacement.” In fact, Mayor Eric Garcetti rarely utters the g-word in public.  It causes all kinds of political headaches, so they resort to using code words that are more palatable for public consumption.

CORRUPTION WATCH-The City of Los Angeles is losing population, but no one wants to admit it. When the City bases planning for the future on the falsehood of a rapidly increasing population, the observation that it is really losing population is unwelcome at City Hall.

ANIMAL WATCH--As firefighters continue battling largest fire in the City of Los Angeles history, hundreds of horses, dogs, cats, goats, chickens and more have been evacuated and are filling our already filled to the brim City shelters and being temporarily housed at evacuation sites such as Hanson Dam and Pierce College.

AT LENGTH-Two years ago, the City of Los Angeles woke up to the shocking realization that it had a homeless crisis after a young activist by the name of Elvis Summers started building tiny homes and giving them to homeless people. (Photo above left: LA City Councilmember Joe Buscaino with Mayor Garcetti.)

ALPERN ON LABOR--There are those of us who "Resist".  There are those of us who want to "Make America Great Again".  And then there are those who point to Neo-Nazis, ANTIFA, RINO's, DINO's, Globalists, and Social Justice Warriors (or a combination thereof) as the forces destroying the American Dream. But that Dream is ... what, now?  And Labor's role is ... what, now?

BACKTALK---Denyse Selesnick recently authored in CityWatch an article entitled, “Fake News: My Very Own Focus Group.” In that article, she alleges that the statistics regarding the registration overages in the California voter rolls exposed by Election Integrity Project California are “fake news.” As she proceeds to explain herself, it becomes clear wherein her error lies. 

LAST STRAW BETRAYAL-The Los Angeles City Council should reject a recommendation by Fred Pickel, Director of the Office of Public Accountability at the LADWP, that the city back tunnels altering water diversions South from the San Francisco Bay Delta, and should fire him for once again favoring utility over ratepayer interests, Consumer Watchdog said today.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Race and racism come with an asterisk at LA City Council, where last week it discussed whether to locally change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

LABOR DAY 2017--To many of us, September’s’ first Monday is a three-day weekend to close out the summer season with burger and hot dogs on the grill, pool parties, a last wearing of white pants. But, historically, Labor Day was created by the Labor Movement to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. 

RANTZ AND RAVEZ-It was a Saturday night in August when I went to the Westfield Topanga Mall to eat at CPK with a friend. After dinner, we strolled around and ran into a mutual friend. I love to shop and shopping for a deal is very special for my two friends and me. The three of us checked around for sales at the various stores and noticed a number of vacant storefronts. The most common sign on blacked out windows included the words, “New Retailer Coming Soon” or “We love change.... exciting partner coming soon.” 

ARE YOU GOOD WITH THIS?--A new city Ethics Commission report reveals that developers continue to shell out eye-popping cash for lobbyists to influence L.A. politicians and bureaucrats. In the first quarter of 2017, seven developers landed on the city’s Top 10 list for highest paying clients of lobbyists.  

EASTSIDER-I have no idea why Assembly member Raul Bocanegra (photo above)  (D-AD39) continues to want to run Los Angeles from his Sacramento vantage point. Maybe he drank too much untreated water out there in the San Fernando Valley. Anyhow, now he wants the State of California to set up and run a school district right here in Los Angeles. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--It bears repeating--as stated in a previous CityWatch article, the problems facing Angelenos and other Californians are mainly local/state-induced, and have nothing to do with President Donald J. Trump.  Lots of Angelenos are fed up with Trump, and for good reasons, but he ain't the one telling you to shut the hell up and take it. 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-My roots as a city planner go back to Seattle, where I studied city planning at the University of Washington and worked for the City of Seattle, before heading south to Los Angeles.

GAMING GRIDLOCK-Usually they work individually, but in the August 27, 2017 edition of The Daily Breeze, Joel Koktin and Wendell Cox formed a tag-team for their latest article, “The Great Transit Rip-Off.”  

MIS-DIRECTION MISERY-This famous experiment helps explain why Angelenos cannot see the mass transit disaster that already is afflicting them. For those who do not already grasp my cryptic reference, click this link before reading more.  

BELL VIEW-When I was just a kid, I liked Ronald Reagan. He seemed upbeat, competent, presidential. He had a sense of humor. Then, during the 1988 presidential campaign, I saw the Willie Horton Ad.  It hit me like a freight train. “My god!” I thought. “These guys are racists!” 

MY TURN-Continuing my quest to identify and combat fake news has become almost an obsession. I have spent hours tracking down a ton of fake news sites. Some of them are so disgusting that when I finished, I needed to take a shower! 

THE PREVEN REPORT--In a July 17 CityWatch piece, we cited the following response given by Mayor Eric Garcetti to a question about how he manages to balance career planning with fulfilling his current role as Mayor of Los Angeles: 

@THE GUSS REPORT-My neighbors took in four tiny foster kittens last week because the LA Animal Services shelter nearest us said that they were going to be killed by 5 p.m. if they didn’t, and that there were many other animals who weren’t going to make it. 

CAL MATTERS--The California Public Utilities Commission must, by its nature, straddle the fine line between providing consumers with dependable electric power, natural gas and other utility services at fair prices and protecting the financial health of the huge corporations that supply those services.