NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS

PLANNING WATCH -  Real estate is a highly profitable business, especially when its income comes from rents.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Los Angeles County has released fundraising documents for the upcoming Sheriff’s race with Alex Villanueva outraising his challengers by a 9-1 margin.

THE VIEW FROM HERE - Remember Worldcom?  A lot of people don’t. It was like Enron and Sears.

THE EASTSIDER - After the recent pictures of our Governor, our Mayor, and San Francisco’s Mayor maskless at the Rams/49ers game, I saw one reason people don’t use masks.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Inglewood Unified School District is continuing to yield press coverage as documents detail a lawsuit filed by a previous basketball coach is settled against a principal, who hasn’t been seen on campus since.

HOMELESS POLITICS - The 2022 Homeless count is especially important to me because the Homeless Crisis affects everyone in our County.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Online fashion retailer Fashion Nova, LLC will be prohibited from suppressing customer reviews of its products and required to pay $4.2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company blocked negative reviews of its products from being posted to its website.

LABOR WATCH - If you’re a Texan with a disability, and you need someone to help you fill out your ballot in a polling place (it’s gotten more complicated for you to get a mail-in ballot), your assistant must fill out a document indicating his or her relationship to you, and that person will be Restricted as to the kind of Assistance he or she can provide.

EASTSIDER - Hat’s off to the Reseda Neighborhood Council for this one. Evidently, having botched the 2021 Neighborhood Council Elections, Raquel Beltran is back trying to grab another million dollars from the City budget for -- 2013 Neighborhood Council Elections! 

LAND USE IN LA - Cue the “Imperial March.” 

EASTSIDER - Since Kevin De Leon chose to make homelessness the centerpiece of his Mayoral campaign, it seems fair to see how that’s working out in his very own CD 14.

THE ENVIRONMENT - “Metro is beginning the environmental review phase for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project, which will build a heavy rail line or monorail between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside.

SPECIAL REPORT - I am Janet Gunter and am with the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, INC.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Sheriff Alex Villanueva is on the June 7 ballot alongside challengers who have worked inside the department.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Some Inglewood residents have shared an image of a newly created newspaper that has begun to spring up in their mailboxes.

SOUTH OF THE 10) - Dear 2UrbanGirls. Please publish this letter I sent to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on behalf of foster care providers. Thank you.

HIDDEN POLICE FILES - The City of Inglewood, Calif., is arguing in court for the right to destroy records that could shed light on misconduct in its police department.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced on Tuesday, Dec. 28, that a court ruled in favor of the city in a lawsuit aimed at overturning a plan for the construction of up to 6,000 new apartment and condominium units within a half-mile of five Metro Expo Line stations.

“We urgently need more housing and we should put it close to public transit to reduce traffic congestion. This victory is an essential step in dramatically reimagining how Angelenos live, work, shop and play.” Feuer said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel ruled in favor of the city on Dec. 17.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2018 by Fix The City, a Westside nonprofit that argued the city’s current infrastructure couldn’t support the new units and jobs in the planned Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan.

In its complaint, the group argued that residents already experience “overburdened and inadequate infrastructure and public services, including public safety services.”

The court’s ruling in Los Angeles’ favor will allow for the building of increased housing and the creation of pedestrian friendly streets within half a mile of the Westside Metro train stations, including the Expo/Bundy Station and the Expo/Sepulveda Station, as well as in Westwood, Palms and Culver City, according to the city attorney.

In an effort to encourage Angelenos to live and work near transit hubs, the Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan will allow for 6,000 new apartments, with a portion set aside as affordable for low-income renters. Feurer said it will also facilitate the creation of up to 14,000 jobs along the Expo Line.

“L.A.’s future is closely tied to creating more transit-oriented development as we tackle our housing crisis and L.A.’s crushing traffic congestion,” Feuer said Tuesday.

The city’s defense in the lawsuit was managed by Deputy City Attorneys John Fox and Morgan Hector.

(2UrbanGirls contributed to this article.  2UrbanGirls has been cited in CityWatchLA, Compton Herald, Daily Breeze, Daily News, Inglewood Today, Intersections South LA, KCRW, KPCC, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, LA Watts Times, Mercury News, Orange County Register and The Atlantic.)   

EASTSIDER - Our story involves Paul Cook, a local resident, who committed the (gasp) crime of allegedly doing  a ‘rolling stop’, and was issued a traffic ticket by an overzealous School Police officer who appeared to be laying in wait for him in the dark. Like 8:40 pm on a school summer holiday.

SOUTH OF THE 10 - The ACLU of Southern California filed a legal action today seeking access to use-of-force and other records from the Inglewood Police Department as well as a temporary restraining order preventing any potentially relevant records from being destroyed. 

LAW & ORDER - Democrats in L.A. County need to do our homework and choose the best candidate to defeat and replace the disastrous rogue sheriff, Alex Villanueva.