Ask Tony Villar
Mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa will be on Doug McIntyre's morning drive radio program on KABC tomorow (Friday, December 17th) morning.
Since we have heard that McIntyre reads this site, here's your chance to post questions that perhaps Doug will pick up and ask Tony Villar. As Meat says "Blog away dum dums."
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 12/16/2004 09:13:00 AM
52 Comments:
Someone should call in and ask Tony doesn't he feel badly that he took money from ENRON and senior citizens lost their life savings, executives were indicted and why doesn't he give the money back cause it's blood money.
Villaraigosa should be asked if he believes he has a moral and ethical obligation to resign his council seat while campaigning for mayor. Remember he promised the people of the 14th District that he would not run for mayor at this time, that he would represent the 14th District for a full 4 year term. But remember too that Villaraigosa moved into the district to challenge the incumbent telling the press that he will do better than Pacheco. Whatever one's opinion of Pacheco, let's look at Villaraigosa' behavior. 1) He's a carpetbagger. 2) He broke his campaign pledge and promise. 3) He was out of the state on at least 66 days on behalf of John Kerry (his council staff, too, on numerous occasions). 4)According to the local Boulevard Sentinel newspaper Villaraigosa "...has scarcely been seen around Northeast L.A. in recent months." I invite other Mayor Sam contributors to continue the list...begin with No. 5....
5). Ask him to be put on the record "Did you take money from neighborhood councils?" If he lies the NC's councils have him on record.
6). What else have you done in CD 14 besides making your constituents pick up trash for business owners?
Tony is NOT a carpetbagger and the previous blogger is fully misleading in suggesting that he is. Insiders remember that during redistricting Pacheco purposefully excluded Antonio's house through gerrymandering, forcing Antonio to take up a new residence. After Antonio won the election and as a gesture of respect, Pacheco introduced a motion remapping the district to include Antonio's home.
I respect people's comments and opinions on his promise not to run for mayor and then change his mind (I personally believe it's inconsequential and better for CD14 if he wins), but give me a break with misleading other readers.
Well, that was considerate of Mr. Pacheco. Did Mr. Villaraigosa thank him? Perhaps the "insider" would let us know?
Already hearing inside Tony's camp he's having staff e-mailing people telling them to call in with great support early tomorrow morning. Pretty damn sad when you have to tell people to call in. He's afraid he'll get slammed otherwise. Tony is appearing at all these events taking credit as if he had something to do with them. Anywhere there's a camera op there he is even if he has absolutely nothing to offer or helped in anyway the organization.
I hope people call in to ask Villaraigosa some tough questions, but if the same people who comment on this blog ask those silly questions then what's the point. Let's talk about public policy like public safety, transportation and city services...not these generic comments about how poorly you claim to think he represents CD14. I want to hear some substance tomorrow.
Tony Villar has the nerve to talk about scandals so tomorrow they should ask him about this.....
From L.A. Times
December 3, 2003
Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to pay $5,100 in fines to the city Ethics Commission after acknowledging that his 2001 mayoral campaign violated campaign finance laws.
Villaraigosa signed a stipulation admitting that his campaign accepted six contributions that exceeded the $1,000-per-person limit established by city ethics laws
FROM MEAT:
Nont sure if you guys have heard but we just found out what an 11 billion dollar LAX boondoggle for unions buys you -- their endorsement.
COPE just endorsed Hahn -- more pay to play at its worst.
Antonio should be asked why, as Speaker, he gave Disney Hall $5 Million dollars and the Museum of Tolerance $18 million dollars and $0 for the Eastside?
Pay to play? or just buying westside support? you make the call.
He should be asked why he voted against taking a person's car when they are illegally dumping in the neighborhoods? I'm sure he'll talk about their rights as defendants are more important than the community's well being.
Does anybody know how he voted when the issue of impounding street racers cars in the Valley came up? I wonder if voted against that, too?
Antonio should be asked why he hasn't delivered on the bio-medical research campus around USC/General Hospital? Or is that just another broken campaign promise?
Someone should ask him if it's true that he told a group of Latino leaders on the Eastside that no matter what they do, he's going to get 80% of the Latino vote? I heard Parks, Hertzberg, and Alarcon were all also meeting with this group of about 100 Latino leaders at the Chicana Action Service Center.
He should be asked why he can't finish projects that were funded under the prior Councilmember:
A. Opening of Garvanza Skate Park
B. Preservation of Open Space at Moon Canyon
C. Opening of Arroyo Seco Dog Park
All these projects were funded and ready to go when the former councilmember left, why aren't they completed?
To the above poster:
Forget about those projects, why didn't he stop Walgreens from coming into Eagle Rock when he promised he would during the campaign?
Okay, I can top that:
Why didn't he stop the affordable housing project in Boyle Heights that he said he would once elected. Was it that his friends in the affordable housing community got to him or it didn't matter any more after he was elected?
He should be asked why his good friend Victor Griego was hired as a lobbyist for the developer killing the open space known as Elephant Hill in El Sereno. It seems that if he really opposed the development, he wouldn't have had his friend help the developer.
Yes, the same Victor Griego that ran for this seat in 1999.
One of his big issues to defeat Pacheco was the number of killings in the district. He should be asked why in the time he has been the Councilmember it has gotten worse, and Homeboy Industry workers are being killed in broad daylight.
He attacking the Mayor about how gang murders are up 20%; so how does he explain the increase in his district and his lack of leadership to curb it?
FROM MEAT:
Finally some REAL questions to finally respond too -- i was beggining to wonder where all the smart people came from, but i am guessing all the posts from above were from the same 2 folks that always blog and were trying to make it seem like more than it appears.
If i may take a crack at the crack addicts above....
1. MALDEF-redistricting --- Correct! MALDEF did put out that map, the question i have to the person who wrote this...was this the only draft MALDEF put out??? -- the answer is NO. There were several that were satisfactory to MALDEF so lets not use their name as some sort of rubicon. As to carpetbagging, Antonio was raised in the district, went to school in the district, even met his wife and raised his family in the district, carpetbagger, i don't think so.
2. Disney Hall and Museum of Tolerance -- is this the kind of tunnel vision, simple minded folks we have here? Antonio was Speaker which means while representing his district he also had a statewide perspective, the fact that over 22,000 young kids received healthcare in his district because of Healthy Families at the cost of $22 million a yr -- so lets do the math -- $22 million times 5 years (since he ws speaker) over $100 million dollars for the eastside. Nice try guys, but you forget who you are dealing with.
3. Dumping illegal cars???? I have a question, because i am not sure, was this a city council vote or an assembly vote (i am serious) please tell me whoever wrote this, i'd love to repsond, because there are two similar pieces of legislation one state one local -- just want to know which one to make you look like an idiot with.
4. Bio-Med... oh no you got him....riiiight dum-dums -- i'll say this -- you can harp on this all you want...give Antonio about 1 month and i think you'll have some amazing NEWS...can anyone say STEM CELLS!!!
5. 80% Latino votes -- hey buddy i was there -- and no i was not there as a member of Antonio's staff, but it was interesting for Antonio to give his political OPINION. Sorry if your opinion differs, but Antonio's opinion was based on previous PRECEDENT. Look up the numbers, Antonio has shown he can do it once, no reason he can't do it twice.
6. Garvanza, dog park....geeeeesshhh, if they were up and running we'd be reading about how you guys were going to sue because Antonio skirted around the EIR's and the community imput phase thats necessary. Some of this is simple procedure, the money is there and it will happen, but get a little more creative with your punches.
7. WALGREENS - It was a done deal in eagle rock before antonio was ever sworn in, there was nothing he could do cause pacheco sold out the community on that one, i mean there is some power that comes with being a councilman and Nick showed how to get the devil in the neighborhood. There was nothing that could be done. If you want to sock him over that fine, but give Nick Pacheco a jab too.
8. Affordable housing in boyle heights, good god man. Which units are you talking about, currently there are 4-5 different projects, if Antonio said something specific about your development, please be SPECIFIC. Saying no to you and yes to another area is perfically acceptable -- you need more details, unless you were just to trying to write merely one more dum-dum post.
9. Elephant Hill -- Hit Antonio all you want on that one dum-dums -- in about a month you'll feel like an idiot (unless you already take medication for that). Some of this is about timing, i am sorry your pathetic lives don't rotate with the sun like everyone else's.
10. # of killings --- Damn right Antonio is all over this, he has visited every victim in the district. No other councilman has ever done this, he contributed $500,000 to a measure to add more cops and preventative programs in the district. He's put together a plan to add more than 1,600 more cops (a plan that Bratton thinks works) -- where was Pacheco on this...hmmm.... oh yeah he was creating shady deals with La Colectiva and not paying his old employees, thats not leadership thats being a member of the Dum-Dums club just like the bloggers from above.
blog away dum-dums.
FROM MEATEATER:
MEAT SAYS:
1. MALDEF-redistricting --- Correct! MALDEF did put out that map, the question i have to the person who wrote this...was this the only draft MALDEF put out??? -- the answer is NO. There were several that were satisfactory to MALDEF so lets not use their name as some sort of rubicon. As to carpetbagging, Antonio was raised in the district, went to school in the district, even met his wife and raised his family in the district, carpetbagger, i don't think so.
MEATEATER RESPONDS: True, and I agree that the carpetbagger charge is kinda ridiculous for someone who grew up and lives in the area. On the other hand, AV groupies have perpetuated the lie that Pacheco redistricted Antonio "out of the 14th District". In fact (and I spent many many hours with the maps), his house on San Rafael was always on the 1st District side, before and after redistricting. The west side of the street was Garcetti's district, but not enough Latinos live there (the 13th needed to maintain its Latino numbers in the face of Mt. Washington gentrification), and it moved to the 14th District. Pacheco introduced a long-after redistricting motion that actually moved Antonio's old home (he DID move in all fairness to be in the 14th District, where he hadn't been living) into the 14th District with Reyes' permission. Nice of Pacheco, for what it is worth (from no big fan of Pacheco).
MEAT SAYS:
2. Disney Hall and Museum of Tolerance -- is this the kind of tunnel vision, simple minded folks we have here? Antonio was Speaker which means while representing his district he also had a statewide perspective, the fact that over 22,000 young kids received healthcare in his district because of Healthy Families at the cost of $22 million a yr -- so lets do the math -- $22 million times 5 years (since he ws speaker) over $100 million dollars for the eastside. Nice try guys, but you forget who you are dealing with.
MEATEATER RESPONDS:
OK, but if you are going to do that, compare apples with apples. Unfair of original poster to say AV did nothing for the Eastside. This is a clear exaggeration. But to say that he produced healthcare for kids on the eastside (and there are many, many in Sacramento who would take issue with your--and Antonio's--characterization that "he" did this), you should also add kids from other areas (how many kids in Mar Vista, Watts, etc.). This makes the healthcare point a wash. The point of the posting was what pork did AV bring the Eastside as he was taking care of other projects, which do have some citywide significance, but why not help an institution like Self-Help Graphics or something else become citywide through some of his work in Sacto. This was a hole. Though in all fairness, he really represented the northeast on the Assembly, not the Eastside proper.
MEAT SAYS:
3. Dumping illegal cars???? I have a question, because i am not sure, was this a city council vote or an assembly vote (i am serious) please tell me whoever wrote this, i'd love to repsond, because there are two similar pieces of legislation one state one local -- just want to know which one to make you look like an idiot with.
MEATEATER REPONDS:
This was the local legislation to start punishing the people who illegally dump in our neighborhoods. As someone who lives next to the freeway two blocks from where this dumping occurs, this was a bad vote on AV's part. I don't know if there was some strange ACLU angle, but this was a bit of an abberation for someone who wants to care about the on-the-ground quality of life issues that CD14 residents care about. Point for original poster.
MEAT SAYS:
4. Bio-Med... oh no you got him....riiiight dum-dums -- i'll say this -- you can harp on this all you want...give Antonio about 1 month and i think you'll have some amazing NEWS...can anyone say STEM CELLS!!!
MEATEATER REPSONDS:
Cool. Looking forward to the news. Should be a good boost for his campaign and something this city needs. I have talked to people at USC and elsewhere who are mixed about Antonio's success with this--some were very critical and some less critical--but he would silence everyone if this comes through. We should check back with you Meat around January 31st (6-7 weeks)? Cool with you---sounds like you have some good insider info.
MEAT SAYS:
5. 80% Latino votes -- hey buddy i was there -- and no i was not there as a member of Antonio's staff, but it was interesting for Antonio to give his political OPINION. Sorry if your opinion differs, but Antonio's opinion was based on previous PRECEDENT. Look up the numbers, Antonio has shown he can do it once, no reason he can't do it twice.
MEATEATER REPONDS:
I think this is not an impossible statement for Antonio to make, though I wouldn't make it publicly, as this is a tough expectation to surpass (why not say 60% and do better). That said, I believe that Alarcon (who is clearly hitting his stride as a campaigner) is a greater threat than Becerra ever was, as he is from a different part of town with many loyal NE SFV voters. Also, the County Fed endorsement will peel away Latino voters (just ask Mike Garcia and some other Latino leaders who will be able to pull at least one-third to half of their members at a minimum to the Hahn vote). I think AV gets about 64% of the Latino vote, though does better in areas not in the 14th District.
MEAT SAYS:
6. Garvanza, dog park....geeeeesshhh, if they were up and running we'd be reading about how you guys were going to sue because Antonio skirted around the EIR's and the community imput phase thats necessary. Some of this is simple procedure, the money is there and it will happen, but get a little more creative with your punches.
MEATEATER SAYS:
Good points. But Antonio is no Mike Hernandez, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Nick Pacheco (I say this dispassionately, but Nick could get projects done), Jan Perry, Eric Garcetti, or even Rudy Svornich. These offices did/do know how to move things along much more quickly than AV's office has been able to. He's not bottom of the pack, but this was a bit of a weak argument to hide behind what posters would have said if it was moving more quickly. For councilmembers, the proof is always in the pudding. Get it done. And move on to getting more done. Let's hope AV's office isn't too distracted to do the hard work of project management. What's happening with Sears? Heard there is a developer, but the money needed will make Marlton Square seem like childsplay.
MEAT SAYS:
7. WALGREENS - It was a done deal in eagle rock before antonio was ever sworn in, there was nothing he could do cause pacheco sold out the community on that one, i mean there is some power that comes with being a councilman and Nick showed how to get the devil in the neighborhood. There was nothing that could be done. If you want to sock him over that fine, but give Nick Pacheco a jab too.
MEATEATER RESPONDS:
OK. Pacheco did a crappy job with this. Walgreen's, Public Storage, and others have been walking over the Northeast for too long, and no one is standing up. AV could do more than he has done, but this is mostly Pacheco's doing. Again, it is a leadership question. If Antonio is saying that leadership is so lacking citywide, what should we look at for his effectiveness. Is this going to be an excuse for backing the LAX plan after AV is mayor? "Sorry, there is nothing I could do--it was Hahn's fault"? Some of the undecideds (and I live with two) need some reassurance with projects like Walgreen's that our man can perform in city government.
MEAT SAYS:
8. Affordable housing in boyle heights, good god man. Which units are you talking about, currently there are 4-5 different projects, if Antonio said something specific about your development, please be SPECIFIC. Saying no to you and yes to another area is perfically acceptable -- you need more details, unless you were just to trying to write merely one more dum-dum post.
MEATEATER RESPONDS:
Yeah--not sure what project this refers to. Could original poster give us a bit more or we will have to ignore that charge. As for Antonio's friends in the affordable housing community, I think he still picks them up. He backed the Reyes inclusionary zoning plan and wants to add more to the Housing Fund. But Hahn has done well here. And who knows if AV is saying one thing to housing folks and other things to developers and Carol Schatz.
MEAT SAYS:
9. Elephant Hill -- Hit Antonio all you want on that one dum-dums -- in about a month you'll feel like an idiot (unless you already take medication for that). Some of this is about timing, i am sorry your pathetic lives don't rotate with the sun like everyone else's.
MEATEATER:
Meat--this is more rhetoric than a real response. C'mon, you are usually better (and smarter) than that. Antonio did vote against this as did Reyes, but word was that he lobbied none of his colleagues to follow his vote. Councilmembers usually follow the councilmember of the district with very very few exceptions. AV could have gotten a unanimous vote if he really wanted it. Unless you have evidence otherwise that all the other councilmembers wanted to support it for some other reason and AV DID lobby them unsuccessfully. Which would make him pretty ineffective.
MEAT SAYS:
10. # of killings --- Damn right Antonio is all over this, he has visited every victim in the district. No other councilman has ever done this, he contributed $500,000 to a measure to add more cops and preventative programs in the district. He's put together a plan to add more than 1,600 more cops (a plan that Bratton thinks works) -- where was Pacheco on this...hmmm.... oh yeah he was creating shady deals with La Colectiva and not paying his old employees, thats not leadership thats being a member of the Dum-Dums club just like the bloggers from above.
MEATEATER RESPONDS:
Agree with fishy Pacheco comments, but this doesn't address the stats. Meat, you usually live and die by the stats. What are they for Boyle Heights? Are things better or worse year to date (I don't know, but you are trying to disprove the charge, so please do)? As for the "only Antonio visits every victim's family", this is one of those lies like the Pacheco-redistricted Antonio-out-of-the-14th-district charge that AV groupies and staff keep repeating and repeating. And it is an insult to Jan Perry, Ed Reyes and others that were visiting victim's families, paying for their funerals (how many of those has AV done--more than Jan Perry--I don't think so), long before AV was even on the council. AV is on balance a good man. But don't lose perspective that there are others who are good women and men as well, often doing as good or a better job than AV. And visiting families is good (I think it is truly important), but preventing killings is better. And I wouldn't hold just AV accountable if the numbers are worse, but he deserves some of the blame as would Hahn and Bratton, leading me to vote for Alarcon or Hertzberg.
MEAT SAYS:
blog away dum-dums.
MEATEATER SAYS:
Yum. Nothing like a nice grilled steak.
Of the above exchanges make Mayor Sam the best blog around
I love this dialogue. Great job everyone. Finally issues we can debate. I think the project in Boyle Heights was the Lorena Terrance project. I know on the project AV turned on the community.
FROM MEAT:
Compliments to my fellow carnivore -- nice repost.
I actually made a few errors i'd like to correct.
On elephant hill, i was wrong, for some reason i was getting my hills wrong, i was thinking Ascot not elephant.
As for elepahnt Hill - interesting story, that swath of land was once owned by a magazine publisher years and years ago who would give away parcels to magazine subscribers (weird i know). Well several years ago long before Antonio ever became a councilman a developer begint o go to each one of these owners and buying the land, now this developer wants to put million dollars homes on this land, which may actually increase property values for the good folks of el sereno. That said the process to begin such a development begin long before Antonio was a councilman.
On the Arroyo Seco dog park, skate park and the such -- these items well somewhat funded were NOT FULLY FUNDED they now are and we should see some progress on all of these projects being completed soon. But the previous councilman left these projects in dissarray.
As for the killings --- i don't mean to undermine what any other councilmember does in their districts -- i commend them, all i was saying is that Antonio visits every family. Its a stat that the police captains quoted, theres no real STAT on this, just LAPD info. As for the other councilmembers paying for funerals -- i commend them on that as well -- and maybe Antonio is number one on this one, but lets remember why the office holder accounts got cut in the first place, it was councilman pacheco and his shady La Colectiva deals that got that pot of money cut in the first place. So there would've been more money for Antonio to do more good with had the district not had as shady of a councilman they had before.
One more thing, as for the pork and healthy families, i was merely responding to the criticsm that there was NO MONEY for eastside, i was just pointing out how wrong that blogger was.
MEATEATER -- i tip my hat off to you -- keep up the good work, see you around the blog.
blog away.
FROM MEAT:
sorry again, on the funerals paid for by councilmembers, i meant to say -- 'Maybe Antonio IS NOT number one on this -- i am sure one or two other councilmembers pay for more funerals than Antonio.
ok -
blog away.
AV has been in office going on two years. Now doesn't he have a budget that second year? Of course he does and what has he done with that money Meat? Can you name me some of the organizations or things he's used his budget money for? Isn't it $250,000? By the way it sure looks as if Meat had to consult with AV and get back to us on his answers. I can't believe AV was grandstanding once again in council. Isn't there a time limit on these damn presentations? He's been at the podium for over 45 mins. Padilla START USING THAT DAMN GAVEL. These presentations should have a time limit on them.
It does look as if MEAT has to consult with Antonio before posting, doesn't it? And it looks as if AV is sometimes spinning MEAT. Watch out MEAT, you're going to be fed to the dogs once AV has had his fill.
FROM MEAT:
Consult me???? come on -- i post way too much and too often to consult -- i was just making some corrections regarding my other posts -- and for the record there isn't too much i post that couldn't be gotten on the net or making some well placed calls -- no consulting just info gathering.
Sorry if my little story on elephant hill made it seem like i was "consulted", i was just "informing".
blog away dum-dums.
I believe you, MEAT. Sure I do.
Un Huh me too Meat, I believe you. NOT! No other poster comes to the defense of any other candidate the way you do and with the responses you do. It sounds as if you are on his campaign and want to make sure you say the right thing or else. Meat, AV will devour you to save his own butt. It make be rosy now but watch out. Are you asking Jimmy to help out with the answers? Interesting thing is I think you know way more than he does.
I live in Boyle Heights and the affordable housing project mentioned above is on Lorena near 6th. While campaigning he promised to kill it and once elected he didn't.
On Walgreen's he did the same thing. Promise to kill it and then once elected he didn't.
He's a typical politician -- tell's you what you want to hear when he's running and does what he wants once elected.
I know he goes around blaming Pacheco for these, but with his experience as Speaker and contacts at City Hall he should have never promised these things.
I live in Boyle Heights and the affordable housing project mentioned above is on Lorena near 6th. While campaigning he promised to kill it and once elected he didn't.
On Walgreen's he did the same thing. Promise to kill it and then once elected he didn't.
He's a typical politician -- tell's you what you want to hear when he's running and does what he wants once elected.
I know he goes around blaming Pacheco for these, but with his experience as Speaker and contacts at City Hall he should have never promised these things.
FROM MEAT:
Boorring (yawn) come on cheap seat ticket buyer, give me something to really chew on.
Espousing the old crap from before doesn't make you sound smart, just desperate and ill-informed.
But because i love making you guys feel little and slimy, as it makes me feel all powerful and knowing, i'll oblige you with my repost.
Antonio take credit for stem cells? who said that? dude i was merely giving you guys a hint of what might be coming, but in no way did i or antonio ever suggest he'd start taking credit for the stem cell bond passage.
--nice try dum-dum---
Healthy Families -- geeessshhhh martha escutia??? puhleease -- first yr in the assembly when martha was eating some tamales Antonio introduced universal health coverage for every child up to 300% of the FPL -- it died, but the idea and ultimately the final compromise became known as healthy families which antonio saw through final passage. In between did Martha breathe some life into it in between, yes -- did she start the WHOLE BALL ROLLING - simple answer dum-dum - NO.
Leadership on the killings -- where's the outrage? Antonio was the #1 donor to the yes side of Measure A -- where's the outrage? well i think actions of that kind speak louder than words -- Antonio knew fluff wasn't enough, he had to put his money where his mouth his -- Antonio's ads were seen as helping measure A after rick taylor decided to try to scare the city into voting yes, which only generated bad press for the measure. But i suppose somehow that wasn't enough leadership for you -- so he's introduced a plan to add 1,600 more cops to the streets because he is outraged -- please if you have a better plan, or think his leadership skills could have been used differently -please be specific, cause i was in my examples right now.
I like the random defense of Pacheco -- i take it those were his "standout accomplishments as a councilman", or else you would've said something else.
let's compare
Pacheco has leadership classes sponsered by his office, while at the same time becoming the most shady local politician in CD 14 recent history with La Colective and not paying his employees -- nice leadership example.
Antonio 1st yr in office ends the MTA strike which was costing this city a million bucks a day, and stranding folks primarily in his district from getting to work -- better leadership example.
Pacheco has folks create lists on neighborhood improvements -- VS over 70 NEW neighborhood watch groups in the district sparking leadership qualities in new folks and bringing people together like never before.
Pork issue (nose bleed seats doesn't give any examples) Antonio brand spanking new constituent center in el sereno -- its being built NOW.
I answered the crime issue.
Pacheco goes after rogue taco stands to shut them down -- Antonio??? shuts down more BARS than every councilman combined in the last 10 years -- he did it in a yr in a half. Yeah Pacheco's priorities were well placed, lets go after those taco stands that at worst give you more time in the toilet as oppose to establishments that destroy families, sew violence and disrupt neighborhoods.
community divided? getting your behind handed to you in an election by nearly 20% points - isn't a divided community its a MANDATE.
Oh yeah -- lastly the nationwide contacts and such...
well i suppose when Antonio got into council and the fact that the GOLD LINE WAS DEAD -- means the only person capable of breathing life into it, is someone with some hefty contacts. Antonio goes down to congressman David Driers office (while Pacheco would've gone after Paco the taco guy) and gets the funding necessary to revive the gold line.
blog away dum-dums.
Meat? Can you give us Antonio's spin on Moon Canyon? I am going to be reading very carefully what you write Meat?
Poor poor Meat. You're in a fantasy world. Here are some facts:
1. There are NOT 70 neighborhood watches in CD 14. All the activist I've spoken to at both LAPD divisions say not nearly that many exist. Have AV put them down on paper if you're so sure.
2. Vendors are running Boyle Heights. They are a blight to the community and are taking away business from hard working people who have legal permits to do business. Officers have been told by AV NOT to cite them. This is city tax revenue.
3. The MTA strike WAS NOT settled by AV. It was settled in fact by Hahn. I'm sure you hate hearing the truth but even the newspapers gave Hahn credit.
5. AV has a record in assembly voting against harsher penalities for sex offenders. He's also against gang injunctions.
6. Wrote a letter in support of cocaine kingpin. That's what lost him 2001 election. If he can do that then I can imagine what he can do if he's mayor.
7. AV without a doubt has the worst staff if any council member. He could only wish he had a staff like Garcetti or La Bonge. They don't do their jobs and countless times have been complained about without any results.
8. His police plan is a joke. Won't go into effect until 2006 and wants the County to be included when they overwhelming voted against Measure A. City voted 64% only a couple short in support.
9. Went against community on Walgreens and Lorena Terrace project.
10. Took money from Neighborhood Councils. Took money from ENRON.
11. Rocky closed down bars.
Can anyone give me a link to a story that talks about Gold Line and Villaraigosa saving the day? Thanks.
I hear Senator Gil Cedillo is endorsing Mayor Hahn's re-election and is leading the Latinos for Hahn group.
This is really gonna hurt Villaraigosa.
Hey poster, can you find that LA Magazine article and either post the website so we can all read or better yet give us the date? Another debate is tomorrow. I guarantee AV will and Parks have nothing new to say and will revert to again try to beat Hahn up like school boy bullies. Parks is the last person to be saying anything about scandals when he did nothing and knew all along about Rampart. There is an amazing book called "Labrynith" by Randall Sullivan. It lays out Parks and all the corruption surrounding him during Rampart. He knew those gangsters personally. READ IT.
FROM MEAT:
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM -- take this evildoers.
Garvanza Skate Park and the Dog Park - Those projects have been slowed down by various procedural things. In both cases, the projects still had to be designed and go through the environmental clearance process. Antonio chose to solicit input from community people in both cases. For the skate park he held one or two community meetings to hear from the neighbors on design and operational aspects, some of whom liked the skate park, some of whom hated it. For the dog park, he had staff meet with neighborhood advocates or go to the Hermon neighborhood association meeting to answer questions and give updates about the dog park. Then comments on design and environmental issues were solicited prior to the formal environmental process, which is now ongoing. In the meantime, for the Pachecopuppets to claim that all these projects were funded before ANTONIO took office is bogus. The first thing Antonio heard from Rec and Parks on the dog park after Antonio took office was that they had decided to move the money from the dog park to some other project ( Pacheco probably had something to do with that). Antonio then met with the head of the department, whacked him upside the head and got the money back. Without it, they would not have proceeded with the design and environmental phases of the process. Right now, everything's on track for the dog park to be constructed in the first quarter of 2005. Skate Park is on a later schedule.
Moon Canyon - Pacheco talked a good game on this while still on the Council, but all that was actually done was that the City made an offer to buy the property in the spring of '03 that was rejected flat out by the owner. Then, while he was a lame duck, Pacheco finally introduced a motion starting an eminent domain process. It hadn't even had its first committee hearing at the time Antonio took office. Pacheco also set up funding for the acquisition process by getting some capital improvement money (that could have been used to repair infrastructure, pay for improvements to city buildings or whatever) and taking about $1M from the El Sereno constituent center funding. Antonio decided that taking the money from El Sereno had been inappropriate and gave it back. In the meantime, since the money remaining for Moon Canyon exceeded the offiical City appraisal of the value of the property, it was okay for the eminent domain process to continue. So ANTONIO moved it through the committee approval and has been working with General Services to keep it going ever since. Several steps of the process have been completed, but the passage of time required a new appraisal. That new appraisal came in at more than twice the number of the previous one, exceeding the funding being held for the acquisition. So the process is temporarily on hold while he looks for more money or help. The key point is that ANTONIO's critics (the dum-dums) on this were led to believe by Pacheco that the acquisition was a done-deal before he left office when in fact it hadn't even gotten off square one.
Elephant Hill - the implication that ANTONIO could have stopped this was both ignorant and stupid. The implication that he should or could have stopped Victor Griego from hiring on as a consultant to the developer was also stupid. The implication that the Griego connection played a role in anything was even more preposterous. The approval of the Elephant Hill subdivision was nearly 9 years old when ANTONIO took office. They had another year or so to finish "clearing conditions" and finalize the approval. But ANTONIO had no discretionary control over that - it was what they call a "ministerial" process.. The Council was being advised by the City Attorney that state law required them to approve the final tract map if the conditions had been complied with. His and Reyes' votes WERE symbolic - - because he wanted to send a message to that developer and others that they had to deal more forthrightly with the community and the Council Office in the future. But he knew he couldn't legally overturn the tract map.
Funding for Eastside - ANTONIO did get several million dollars for the Latino History Museum. The problem with you wackos is that the legislative state funding was targeted for major building projects or existing institutions, not little community groups. There was nothing comparable going on in the Eastside at the time upon which to lavish such funding. The notion that this funding was going to "CBOs" and Self-Help Graphics should have got some from the same source is just an idiotic fiction. When the Museum of Tolerance is the same as a little CBO, I'll eat my shirt. And the Disney Hall was a public sector/private sector project, not a CBO. (Eli Broad and Edna Disney a CBO? Gimme a break!) Of course, that's not to say that CBOs shouldn't get state money, but the legislature doesn't dole it out directly in little bits to CBOs. They get it via grant programs and such, and ANTONIO routinely supported worthy local CBO applications for state funds whenever he was asked. In addition, ANTONIO did aggressively go after and get almost $90 million to acquire and create the Taylor Yard and Cornfield state parks. Those may not be classic "eastside," but they are definitely resources for the eastside and northeast. So, the crux of this issue is that the folks doing the complaining are not well-versed in how this stuff works so they look at the end result and try to construct some elaborate blame-game that suits their worldview.
Affordable Housing - ANTONIO never promised anyone he would oppose the Lorena Terrace project. He did agree to push for the nonprofit developer to meet more with the community and make some concessions. That's what happened. Anybody who says anything else is lying.
As for the dum-dum giving credit to Hahn on the MTA strike you are as wrong as a dead dum dum. The ONLY time it was EVER printed that Hahn had anything to do with the strike was last week when the county fed said it was one of their dum reasons for endorsing him. The LA Times reports that as news because thats what the county fed said -- the truth however, not sure you care to know it though, is all of the Times coverage of the strike settlement, including a big feature article a month or two after the settlement (either Dec. '03 or Jan. '04), acknowledged that Antonio and Zev were the ones who closed the deal in about two days once they formally joined the negotiating sessions.
Really guys -- i may make mistakes because i am human, but the GROSS lies being said here is alien to me.
MEAT: Don't make your boss's mistake of excluding the lead role that Ludlow took on the MTA strike. It was his work in court that led AV to the table in the first place. Maybe you didn't notice AV knock ML out of the way in his rush to the microphone at the press conference (no joke). It's one thing to sh*t on your enemies. It's another to do it do a close friend. And it's part of a recurrent pattern.
I'd rather not see Villaraigosa get Cedillo's endorsement. This is in response to one of the postings above. Didn't Cedillo endorse Hahn before anyways? Cedillo is last person you want on your ticket no matter how much people may think of him on the eastside. He probably doesn't have any friends north of Mulholland anyways. That's my guess.
It's all over town MEAT IS ACTUALLY ULISSES SANCHEZ in the Eagle Rock office. You can blame the other mayoral candidates people for spreading the rumor throughout the city. They know you well.
Meat read this article in Boulevard Sentinel about the SKATE PARK. http://losangeles.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boulevardsentinel.com%2F
It clearly states from a community activist that Antonio hasn't attended any damn meetings. It's amazing Meat that you would out right LIE to protect your little boss. No one would lie and be so defensive about a person unless they had something to gain.
Everybody remembers when Pacheco tried that "administrative review" response on why he couldn't stop Walgreens. They had complied with the letter of the law and therefore he could not stop them. Villaraigosa's inability to stop Elephant Hill is going to bite him in the butt the same way Walgreens bit Pacheco.
Villaraigosa should call his his billionaire buddies (Broad, Riordan or Burkle) and get one of their foundations to donate the balance needed to preserve Moon Canyon since he took so long to get it done that it triggered a new appraisal. He should have been able to close that deal.
Also, the $1 million alleged in the previous post was never taken from El Sereno for Mt. Washington. No need to lie about things MEAT.
Check this link out:
http://appla1.lacity.org/CFI/Record_Preview.cfm?Document=122666&arraypos=1&LastRecord=1
The $1 million went for a youth center in Boyle Heights. $550,000 went to acquire Moon Canyon.
It sounds like MEAT doesn't support protecting Moon Canyon from development when you see the way he attacks Pacheco fro using capital improvement money; on the same day the Mayoral candidates are discussing the importance of the environment and open space.
Antonio is not going to be very happy with you MEAT.
FROM MEAT:
I am not Ulysses -- i do not work for the councilman, i do not collect a paycheck from anything the councilman does -- you can either believe the truth or the random lies you make up.
As for the article, big whooped deedoo -- that was one meeting, as i clearly stated Antonio had either one or two, i don't know cause i don't work for him dum-dum. Just because you weren't there eating the free cookies doesn't mean there wasn't a mtg dum-dum.
There are mtgs that occur without your knowledge sometimes dum-dum.
As for the stuff about LudLow -- i like ludlow, i worked on his campaign (i do not collect a paycheck from mr ludlow either) but i will say this, anyone that thinks this strike was settled because of only mr ludlows work is sorely wrong. As for me not mentioning him, i was merely pointing out what the LA Times wrote about the strike settlement and how THIS DUM DUM MAYOR had nothing to do with it.
As for the other mayoral campaigns trying to figure out who i am, let them -- they should be trying to trick...i mean convince voters their guy is number one, as opposed to wasting time on me. But if they ever open their fridge and see some cold cuts, they can rest assure that i am listening.
i am just too good for you dum dums to figure out.
blog away.
FROM MEAT:
Antonio can have whatever opinion of me he wants -- hell FIRE ME -- but alas i do not work for him, so you dum dums can shout and cry all you want.
As for tonights debate -- i think Antonio's 100% lifetime voting record on environmental issues (according to the LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, the folks SPONSERING the debate) is good enough for me.
Isn't it good enough for you dum-dums?
blog away.
I really thought MEAT was simply a poltical junkie. But now it's clear he is spinning for Antonio. MEAT said a long time ago that he got his information from the newspapers and some well placed calls. It's quite clear that he has been intentionally misleading us all this time and now I do believe he works for Antonio after all. What a fraud!
FROM MEAT:
How can i prove that i DO NOT WORK FOR ANTONIO -- geeesh -- i am a politcal junkie whose not connected to anything money coming from city hall, i just think you regular junkies are upset that someone with the name of MEAT can upstage you yahooos.
Everything i know is from news articles and well placed calls -----
blog away dum-dums.
MEAT? Antonio does a real disservice to Fred Keely when he takes the credit for bringing a state park to Taylor Yard. But what do you expect from a man who makes up these lies about the Recall Villaraigosa people to the LA Business Journal: "When interviewed, these people made it clear I was doing a good job as a councilmember and they wanted me to stay there." Surely you didn't buy that one MEAT? Who can believe Antonio anymore?
ULYSESS I mean MEAT I personally know people in the group about the skatepark. Antonio has ignored them for months. He sends his flaks who aren't worth a shit and everyone in CD14 knows it. This is typical of people wanting to have a discussion with Tony and he's afraid of the confrontation so he just doesn't show up. You can blame the other mayoral candidates field people who are spreading the rumor Ulysesses. They have worked with you in the past and know you well but it's ok if you are in denial. I would be to if I worked for Tony. Meat you gave yourself away by being over the top protective and defensive to the point that some of your comments are obviously not taken out of newspapers and could only be known by a Tony staffer. Good try....we busted you.
Since people are trying to out MEAT i would like to know how many of you political gadfly's work for Hahn, Alarcon, Hertzberg, Parks or that little known guy Walter Moore? Show your faces anonymous. I'd be interested to know who you people are and what areas of the city you represent. I can understand not releasing your identity, but how about letting us know where you are from?
FROM MEAT:
Ok buddy, i am not who you think i am.
The other mayoral staffers are hacks without any passion for the job....as for other campaigns claiming they know who i am -- ha!!!!!
Look if you wanted to know who i am -- then you only need to look at the 7th row in tonights debate at LACMA -- i was dead center 7th row -- and i was wearing a yellow shirt with a hat.
And to be clear -- Ulysses was not at the debate, i asked 4 people, just so there wouldn't be any confusion.
dum-dums -- go ahead and blog away.
Hey Meat and CD14LOver. this is what your bright candidate said to press today after getting minor endorsement....A clean environment is the foundation of a livable community," the Eastside councilman said during a news conference outside the Department of Water and Power's downtown headquarters. "It's not a luxury. It is a necessity." What a lame ass! Doesn't he know that public safety is what makes a community livable. All he knows how to do is pick up a broom
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