Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday
Blogger/political operative Matt Szabo will be joining Mayor Villaraigosa's press staff today. Szabo's worked for everyone from Dick Riordan to Rocky Delgadillo to, most recently, Wendy Greuel and has dabbled in the blogosphere as well. (He also covers high school sports for the Newport Beach Daily Pilot - just kidding.) The odd thing about this is a comment by everyone's favorite Westside White Guy - K Rod himself - saying "Look for him to remove his inactive blog archives from the Internet any minute now." What is Shirley Bebitch Jeffee's favorite blogger implying here? It could be that Szabo referred the WWG's inquiries to the Mayor's office, something the owner of a blogomerate might get a little ego ruffled over.Astro-Turf In Action: today 200 parents from the Los Angeles Parents Union will be caravanning to Sacramento to lobby in favor of Senator Gloria Romeros Education Reform Bill, AB #1381. This hotly contested bill would shift authority from the elected school board to a superintendent who would be hired by the mayor. It also would give the mayor authority over three clusters of the lowest-performing schools, and would give local educators greater control over a campus budget, curriculum and instruction. Astro-turf that is, because this "grass roots" coalition of "parents" is well funded and has obtained the services of one of LA's premier PR flack firms, The Rose Group.
The folks at "Excellence in LA Schools," the Mayor's lobbying effort to back his takeover of the LAUSD contacted us to tout some of their latest "endorsements." Among them, the Daily News, United Chamber of Commerce San Fernando Valley, Encino Chamber of Commerce, Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Central City Association and the Greater East LA Chamber of Commerce. If you're interested in seeing who is donating to this effort, click here, and if you want to see where the Mayor is spending their money, you can click here.
Is LAX hiring gang members and illegal aliens for sensitive posts in secure areas at the airport? Full Disclosure has interviews with a former Sheriff's department official and a US Attorney, that should give most of you pause.
Running for City Council: Jim Alger - We'll know tomorrow, Zuma Dogg - Yes, David Tokofsky - Maybe.
City of LA Meetings for Monday
9:30AM - BPW: Board of Public Works
9:50AM - COUNCIL: Public Safety Committee, Special Meeting
10:00AM - COUNCIL: Public Safety Committee Meeting
10:00AM - DWP: Board of Water and Power Commissioners Special Meeting
12:00PM - CDD: DVTF - REGULAR MEETING
1:00PM - COUNCIL: Budget & Finance and Public Safety Committees Special Joint Meeting
6:00PM - COUNCIL: Education & Neighborhoods Committee, Special Meeting
6:30PM - ENSNC: General Mtg. 081406
Labels: rocky delgadillo
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 8/14/2006 12:05:00 AM
17 Comments:
Jim Alger, we'll know tomorrow???
Is there an announcement/release scheduled?
I hope he runs. It will be fun to see him go against Smith and all legislative activity in CD 12 would come to a grinding halt as the entire staff starts dog-piling Jim on and off the blog.
Mayor Sam if you post the supporters of the LAUSD AB bill then you should also post the opposition. Antonio's people are all paid volunteers and gets a lot of developer money. I hope it fails big time.
If Jim runs then he would be smart to organize against the term limit extension measure. So many people are pissed off about how sneaky the Clowncil members were he would get major support.
Mayor Sam,
Since ADV's people contacted you recently did you happen to ask them why they couldn't put this issue to a vote of the people? They certainly seemed anxious to put bond measures and term limits there.
That's one issue that seems to have gotten lost recently in tthe debate.
By the way, last edition of AB1381 I saw says the Mayor has veto power over the Superintendent selection, he does not hire him. They probably just penciled in a version that makes you happy until the final one is unveiled. That's the "kool-aid" tactic of choice lately to coax wanna-be believers.
Zuma Dogg has created a following in the masses of the people. He doesn't use big wrods to get his points across and his speaking apppeals to the masses, which makes him very dangerous to the status quo. He is fighting and he is doing those things many would wish they could do but can't because they have too much to lose.
Zuma Dogg has already had his livelyhod taken from him on venice beach. And he will continue to fight and use this as a way to draw attention to himself. Why not? Yes it upsets me because it has limited speaking time for the rest of us.
But the morte the City Council Pushes the more the rebellious by nature American Citizens will buck at every chance they get.
All they are doing is creating heroes and martyrs of people like Zuma Dogg , because he is using the law , and passive resistance , and the media as a wy to draw attention to the problems.
Now ZUma Dogg has become an advocate and with that comes responsibility and he can creates a backlash with the issues in sucha way , Jim ALger , Brady Westwater and Walter Moore can not.
Zuma Dogg has a constituency right now probably bigger than any councilmember on that that city council.
You bet your bottom Zuma that the city council will try to do use mediation to get you to calm down?
They have too many issues up for a vote this november that Zuma Dogg can drum up so much antagonism towards that ZUma could rally the city to defeat anything the City Council and the MAyor want.
Zuma Dogg may not wear a suit , but he is not an empty suit.
Apathy or Appeasement- Hereditary or Environmental
The seemingly unstoppable effort by the Mayor and Unions to wrestle control of the LAUSD from parents, teachers and elected board members, forces rank and file Republicans to take a good look at themselves and their leaders.
What do we really stand for? At what point do we say enough is enough? How far can our leaders go in selling out our values before we get the courage to stand up and say NO MORE!
I really do not know the answer and with each passing day I am more convinced, we as a party have failed in our stewardship of the values which stem from the Party of Lincoln.
AB1381 has forced us to admit just how far our Republican Leaders will go to insure their financial supporters, special interest and venture capitalist get a piece of the seven billion dollar pie.
Up until now the focus has been on the Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa and an unnamed Superintendent. A Superintendent who for all intensive purposes will be held accountable to the Mayor.
Now my Republican brothers and sisters, we have name, face and historical voting and behavioral record for the person who could very well be that Superintendent…..Jackie Goldberg.
Please read the attached article which appeared in the press.
Now ask yourself, if this enough for you to take action? Only you can answer that question and only you can take action. If you are ready and have had enough, go to www.vetonow.com and tell the Governor, Veto AB1381 or else!
David Hernandez
Republicans for Rational Reform
Termed-out Goldberg eyes education She may apply for LAUSD superintendent, or go back to teaching BY HARRISON SHEPPARD, Sacramento Bureau
LA Daily News
SACRAMENTO - After 23 years in various elected offices representing Los Angeles, controversial and outspoken Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg will end her public career later this year, at least as an elected official.
Goldberg says she wants to return to education, and with Los Angeles Unified School District looking to pick a new superintendent by this fall, she says she's considering applying.
If not that, she says, she's thinking just as hard about returning to inner-city teaching.
"In some fashion, I want to address the achievement issue of low-income kids and literacy skills, but I'm not sure what that capacity should be," Goldberg said in a recent interview. "Maybe I should go back to being a teacher - that was my best job and my favorite job by far."
Goldberg says that while many people have approached her about applying to succeed Superintendent Roy Romer, she has had no official discussions with the district.
One thing is sure: Even if the state or the city of Los Angeles extends term limits, she doesn't plan to run for elected office again.
"On the whole, I'm very proud of my record," said Goldberg, D-Los Angeles. "I've always looked out for the underdog, which for me is the most important thing to do. The well-off and well-connected look out for themselves, and have plenty of people who look out for them."
The 61-year-old often-controversial lawmaker has served as an LAUSD board member, Los Angeles City Council member, and for the past six years as a state legislator.
During that time, she has drawn fire as she gained a reputation as an unabashed champion for ultra-liberal causes, styling herself as an advocate for homosexuals, the working poor and education in low-income communities.
She has fought for measures to ban American Indian school mascots, shorten school textbooks, lengthen the school year for low-performing schools and protect transgenders' rights in the workplace.
But her stances have drawn ire from conservatives, who say her beliefs represent political correctness and liberalism to the extreme.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan clashed with then-Councilwoman Goldberg often, and at one point declared she "should be ashamed of herself" for making what he felt were untrue statements about him and his proposal for business tax reform.
Today, Riordan has softened his view somewhat.
"Personally, we got along," Riordan said. "We were just ideologically (on) very opposite sides of a lot of things.
"But on constituent matters in her district, she had a strong staff, and our two staffs worked well together. She hugged me on my last day as mayor."
Still, he sees Goldberg as an uncompromising ideologue.
"You just couldn't get her to accept something less than 100 percent of her ideology."
Mike Spence, president of the conservative grass-roots group California Republican Assembly, called Goldberg a "socialist" who wants to micromanage people's lives and is "wrong on almost everything."
"She's been a committed and articulate advocate for everything we oppose," Spence said. "I wish there were more people on our side that were as dedicated as she was to advancing her agenda."
Steve Frank, publisher of a conservative political newsletter, said if Goldberg does apply to be LAUSD superintendent, "I think it's a perfect match - a failed legislator with a failed system being controlled by a failed city."
As a legislator, Frank said, Goldberg was a "radical leftist" who has stood for more taxes and less freedom.
"Any opportunities to raise fees or business taxes, she voted for them. Anything to harm the businesses in her community and the whole city, she voted for it. She does not believe in the free market. She believes in the government market."
Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick, a liberal who served with Goldberg for almost eight years on the City Council, said she considered Goldberg a friend and an ally.
"She was passionate about the issues that she believed in. She was a very effective fighter for them. She was extremely forthright in my dealings with her, which is hard to find in politics. There wasn't a lot of subterfuge and doubletalk. It was, say it as it is."
As a legislator, Goldberg said she has had 39 bills signed into law, including domestic partnership rights, water recycling and relief for school overcrowding.
In 2003, Goldberg was among a group of Democrats caught in an open-microphone gaffe talking about political strategies to possibly hold up the state budget vote in order to convince voters to support a proposal to lower the voting threshold for budgets.
They talked about creating a crisis to draw public attention, and noted that the timing was better because it was not an election year.
The group was having what they thought was a private discussion in a committee room, but a microphone was left on, allowing the press and many others in the Capitol to hear them plotting strategy.
When she was informed that the microphone was on, she was heard exclaiming "Oh, s--" before the sound was cut. Republicans distributed a transcript of the remarks.
Today, Goldberg says she doesn't regret that discussion at all. She said her words were misinterpreted.
"They made it sound like I was trying to make up a crisis. When you're $17 billion short, ladies and gentlemen, you're in a crisis. I don't retract the statement I made at all."
Goldberg, the City Council's first openly gay member, has been with her partner Sharon Stricker for nearly 27 years. Stricker is executive director of a nonprofit organization that runs arts and literacy after-school programs in Los Angeles middle schools.
The two, who live in Echo Park, participated in a marriage ceremony last year when San Francisco was allowing gay marriages before the courts halted the practice. They have one adopted son, who is now married and living in San Diego.
Goldberg says she enjoyed the nonpartisan politics of the City Council and the school board more than the partisan atmosphere in Sacramento.
"When I first got here, the Republicans were the meanest bunch of people I ever worked with in politics," Goldberg says. "I mean mean-spirited, not just philosophical differences. It was like, find a way to make it a personal attack if you can. ... That's gotten a little better. But it's still about winning points and not solving problems.
"I'm happy with what I've accomplished. ... I feel that I have made it clear to people you can be in office and still have your integrity intact.
"So I leave quite happy. And I'm happy to leave."
harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com
(916) 446-6723
David Hernandez says: A Superintendent who for all intensive purposes will be held accountable to the Mayor.
Did he mean intents and purposes?
How come I don't remember Mayor Sam saying that AV's people have contacted him?
Is this what all of this "reform" is going to amount to...AV and Jackie Goldberg in charge of LAUSD??!!! That'll fix things..fer surrrrre...
For the reading impaired......
"The folks at 'Excellence in LA Schools,' the Mayor's lobbying effort to back his takeover of the LAUSD contacted us to tout some of their latest 'endorsements.'...."
Yes, we were contacted by "AV's people," and frequently are. But we also regularly correspond with a number of elected officials' staffs, as well as those of public agencies, non-profits, political groups, unions, business, journalists, etc.
Its to be expected when you're the #1 political blog in the city.
But that doesn't mean we do what they want.
Thanks for the clarification MS but I believe the question was did you ask "ADV's people" why they couldn't bring this issue to a vote of the people, especially when they put so much else on the ballot?
You would think that if this reform is so popular, the Mayor would increase turnout and help other measures. He's already got the seed money for the campaign.
Did you ask? Did they respond? Does it matter to you?
It doesn't matter to US and we're the ones who matter.
Why does the shifty-eyed alcade always have Gloria Mollina standing next to him???? Today in Sacramento, she is right there next to him. He is too cowardly to stand alone.
And why aren't the proceedings re his hijacking of the LAUSD being televised?
Lou Dobbs tore him to shreds a few months ago which proves he can't pass the 'smell' test!
He can't string two sentences together without reading his notes...why is everyone so unaware of what's really going on? And that goes for all the rest of the Mexican thugs in LA and CA.
Idiot, it was GLORIA ROMERO. Now let's talk about the Escutia compromise. 90% to get anything done at the council of mayors.
Oh Boy, I can not wait to hear the Alger announcement. Maybe he can answer a question about his recycled Website www.jimalger.net. I noticed under recent news he had a bunch of articles about himself or in which he was interviewed but the Dec 2005 regarding his admission that he was previously arrested and convicted was missing. You know the Daily News story by Rick Orlov. Jim was that just an oversight or are you spinning again.
Give me a break! I am not a fan of the Mayor at all, but why did'nt Roy Romer and his people want any of the parents involed, I never heard of them putting anything to a vote from parents thats why we are in this situation. You parents should have spoken out a long time ago, now your acting brave with someone who has no control yet, you should have been as forceful with Roy Romer and his people, why did you let that whole situation with Belmont pass, should'nt you have been angry about that. Actually, you should still be angry about that and many other issues.
Ever since people like Walter, Z Dogg took over this blogger all you hear are racist comments about Mexicans and other minorities, this is now a worthless site. We don't need a Klansmen attitude on Mayor Sam Website. Protest time. We need a much more intellectual site where educated people can blog about important issues not all of these uneducated individuals who still live in the past.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home