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Thursday, October 11, 2007

4-1-1 Regarding Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council Using $20,000 For A Street Camera

CLICK HERE FOR FABIAN NUNEZ VIDEO AS JUST MENTIONED BY KEVIN JAMES ON KRLA AM 870

Mayor Sam, himself, heard that Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council spent $20,000 for a street camera (and may have purchased 2 for $40,000.) And a couple folks noted that Zach Behrens would be a good guy to aks for a clarification/confirmation.

Everyone reading this probably knows Zach. In this case he I contacted him because he is the elected Sherman Oaks Area 5 - Business Representative.

On 10/11/07, zuma dogg < zumadogg@gmail.com> wrote:

Zach,

Did you hear Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council is gonna spend $20,000 for one street camera -- and I heard they are getting 2, so that would be $40,000 for 2 street cameras. That's a big part of the annual budget. Do you know about that. I know Mayor Sam has already posted that perhaps you knew about this, and someone just emailed me and said, "yeah, Zach would be a good person to aks."

Zach Behrens said... Zuma: Yes, I indeed heard about it because I was one of the people to bring it up at the meeting since I am an elected member of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.

We originally voted for 2, but because of taxes, we were only able to afford 1 camera under that budget line item. The rest of the money has been devoted to outreach to the community. It may seem like a lot, but remember we have three years to spend our annual budgets. Over time, we have been frugal and saved up money.

Sherman Oaks, as you know, is a very safe community. However, graffiti is getting insane and the residents and the business community is speaking up loud about it.

Therefore, the business community is purchasing the majority of the cameras along with one from SONC and one, I think, from CD5.

The camera we funded is not a Q-Star camera that Mayor Sam was talking about. We are getting cameras a la Hollywood Blvd/MacArthur Park.

And a quick response to the statement, "the City should be paying for this, not the NC's." My opinion is that for the NCs to truly get the community to rally behind them and participate is for the NCs to noticeably improve their community.

For example, I am going to use you, Zuma. You have a strong voice as it is now, but I really believe that if you took charge of some visual/physical improvement for Venice, you would have ten times more power when you speak than you do now. Let's say you said you were going to find short-term and long-term solutions to tagger and gang graffiti in highly targeted areas of Venice and you succeeded and Venice is now a safer place because of you. Well, now, even more people are going to really listen to you (and I honestly think you should do this, I therefore challenge you and will assist you on getting started).

Actions speak louder than words. The limited budget NCs have to and use on improving their communities can be very strong actions that then can position the NC to be a powerful and listened to grassroots voice. Build it, fix it, improve it and the community will come.

Best,
Zach

CLICK READ MORE FOR ZD'S REPLY TO ZACH'S CHALLENGE: (I try and dodge it like a good politician!)


Zach...AWESOME REPLY, and I'm sure you represented a lot of peoples' sentiments with those comments, even though some may fundamentally disagree as to who should be paying for it. But you say the business community is paying for it, so I wonder what critics say in response to that? But, oh no...why did you have to dump the graffiti problem in ZD's lap? Seriously...I think that's probably one of the toughest problems to deal with. ONLY ANSWER: MUCHO DINERO FOR STREET CREWS WHO PAINT OVER IT LIKE PARKING ENFORCEMENT PATROL OFFICERS. (As soon as they see it, it's called in and a crew is deployed ASAP, the same day (within 24 hours). How much will it cost? I don't know? But that's the only way to combat graffiti. Along with more officers patrolling. (How about graffiti officers, like parking enforcement officers -- but more police authority/can make arrests. But they'll never do that. Cameras ain't gonna do it, cause you can never install enough cameras. Maybe make those busted for graffiti have to be part of the crew that paints over the graffiti. Now THAT would be punishment for any tagger!

Editor's Note: In his reply, Zach was quick to mention that he is not the designated official representative for Sherman Oaks NC, in this case -- and is not representing the NC council as a whole. (But can respond with an opinion/reply as an elected official for the area within Sherman Oaks. Like when a councilmember will make a statement publicly, but is only representing their opinion, not the city council, as a whole. (Ya feel me, dough?)

zumadogg@gmail.com

20 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Baca came out with a plan last week to get tougher on kids who tag, and making them paint over graffiti IS part of his plan, so you can't take credit for that one "before it happens," dogg. And he wants to make parents more accountable by bringing them in to explain how tagging leads to full fledged gang membership, it's an initiation.

Community vigilance is also needed, not just paying more cops to do it. Why don't you get useless mate matt and hunt and the rest to do this, as long as they're hanging out on the boardwalk selling their junk?

October 12, 2007 1:46 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO CAUSE THIS ISN'T ONLY FOR NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL PEOPLE. TELL THE MAYOR WE DONT' NEED ANY MORE TAXES TO BAIL HIM OUT.

.....After months of political and personal turmoil, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa started to refocus his administration on practical accomplishments Thursday as he prepares to drum up support from neighborhood councils this weekend for a phone tax and utility-rate hikes

If he is going to run for a second term, he has to deal with the perception there is no real record of achievement. The more potholes he fills, the more traffic signals he installs, the more the public will see that he is trying to do things.

Villaraigosa will address neighborhood council leaders on Saturday at their annual budget day and lay out the city's problems.

October 12, 2007 6:27 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Zuma, why not get a real job that actually helps people instead of wasting their time?

Organize you little blogging crew of the 4 stooges and go out and erase gfraffitti from the PCH, the 10 and the 405 to start, then hit the buildings in Malibu and Santa Monica.

That ought to keep you and the stooges out of the Council and BOS chambers and let Antonio reform the LAUSD without your two minute commercials for your worthless performances.

If you do this, eliminate grafitti, I will publicly apologize and contribute to your begging on PayPal.

October 12, 2007 7:07 AM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

OH NO...Bradley the EBE developer is pissing off people again. IS HE INVOLVED IN DIRT BURNELL??? THAT DEVELOPMENT IS SHADY AS HELL??? Gotta follow up.

BRADLEY MI AMIGO...YOUR NOT MI AMIGO...IF I HAVE TO START HEARING ABOUT YOU AGAIN...YOUR GONNA F*CKING REGRET IT!!! I DON'T WANT VOICE MAIL MESSAGES AT 7:00AM CAUSE OF YOUR ARROGANT, POMPOUS ASS.


BRADLEY...DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GONNA WITHSTAND THIS ROUND OF MAYOR SAM BLOGGING???


AND COUNCILMEBERS WORKING WITH BRADLEY ON THIS....

YOU....YOU MUTHERF*CKERS ARE GOING TO GET THE FULL ZD/MAYOR SAM TREATMENT....AND I'LL FEEL FREE TO THROW IN THE WHOLE ENCHILADA.

BRADLEY...YOU BETTER CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE I WRECK YOURSELF!

October 12, 2007 7:09 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Yeah ZUma get a real job like Antonio

LOL

October 12, 2007 8:01 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Tell the mayor we NEED MORE TAXES so Captain Jack Sparrow can blog during city hours and get paid for it! Fire the pirates! Laura Chick, are you listening??

October 12, 2007 8:39 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

^^^^^^
Is Captain Jack one of those third floor spinsters I read about on this blog?

No city employee should have Internet access, because too much time is wasted playing on the Internet. Every city department should only have ONE computer which has access to the Internet and any employee who wants to use the Internet computer should have a good reason to be on that computer. Well I'm glad to learn that our tax dollars are being stolen by another pirate on the city payroll.

Zuma, please post a story about lazy city employees who waste our tax dollars playing on the Internet. These are the kind of city employee wastes millions of dollars of our hard earned tax dollars. If each city employee with Internet access wastes one (1) hour a day on the Internet, this adds up to millions of dollars at the end of the year. This waste of money pales in comparison to the credit card fraud at LAUSD, because of the number of people who waste time at work being on the Internet.

October 12, 2007 9:06 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Zuma,

Your language... please. We all know Bradley is an a** but dont curse and go down to his level. He is shady, very shady and gets away with it. He is getting something from Garcetti, Huizar and Reyes that we havent figured out yet. We will... here are too many of us who would like to catch Bradley at being corrupt.

October 12, 2007 9:08 AM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

9:08am...you hit the shady trifecta! There goes my exclusive...guess it's just the obvious.

October 12, 2007 9:15 AM  

Blogger Red Spot in CD 14 said:

What happens when you call out the "LA ANTONIA TIMES" ? Face the wrath of the "WWG".

Flailing Fabian
Kevin Roderick • Bio • Email
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has been taking a pounding in the Times for his extravagant spending with money stuffed in his pockets by the interests who grease lawmakers in this state. Sacramento reporter Nancy Vogel reported last week on the $4,972 spent on "office expenses" at Nordstrom's, $5,149 dropped at a wine shop in Bordeaux and $8,745 paid on a hotel bill in Barcelona. Steve Lopez picked up the cudgel and slammed Núñez hard, writing he "has tossed money around like a drunken sailor, and I mean no disrespect to any drunken sailors." Today, columnist George Skelton skewered Núñez but good, and got the speaker's lame attempt at a rebuttal.

He "became a hit around the world" after his global warming bill passed last year, the speaker said, and received many foreign invitations. "The dollar is pretty darn weak in Europe these days" and that runs up expenses, he added. He also buys lots of gifts for dignitaries, staffers and other legislators.
Nuñez defended paying for all this with political money rather than tax dollars. "My conscience wouldn't allow me to do that, so I use my campaign funds. That's between me and the people who contribute."

But what about the wine trip? The French organized it.

"I know this stuff doesn't look good. But it's legitimate. I did not do anything wrong."



Tonight, Núñez turned to Conan Nolan at NBC4 to give a longer response to the charges. Watch the video. Núñez also apologizes for saying the Times "tries to destroy important people including Hispanics," in an interview to air Sunday morning on "News Conference."

October 12, 2007 9:20 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

9:06, it doesn't matter what benefits the City. It only matters what benefits this blog and Zuma. Talk about fraud, waste and abuse -- City Employees blogging their nasty gossip and scheduling cocktail hours during the work and getting paid for it! They are, true to their word, pirates.

October 12, 2007 9:22 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

9:22 put up or shut up.

October 12, 2007 9:41 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

9:41 = City Pirate

Get back to work!

October 12, 2007 9:42 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

9:42 = Third Floor Spinster

October 12, 2007 10:04 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:04 = Mayor Sam Spinster

October 12, 2007 10:06 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

(213) 485-1360

Call and see who is at work.

October 12, 2007 10:08 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I love the idea of city employees blogging on Mayor Sam about how inefficient the city is.

Especially when they do it during working hours!

October 12, 2007 10:14 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

This was supposed to be about getting mutt, his pedantic mate matt and the hunt(er) of the dogg to do something useful and spraypaint graffiti in Venice. Getting them to "man up."

So wassup widdat, dogg?

October 12, 2007 8:40 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

WE
TODD
DID

If the Sherman Oaks NC spent $20,000 on a camera. "A" street camera.. you are a bunch of Todd's.

October 12, 2007 9:39 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Date Sort 'Date' Ascending Sort 'Date' Descending

Payee Sort 'Payee' Ascending Sort 'Payee' Descending

Candidate or
Officeholder Sort 'Candidate/Officeholder' Ascending Sort 'Candidate/Officeholder' Descending

Schedule
(Type) Sort 'Schedule' Ascending Sort 'Schedule' Descending

Amount Sort 'Amount' Ascending Sort 'Amount' Descending
06/22/07 Thomas Crawford
(Health care services, Thomas Crawford)
Oxnard, CA 93035 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY C - Non-Monetary
(IND - Individual)

Desc: Food/Beverage
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$844.66
[Election: 04/07/09]
06/29/07 Nancy Dolan
Los Angeles, CA 90004 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY E - Payment
(FND - Fundraising Event)
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$250.00
[Election: 04/07/09]
06/25/07 Grabiner/Hall
El Segundo, CA 90245 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY E - Payment
(LIT - Campaign Literature)
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$454.65
[Election: 04/07/09]
06/06/07 The Beverly Hilton
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY E - Payment
(FND - Fundraising Event)
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$573.45
[Election: 04/07/09]
06/30/07 The Harman Press
Los Angeles, CA 90038 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY E - Payment
(OFC - Office Expenses)
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$1,652.99
[Election: 04/07/09]
06/08/07 Jan Wasson
Lincoln, CA 95648 Jack S. Weiss
City Attorney
1296355 - JACK WEISS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY E - Payment
(PRO - Professional Services)
[Period: 01/01/07-06/30/07]
$1,659.02
[Election: 04/07/09]
Total Non-Monetary Contributions (C): $844.66
(does not include unitemized)
Total Payments Made (E): $4,590.11
(does not include unitemized)
Total Amount Paid : $5,434.77

October 13, 2007 3:44 AM  

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