Into 2008, Weakly
Joseph Mailander a guy in la • elsewhere • email
The LA Weekly's city desk has been coming up with some backdrafting countertakes on LAUSD matters of late. The latest cover appears to be an instance of payback journalism where an earlier article went too far for the Mayor's office taste.
Remember this article in the Weekly from summer? A fairly responsible article, that. In it, large parts of Monica Garcia's so-called reform package were found to have been drafted by the Mayor's office. The accidental disclosure was a major mistake, a major embarrassment to the Mayor, and Weekly scribe Patrick Range McDonald called them on it. Monica shrugged, McDonald dug deeper and found that the Mayor's reformers had little experience at school reform.
That was then. One can only imagine the subsequent dialog that produced this week's extreme curtseying makeover of a cover story, a 5,000 word hatchet job on the LAUSD's Super Dave Brewer makes it look as though it's the Admiral who has dragged anchor for a year in transforming the District.
Although 50% of the Admiral's distractions, easily, are caused by the Mayor, and the Mayor's office and their crones have spent two years ramping up and cramming through their own agenda for the District, the Mayor's various broadsides are scarcely mentioned. Nor are the daily headaches of managing an inheirited building campaign that's $6 billion dollars more bloated than Boston's Big Dig, nor the original source of the daily conundrum of the enormous payroll problem.
All these problems were contracted during the Romer/Huizar years, when current prez Monica Garcia was Jose's Chief of Staff at the District, and presumably ushered most of these various problem contractors with a big smile into Jose's office, so Jose could make the recommendations to the Board necessary to seal their deals.
Nonetheless, the Weekly makes Monica out to be a whipcracker and Brewer a slacker. But to me, blaming the District's woes on one year of Brewer is a lot like blaming a player for not winning a bad chess position inheirited from a friend of the opponent, in which the ceaselessly bullying opponent keeps knocking pieces off the board all the while.
Brewer may be a little slow to move, but who wouldn't be, given the various scopes of the Herculean problems? Would you move to fix the payroll system if the Board were giving you bids that cost more than the whole damn Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to buy? In blowing the Brewer story out to a 5,000 word cover, the Weekly got pwned by Team Antonio.
The LA Weekly's city desk has been coming up with some backdrafting countertakes on LAUSD matters of late. The latest cover appears to be an instance of payback journalism where an earlier article went too far for the Mayor's office taste.
Remember this article in the Weekly from summer? A fairly responsible article, that. In it, large parts of Monica Garcia's so-called reform package were found to have been drafted by the Mayor's office. The accidental disclosure was a major mistake, a major embarrassment to the Mayor, and Weekly scribe Patrick Range McDonald called them on it. Monica shrugged, McDonald dug deeper and found that the Mayor's reformers had little experience at school reform.
That was then. One can only imagine the subsequent dialog that produced this week's extreme curtseying makeover of a cover story, a 5,000 word hatchet job on the LAUSD's Super Dave Brewer makes it look as though it's the Admiral who has dragged anchor for a year in transforming the District.
Although 50% of the Admiral's distractions, easily, are caused by the Mayor, and the Mayor's office and their crones have spent two years ramping up and cramming through their own agenda for the District, the Mayor's various broadsides are scarcely mentioned. Nor are the daily headaches of managing an inheirited building campaign that's $6 billion dollars more bloated than Boston's Big Dig, nor the original source of the daily conundrum of the enormous payroll problem.
All these problems were contracted during the Romer/Huizar years, when current prez Monica Garcia was Jose's Chief of Staff at the District, and presumably ushered most of these various problem contractors with a big smile into Jose's office, so Jose could make the recommendations to the Board necessary to seal their deals.
Nonetheless, the Weekly makes Monica out to be a whipcracker and Brewer a slacker. But to me, blaming the District's woes on one year of Brewer is a lot like blaming a player for not winning a bad chess position inheirited from a friend of the opponent, in which the ceaselessly bullying opponent keeps knocking pieces off the board all the while.
Brewer may be a little slow to move, but who wouldn't be, given the various scopes of the Herculean problems? Would you move to fix the payroll system if the Board were giving you bids that cost more than the whole damn Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to buy? In blowing the Brewer story out to a 5,000 word cover, the Weekly got pwned by Team Antonio.
Labels: a guy in la, david brewer, la weekly, lausd, los angeles politics, mayor antonio villaraigosa, monica garcia
Posted by Joseph F. Mailander @ 12/27/2007 05:25:00 PM
10 Comments:
Brewer should never have been hired.
Has no experience, just the bombastic and pompous, overblown style of a black revival-house preacher, in the mold of Jesse Jackson: Marlene Kanter was ignorant to think that was enough to block the Mayor and keep the LAUSD blocking him, too.
Remember, that's the only reason Brewer was hired: his ego and style, a personality "as charismatic" as the Mayor's.
Since then, he and the Mayor have actually sided together against UTLA like on forming clusters of schools.
But one thing for sure: Brewer is the most overpaid city employee, getting some $350,000/ year PLUS $3,000/ month houseing allowance, cars, other expenses.
What IS hypocritical is why the media (especially pushy little Daily NEws) has been bashing the City Council and Mayor over their pay hikes, which still bring them to less then half of Brewer's for a heck of a lot more effort and headache. Plus these people were all elected, after mounting expensive and grueling campaigns, while Brewer waltzed in with no experience or qualifications whatsoever except his "charisma."
Try again to find a target for your sympathy, Brewer ain't it. He just represents the waste of the old LAUSD.
"Remember, that's the only reason Brewer was hired: his ego and style, a personality "as charismatic" as the Mayor's."
Who the hell are you, buddy? Making exhortations such as "Remember, the only reason..."
No pal, we don't remember! Who says it's the only reason besides a bunch of corrupt politicians who will climb over any kid for another buck.
You are the worst spin doctor in America. You are so transparent.
Is your salary paid with privately raised "pay to play" money?
5:47,
You are right. It was ignorant of Marlene to think a black man was enough to do the job. I think your comment about his style being black (even though he is black) is relevant and insightful.
They should have hired someone with Mexican roots.
Have you ever been a campaign manager?
Has no experience, just the bombastic and pompous, overblown style of a black revival-house preacher, in the mold of Jesse Jackson...
Wow. While those are utter cro-magnon-level thoughts, at least you said what the Weekly wanted to say, and indeed did say with the artwork suggestions that the Admiral, rather than the Mayor, is drowning. But Super Dave's style is backslappy and political, not bombastic and pompous.
I suppose you also think Antonio Villaraigosa with his keeper GPA and his estranged marriage is a far more experienced educator than Super Dave. Good luck owning that.
6:28: Too bad for you Alzheimers treatments aren't in the pipeline yet. With your being in the barely operable stage, you'd better line up your care options now.
You work for the old LAUSD or UTLA, maybe, huh? Gee, funny timing how Marlene Kanter dragged out her prize just as Antonio was in Asia, and made remarks exactly along those lines.
Yeah, your job is in jeopardy, good. Start earning it.
Gee, Joe, talk about cro-magnon thougts.
So the Mayor "with his keeper GPA and his estranged marriage" is a really apt and to the point remark about his ability to infuse new energy, not to mention private money, into some failing schools?
Gotta remember to check everyone's marital status before hiring them. After all, an "estranged marriage" is a sure sign of being unqualified for any job.
On the other hand, a happily married nitwit like Rocky is perfectly suited for anything, because he has a partner in crime.
As for Brewer's style, it is what it is, and you're right, 6:41, it's only a bunch of prejudice Mexicans who would ever notice that. No one else thinks Jesse and Al Sharpton and Farrakhan and the lke have any connection to their cultural roots. Why, I'd mistake them for Methodists or Presbyterians if I closed my eyes.
Guess it's this reverse racism that's gotten his unearned salary and perks unnoticed by the press, too. Can't treat black people as equals, only with special kid gloves.
But there are so many darned Mexicans now, "climbing over any kid for another buck," they're fair game. You know how them Mexicans do things, just like they learned down in their corrupt oligarch- dominated homelands. Everyone on this blog and elsewhere knows they're all the same, that anything they do is just for another photo op and to line their pockets.
Any man, white, black, brown or yellow who has become an Admiral in the United States Navy has earned everything he is due. He has managed men of all colors, all religions, all citizens; legal or illegal residents. He has achieved a position most "white' men or men of any other color have not achieved. He has been well trained in what he does well; albeit by the United States Government via the Navy, but he has proven he can do the job..far better than the Mexican Mafia and THE MIDGET MAYOR; WHO IS UNEDUCATED,and who is untrained in running a business, CD district, or city.
I'll take Brewer over Villa any day and all days. Brewer may save the LAUSD given enough time and support; Villa never will.
Maybe Brewer should run against Villa or Monica or Huizar for any City of Los Angeles position. I would vote for him.
7:37,
Go jump out of a 7:47. Why are you banging your head against the wall here? Do you know something about the readership level of this blog that I don't know about. Seems like a lot of time spent (not well) on your part. Muy interesante.
Comments about "reverse" racism? Racism is just that, action based on race.
Reverse racism is more a term that people appear to use to categorize actions based on race as a response to racism. It's all racism and neither "type" is better than the other.
Or is one type supposed to be "good" and the other "bad"?
all the same.
Kinda of sad Antonio had to BUY the school board to get his way and yet he still only got 3 schools cause Jordan and Santee were smart enough to say hell no. Then you have Roosevelt and the other Eastside schools who had less then 200 people vote and I'm sure most were illegal. Huizar was school board president for 4 years. When you look at the mess a lot of the blame goes back to those years. Didn't he have a private bathroom installed for thousands of dollars in his LAUSD office? Seems Monica Garcia may be doing a much better job then Huizar ever did on the board.
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