Friday Hotsheet at 3 a.m.
Joseph Mailander a guy in la • elsewhere • email
Vox Populi: The Daily News's item on the debate that focuses on the carnival atmosphere outside has perfect pitch. When there is celebrity focus overload and nothing at all is really said, the people will say more than anyone else. "There were tears in Godoy's eyes as she said she would lose her downtown Los Angeles home in 30 days. Her 8-year-old son, Angel Martinez, held up two handwritten letters. "I want to give them to the future presidents," he said. "Maybe they can help me save my house."
Re the LA Times series on Broadway, chronic fishwrap factchecker Brady Westwater says, "The final article in that series (by Ari Bloomekatz, concerning the Cecil Hotel) was so bizarre it managed to archive a new LAT record of ten factual errors in one sentence...." in "The Times Plays the Race Card on Broadway."
I don't know why, but a pet sterilization ordinance sounds like a very bad idea to me. Actually, I do know why: the City's renter-to-owner-occupied ratio is so out of whack that the first best step to cleaning up our pet problem is to make for more homeowners in the City of Los Angeles. The amount of no-pets-allowed apartment buildings here is a driver of many animal reg problems. Work on creating more homeowners, not on less pets.
People have asked me to say something about my appearance on Larry Mantle's AirTalk yesterday; thanks, but I'd rather not critique myself. [ed.: You can listen here if you like]. I will tell you receive quite a few congratulatory calls immediately after wrapping up, including one from Red Spot, and Mantle himself told me after that I did well exchanging views on Prop S the Mayor's special counsel Thomas Saenz.
But one thing for sure: the guy who especially does well on a day like yesterday is Larry Mantle. He almost comes out of his shoes with excitement on such a big political day. And he had tons of info in pocket on Prop S. It felt like he argued my case to Thomas, and Thomas's case to me.
Thomas Saenz? The head of the Mayor's Office of Counsel and longtime MALDEF honcho. Oversaw the Mayor's ethics reform efforts when the Mayor was still talking ethics---you know, before the adultery. But you should know him as the guy who overturned Prop 187.
Labels: a guy in la, broadway, pets
Posted by Joseph F. Mailander @ 2/01/2008 07:21:00 AM
17 Comments:
Boone Pickens and Prop S???
Oilman contributes to Villaraigosa's phone tax campaign
Critics of liquid natural gas are raising eyebrows because the Texas billionaire might see gains once mayoral appointees implement a plan to reduce truck emissions at the Port of Los Angeles.
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 1, 2008
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign for a $243-million telephone users tax has received a major contribution from an unlikely source -- a Texas oilman whose company could see a windfall from one of the mayor's environmental initiatives.
Proposition S, which is on Tuesday's ballot, took in a $150,000 contribution last week from billionaire T. Boone Pickens, the co-founder of Clean Energy, which bills itself as the nation's largest supplier of liquid natural gas.
Clean Energy, based in Seal Beach, has been banking on a windfall from a plan to reduce truck emissions at the Port of Los Angeles, which is overseen by appointees of the mayor.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach plan to replace thousands of exhaust-spewing diesel trucks with vehicles powered by liquid natural gas, a fossil fuel that is marketed as less-polluting than petroleum.
The campaign contribution rattled critics of liquid natural gas, who argue that the Los Angeles Harbor Commission should rely on cleaner, emerging technologies such as fuel cells to solve its air pollution problems. Those critics fear that the donation, made in the final weeks of the campaign, could spur city officials to expand their reliance on liquid natural gas.
"The only relationship I can see between Clean Energy and Proposition S is the clean truck program," said Kathleen Woodfield, a San Pedro resident who opposes liquid natural gas on the grounds that it is not a renewable resource. "Why else would [Pickens] be getting involved in a proposition that has everything to do with California and nothing to do with Texas?"
Pickens did not respond to a request for an interview Thursday. But in an August conference call, Clean Energy President and Chief Executive Andrew Littlefair told investors that the port truck plan would result in the conversion of as many as 5,300 trucks to liquid natural gas -- a move that would allow the company to ship an additional 100 million gallons of the fuel each year
Clean Energy, the only company supplying trucks at the harbor with liquid natural gas, serves 15,000 vehicles nationwide.
"We have heard people talking about LNG because they're seeing the opportunities that we're seeing, this Port of Los Angeles opportunity. It's real and it's going to happen," said Littlefair, according to a transcript of the call posted on the company's website.
Villaraigosa's appointees on the Harbor Commission voted in November to require an estimated 16,800 trucks to be replaced with cleaner-burning equipment by 2012. But Harbor Commission President S. David Freeman, a mayoral appointee, said the port has not yet decided how many of those would be replaced with liquid natural gas vehicles.
Freeman said he was unaware of the contribution and insisted it would have no bearing on the implementation plan, which could be decided on as soon as this month.
"Hopefully, the two ports will adopt a policy that puts our money into the cleanest, most reasonably priced technology," he added. "If LNG fits that program, great. If something else fits that bill, that's even greater."
The two ports have promised to spend a combined $80 million over five years on trucks powered by alternatives to diesel -- liquid or compressed natural gas, or electricity, said Christopher Patton, environmental affairs officer for the L.A. port.
Proposition S was placed on the ballot last year by Villaraigosa out of fear that the city's telephone utility users tax would be struck down by one or more court rulings. Although labor unions have contributed a majority of the money to the tax campaign, Pickens is one of the few business leaders to have stepped forward.
Villaraigosa appeared with Pickens in December at an event celebrating the opening of a Clean Energy fueling station in Carson, the first of three planned at or near the harbor. In many ways, Pickens and the mayor make odd allies.
A lifelong Democrat, Villaraigosa co-chaired the 2004 presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry and has been campaigning across the country for the presidential bid of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Pickens, on the other hand, was a financial backer of the "Swift Boat" campaign that undermined the Kerry campaign. He was also a major contributor to the presidential campaign of Republican Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City.
At the Carson station celebration, the company handed out brochures that stated in green ink that it is "pledged to fully support the San Pedro Bay Ports' Clean Air Action Plan."
Pickens praised Freeman on the back cover of the harbor commissioner's new book on the environment, "Winning Our Energy Independence."
"He's an environmental zealot, and the world needs more Dave Freemans," Pickens said.
During the conference call, Littlefair said the activity in the harbor had spurred new interest in liquid natural gas.
"I think as this business grows, we're bound to start drawing some competition," he said. "That's OK. That's healthy. . . . There's plenty for several of us to say grace over."
david.zahniser@latimes.com
That's an insane argument against mandatory spayneuter. Sounds like you want a home but can't afford one. How about making it mandatory for landlords to accept responsible tenants with pets instead.
Antonio and Antoin Rezko???
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, has received $10,500 from indicted Chicago entrepreneur Antoin Rezko and his relatives or affiliates in previous council and mayoral campaigns, the Daily News has learned.
The news comes even as Clinton has criticized her chief rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for taking contributions from Rezko in an increasingly contentious campaign as it headed into Thursday night's debate in Los Angeles.
Villaraigosa's Deputy Mayor Sean Clegg said Thursday that the contributions are unrelated to the issues Clinton has raised concerning Rezko and Obama.
"It is no coincidence that this attack on the mayor of Los Angeles is surfacing on the eve of the presidential debate in his hometown," Clegg said.
"It's the height of cynicism, it's deeply disappointing and it's going to backfire."
Clegg said the mayor has no relationship to Rezko. He said the Rezko contributions to Villaraigosa are under review, and that Rezko has given to other city officials.
He added that the contributions came years before questions surfaced about Rezko. And Clegg said there have not been any issues raised about Rezko in connection with any business dealings in Los Angeles.
Just WHO IS VOTING in Los Angeles
Elections????
This morning in a downtown
resturant a busboy asked me to
help him fill out his absentee ballot because he could not quite understand english or read it. When asked, he said he was a citizen and had been VOTING for FIVE years here in L.A.
He could not prove citizenship
to me and I refused to help him.
To pass the citizenship test you
HAVE to be able to read and understand English!
Does ANYONE see what has been
happening in our once great town
and why we have the Mayor and
Administration that we do??
Mexico is ABSORBING Los Angeles
Illegal Vote by ILLEGAL VOTE!!
So how do we make more homeowners? Turn apartments into condos? Build more homes? Converting apartments to condos kicks the renters out who can't afford condos. There's not enough water to build more homes. How would we solve those problems?
Just spay and neuter your pet.
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen (motions to follow as he walks around Citation with crew doing inspection):
Well, we're off to the Big Game and we'd like to point out that there is a reason the Clowncil is meeting in Van Nuys today. The Van Nuys airport is the most busy general aviation airport in the nation. And it's from here that someones are departing for the same destination that we depart for, savvy?
I would also point out that a certain gentleman from Texas will also be at the Big Game, and is rumoured to have a meeting with certain someone's from our fair city. (Scratches head) I wonder what they'll talk about? They'll probably have a chuckle or two over how face to face communication is cheaper than calling on the phone, especially within City limits.
(Snaps fingers) Let's have a wager, shall we? Let's see how many of the Clowncil's best and brightest attend the Big Game. Better yet, let's see if a photo of His Nibbs appears in the papers, for we all know that His Nibbs likes to have his photo taken with "winners", savvy?
10:05 you expect anyone to believe this bull pucky from you?
Tell us all about your Vietnam war story's or how the Mexicans are stomping poodles to death.
My platform includes requiring landlords to accept pets, subject to reasonable restrictions (e.g. re incessant barking) and insulating them from liability for those pets (e.g. re biting, noise, etc.).
Also, I strongly support mandatory spaying and neutering -- as I have since putting it in my platform back in 2003. Better late than never, City Council.
The Mayor's office denies that the Mayor will be attending the Super Bowl this weekend. But anyone having information on which Council members or City reps might be sharing a box with Pickens should email me.
The Mayor's office denies lots of things and their track record isn't that great. Arizona is one of the Super Tuesday states. Having the Super Bowl there is too convenient. I'll take the pirate up on his bet that Villaraigosa gets his picture taken at the Super Bowl.
Good morning Walter and Joe,
SEIU California just announced their endorsement of Obama. One senses a close election on Tuesday.
Maybe Pickens can host Huizar this year.
Mandatory spay and neuter just passed, 10 to 1. Rosendahl was against it.
Bad idea Walter. You can't force landlords to take pets. It infringes on the rights of those with allergies, small children who are afraid of large dogs, and a host of objections.
10:13 How do we make more homeowners? Converting apartments to condos kicks the renters out who can't afford condos.
GM of the Housing Dept Mercedes Marquez was offered a more responsible and affordable financial formula to turn tenants into condo owners (or property owners in general).
Much of this even down at lower income levels without the usurious adjustable loans. Also, this would be done WITHOUT creating that debt laden bond most of our irresponsible Council and Mayor want to do.
She and her staff just thumbed their noses at it.
Like Huizar said last year, something to the effect that we are just shuffling old policy rather than creating new ones (not his exact words).
3:28 So the landlord spends a lot of money to convert apartments to condos. He sells them to the apartment renters for no money down and they pay the same rent? Why would a landlord do that? They'd just be giving their equity and cash to the renters for nothing.
Renters generally don't have 20% down payments or else they wouldn't be renters.
4:12 You are incorrect. This formula is a win-win.
Developer does get to sell at market.
Buyer-
No money down, payments not more than roughly 1/3 combined family income, fixed for about 7 to 10 years. TIGHT CONTROLS!! Minimal to no equity draw for first 5 to 7 years (still to be vetted and reviewed).
A few council members know about this and have ignored it. Until the Mayor replaces Marquez, it is unlikely we will have real home ownership in this city.
And one more thing to my 2:46am post.
Just think of the thousands and thousands of new property owners we would have with many more individuals paying property taxes (that cost was figured into the formula too).
Now CM and Mayor would have much more taxes to fix the streets, hire lapd, pay for transportation without as much reliance on more bonds and fees that are really taxes.
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