Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday
Our sources are telling us there was one barn burner of a session at Monday night's meeting of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council's Land Use Committee meeting. Tipsters say a representative of Councilwoman Wendy Greuel's office, in trying to explain the backroom deal between City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and Home Depot to place a controversial branch of the store in the mountain community, made essentially "circular comments" that provided no answers. Frustration and emotion ran so high that one committee member broke down in tears and expressed that she has "lost faith in the whole process." I suspect its going to get a whole lot uglier before the matter is resolved.Following our big time expose that City Planning Director Gail Goldberg is allegedly a big time beer fan, the department is leaking like a sieve and lots of information is coming our way. It will take some time to parse it all but here's the latest tidbit: Planning Department employees who happen to be minorities say they're getting passed over for promotions and that an outside investigation and lawsuits may be in the works. Our sources tell us that Goldberg and her second in command, Michael LoGrande allegedly have frequent meetings at a local sports bar to drink beer and make changes to department staffing.
Last year the City Clowncil agreed to big time pay increases for city workers - more than the private sector would ever get - and now that the City is in a big budget crisis the Clowncil wants to reopen negotiations and take some of those raises back. But it seems as if the unions are not taking the Clowncil's calls.
A well known Valley NIMBY is griping in a local publication about SB 1818. You know that's the state law that basically allows developers to overrun local zoning laws if they provide some level of "affordable housing." Of course the NIMBY is up in arms but what she doesn't realize is that it's the NIMBY/CAVE/BANANA mentality that drives this very nonsense (as well as the need for developers to be shaken down by local politicians). If the market drove development, scams like SB 1818 wouldn't happen, there would be stronger reasons for developers to develop smart and it would create genuine "affordable housing." However in the current environment developers and land owners can not make the best and highest use of their land.
In the same article the same NIMBY is also aghast that the City has come to the conclusion that preferential parking districts "are turning neighborhoods with public streets into what are essentially gated communities accessible only to the residents and their guests." I've always felt that these districts - which limit parking only to those people who live next to the streets that they are created on - are on a shaky constitutional ground. When you consider that the streets are maintained with gasoline and property taxes paid by more than just the local residents, the preferential parking districts are unfair.
Labels: banana, cave, gail goldberg, home depot, nimby, pay raise, preferential parking, sb 1818
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 3/11/2008 12:50:00 AM
20 Comments:
Mayor Sam, you're living in the 50's.
SB 1818 was, is, and forever more be the law that the developers wanted. They can build one 400 square foot apartment that is parlayed into 15 apartments at market rate. At the same time cities must ignore and toss out their zoning regulations for them. What a sweet deal.
Half of this stuff is like reading Chinese to me, but I really appreciate your being there!
It would be interesting if someone would sue regarding preferential parking districts, based on the grounds you set forth.
Mayor Sam,
Daaaaaaaamn...between Mayor Sam's blog and LA Daily Blog -- a lot of the time, BNN Top 5 stories are occupied by the stories from the two blogs. Not about ranking...but it shows that the tag team attack on fraud, waste and abuse isn't going un-noticed! And glad to see some great threads on your blog that I am jealous of! (But I'm still pissed that you didn't put your blog on "moderate comments" until AFTER ZD's departure/spin-off!)
oops...you just took it off moderate:
Oh no...all hell is gonna break loose. Hope you have someone moderating!
I will be moderating all the illegal pandering comments of Joe HeadUpAss. I guess Ed must be blind and stupid and oblivious to the obvious results of uncontrolled illegal immigration.
LAUSD graduates less than 50% of its students; L.A. is the gang capital of the world, more Health Clinics closing, and more budget problems to come.
Mexico, give us your poor, your tired, your hungry, and send them to Los Angeles, Ed HeadUpAss thinks it’s a wonderful thing.
1101 - I have no doubts that some shady developers are loving SB1818. However they only want/need SB1818 because of the current over-regulated environment. If you could build and sell housing like you build and sell cars we would 1) have affordable housing 2) wouldn't need scams like 1818 3) you'd actually have more responsible development and 4) There would no need for developers to give wads of cash to politicians
我毫不怀疑一些黑幕开发商爱好sb1818 。不过，他们只是想/需要sb1818因为当前的过度规管环境。如果你能够兴建和出售房屋像你们一样兴建和出售汽车，我们将1 ）经济适用住房二）无须骗局喜欢一八一八三） ，你其实有更负责任的发展和4 ）有没有必要为开发商提供wads的现金，以政治家
Anonymous said...
I will be moderating all the illegal pandering comments of Joe HeadUpAss. I guess Ed must be blind and stupid and oblivious to the obvious results of uncontrolled illegal immigration...
March 11, 2008 7:38 AM
You sir, are the obvious results of uncontrolled teen-age pregnancy.
MAYOR SAM, your 8:37 IS A RIOT CONSIDERING MY EARLIER COMMENT! I LOVE IT! It is like reading Chinese to me, at least today, but that's a funny response! Thank you!
Please put back comment moderation or else that sicko squirrel killer will start ruining this blog again!
MAYOR SAM, your 8:37 IS A RIOT CONSIDERING MY EARLIER COMMENT! I LOVE IT! It is like reading Chinese to me, at least today, but that's a funny response! Thank you!
Please put back comment moderation or else that sicko squirrel killer will start ruining this blog again!
drinking with tony said, "You sir (7:38am), are the obvious results of uncontrolled teen-age pregnancy."
March 11, 2008 10:20 AM
I agree with 10:20 (btw, how does one address you, Mister drinking or mister tony? Just curious.)
I dedicate the following poem to 7:38:
"The bee is a busy little soul,
He has no time for birth control.
And that is why in times like these
There are so many sons of bees!"
City Planning Director Gail Goldberg is allegedly a big time beer fan - Wow is that why her monkeys at the East L.A. planning commission allowed the liquor variance at Las Villas in Lincoln Heights . . . . Near three schools!!!!
ed you knucklehead
B-U-R-P.
Pref Parking districts have already won out in the courts, over ten years ago. CHeck with DOT
The minorities claiming they're being passed over for promotions are just upset they're not getting preferential treatment based on race.
With so much emphasis on hiring and promoting ethnics over whites in the LAPD and LAFD, there are government workers who expect the same in every dept. And of course this affirmative action concept is taken as a given by most Baby Boomers, the very ones who have ruined our schools with busing.
So good for Gail, if she actually seeks to promote based on merit.
Also, ethnics usually are the ones pushing for high-density buildings without parking, since that's what would benefit "their people" over the more affluent whites and Asians. Just look at their bosses: Reyes, Alarcon, Cardenas, Huizar, Huizar, and wacko Baby Boomers like Woo who have spent their whole lives turning society upside down, not realizing that by now, it already is and needs to be righted.
I don't favor SB1818 at all, it's a disaster, but you make a good point that HOA's intent on shaking down developers, like the notorious case with that Westwood group vs. Century City, have created an environment with officials have just said: hell with you people, we're cutting you out. But this was a shakedown by HOA's, NOT politicians, as you state.
(This case pitted the HOA's against the politician who wanted to mediate the situation they'd created. They attacked him for not having had the "foresight" to shake down the developers on his own.)
Permit street parking is generally essential, and it's almost universal in Beverly Hills, which is a successful city precisely because it respects the rights of homeowners and those in small, luxury condos NOT to have their quality of life destroyed.
But sometimes lack of flexibility by residents who get this is a problem: like the residents along Pico who refused the city's suggestion that the businesses complaining about reduced rush hour parking, be allowed to share the permit parking during those hours.
Since these residents wouldn't even work with their own local businesses, blaming the whole thing on the Mayor is disingenuous.
By the way, these residents are by and large the same as the ones who shook down the developer for $7 million and created a precedent that city officials didn't want to face again, hence that awful SB1818.
Hey look Don Quixote aka Drinking With Tony has invented a name "Mickey Finn."
Don Quackers quit using names of people from the 40's 50's and 60's you name choices are too transparent.
Chief Dan Mathews,
I am glad you are on the case of the xenophobe who avoids revealing his true feelings about African Americans, who he call changos (monkeys) and mayates.
Just so you know he also hates our fine LAPD officers. This old cholo is a big falso hyocritical racist. He even idolizes mexican gang members and says cholos are men of honor, utterly disgusting for this LAPD detective to hear.
Goldberg promotes based on the amount the person flatters her ideas and also her lackey Chief ZA LoGrande. All they have to do is mimic her denisty at all costs vision. She clearly is promoting those who are clean slates who can be become a blind loyalist. No free thinkers allowed! Please don't analyze, just buy into her smart growth koolaid. It reminds me of Bush and "creating intelligence to fit the policy" in this instance, it is creating the "need" from fraudulent statistics to fit the policy.
Goldberg wouldn't know a merit-based promotion if it stuck her in the eye.
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