Deal, No Deal, or Outright $teal?
The Budget and Finance Committee's hearing on the Mayor's 2008-09 version of his rape of LA's quality of life has lifted off. As Joe M points out at Street-Hassle, department supervisors and GMs are playing 'Deal or No Deal' with Bernard P and his gaggle of geese all week long. Deal or No Deal has got to be one of the stupidest game shows ever. It takes zero skill to pick a suitcase. If there is just 1, $1 million case in the 26 you pick from, then the odds of having selected the $1 million case are 1 in 26 -- the odds on that never change no matter how many other cases remain. The audience for Deal or No Deal, much like the City Clowncil, is mainly composed of males attracted to shiny objects (and cleavage.) No harm, no fowl, I suppose.I've recently pointed out how a major cut in Recreation and Parks could endanger millions by removing the parks' first responders to brush fires, the Park Rangers. After the Griffith Fire, LaBonge, the Mayor, and every other City official who had a forum to do so told us all that they would make sure Park Rangers were fully staffed and funded from now on. What a difference a year makes, eh? With a wave of his quill, Villaraigosa cuts more than 20 full peace officers from the City payroll. (Yes, I actually said "...cuts... peace officers...from the City payroll"). Isn't it fascinating that although Antonio treats some peace officers as sacrosanct, he doesn't mind endangering the public when those officers are not of a specific breed?
Park-going Angelenos have a great deal to lose if they don't wake up and get in the Budget game right now, not the least of which is 50% of the LA City Park Rangers. Our quality of life is being stolen out from under our very large bills. So shake a tail feather -- go downtown and speak in Public Comment. Email your City officials right away. Call LaBonge and let him know what high school you went to. As Sunland-Tujunga is proving, sometimes activism is not just a wild goose chase.
Labels: budget and finance committee, budget cuts, city budget, deal or no deal, Griffith Park Fire, mayor antonio villaraigosa, park rangers, Recreation and Parks, tom labonge
Posted by Anonymous @ 4/28/2008 03:38:00 PM
8 Comments:
Whoa! Mailander was using the Deal or No Deal reference HOURS ago.
What the eff are you doing Mayor Sam? Maybe if you spent less time on "Five O'Clock Funnies" you'd have more time for your own ideas.
Your comment makes no sense. Petra is quoting Joe's article. Does it matter if she wrote her article five minutes or five hours ago? She gave Mailander credit. What else do you want?
By the way Petra has nothing to do with Five O'Clock Funnies nor do I have anything to do with her article. She rocks has done a great job.
You should also know that Joseph Mailander has the HIGHEST regard for her writing.
I hope a lot of angry citizens show up and express their outrage at the Mayor sacrificing everything for the love of the LAPD. That must be why Bratton is so adamant about Special Order 40. He made a deal that he would squelch any change to it if DooDooRagosa gave him a thousand more shiny cops. Unbelievable. This City has hit toiletsville status.
MS, I am an effing idiot and I apologize.
I don't give a crap about who has the highest regard for whom. I just care that proper credit is given. In this case, I am totally wrong and apologize.
Yeah, let's have an "everything for everyone" city budget with nothing cut and no tax or fee increases.
We're still waiting for all the harpies and critics who don't like the way city hall does its budgeting to actually propose an alternative solution for balancing the budget NOW. Get beyond the usual pie-in-the-sky rhetoric about complex, multi-jurisdictional problems that may indirectly impact certain parts of the city budget but which city hall can't solve by itself.
Is anybody willing to sacrifice anything around here? I didn't think so...
Mayor SAm we can do without bedtime music and funnies please!!!
LA is in the worst shape in its history = worst Mayor in the history of LA -Villaraigosa. I'm surprised yet happy Bitter Bernie is finally showing some leadership and questioning the budget. He's going after Antonio's bullshit during his budget meetings. Now the TACKY AWARD goes to Antonio for wanting to sell the rights to LA. LA Business Journal is reporting...
A Zoo by Any Other Name?
....L.A. could sell signage for landmarks. The Pampers Greek Theater? The Purina L.A. Zoo? Not likely.
But under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s proposal to sell the naming rights for Los Angeles facilities, the possibility exists.
The concept could generate more controversy than revenue, advertising experts say. In response to a projected deficit of $406 million, the mayor’s budget identifies selling naming rights for city sites as a way to way to generate cash. While the city already has contracts for ads on buses, benches and airports, the 2008-2009 budget proposes hiring a media agency to inventory city assets and develop a plan to capitalize on them.
I don't think that people want an everything for everyone city budget. I for one am happy to sacrifice, if it's across the board and shared equally. Especially when there is such waste such as fee waivers going on everyday in the city. What people are miffed about is this Mayor's cavalier attitude and his asshole delivery "Make no mistake" He's the worst Mayor in history and needs to be booted. When the city was in flush times, raking in the dough, where was the person who is supposed to put $$ away in a rainy day fund? Just like the Federal Government, they can spend other people's money with no problem. Wasn't Fugioka warning about this 3 years ago?
5:22, 8:49 -- I'm cool with it. I did read Joe's ode to Deal or No Deal much earlier in the day, but some of us have to work at the job that actually pays us before we can get to the really important work.
6:38 -- thank you for seeing the real point to what I wrote. I don't know which is which, but between Bratton and Villar, one is definitely the other's whore. Either that, or they're actually the same person. Their cronyism is utterly shameless.
6:49 -- I read that in the Journal yesterday. Just another way the Clowncil et al can pay back their friends and vice versa. This one needs to be axed, NOW.
Back to the job that pays me...
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