Sunday Hotsheet First Edition
Mayor Villaraigosa has to be having buyer's remorse about appointing Jane Ellison Usher to the Planning Commission. Her pro-NIMBY memo screed will be exhibit A in Sandy Hubbard's lawsuit against SB 1818 - which is bad policy for another reason that I've discussed before. (By the way on a slightly unrelated note, here is an interesting article from almost 20 years ago about Usher's husband, Harry, a longtime LA power player. The story goes back to the days before Mayor Villaraigosa, even Mayor Riordan, Mayor Sam and the internet. Thought provoking to see what Usher thought LA's issues were in 1990.)We posted it Saturday, even LA Observed covered it but crickets from the fishwraps of record, digital or otherwise, on the alleged anti-Semitic comments of Reverend Eric Lee, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles. Lee reportedly made the remarks during an event marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King at which Israeli-American philanthropist Daphna Ziman was honored for her years of activism on behalf of the poor. Blogger Ed Morrisey wondered "where the press was for this event. With the Mayor attending an event honoring King, one has to believe that the LA Times would have had at least a beat reporter there."
When a Westchester based blogger and Neighborhood Council member challenged DWP General Manager H. David Nahai as to why the utility transfered millions of dollars of revenues to the City of Los Angeles general fund instead of investing it in the Department's infrastructure, Nahai referred to the blogger as an "angry person." Glad to see Nahai gets it!
Captain Greg Nelson makes a good point about how developers can work with the community on their projects in order to blunt some NIMBY/BANANA/CAVE hysteria around their projects. I've mentioned this before, using the example of developer J.H. Snyder and his consultant Ira Handelman who did a beautiful job of engaging the North Hollywood community on several large projects that achieved significant and widespread community support.
The San Fernando Valley Democrats have another picnic-softball game next week. Tip to City Council Staffers: Don't drive your City owned vehicle to the picnic. Snoops will be watching.
Following Luke Ford's post that the Westside White Guy claimed credit for Pulitzer Prizes Ford believes he has no right to, David Markland had a brief interview with the blogger that Sherry (Shirley?) Bebitch Jeffee says is the only one she knows from Adam. Though he was discussing Ford's allegation, I guess the WWG decided it was an opportune time to lie about our blog and say "I don’t trust the accuracy or the ethics of anything at Mayor Sam, and I don’t know anyone in L.A. politics who does." Yea - sure Kev. That's why they all read it and that's why lots of send us tips, news and other items. What a waste of time to try to get stuff on a blog that no one reads or trusts.
Labels: david markland, H. David Nahai, j.h. snyder, jane usher, luke ford, mayor antonio villaraigosa, reverend eric lee, san fernando valley democrats, sb 1818
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 4/13/2008 05:00:00 AM
10 Comments:
Want to be an angry person too?
http://clkrep.lacity.org/councilfiles/08-0377_rpt_atty_03-17-08.pdf
Everybody has to pretend they don't read Mayor Sam. I think your numbers prove everybody does though.
You do have to be smart enough to pull out the lies and wade through the ridiculous shit, but moderating seems to have ended the crazy people. Nothing you can do about the liars. Anonymous liars are on all blogs.
I check in as often as I can.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe is too old to be hip to the best blogs.
Captain Greg? Hmm, I always wondered if he might be. Well, let's just say this. I like Captain Jack and I like Greg. Greg is the most under appreciated guy in LA politics. When he talks - activists listen.
I would bet money that Antonio Villaraigosa is secretly glad that Jane Usher wrote that letter. THAT is why he appoints people with opinions and before Riordan and Broad got a hold of him, he was like Jane!
The Daphna Ziman story is infuriating since it was the Jewish community who went to City Council and spoke on behalf of the Hispanic community, specifically the illegal Mexicans, before their recent vote AGAINST enforcing the proposal put forth in the Assembly to require employers to verify legal status of employees. (
They'd only have to send a SS# to a central data bank, so it's NOT as onerous as opponents argued. In the few cases legals came back as illegal -- usually because some illegal's taken their SS # already -- that could be ironed out, and you'd think someone wants to know if their SS # is being used by an illegal, sooner rather than when they retire and go for benefits!)
Various Jewish groups kept talking about themselves as "the other" in Egypt, etc. etc. -- which I think is dumb on their part, since MeCHa is anti-Semitic as well as anti- White: all La Raza types say what black racists do, that the Jews own the Mexicans and try to buy their politicians to silence them. That's how they see Jewish support for Villaraigosa last election. (Remember, when he ran, he was looked at suspiciously by whites and Jews like Weiss helped push him over the hum.)
So here's the Mayor and another black racist speaker bashing not only the Jews, but on the occasion she's receiving an award for philanthropy -- including in the black community!
It's the Jews who were suckered and should just wake up: to blacks and Hispanics they're the "enemy," like they are to the Arab world, with whom radical blacks feel sympathy.
Wake up and vote for Jamiel's Law and enforcing illegal immigration, at least as far as criminals, Jewish community. There's no love for you from the streets -- even less from the Hispanics.
The black leaders aren't going to touch it, knowing how their poor feel. Like on the day Jamiel's Law was proposed -- it was followed by the billboard debate by coincidence and although ClearClannel/CBS is the "villain," stiffing the city many millions by now paying fees, keeping up illegal billboards and suing us no less (only the L A Weekly follows the story). Perry and Reyes ganged up on westside whites (many Jewish, an Asian guy) to blame them for taking parks away from poor people! When no one is more stupidly liberal than Jews.
And when the MLK peace weekend was discussed, Reyes used his WHOLE time to hate on the westside and "hillside federations and homeowner associations" who won't let him put low-income projects for the poor into the heart of these areas, "to let our kids live where they should." (He's doing this on a weekly basis at least, and singles out Zev Y for special hatred.)
Why didn't the Times cover this local attack against Jews, which is what another MLK celebration turned into? Maybe, because they're supporting Obama, whose pastor Wright is just as anti-Semitic?
The Jews have to realize their liberalism towards resentful blacks and Hispanics is self-destructive. Sure, "heal the world," as Jewish edict says -- but look out, those you're helping will bite you in the ass if you don't watch out.
The Rev. Lee did say those things, I heard from a staffer who was there, but poster is wrong about one thing, maybe it's a slip-up, that the Mayor "and another black racist" were bashing the Jews -- the Mayor shows up at Jewish events, even Orthodox ones, and never said or would say anything anti-Semitic. He's not that dumb.
But it's true that La Raza and MeCHa types do, and are suspicious of his connections to the Jewish community. They also hate AA's but agree with the Rev. Lees and Wrights, that the Jews are a common enemy.
I'm Jewish and think our community should stop letting ourselves be so taken for granted in our support for every ethnic community, when we're vilified for everything wrong in the black/ brown communities.
There's no coincidence that Reyes is going after CD's 5 and 11 and Zev, which are the most Jewish areas and he's drumming into the minds of Hispanic immigrants, that these people want to hold onto what they have because they're greedy and got what they have by milking the blacks and whites to do their work, and now they're entitled.
The irony is, it's true, that it's the Jews who have paid the most taxes and been the biggest supporters of illegal immigration and its costs on society. Our kids are almost all in private schools, because we've ceded them to the Spanish-speaking kids and families. The rest of the city, like West Valley, think it's dumb that we've done this, that we don't fight for our share of schools or move away.
Yet we're the "enemy" whenever we object to anything like letting the projects in next to our parks and homes. Yes we've been "the other" and we've sought refuge in Egypt in biblical times, but we never took over their whole society. It makes no sense to me when I hear Beverly Hills Jews using this as an excuse to support all illegal immigration.
Obama refused to denounce Wright, his spiritual leader of 20 years, or even Farrakhan, until he was embarrassed into it in the middle of a televised debate with Hillary.
Assemblyman Mike Davis's weaseling out of whether he heard Rev. Lee say anything, is really dishonest. He says that people who speak for a living like him (at least he admits it, that he talks but doesn't do anything except tax plastic bags), is "going to make mistakes."
Despite Ziman and her husband, head of big Arden Realty, gave him money.
They all sound like Obama and the rabbi who vouches for Lee as "a friend of the Jewish community" just because he shows up at some events (read: fishing for the money he condemns Jews for), is very naive.
They all sound like Obama and the Rev. Wright, pleading ignorance and "I wasn't there," or, if caught, "I guess I was there but I wasn't listening." Yeah, right.
We have lots of things to be angry about in the city of LA. However, lets put the "angry" comment in a little context. According to Nahai, the city council mandates the dollars that DWP MUST give to the city. DWP cannot say no. When the 'angry commenter" said that 2 billion dollars had been transferred, Nahai's reply was "change the city charter", as DWP could NOT decline the 5%-7% annual contribution. Kinda took the winds right out of angry sails.
What was more instructive IMHO me was how surprised Nahai was that most of Neighborhood Councils had come out against the increase and he didn't know why. As he said, the uniosn were for it and the downtown chamber was for it, so why weren't the 85% of people who loved here for it? Sounds like 85% don't have the seat at the table and that is the real reason to be angry.
There was suppose to be a court ruling on whether DWP could transfer millions of our tax dollars into the general fund. Does anyone know if that ruling has been decided?
I love this Sheriff. He is one tough guy and doesn't give a damn what anyone says. Wouldn't it be great to have a Sheriff like this in LA?
PHOENIX - The mayor wants the FBI to investigate whether the local county sheriff has violated any civil rights laws with his recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants.
The "saturation patrols" have drawn protests from civil rights and immigrant-rights advocates, but they have drawn support from backers of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and from people who believe the government hasn't done enough against illegal immigration
Whoa, the unions AND the downtown chambers were for it. Well, what the heck was I thinking then? Silly me. How about VICA? If they're for it, then I must be terribly wrong and I'll have to be excited about paying more. But they won't be for it. The downtown chambers doesn't have any real water bills. Of course they're for the increase.
4:24 - >>Nahai's reply, as I recall, was the anger should be directed to "changing the city charter", as DWP could NOT decline the 5%-7% annual contribution that the city insisted on.
Nahai was being 'completely' disingenuous by saying that. I don't think it takes a city charter change to simply convince the city council to ask for less money while the DWP focuses on upgrading the power grid.
I told him that as the general manager of the DWP, he and all of the general managers before him including Deaton and Freeman, that he should be advocating for the department and the public when these requests are made for power and water fund transfers to the city's general fund. It was his responsibility to "articulate" to the city council that the DWP needed some of those funds to maintain the power distribution system.
To put it in the correct context this is how I began the conversation and why he describe me as angry.
I opened my remarks after Nahai, answered a previous question asking him "if he would hold back funding next year to fund the improvements?" Nahai answered saying that he would continue to make these power transfers as long as the city council asked.
Now when it was my turn to speak I WAS quite angry with his answer and I told him that "I had to question HIS priorities and those general managers before him" by allowing the city to "run the power distribution network INTO THE GROUND" instead of telling the city council that the DWP needed to keep some, if not all of the funds for upgrading the infrastructure.
Nahai didn't like what I said and tried to talk over me. I insisted on completing what I said in what short amount of time I had and he didn't like it and said I was a "angry". (ya think?!)
It was Nahai himself that said there was over 15,000 miles of underground power cables that was sub-standard and needing attention.
It was Nahai who said that he was on the DWP board for ten years.
I was holding him responsible for not making the case to the city to hold back some fundings until the corrections could be made.
I was holding him responsible for the exploding manhole covers and the death of the fireman.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home