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Friday, May 30, 2008

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday

Laura Chick plans to release her follow up audit of the LA Fire Department Friday morning. Chick's intital report in January 2006 found the LAFD rife with harassment, hazing and discrimination. The 2006 audit was followed by the Tennie Pierce Dog Food Settlment, a string of multi-million dollar lawsuits against the City and the resignation of the Fire Chief.

Free food y'all! At a special event at the Chapman Market on 6th Avenue AnVil will introduce BongWater Kim as the new General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Friday morning. The public is invited and a light breakfast will be served.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have trained monkeys to control robotic arms with their brain waves. Could they perhaps teach monkeys to run the City?



Mayor Villaraigosa and Chief Bratton have unveiled their gang fighting plans. Part of the effort includes seizing vehicles from gang members and evicting them from their apartments.

Retired LAPD officers can make a decent living doing security for movie shoots. It also benefits film producers who can have seasoned, experienced officers on hand during productions. But you can guess that Big Baby Bill Bratton wants to mess with the officers. The LAPD wants the retired officers to have to go through additional gun training and remove their rank from their uniform. Many fear that the real issue is the LAPD is eying the revenue and may set up its own contract officer bureau similar to other agencies who contract with studios for production security. Sadly it looks like former motorcycle cop turned Clowncilman Dennis Zine is backing the LAPD on this one.

The California State Assembly has passed yet another jobs killing initiative - mandatory sick leave for all employees. The Assembly doesn't get that it's good business for employers who want top employees to offer these and other benefits. Some of the top employers in the state such as Google, Mrs. Gooch and others offer fantastic benefits voluntarily and find they huge numbers of potential employees lining up to apply for open positions. Therefore, they get to pick the cream of the crop. At the same some really small businesses often can't afford to offer these benefits and will either close down or move out of the state or country. Get ready to watch unemployment go up!

And finally, do you want a Zuma Dogg for Mayor t-shirt? Click here and the dee oh double gee will hook you up. Yea yea.

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35 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Yes, we certainly expect Mrs. Gooch to move stores overseas if she has to provide paid sick leave here in California.

Oh, I forgot! Mrs. Gooch already sold her stores and she doesn't pay ANYONE for ANYTHING anymore.

Why can't conservatives get it through their heads that treating employees well doesn't come naturally for every business owner, but that it's still good for business in the long run? Sometimes there's more to the bottom line than just the bottom line!

May 30, 2008 5:07 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Michael don't be a crybaby. The problem with having old, fat retired vets on movie locations is they aren't trained periodically to make sure they know what's really going on. They are also coddled by the production sets so a lot of things are slipping pass because of that too cosy relationship. These guys are have been retired from LAPD some for over 20 yrs. They get to wear the LAPD uniform and "pretend" they're real cops. I say get rid of them and have "real" cops do their job off duty.

May 30, 2008 6:20 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

This monkey thing is pure torture.
I'm not sure if I'm angry that it's posted, or happy that people are reminded that animals are being tortured in labs, such as UCLA's Primate Lab, every hour of every day of the year.

May 30, 2008 8:12 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:


"Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have trained monkeys to control robotic arms with their brain waves. Could they perhaps teach monkeys to run the City?"


Already done.

In CD-14

See online meeting at 10am,
http://lacity.org/cdvideo_wm.htm
"Awards" day, aka, Dog-and-Pony show.

May 30, 2008 8:33 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Congratulations to the people of South Carolina. At least THEY have a leadership that listens to the will of the people. (I would link to the article, but the newspaper tends to move things around on their website and it would get lost.)

COLUMBIA — Supporters of the new immigration reform plan say illegal immigrants will start fleeing South Carolina as soon as the governor signs it into law. Others are worried about the consequences.

The state's long-awaited plan is headed to Gov. Mark Sanford after the House voted 94-16 Thursday to agree with the Senate-approved version.

"Working together, we've put forth a bill that will make a difference when it comes to illegal immigration in South Carolina, and I look forward to signing it when it reaches my desk," Sanford said in a statement.

The Immigration bill
The full text of House bill 4400
Immigration reform, and specifically how the state would ensure businesses weren't hiring illegal labor, has divided the Legislature in ways reminiscent of the battles to bring down the Confederate battle flag and ban video poker.

"This is a historic day," said Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, one of the lead negotiators on the issue. "What we have done is everything we can possibly do."

Rep. Seth Whipper, D-North Charleston, is worried the state has gone too far.

Whipper and Democratic Reps. Floyd Breeland of Charleston and David Mack of North Charleston were the only local House members to vote against the bill.

The Governor's statement
Governor Sanford thanks House for Immigration Bill's passage
"The trail of probable cause sways toward racial profiling," said Whipper, whose district includes a large population of immigrants.

Whipper said he is worried that legal Hispanic immigrants, specifically, will face hardships as a result of the legislation.

He also says he does not think legal immigrants were involved enough in the process to have had their voices heard and that they might be unaware of what's coming down the pike.

In supporting the bill, Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, said the legislation is a good example of how the process of making laws is supposed to work.

The issue was studied by the Legislature for more than two years and was publicly vetted in hearings and via media outlets.

What's more, Campsen said, the legislative leaders and the governor were heavily involved in reaching a compromise, which included finding a way to bring the many initial dissenters on board.

"Too much political bickering was going on," Campsen said. "It was time to quit making political points and make a difference."

The bill must be ratified — a routine procedure — before Sanford can sign it.

Campsen said the governor's immediate willingness to sign the bill comes, in part, because of the chance Sanford was given by the Legislature to help shape the final compromise.

"We heard loud and clear what the citizens of our state wanted," said House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston.

AT A GLANCE

Here's a look at the details in the state Legislature's illegal immigration reform legislation:

-- Authorizes the State Law Enforcement Division to reach a deal with federal agencies for the enforcement of immigration laws.

-- Requires people to prove their lawful presence in the U.S. to receive public benefits, although some exceptions apply, such as for emergency medical treatment.

-- Adds additional penalties for ID fraud in connection to an illegal immigrant.

-- Requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers by using a state driver's license, a license from another state that has the same eligibility requirements or E-Verify (a free, online database that lets employers check Social Security numbers).

-- Mandates fines for employers between $100 and $1,000 for every time they fail to verify the legal status of a worker, charge employers who knowingly hire an illegal immigrant with a felony and suspend right of businesses to operate when they get caught with illegal workers.

-- Allows fired citizens to sue their former bosses if they're replaced by illegal workers.

-- Prohibits illegal immigrants from attending state universities or receiving state-funded college scholarships.

-- Outlaws "sanctuary cities."

-- Requires judges to check immigration status when setting bail.

-- Expands the state grand jury's jurisdiction to include immigration fraud.

-- Creates an illegal immigration hot line through the state Commission for Minority Affairs.

-- Creates a felony for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.

May 30, 2008 9:07 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

You missed the biggest story yet.

After the mayor, Bratton et al's press conference about gang property seizures and future arrests,I witnessed thousands of gang members sprinting hysterically down the 110Frwy south towards Mexico, with anguished fear on their faces.

Looks like their plan will work, back to filling potholes now? or pandering the Democandidates for a future job?

May 30, 2008 9:12 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

How appoppoppoppos.

There will be a "light breakfast" to honor yet another "lightweight" general manager for the Dept. of Neighborhood Empowerment.

Can someone with a spine downtown finally suggest we kill this turkey department?

Now that they're not handling NC elections and there are almost no new NCs being certified what's their use?

All they can do is create more useless forms for unpaid volunteers to have to fill out that go - no where.

Next up, an evaluation form asking people if the found the last evaluation form useful.

May 30, 2008 10:06 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Evicting criminal tenants, what a joke Delgadillo & Bratton are.

Delgadillo and LAPD have the nuisance eviction ordiance now and do not use it. I have gone to court and tried to evict gangsters and drug dealers that threaten myself and other tenants now and judges won't kick them out.

I pulled a copy form the city website "Declaration Of Intent to Evict For Alleged Drug-Related Nuisance, Illegal Drug Acitivy, Or Gang-Related Crime".

I have asked many other landlords and eviction attorneys who have problems and none of them have ever been given this resource or helped by the city attorney and LAPD.

If they would REALLY help owners, that would get rid of the gangs too. This would work better than the gang injunctions!

May 30, 2008 10:14 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

No surprise here, I guess

RED SPOT, you in there somewhere? This is right up your heavily tagged and bulky item clogged alley.

Another gang shooting in Highland Park where innocents were killed and injured earlier this week.

72 hours later, who's the only politician to even mention something about it? The STATE ASSEMBLY member for the area.

Not either of the city councilmembers who split HP - Huizar and Reyes. Both are silent.

Did they have trouble figuring out whose side of the district line the body fell on, so they just punted, or are they both too busy planning international trips to study bridges and high rise condos? Even if they're both junketing, don't they even have staff that can pretend the councilmembers give an expletive-deleted and issue some kind of warmed over statement??

=============
Assemblymember de Leon Issues a Call to End Violence and Stop
Senseless Killings

Assistant Majority Leader Kevin de Leon issues the following statement in regards to the recent shooting in Highland Park

Over the past several months, serious acts of gang violence have beset Northeast Los Angeles. Sadly,
another innocent life was lost on Tuesday. On Monday, May 26, Cynthia Perez, a 14-year-old Benjamin Franklin High School Freshman, was caught in gang cross-fire as she sat in the back seat of her family's SUV at the
intersection of Avenue 64 and York Boulevard in Highland Park. Cynthia was pronounced dead at Huntington Memorial Hospital the following day.

Cynthia was an outstanding young woman with a promising future and aspirations of attending college.
Our community mourns deeply for the loss of this young girl, and I wish to extend my sincerest and most heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and classmates.

There have been numerous shootings recently in the area, and this problem of violence demands
cooperative efforts from all levels of government and
law enforcement. Greater investment in intervention
and anti-gang education at schools is needed. Mayor Villaraigosa's anti-gang initiative is another
important step in reducing the violence in our neighborhoods, and I am anxious for those City
resources to hit the ground and begin producing positive results. California also has an important
role in protecting families and their children from this senseless violence.


Etc.

May 30, 2008 10:16 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"Not either of the city councilmembers who split HP - Huizar and Reyes. Both are silent."

Because of the location of the murder at Rite Aid, neither Councilman knew who was responsible for that street, SO NEITHER DID ANYTHING!

May 30, 2008 10:53 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:53

Okay, how about BOTH?

The victim was a student at a high school in CD14.

The gun-crazy teen-aged thug belonged to a gang in CD1.

No excuse for both not jumping in and showing some humanity.

May 30, 2008 11:47 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Don't these councilmembers have any staff people who watch their back and the local news for stuff like this?

That's like page one in the political operatives field manual.

Amazing. You don't have to invent photo ops if you have at least one ear to the ground. Life brings them on. They should have organized a vigil the day that girl went into the hospital with brain damage.

May 30, 2008 11:55 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The sick leave bill is SO San Francisco: allows people to take sick leave "to recover from sexual assault." Like how common is that, exactly? A regular occurrence in SF? OF course if someone is assaulted they go for med treatment as well as sick leave, why a separate category? Just something else for people to abuse, it'll now become a common excuse.

The amount of sick leave in the bill, 9 days for bigger companies and 5 for those with 10 and under, is really high, and you know workers will use them up somehow. Many smaller companies do offer 5 days anyway, but if there are 2-3 people in a business, someone being out really hurts. Then housekeepers and maids will demand this, too, something many families can't afford and may just not hire them at all.

The Dems are such a useless bunch, with their endless PC bills laying burdens on companies and fostering a sense of entitlement.

May 30, 2008 11:56 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

8:12= animal wacko alert. "Torture" to train a monkey to do a task, which can give paralyzed and disabled people back some mobility and a life? Find a real cause, and don't you dare go after the researchers. You people scare me.

May 30, 2008 11:58 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Wow, the S. Carolina bill is extensive -- illegals can't attend state colleges at all, let alone not get financial aid. Personally I think they should be made to pay OUT of state fees as foreign nationals, instead.

And I'm worried about that "free service" to verify SS numbers available to all employers -- how do we know they won't abuse that, sounds like it can be used by criminals posing as employers to steal ID.

As more states pass these laws, more of their illegals will come here. And Reyes, Alarcon, Fuentes, Cardenas and Mafia will demand we give them cheap housing in Bel Air.

May 30, 2008 12:09 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

People in South Carolina feel about the new legislation

Posted by captivated on May 30, 2008 at 8:22 a.m.
Now, isn't it just amazing what our legislators can do during an election year!?! Wave a ballot box at them and suddenly, they wake up and start doing their jobs. Hasta Luego, illegal immigrants! Now, about these gas prices.....
Posted by losangeles on May 30, 2008 at 12:57 p.m.

Congratulations to the people of South Carolina. Be thankful that you have elected leaders that listen to the will of the people. Congratulations on taking the first step toward saving your state.

May 30, 2008 12:41 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

People in South Carolina feel about the new legislation

Posted by captivated on May 30, 2008 at 8:22 a.m.
Now, isn't it just amazing what our legislators can do during an election year!?! Wave a ballot box at them and suddenly, they wake up and start doing their jobs. Hasta Luego, illegal immigrants! Now, about these gas prices.....
Posted by losangeles on May 30, 2008 at 12:57 p.m.

Congratulations to the people of South Carolina. Be thankful that you have elected leaders that listen to the will of the people. Congratulations on taking the first step toward saving your state.

May 30, 2008 12:42 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

While everyone's yammering about the Mayor's trip to Israel, no one's said anything about Greig Smith and people from Cardenas and Rosendahl's staffs going to six countries, including pricy Japan and Germany, to study trash. Paid for by Sunshine Canyon Landfill, but wouldn't those revenues otherwise go to the city?

It's a fact that there's recycling fraud going on in this city -- we're not making money from recycling either, as other cities do. When one of the DA Cooley's lawyers pursued that fraud, Cooley took her off the case: must have been one of his friends involved.

May 30, 2008 1:06 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Its pathetic when the Captain at Hollenbeck communicates more with Huizar's constituents then he does. People are saying that captain does more for the community then Huizar and should run for CD14. There's a strong chance he would win against Huizar. He has more accomplishments on his plate then Huizar, the bun boy to John Perez

May 30, 2008 2:17 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

monica harmon, are you there?

May 30, 2008 5:38 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Captain Nieto?

May 30, 2008 6:29 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Why is Monica Harmon seeking to agressively unseat the Hollywood Neighborhood Council President?

It's obvious that her loyalties are to the communities where she lives, while she claims to be from Boyle Heights?

And, what's up with her and Martha Cisneros anyway?

May 30, 2008 7:33 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

It's good to know that level-headed policy makers are working hard to restore city funding to fight gangs and push for intervention and suppression.

Keeping the Mayor and the city accountable for the money, which is intended to be put to good use, is what's needed.

Huizar, don't stop, there's more to do.

May 30, 2008 7:38 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

7:38pm Huizar, don't stop, there's more to do. There certainly is.

Funding is spending and they have done poorly in choices. Intervention, over the years, so far, has not proven much.

Simple things like recission of S.O. 40, like considering getting Zine' motion out of committee where Chair Weiss control, with Reyes in there, too, might help.

The council talks a good game but that's all it is to them, a game. Jamiel's Law and its discussion has really shown who these guys really play for.

Huizar is my councilmember but is decidedly non-functional when it comes to action to get tough with gangs. They all apologize and say shootings are tragic and intolerable but do crap to change things.

Not a kool-aid drinker, in CD-14

May 30, 2008 8:31 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

California, a state blessed with beautiful scenery, bountiful harvest and a great climate that is cursed with quite possibly the worse, most idiodic, asinine state gov't in the history of the United States.

May 30, 2008 9:17 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Opening of children's museum put off until mid-2010

The L.A. facility needs $26 million more to complete its new home in the San Fernando Valley.

A lack of funds prompted officials this week to delay until mid-2010 the opening of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, which is struggling to raise $26 million to build and install exhibits at its new home in Lake View Terrace.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Friday that he is joining with former Mayor Richard Riordan to recruit new directors for the museum's 14-member board to begin a vigorous fundraising campaign.

Delays and rising costs of construction materials have boosted the overall price for the new facility at Hansen Dam by 46%, to $58.5 million.

Officials also revealed the results of a review of the museum's business plan -- conducted by directors at the Skirball Cultural Center, Autry National Center, California Science Center and Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert -- which found that the nonprofit faces challenges in persuading residents to visit the facility near the city's edge.

"The right combination of forces, in the form of the mayors, and others, is coming together to help this project get to opening," said Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, the museum's chief executive for 14 months.

May 30, 2008 9:22 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Greig Smith to lead six-country trip to study trash facilities

L.A. councilman and other city officials will examine how other countries convert waste to energy.

Only days after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he would leave town in June for a trip to Israel, a city councilman from the San Fernando Valley announced Thursday that he would spend an entire month looking at trash conversion facilities around the globe.

Councilman Greig Smith said he and other city officials would travel to Canada, Japan, Israel, France, Germany and Spain as part of a fact-finding mission waged by the city's Bureau of Sanitation. They will also visit Bakersfield.

Each destination has at least one facility whose technology may be adopted by Los Angeles in the next two years. Smith, an enthusiastic supporter of "trash to energy," said his colleagues have already suggested three potential locations for such garbage conversion plants, including one near Los Angeles International Airport and another near Griffith Park.

"Los Angeles will be the leader in America in converting trash to energy," Smith told a breakfast crowd at the Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum.

Smith departs the next day and will take aides from his office and aides to Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Bill Rosendahl.

Smith has focused heavily on efforts to divert trash from landfills, in large part because of his efforts to close Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills. Smith cited Germany as a country that has a moratorium on new landfills and reuses nearly all of its trash.

The $250,000 trash trip will be paid for with fees from Sunshine Canyon Landfill, said Enrique Zaldivar, who heads the Bureau of Sanitation. The agency has reviewed competing proposals for processing the city's garbage and hopes to open its first waste conversion plant by December 2010.

May 30, 2008 9:25 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

If you think Laura Chick found a laundry list wrong with the fire department, wait till she gets her hands on the corrupt brass at LAPD. That will make LAFD look like a walk in the park. I'm serious, half of the brass at LAPD has to go, starting with that arrogant prick Bratton, and all his sycophants. Want a little history? Look at the Shaw administration from the 1930's, talk about history repeating itself. LAPD has not been this corrupt since then.

May 30, 2008 10:52 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Huizar and Reyes said nothing in council today about the 14-year old girl who died sitting in her car, hit by a gangbanger, in a parking lot straddling their areas -- although the council put out a reward (that will never be claimed).

But they made long, rousing speeches along with sponsor Zorro Alarcon, about declaring today a holiday in the name of the guy who founded the pro-illegal "rights" movement that's behind all the marches today, the demands for "equal right" to live in Bel Air, etc. ZINE VOTED FOR THE MOTION TO DECLARE THE DAY A HOLIDAY. Boy, did he ever back off his SP40 revision/ clarification motion.

May 31, 2008 12:25 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

May 30, 2008 11:58 AM-The good this research might bring does not negate the fact that the monkey is being tortured.

And, no, I would never go after researchers, nor do I support those who do.

May 31, 2008 1:13 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

7:33pm Desperately needs mental therapy sessions. Monica Harmon has done more for the Latino communities then the poor insecure, lonely, person who always post about her. It must be a Huizar staffer. Goes to show you know nothing about Monica because she doesn't run for any organizations but spends thousands of dollars helping kids and parents organizing. Maybe if the person criticizing did more for their community they will fill the apparent very sad void in their life. Too bad mommy didn't give them much love because they are haters to people who actually committ to doing something positive in communities.

May 31, 2008 7:13 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

7:13AM
I'm a CD 13 resident not a CD 14 staffer as you claim. Monica Harmon is moving her alleged involvements beyond CD 14 into other local areas.

She does not live in Boyle Heights. She just wishes she could. We don't want her.

Harmon is pro-gangs, anti-Latino, and if she would put her focus on helping LAPD at least she could do something useful.

Harmon is a carpet-bagger, relationally divisive, and a polarizing person in the city. She has no money, therefore she cannot spend money.

May 31, 2008 11:37 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

11:37 Sad Sad obsessed, infatuated person on Monica. No doubt Huizar staffer who is very jealous. Poster knows nothing because her dad lives in Boyle Heights. Monica does more for LAPD and Latino communities then anyone. She helps citywide communities by organizing events like the many in Boyle Heights that have been successful with kids, parents and ploice officers. She has received numerous awards for her community involvement. So I suggest the poster should GET A LIFE, help your community and stop bitching. You are a lonely, desperate person who has nothing better to do then behave like a Satan follower. Go read your Bible.

June 01, 2008 7:22 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Boy sure sounds like someone after Monica and is very despressed and taking it out on the world. Actions speak louder then words. Go to this website and maybe you can get ideas of what you can do for your community to make a better person.
http://hollenbeckcpab.org/

June 01, 2008 7:59 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

7:22
It's obvious that it's YOU Monica who keeps posting in the third-person. Your ongoing misleading statements, claiming you help police and Latinos when there is no proof, no action.

There is a reason why no one defends you. Go ahead, try to unseat the CD 13 NC seat. We won't let you. Martha Cisneros, we know you are involved, too.

June 01, 2008 10:33 AM  

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