No politics in new Gang Contracts???
Lets play "Connect the Insiders"...........Refer to the list of "Advisory Board Members" for the "Legacy LA Project".
Experts on violence intervention: Dr. Astrid Heger, Violence Intervention Program, and Belinda Smith Walker, Girls and Gangs; on redevelopment: Dalila Sotelo, Community Redevelopment Agency; on education: State Superintendent Jack O’Connell and Paula Crisostomo, Occidental College; on environmental sustainability: Larry Smith, Executive Director of Northeast Trees; on community issues: Olivia Rodriguez, Los Angeles Commission for Women; and on marketing: Will Caperton y Montoya, Department of Cultural Affairs.
Steering Committee:
Sister Hilda Alfaro/Church Youth Leaders Santa Teresita Church; Leo Alvarez, Hazard Park Advisory Board; Alma Garcia, Ramona Gardens Community Service Center; Martha Gonzalez, LA Voice; Santa Teresita, Ramona Gardens Community; Scott Johnson, Hazard Park Advisory Board; Monique Moncayo. Hazard Park Teen Program; Tammy Membreno, Barrio Action Youth & Family Center; Veronica Pagan, Murchison Street School – LA’s Best Program and community resident; Hector Verdugo, Homeboy Industries – former Ramona Gardens resident; Raul Estrada, Executive Director, El Centro de Ayuda; David Galaviz, Director Community Outreach, USC Civic and Community Relations (former LHNC President); Sesshu Foster, Bravo Medical Magnet High School
Legacy L.A. staff includes two co-directors for the project, former executive director for the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, Jenny Krusoe, who has led the project from its inception, and Maria Lou Calanche, a former resident of Ramona Gardens and currently a professor at East Los Angeles College.
........and who was one of six groups awarded gang intervention contracts by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the "General Secretary of Gang Intervention, Jeff Carr"???. From today's LA Times piece by Phil Willon,
The mayor's office recommended Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for the gang-prevention program in the Cypress Park area; Community Build for the Baldwin Village area; Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches for the Florence-Graham area; People Coordinated Services for the Newton area; El Nido Family Centers for the Pacoima and Foothill area; and Violence Intervention Program for the Ramona Gardens and Hollenbeck area.
......and some from the "cut and paste archives",
Special Interest = Legacy LA Project. One should ask David Galaviz and Eileen Sanchez (she works for VIP) why they attempted to allocate $3,000 to a Project that they have a vested interest in.
The same ingrate "Ellen Sanchez" who is reported to have told the Advisory Board that they should be happy that they are getting something for their community.The same David Galaviz who told the Advisory Board that restoring the Wetlands at Hazard Park would conflict with USC's building program.
July 03, 2008 11:06 AM
Yeah, David and "Ellen" should remember that the meeting in question was video taped. "Ellen" should also remember the responses to her "kind comments".BTW, alot of people are catching on to the scam that is Legacy LA. Once again a "Non-profit" set up to benefit friends of the Mayor and Huizar.
July 03, 2008 11:26 AM
David Galaviz told a community member that their grant request to USC for "wetlands related" activities was rejected due to conflicts that a restored "wetlands" would have with USC's Capital Projects.
July 03, 2008 12:33 PM
....and this,
Earlier in the year, this body voted to support the controversial "Las Villas Project" on the corner of Broadway and Thomas (old Rose Eye Center location). Later on the same night that Councilman Ed Reyes announced the end of the "Las Villas Project", NC members proposed giving money to support a community event for Jenny Krusoe's "Legacy LA Project". Yet at no time did any of the USC employees or Violence Intervention Program staff member Eileen Sanchez recuse themselves from voting, and not cite that their respective employers have a vested interest in the successful completion of the "Legacy LA Project".
So the notion that the Mayor was removing politics from the awarding of gang intervention contracts is a complete farce.
Labels: "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN AS JOSE HUIZAR", Dan Palmer, David Galaviz, Jenny Krusoe, Legacy LA, Mayor Antonio Villarigosa, Violence Intervention Program
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 7/29/2008 09:41:00 AM
16 Comments:
Isn't "Metropolitan Churches" the gay church organization? (Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with that).
Are they going to concentrate on taming the rampant homosexual gang population in L.A.?
Or perhaps they're focused on the gangbangers behind bars, and their cellMATES?
But seriously, folks, what's the expertise inherent in a religious organization that caters to gay parishioners in handling gangbangers and wannabe thugs?
Bottom line, dude, it's patronage.
You support me in my election campaigns and you get $$ contracts, whether you're qualified or not.
Might as well be the mob handling restaurant linens and construction contracts in NYC.
Any time City Hall is controlled by one party - any party - it's the taxpayer that get's date-raped in the back bedroom during the drunken binges that follow.
No qualifications? No probleem!
Tammy Membreno, Barrio Action Youth & Family Center; Veronica Pagan, Murchison Street School – LA’s Best Program and community resident; Hector Verdugo, Homeboy Industries – former Ramona Gardens resident; Raul Estrada, Executive Director, El Centro de Ayuda
Isn't Raul dating Antonio's sister or related somehow? I think this is why he had to recuse himself from a commission appointment. Then we all know about Gang Banger Father Boyle and his criminals. Then Tammy Membreno works for another corrupt org. Barrio Action in El Sereno. Amazing all these corrupt people getting money for what? To drive expensive cars, paid over $80,000 per year
Tammy used to be a commissioner. Can anyone remember what department?
Why are they funding two hospitals LAC/USC Violence Intervention Program and Childrens Hospital to prevent Latino youth from joining gangs. That would never happen in South LA>
FYI -- Jenny Krusoe is no longer a director of Legacy. This was announced two months ago. I guess their website needs updating.
But she leaves her name on the fraud known as the Southwest Society. Scratch the Mayor's back, and he'll line your non-profit pocket. Right Jenny?
"So the notion that the Mayor was removing politics from the awarding of gang intervention contracts is a complete farce."
Of course! That's why he wants control over LAUSD too!
As you say: patronage. Soon LA will be Detroit, a wasteland.
PJ
Refer to the list of "Advisory Board Members" for the "Legacy LA Project".
CD14 SECIAL GROUP
Dalila Sotelo, Community Redevelopment Agency;
Paula Crisostomo, Occidental College;
Larry Smith, Executive Director of Northeast Trees;
Yes, that meeting was taped by Red Spot, AKA Jose Aguilar, AKA, member of both Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council (even though he has zero to do with Lincoln Heights), and Boyle Heights (where his antics will wear thin with the new board), and AKA, writer for The Voice - shouldn't these be conflict of interests?
Hey 2:26 - you forgot some others that are part of the advisory board:
- Scott Johnson
- you guessed it, Jose Aguilar also goes to all the meetings.
He is the one with the videotapes.
Who cares about this project in the Eastside, just shows that Red Spot never ventures past Brookyln Avenue
A lot of compromized faces here. Wasn't Astrid Hegger instrumental in McMartin Case that costed CA a lot of money and ruined a whole honest family?
One of the many tragedies with this process is that the next child the Metropolitan Churches provides gang prevention services to will be the first child they ever provided with such services. This is a adult homeless shelter and transitioning organization that was approached by a young lady whose personal mission is to create wealth by defrauding the city with felonious grant applications over the next five years. Last week she convened the organization for just the second time on gang prevention (the first meeting was completely disorganized and turned out to be a disaster). She told the organization that she realized they didn't know anything about gang prevention and had no experience in the area (as was made manifest in the first meeting), but that didn't matter. She was going to make a whole bunch of money on this deal and cut them in as long as they "played along " and continued to support any assertions she made in the applications. Ironically, because the churches could not agree as to how they were going to approach the contract (due to their inexperience in the area), she became irate and said "I'll just give you all some money and you can do whatever you want." What's worse, they asked members of legitimate gang prevention organizations, who were not awarded the grant, to help them develop and implement a plan, as they had never provided these services. Technically, in accordance with the RFP, the Metropolitan Churches organization did not even qualify to submit application. However, their lies and deceipt was rewarded with a $500,000.00 contract. Leave it to our politicians to replace the few organizations making a difference with organizations modeling the very attitudes and behaviors (lying, cheating, scamming, and putting selfish desires for wealth over the welfare of youth and community) they are supposed to be dispelling.
What has the world come to when our religious institutions are making deals with the devil in order to secure subsistence funding? I am disappointed most because our youth need real help now more than ever.
This morning I delivered a message about being people of character. For the rest of the day my heart was heavy. The Lord has laid a burden on me to share the truth. As a member of the Metropolitan Churches, I must admit that the comments made on August 24 are accurate. Prior to receiving the grant contract, we had never worked together on any gang prevention projects and had no real gang prevention experience as individual organizations. In fact, we recently approached the organization that ended up in third place, to request their help in establishing our program. This organization is the only one that I am aware of in the Florence/Graham 77th area that has truly developed and implemented effective gang prevention programming. Their record has been well chronicled and stellar. As such, they have been working with and teaching their own collaborative partners and other agencies how to develop and implement quality gang prevention programs. Ironically, the Mayor's GRYD Office introduced personal bias to unfairly deduct points from this organization's application, causing them to go from first to third place. In truth, they should have been awarded the contract. I am ashamed that we have, in essence, defrauded the City and cheated our youth. And I apologize for my colleagues who may or may not have the courage to admit that we are undeserving of and have been unjustly awarded this contract.
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