Saturday Special Hotsheet
Working hard for the City following President Obama's inauguration Mayor Villaraigosa took the ceremonial first bite of a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich at the annual "dineLA" restaurant week photo op this week. While slurping down roast beef and Velveeta, Controller Laura Chick uncovered millions of dollars in waste and lots of potential fraud and abuse in the taking home of city owned vehicles by municipal employees and elected officials.
Mayoral candidate Zuma Dogg (David Saltsburg) appears in an ABC News Nightline piece covering the current state of public access television for the first time out of his character. Along with public affairs television doyenne Leslie Sutton, Saltsburg expresses concern as to potential censorship of programming with the channels moving to City control. I guess that camera crew wasn't really "Matt Dowd's friends" as you know who was posting.
Following an ass kicking in Sunland-Tujunga, Home Depot is now focused on it's day laborer center at it's store in Del Rey; working with Council Member Bill Rosendahl on plans to upgrade the facility. However, local residents are not in favor of day labor centers being forced by the City on local big-boxes such as Home Depot.
A middle-class section of Van Nuys has worked itself up in a lather over being associated with a primarily Latino and working class remainder of the historic San Fernando Valley community and wants to attach itself to Sherman Oaks. The effort, led by unsuccesful Assembly candidate Laurette Healey who has last seen trying to bamboozle Neighborhood Councils over the last shady solar energy ballot plan appears to have zero support in either Sherman Oaks or the rest of Van Nuys.
Opposition from neighboring cities is growing to the construction of a proposed NFL stadium in the City of Industry by Los Angeles developer Ed Roski. Joaquin Lim, the Mayor Walnut has expressed his opposition to the stadium over fears of the arena's impact on his community while Diamond Bar has hired an attorney to attack Industry's Environmental Impact Report. Maybe they could build a Home Depot there instead or move the detainees from Gitmo.
With buzz that he is a leading contender for the GOP Presidential Nomination in 2012 and the usual comparisons to President Obama, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be the headline speaker at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual dinner. Jindal, who takes the spot previously reserved for President Bush, denies he is running for President but has made a tour to at least one early primary state, Iowa, and has been campaigning and raising funds for candidates in other states, part of the usual required groundwork for a run at a party's Presidential nomination.
Labels: bill rosendahl, bobby jindal, carmen trutanich, dennis zine, home depot, jack weiss, laura chick, laurette healey, mayor antonio villaraigosa, nfl, President Barack Obama, van nuys, zuma dogg
Posted by Michael Higby @ 1/24/2009 02:00:00 PM
37 Comments:
Is Mayor Sam endorsing Zooma Dogg for Mayor?
Who IS Mayor Sam endorsing for Mayor? The people have a right to know!
Mayor Sam, can you give it a rest with the GOP? I'm no liberal, but maybe you can wait and see how O'Bama does before you start nominating new candidates.
You may actually LIKE O'Bama, despite your alleged racist tendencies.
I think few people doubted that Zumma Dogg would be on Nightline. I just think he over-speculated that he would be the focal point of the story, which he wasn't.
Personally, I like Zumma Dogg. I don't know if he's accurate or not, but he seems like a good chap.
HEY ZUMA MUTT, if you don't get 500 votes, do you pledge to go away forever?
Come on sucka! Let us know if you're up for this challenge, bitch.
3:00 why give a rest with the GOP? Regardless of what Obama says America is a two party country.
If zooma dogg gets to be Mayor he'll definitely need a take-home car and those gas credit cards since his van can barely move and would not look too nice parked at city hall. Then again, if he promised to live in it and save us the money of Getty House I think he'd have a good platform.
It would look good if he said he'd only take public transportation, but he can't seem to manage that now even with his crappy van.
Zooma came off as just another kook on Nightline so I don't think that helped his campaign any.
It's really too bad that Higby is harping in Jindal all the time just because he's not white. If the GOP is that desperate to leap onto anyone of color to carry its banner it just shows how behind it is.
No, Higgy is welcome to be a part of any party he wants. But the election was lost, O'bama is in, and he should just let us have a chance to see how he does before drowning us in matters pertaining to 2012.
Really, it's like dealing with a small child, who can't accept losing.
"I just think he over-speculated that he would be the focal point of the story." No, I did not over speculate...I said that I would be featured in a segment on Nightline about public access. Never did I say, Nightline is doing a segment about Zuma Dogg. ALWAYS used the word "featuring" which it was.
Nice backpeddling, loser. "I just think he blah, blah, blah..."No one cares what you think regarding your opinion on whether people doubted the segment, or not. I mean really. Get a life, loser.
Weigh in on something real that matters. Here's something you can post your opinion about: Plain or peanut M&M's. Why don't you speculate as to which ones I like better.
So much good stuff today.
That is interesting news that Trutanich outraised Weiss. But Weiss had plenty of early cash, and has plenty still. He's even up on TV.
No one likes Jack Weiss.
Weiss has his nose so far up Antonio's ass that his collar is turning brown.
But don't get your hopes up that Trutanich can win.
Someone with the lack of good sense to go by "Nuch" as an adult male is going to let you down.
NEXT!
Did someone say the anti-Home Depot effort in Sunland Tujunga was successful?
That's like saying the anti-mansionization folks are the reason there is less home building.
Read my lips. It's the economy, stupid.
Home Depot left ST because they are ceasing all new openings, and closing stores, nationwide.
NEXT!
Laurette Healey, huh? The two-time, sorry, three-time (four-time?) loser?
The one who ran for Assembly as if she was an incumbent?
The one who treated everyone so poorly as if she was in elected office for years?
And then bagged 20% of the vote?
That Laurette Healey?
YGBKM. (You gotta be kidding me.)
Karma's a bitch Laurette. And you acted like one. While you were running for office (!)
You treated people more poorly than Bob Hertzberg does.
Good luck with your future endeavors.
NEXT!
Conventionalwisdom,
The anti HD effort was highly successful. The economy only played a part, or was used as an excuse. HD was looking at a lawsuit that would get trounced in court or having to go through a couple of years of EIR scrutiny and impacts that they could not mitigate. In the interest of pride, they chose to blame the economy. They also blamed the requirements the City was asking of them. Please know the whole story before you make these pronouncements.
Additionally, HD continues to open stores. They have only slowed down their expansion rate.
WHere is Red Spot -
We need more reporting on the Eastside. He needs to be here reporting on all the shadiness going on!!!!!!!!!!!!
HUGO PACHECO has sold all of us who own businesses on Main Street out!!! That punk-a## sold us out.
I know that Robert Vega is upset that Pacheco and his USC EMPLOYED WIFE have done a lot of damage in Lincoln HEights
6:48 - what are you talking about??????????????????????
Robert Vega is a loser!! HE quit the council 3 times already.
I know who Mayor Sam is endorsing for Mayor -
- Mayor McCheese
- Burger King
and to prove that he doesn't hate Messicans, he will even endorse KING TACO.
Some alcoholic posting a lot of comments!
"plain or peanuts'? who gives a shit?
Out of the 6 minutes of video, Zooma gets 30 seconds. Big friggin deal! Where's the supposed exposition of city hall shadiness that was touted about? the mayoral plug? Didn't see none of it.
30 seconds is as much of a "feature" as Zooma is an "economist"
Case closed.
Personally, you can try and minimize my inclusion in the Nightline segment, but for me, it was a highlight moment capping off eight years of busting my butt on public access (including three years focusing on City Hall).
It's been a very dark journey along the way, but you're talking about a regular guy with no money to spend on this stuff...I woke up each day and tried to plant a few seeds and push to crank out "one more episode." Turned out, people started stopping me at the gas station, coffee shops, grocery stores, librarys and mall parking lots (kids, adults, parents with their kids) telling me how much they enjoy my show. So the overwhelmingly warm feedback from the most diverse group of people is what fueled the episodes. And although ZD as public access producer and public comment speaker is mostly a miserable existence, I still feel like the most blessed person in Los Angeles, because I am blessed with a sea of smiles as I go about my day, and I get to meet people under the best of circumstance. (People happy with smiles.)
I NEVER HAD A PRODUCTION BUDGET.
NO ONE WAS TAKING OUT BILLBOARDS OR NEWSPAPER ADS PROMOTING MY SHOW OR TIMESLOT.
MY SHOW WAS UP AGAISNT 200 OR MORE CABLE CHANNELS WITH THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION AND AD BUDGETS (up against broadcast primetime like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and every cable channel including HBO)...but somehow, people were watching THE ZUMA DOGG SHOW, instead.
All the while, Comedy Central scoffed and scorned my show. Everyone at MTV loved my show, except one person at the top (the final decision maker).
Top Grammy, Academy and Emmy Award winners were stopping me at the shopping malls in Malibu trying to get to the bottom of how I do what I do.
But at the end of the day, it was still ZD sleeping in his car at 4am for a lot of the time. Trying to assemble a show on the broke down public access video equiptment that hadn't been updated since the 80's (at best).
So I know you may be thinking of the big, bad, larger than life image of Zuma Dogg that would make you scoff and minimize the fact that I was included in a national segment on public access, as one of three people interviewed...
but I always see myself as the ultimate underdogg/outsider/little guy. So to be included in that way, to have them follow me around City Hall and Council chambers with a full crew, and to even be contacted...IT'S A TOTAL VINDICATION! My mom got a phone call from her friend in Cleveland who saw it and was blown away and amazed (cause she was just watching, and there was ZD, who this lady had known since I was in elementary school). SO AT LEAST MY MOM GETS TO HAVE HER ONE MOMENT OF VINDICATION, TOO, FOR ALL OF HER YENTA FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. (Hasn't been much dignity being ZD's mom. See, "What happened to Dave?" transcripts from the late 90's, early '00, right up until present day.
To sum it up: After busting my hump as a scoffed and scorned one man show without a cent to produce squat...although my life is like way too many Bruce Springsteen songs (the dark ones about loss and being an outsider)...at least I am blessed by the spirit of the biggest, most diverse, most scrutinous city in the world on a daily basis for something that means a lot to people (beyond being on a sitcom or action movie or moving a ball around a field) and to cap it all of, ABC News Nightline finally took note. I'm still broke, don't know where I am going to sleep tonight, and absolutely nothing has changed. But at least I was featured on Nightline. Feels pretty good.
(But sorry I wasn't the entire focus of the 20 year history of public access TV from all across the country.)
Zuma,
I loved the Nightline episode. You were great and you should feel as proud as you do. Everyone knows you have done a great service. You're the voice of the people. The real live people of Los Angeles. I'm so glad your mom had friends who saw you. She deserves it from you, I am sure. :)
A fan from the beginning
It shows you how much Jack Weiss is disliked when outsiders like Trutanich and Amerian raise huge amounts of money.
Wait til Jack's constituents start in on him during the final month of the campaign.
This thing isn't even close to being over.
Zooma is pulling a Jim Alger and posting props to himself anonymously.
As of 1/7/09:
Carmen Trutanich for City Attorney:
$672,784 contributions
$606,627 expenses
(per LA City Ethics Commission website)
What is he spending all that money on? Have you seen any TV or radio ads? Any billboards? Anything to indicate that he's running for city attorney?
If he's spending all this money wastefully now, what makes anybody think that he'll control the use or cost of outside lawyers hired by the city attorney's office?
We may have another Rocky Delgadillo on our hands.
AND NOW, BACK TO CITY BUSINESS:
CITY COUNCIL LOSES ANOTHER FRIDAY QUORUM: After taking two meeting off on Tuesday and Wednesday for the inauguration, City Council lost another Friday quorum leaving agenda items on the table. Too bad for all the people who took off work, hired baby sitters, spent money on gas and parking...only to be kept waiting for hours as City Council kissed ass and grandstanded during their "Dog and Pony Show" PAID presentation Fridays.
What happened? After Jackass Weiss kissed ass for the cameras for whatever item he was using to help bolster his City Attorney campaign, he simply took off and Council lost a quorum. SORRY TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP AND WERE KEPT WAITING HOURS FOR A CHANCE TO FIGHT FOR THE ISSUE AFFECTING THEM IN THEIR COMMUNITY! City Council had a bunch of ass to kiss during the PAID presentations and then Jack had to take off, screw the city, and agenda items were left on the table. HOW WASTEFUL!
And oh yeah, because they held public comment until the end of the meeting, and they lost a quorum, the public comment they allowed for was FAKE public comment, and Eric Garcetti CONFIRMED to Zuma Dogg that it WAS NOT on the record. (Well what do you think the value of public comment is? It's to put it down on the record to keep the door open for future legal action. MOST PEOPLE AREN'T AWARE OF THE BIGGEST VALUE ZD PERFORMS AS A GADFLY AT THE COUNCIL MEETINGS.)
DWP COMMISSIONER APPOINTMENT OPENS IT UP FOR ZUMA DOGG TO DISCUSS MEASURE B: The one thing I love about commissioner appointments, is that is allows ZD to put in a card for the agenda item (the appointment) and I can hammer away for two minutes on the department. AND MAGICALLY, FRIDAY IT WAS DWP!
It allowed me to use the time to break the news, in the form of asking the question as to, "how the commissioner would feel if he found out that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was getting one to five cents per kilowatt in this Measure B solar panel deal. And that the reason he is using a factory in China (besides the connections to former DWP higher-ups) is that in China, you can make a contribution to Villaraigosa, as a private individual into a bank account in Dubai and the U.S. government would never know.
So Zuma Dogg was able to raise this question, based on some feedback I received while going about my day on the streets.
AND, I asked Council to ask the commissioner for his position on Measure B. What a shock!!!...he was FOR it!
So if you have a chance, see item 32 from Friday's meeting at LACity.org or on Sunday playback.
ZUMA DOGG'S 14 POINT PLAN TO RUN CITY HALL AS MAYOR: OK, it's Dr. W. Edwards Deming's 14 point plan. But Zuma Dogg plans on implementing it if elected mayor of Los Angeles.
It's the one, single most critical qualification that distinguishes me from all other candidates on the ballot, including the current mayor.
NOTHING WILL BE GETTING "FIXED" IN THIS CITY UNTIL THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES EMBRACES THESE 14 POINTS.
We can watch the city trip all over itself for the next fifty years. Do your research on Deming's 14 points. One good thing, Zuma Dogg knows a lot of the top level managers and workers in the city know about Deming, and are thrilled that Zuma Dogg knows about Deming. Quite frankly, it has already impressed the hell out of some city hall workers who have asked me how I got into Deming and why.
From here on in, I'll spend a little more time explaining what it would mean to implement these 14 points at City Hall.
But the FIRST thing I would do as mayor, on the first day on the job, would be to contact all the city managers and department heads and have a giant meeting, where Zuma Dogg and top experts explain/break down the 14 points for everyone in the room, and let everyone know this is how we will be operating.
(See "Interpreting Deming's 14 Points" at ZumaTimes.com)
Zuma Dogg feels we have so many genius level people working for the city in these departments across the city, but they are not allowed to "fix" the system, or do what's best for the customer (residents) because of a vindictive and retaliatory city hall under the current mayor.
I have had discussions with countless city workers who start nodding their heads up and down in agreement when I let them know that Uncle ZD knows they have the muzzle on and are not being allowed to do the right thing for the PEOPLE of Los Angeles.
So ZD doesn't have to start firing everyone and replacing everyone. THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PEOPLE ZD IS MEETING AT CITY HALL WHO WORK IN THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE CITY...IT IS THE SYSTEM ITSELF.
And the first step to fixing the system is letting the top level managers know that Uncle Zuma Dogg as mayor WANTS to know how to improve (fix) the process. How to reduce the beuracracy. People are forced to "fudge" -- hold off on work some months, jam in too much work others. All these things that workers are forced to do to please the mayor, but not the people of Los Angeles. ALL THE THINGS PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO DO BECAUSE THEY ARE WORKING UNDER FEAR!
So when city managers and workers understand that Zuma Dogg LIKES to hear how to improve the process...how to innovate...what needs to change (instead of fighting and resisting change/innovation)...they will feel a lot better about their jobs. And that is how people start to do a better job. It is VERY stressful for people to have to "fudge" and do things the wrong way, when they know how to do it the right way, "IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD LISTEN."
THEN, you have to create a flow chart for every process. For example, if someone calls to have the tree trimmed in front of a stop sign at a school crosswalk...you make a flow chart of the process from the 3-1-1 call, until completion. THEN, you vet out the bureaucracy (intentional/fraud, and un-intended/waste). You question why the widget is moving from point A to point B.
HERE'S AN EXAMPLE: I saw a DWP crew show up one morning in front of a home to cut a tree. There were a couple of those big trucks, and some regular vehicles with all the workers ready to do the work. (Several thousands of dollars of workers and equipment.)
WELP, unfortunately, there was some broken down pickup truck that I see in the same spot, every day, for weeks at a time, if not months. And it happened to be right where the crew needed to work.
So one of the workers asks me frantically, "Is this your truck?"
I said, "No, but it's there all the time, so don't plan on anyone coming out to drive it away."
SO THAT TRUCK THWARTED THE ENTIRE EFFORT!!! DO YOU JUST DOUBLED THE COST OF THE PROJECT BY SENDING THE CREW AWAY, ONLY TO HAVE TO COME BACK THE NEXT DAY. (And I don't know if the next day would be different.)
ZUMA DOGG FOR MAYOR SOLUTION: Why wasn't a temporary "NO PARKING" sign posted in the area of work 72 hours in advance (like for movie shoots). THAT WAY, every regular resident that parks on the street would know about it and be able to keep clear of the area that day. AND, DWP would have been able to have the truck (which is parked their for weeks at a time) TOWED.
THIS IS WHAT DEMING'S 14 POINTS IS ABOUT. Innovation, empowerment, improving the process. It all adds up to reducing waste and improving efficiency. And that's how you cut the amount of time it takes to have your tree cut. (Cause if they have to come back the next day, that doubles the amount of time it takes to get to YOUR tree, too...those non-Deming embracing dummies.
I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE A HARVARD LAW DEGREE, OR NOT...IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO IMPLEMENT DEMING'S 14 POINTS, IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN INFERIOR CLOWN TO ME.
I DID NOT AND HAVE NOT EVER POSTED "PROPS" TO MYSELF. AGAIN, I HAVE NEVER EVER POSTED SELF-CONGRATULATORY OR POSTIVE COMMENTS ABOUT MYSELF IN THIS OR ANY COMMENT SECTION. (I stick to doing it on my own blog posts and you know when I am posting it, you lying loser.)
Very nice job ZD!
Question regarding 10:47's comment:
Are campaign commercial spots ever paid for in advance?
Michael, looks like you have at least one councilmember posting tonight. It was a nice comment, too.
Zuma,
I loved the Nightline episode. You were great and you should feel as proud as you do. Everyone knows you have done a great service. You're the voice of the people. The real live people of Los Angeles. I'm so glad your mom had friends who saw you. She deserves it from you, I am sure. :)
A fan from the beginning
Does anyone not think this was written by either Dave Elliott Saltsburg OR Fatboy Higby?
I don't. Not their style of writing.
Keep reaching.
11:49pm was NOT Zuma Dogg. And I recognize the patterns and I really ,really, really do not think it was Michael. If you think that was me or Michael...THANK YOU...it just shows that it must mean something and you can't take it. And thank you to the person who posted it. (I told you that I loved you, this week, remember.) ;)
10:47
Any candidate who is spending their money now on TV and mass media is either wasting their money or they have money to waste. It is too far away from the election. Most people are exhausted from the presidential election, and don't even know that there is a City election in March. Smart candidates and ballot measure people will save their spending until the end.
What ZD did was read about Deming, like what he wrote (who wouldn't) and decided to build a campaign around this without truly understanding it.
A citywide campaign requires much more than this.
Deming became famous for his work with industry in Japan following World War II. MacArthur was the king of Japan at that point, so it didn't take much to institute changes.
The reason that Deming's ideas are difficult to apply to much of U.S. industry and especially government, is the difficulty in imposing changes without support of the unions.
So there's a reality check here. Mayors and City Councils can't legally and practically do whatever they want and run their governments like non-unionized businesses.
Zooma Dogg an "interview" is a series of questions and answers. One sentence does not an interview make! The Nightline segment was good but dude, get over yourself already. Geeze Louise.
Crybaby Loser said..."What ZD did was read about Deming...and decided to build a campaign around this without truly understanding it."
ZD: No, I didn't read ABOUT Deming, I attended one of his four day seminars, had access to his top consultants who I questioned, attened follow-up workshops with K. Yoshida (Deming's top expert), read various other books and used it in my profession in the radio industry. BUT TO SAY WITHOUT TRULY UNDERSTANDING IT IS THE FUNNIEST THING. Excuse me, my article was approved and praised by Deming and published in the international trade "Quality Digest." Bob Pittman invited me to his office, based on my article, when he was Chairman of Time Warner Enterprises. Deming sent me a letter, but you have the final word, I guess. Sorry, Deming, this guy says I don't understand it.
"I too, as you may know, am also a fan of Deming. I think your synthesis ("Interpreting Deming's 14 Points") is fabulous." -Anthony Robbins. (But I still don't understand it. O.K.! Keep grasping.)
Loser said...The reason that Deming's ideas are difficult to apply to much of U.S. industry and especially government, is the difficulty in imposing changes without support of the unions.
So there's a reality check here. Mayors and City Councils can't legally and practically do whatever they want and run their governments like non-unionized businesses.
ZD said...you really MUST work for city hall. all you crybabies do is blame things on the unions. This isn't about doing whatever you want or running things like a non-union business.
Have you read anything more than a Wikipedia summary of Deming. I don't even know where to begin to start. But if you say that the mayor's officew cannot operate City Hall under the 14 points because of unions...for the first time I am at a loss for words and don't even know where to start, except to say you are a crybaby loser that really must not know enough about the 14 points.
I, alone, have the anwer to the question "Plain or Peanuts?"
It is: Whatever people give him while he is begging for donations, food, coffee or now, votes.
I'm with the dude that says he won't get 500 votes, although there are folks that cast votes for unknowns just to be con-conformists.
Will he go away? Not without inducement. How about we offer to buy him some hair plugs? Or some deoderant?
Wrong Zuma D. "I" am the poster at 10:17 who said that said I loved the Nightline clip and that your mom deserved to hear from people who saw it!
So I am not Zuma himself. I am not Higby, nor am I the person who told Zuma this week that I loved him.
I do! Don't get me wrong. I just didn't post that here.
I think you are all underestimating Zuma's likability factor. Some of us regular citizens just really like him. The more you all say how much everyone hates him, the more people like me come out to correct you.
So 12:06 and his mother think seeing the mutt on tv was a big thrill. If I had a kid whose 15 mins. (actually 30 secs.) of fame was him ranting and making a fool of himself I don't think I'd be thrilled, but different strokes. Better than mom having to visit him in an insane asylyum I guess.
Patrick Range McDonald is sad, however, that Nightline played the story "soft" instead of slamming the shady, shady deals going down at city, county and AT&T and Time Warner.
The story showed a bunch of weird characters who no one would hire so they found a free way to do their thing to maybe 3 fans, whether anti-social types, sex addicts, fetishists, Nazis or those who talk to ghosts.
This is exactly what was promised and depicted: what we're missing (or not) by end of public access, NOT an expose on "shadiness." In fact, the commentator wondered by implication how the City Council could be putting up with him for so long.
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