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Thursday, April 09, 2009

Jack Weiss' Gift to Developers Epilogue

Shady City Attorney candidate Jack Weiss received Council approval Wednesday for his pre-election give away to developers. Here is some background:

In July 2008, the State passed SB 1185. SB 1185 seems to be relatively benign. First, it only extends the life of SUBDIVISION MAPS by one additional year AND lengthens the extension time period of subdivision maps by one year thus giving an applicant a total of two additional years to record their final subdivision map, assuming they request an extension. Second, it ONLY applies to RECENTLY APPROVED subdivision maps that are set to expire between July 15, 2008 and and January 1, 2011 (which means they were approved between July 15, 2005 and January 1, 2008) roughly a 2 1/2 year window of subdivision maps that will be given a grace period of two more years. State law does NOT provide an extension to the life of "RELATED ENTITLEMENTS", aka "ASSOCIATED DISCRETIONARY APPROVALS".

On April 16, 2008, Wacko Jacko made a motion with respect to the implementing ordinance that proposed extending the life of "ASSOCIATED ENTITLEMENTS by 24 MONTHS". (Besides this addition, the motion had a subtle omission - it did not mention that the State law only applies to a narrow group of subdivision maps, those that are in the 2 1/2 year window noted above.)

On October 16, 2008, the City Planning Department Recommendation Report was presented to the City Planning Commission. It proposed the following: (1) to comply with the State law by giving two additional years to subdivision maps that would otherwise expire during the the 2 1/2 yr window of time noted above (aka "QUALIFIED subdivision map approvals") AND (2) "to lengthen the life of OTHER ENTITLEMENTS related to a qualified subdivision map approval by one year."

The ordinance that passed Wednesday:

(1) lengthens the life of tentative and vesting tentative tract and parcel maps that expire between July 15, 2008 and January 1, 2011, by one year;
(2) lengthens the allowable extension time of ALL tentative and vesting tentative tract and parcel maps by an additional year in perpetuity (PLUM loosened the Planning Dept's restrictions); and
(3) lengthens the life of other discretionary entitlements related to qualified subdivision map approvals by one year.

Part (1) tracks the State law. Part (2) is NOT narrowly tailored to comply with the State law...a small giveaway to developers. Part (3) is just a huge giveaway to developers.

So, why should you be upset?

The State only meant to impact close-to-by-right projects, like condo conversions, not controversial projects, nor projects whose related entitlements have already expired. SB 1185 stays within the realm of the Subdivision Map Act, clearly a State matter. The Legislature knew how to lengthen the life of other discretionary entitlements, and chose not to do so, because that would be a huge giveaway to developers. Our City seems to have no qualms doing that, however.

Shouldn't there be an analysis of how many and which projects will be impacted by this ordinance? One would think that certain projects should not be given a longer life for related entitlements, and that the projects that do get an extra year for related entitlements should have to pay a hefty fee for it. Don't we have a budget crisis? Why are we giving away significant value for NO consideration? The more egregious the entitlements (or if they've already expired or they're close to expiration), the higher the fee should be.

Once again the shady Clowncil bamboozles the people.

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27 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Way to go, Jack!!!

We ned the jobs and development now, more than ever.

You are to be congratulated.

Don't let the negtivists get you down; just keep on ignoring the homeless sideshow freak.

April 09, 2009 11:02 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

find out the truth about jack weiss and Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich at:

www.jackweiss.com

and

www.true2009.com

April 09, 2009 12:31 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Oops, sorry, my mistake in the 12:31PM posting. The true2009 site is owned and operated by Ace Smith, described as "the only balding and bespectacled guy I'd be afraid to run into in a dark alley" - the man who takes campaign dirty tricks to a new art form.

Try www.tru09.com for a more balanced view.

April 09, 2009 12:52 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Like a the good politician he is, thinking of staying in office, any office, dominates his moves.

The elections is in a month. The motivation here for JACK WEISS is to win on that day, so he is going to use whatever pandering, selling out, wheeling and dealing and other various devices that may apply to get that win.

For this item, he probably said, "What can I do on this so that I can drum up support and win my election?" And his answer was to do what he did.

I don't think he did anywhere near the consideration to the extent mentioned in the original post. Why bother? He's out of office as a CM anyway, and he has to roll those dice or it's over on the City Attorney race to stay in office.

I suppose JACK sees ROCKY in that office and thinks, "If HE can do that job, I should be able to handle that, too." And he's right to the extent that most local politicians will only leave office if term limits hit them.

Another reason to leave office is if they commit a crime and have to serve time- actual time, not just get probation. That's evident with the case of CM Mike Hernandez who weathered the monkey on his back habit to stay in office. He had the advantage of being friends with a lot of fellow CMs and was not pushed to resign, and for JACK, since he is not personable, he'd have no leeway if criminal conduct became his avocation.

JACK is becoming High-Profile now and working the NRA, GunControl issues as if people would not see through it. Until police are there on site before a crime unfolds, there is not too much point in trying to disarm law-abiding citizens by making them criminals through more of his style of lawmaking.

NO MORE OFFICES FOR JACK WEISS, be a lawyer and get more experience in the real world.

VOTING FOR TRUTANICH

April 09, 2009 1:03 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I don't appreciate it when I'm reading my Mayor Sam comments and have to stumble across comments that have been placed by somebody who works for the Jerk Weiss campaign; yes, I'm talking about 12:31. The website address for Carmen Trutanich is actually www.tru09.com/ with NO "e"; check Google if you don't believe me. The fact that the Jerk Weiss campaign would stoop so low as to create a fake website to trick voters says a lot about him. Learn more about Jack "the Weasal" Weiss at http://recalljackweiss.com/

Jerk Weiss should be a lobbyist for special interests, like the developers and advertising companies that he helps. He has been completely incompetent on issues like eliminating the DNA rape kit backlog and cutting the waste at City Hall. His fellow City Council members hate him, too. Look at this video with Zuma Dogg interviewing Councilman Zine (skip to the middle of the video), to see what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umS2703Lhy0

Councilwoman Hahn has bashed the Weasal, too.

On May 19th, remember "ABW"

Anybody But Weiss.

April 09, 2009 1:30 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:31pm,

Nice tactic. Like the trick coin with heads on both sides for the coin toss. Love it.

April 09, 2009 1:49 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

HIGBY, IS THERE A REASON WHY YOU DIDN'T PUBLISH A LINK TO ZAHNISER'S ARTICLE TODAY ABOUT THE $108,000 ETHICS FINE THAT VILLARAIGOSA'S DONORS HAVE TO PAY?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-florida9-2009apr09,0,4510456.story

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS BLOG LATELY?

SOMETIMES YOU WRITE A GREAT HOTSHEET, OTHER DAYS IT'S LATE, AND THERE'S USUALLY NOTHING OTHER THAN SILLY CLIPS FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO TUESDAY, AND WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING PUBLISHED, IT'S IRRELEVANT CLIPS OVER AND OVER.

YES, I LIKE THIS BLOG, BUT IT HAS BEEN VERY VERY VERY VERY INCONSISTENT LATELY.

April 09, 2009 3:16 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Pathetic, desperate and predictable, that's Jack Weiss.

He was forced to retract the lie on his website that claimed he was the 'winner' of the first debate last week:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/los-angeles-city-attorney-candidate-jack-weiss-campaign-on-tuesday-placed-its-own-flattering-headline-over-a-los-angeles-t.html

Now he's gifting big developers in return for what? Well, how about that nice big fundraiser developer Rick Caruso is throwing for Jack?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/mall-developer-caruso-throws-support-to-weiss-in-la-city-attorney-race.html

Does anyone think there might be a little 'pay to play' going on here?

The Weiss weasels can try all they like to put a positive spin on themselves, and a negative one on Trutanich, but it won't alter the fact that in the primary, 64% of voters voted for ABW.

April 09, 2009 3:47 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

this is on a website from CD14 newsletter. Does anyone know if city tax dollars paid for this trip?

Huizar Travels to El Salvador to Monitor Presidential Elections.
Councilmember Huizar traveled to El Salvador with a delegation of prominent Salvadoran Americans, election experts and city and state officials to help monitor the recent historic presidential election. The Southern California delegation was part of a larger International one made up of hundreds of volunteers from around the world. The election went off without any major incidents and the burgeoning democracy nominated a presidential-elect from the former opposition party for the first time in its history

April 09, 2009 4:09 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

the last true hero of credible reporting David Z

Villaraigosa donors agree to pay ethics fines
Two contributors will pay $108,000 in fines for their involvement in a scheme to skirt fundraising limits in the 2005 election. The fines require Ethics Commission approval.
By David Zahniser
April 9, 2009
Two Florida-based contributors to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have agreed to pay the city's Ethics Commission $108,000 in fines for participating in a scheme to circumvent the city's fundraising limits in the 2005 election.

The fines, if approved by the five-member panel next week, would be the fifth largest in the agency's 19-year history.


Sean Anderson and Richard Manhire, owners of Miami-based Travel Traders, agreed to the fines as part of a settlement in which they admitted to laundering $36,000 in campaign contributions. When combined with fines from their recent criminal case, total penalties resulting from the scheme exceed $312,000.

Anderson and Manhire pleaded guilty two weeks ago to misdemeanor charges of campaign money laundering. They had been seeking concessions at L.A. International Airport.

An investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney and the Ethics Commission found that Manhire and Anderson had arranged for employees of Travel Traders and W.H. Smith, as well as family members of those employees, to contribute money to Villaraigosa's mayoral bid. Travel Traders then reimbursed those donors, a move that circumvented the city's spending limits, which prohibit donors from giving more than $1,000 per election cycle to a candidate.


Prosecutors said last month that they found no evidence to suggest that the mayor knew the contributions, which were provided between September 2004 and April 2005, were laundered when his campaign received them.

Villaraigosa had dinner with Anderson on Sept. 27, 2004. A day later, Anderson's company began making multiple donations to Villaraigosa's campaign committee.

Villaraigosa has insisted that he did not discuss airport concessions during his meal with Anderson. He returned the contributions eight months later after the questionable donations became the subject of several news stories.

April 09, 2009 4:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

You people talking about Weiss's tactics are the sorriest bunch with your "weasals" (try learning how to spell before you resort to Trutanich style elementary name-calling, with mother-goose rhymes and all, just so his supporters can understand them) and endless baseless allegations.

I don't have a dog in this fight and am waiting to see more, but I do think the pack mentality and "anything goes" behavior of the Trutanites is very off-putting.

Pointing to Zine's zuma dogg rant means nothing except that Zine is a backstabbing buffoon. I'm sure Weiss is shocked about Zine -- who's also actively combative with Chief Bratton, which is pitiful since Bratton's an internationally respected figure and Zine's just an old bald never- was who didn't even make it to has-been.

As for Janice Hahn it's well-known she's always ready to get even with anyone who supported Antonio over her brother (though she's afraid to go too far like Zine) and since she represents San Pedro, which is where Trutanich moved to last year to qualify as an L A resident, they're relying on the same Italian-Croatian groups for support. Who can not have heard of her endless talk about Ischia and didn't she have a marching band from there serenade the council last year? Of course she'd like someone from South Bay for her own personal reasons. Those two are exceptions not the rule. (Not that there is any "rule" to the bunch of them, running the gamut from East L A to West Valley, so anyone who can get even a majority on anything is doing pretty good.)

April 09, 2009 5:35 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

There are more important fish to fry, breads to bake: the monastery that bakes the pumpkin bread Tom LaBonge gives to everyone passing through L A (I hope the stuff is actually good) is in danger of closing!

Or like some say, they've learned to play the P R game and threaten people with the prospect of no more pumpkin bread and just more condos, if they don't help raise money to keep them afloat.

What's Tom LaBonge doing about this? Is he offering to wash cars for a fundraiser this weekend, charge for twilight hikes into Griffith Park, private tours of the Autry, auctioning off private pumpkin bread teas with monks and nuns, tell us Tom!

April 09, 2009 5:43 PM  

Anonymous g said:

DON'T VOTE FOR WEISS EVER!! THE GUY DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYONE BUT HIMSELF. VOTE FOR TRU GET SOMEONE WHO CARES!!

April 09, 2009 7:20 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Given the number of foreclosures and evictions, why on earth would there by more developments?

Given the water shortage, why on earth would there by more developments?

Is this a false economy or something?

Where's our economic expert Doggie Doodie when we need him? Zuma, please 'splain away. What's going on?

April 09, 2009 9:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

N. Weiss now endorsing J. Weiss.
What gives. OMG, will we wind up with two Weiss's in city hall if
J. Weiss wins! Two for the price of one. One is lazy and the other is unbelievable because he sold out.

April 09, 2009 11:56 PM  

Anonymous real numbers don't lie said:

TO: INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: PAUL GOODWIN
Goodwin Simon Victoria Research
RE: City Attorney Runoff Polling Results

Weiss Well Ahead In Name ID And in Head To Head Vote

A survey of 805 likely Los Angeles voters shows Jack Weiss with a 13 point initial lead over Carmen Trutanich entering into the runoff
campaign: 41% to 28%. This question was asked before any information was given to voters except ballot titles. Weiss’ lead over Trutanich is based on a solid advantage in name identification:

• 41% favorable for Weiss compared to 20% unfavorable, more than a 2 to 1 positive-to-negative ratio.

• 26% favorable for Trutanich compared to 7% unfavorable.

A matchup of positive paragraphs from the two candidates – with language drawn entirely from Trutanich’s website and campaign materials and every effort made to be fair to both candidates – gives Weiss a 20 point lead: 52% to 32%.

Page 2

Weiss maintains a solid lead among both men and women, Valley and City voters, across racial, ethnic, and religious lines, across partisan lines, and most importantly, among highly reliable municipal election voters as well as those who vote reliably in statewide primary elections and are likely to vote this May for the statewide propositions on the ballot. Weiss is also ahead in his Council District 5. Weiss’ lead held solid regardless of how we modeled the likely May electorate.

Trutanich Is a Poor Fit for L.A. Voters

Later in the survey, we measured voter reaction to the attacks that the Trutanich campaign has made on Weiss, and we also measured voter reaction to potential Trutanich vulnerabilities, including, but not limited to:

• Trutanich’s close ties to the National Rifle Association and the pro-gun lobby.

• His long record defending corporate polluters accused of environmental crimes -- he even wrote a manual on how to get away with environmental crimes.

• His history supporting union-busting.

• His 20-year record as a criminal defense lawyer, including defending those accused of sexual battery and assault, drug smuggling, and drunk driving.

• His support for conservative Republican candidates and causes.

As one might expect, voters reacted quite strongly to this information. A conservative, pro-gun, union-busting, anti-environmental defense lawyer with unsavory clients is, not surprisingly, unappealing to many Los Angeles voters. Note that our poll was tough on Weiss as well, using attacks drawn directly from Trutanich’s public statements and commercials. Matching up negative-only paragraphs about the two candidates yields a 50% to 28% lead for Weiss, which is a few points wider than the lead after the exchange of positive paragraphs.

Page 3

Bottom Line: Weiss Enters The Runoff With Strong Advantages:

• He starts with 15 point lead in favorable name ID.

• He starts ahead by 10-15 points depending on who actually will vote in the May election.

• A fair match-up of positive statements about the two candidates widens his lead substantially.

• A simulated exchange of negatives expands Weiss’ lead further.

• He will have a major advantage with Jewish voters, who should
comprise about 10% of the voters in May.

• With the endorsement of Mayor Villaraigosa and most of the other Latino elected officials in the city as well as La Opinion, Weiss should earn a large majority of Latino votes, which will comprise something like 15% to 20% of the voters in this election.

• Given Trutanich’s involvement with union-busting, Weiss will earn the strong support of most of the labor movement in the city.

• Given’s Trutanich’s record on the environment (compared to Weiss’ awardwinning leadership on this issue), voters who care about clean and safe air, water, and beaches have a clear choice.

• A comparison of the two candidates over the last two decades on public safety also gives Weiss a real advantage: Weiss spent that time as a federal prosecutor and then the leader on the city council in protecting safety; Trutanich spent the last two decades as a defense lawyer protecting criminals and corporate polluters from punishment.

Our Methodology

In putting a sample together for this survey, we were faced with the difficult challenge of trying to forecast who would vote in this coming May election. This election combines a low-turnout municipal race with a statewide ballot measure with an unpredictable turnout. To address this situation, we drew a sample that includes both reliable municipal election voters as well as those whose voting history suggests they are likely to participate because of the statewide ballot measures.

Page 4

We then completed 800 telephone interviews with voters from this sample between March 19 and 23, 2009, yielding a margin of error of about plus or minus 3.4% at a 95% confidence level. Five percent of the interviews were in Spanish, and 7% were completed with voters who listed wireless numbers on the voter file. Given the uncertainly of who will vote, we wanted to look at different possible turnout models.

Weiss has an 11 point to 19 point initial lead in all of our turnout models, as we varied participation by municipal election-only versus statewide election voters. All of our turnout models weighted up results from the 5th Council District to reflect the likely impact of the contested Council race there.

What About the Trutanich Poll?

The polling memo released last week by the Trutanich campaign claims that the race is tied. These results simply do not match our survey findings and some of it seems unlikely. For example, the Trutanich survey claims that his favorable name ID is 24% but his initial vote is 36%. So their poll memo suggests that Trutanich’s initial vote total exceeds his favorable name ID by 50% [i.e. (36%-24%)/24% = 50%].

This is possible but would be very unusual in a nonpartisan race. Our survey finds very similar name ID figures for Trutanich, but with a very different result in the initial head-to-head vote question: that his vote proportion (28%) is similar to his favorable name ID (26%).

Our poll also finds the same to be true for Weiss: his favorable rating (41%) is identical to his first vote proportion (41%). The Trutanich poll memo also claims that he leads Weiss among women. Our poll gives Weiss a 12 point lead among women. Again, the reader should note that our basic finding that Weiss has a solid initial lead in this race does not change even if we weight up or down municipal election voters or statewide election-only voters or CD 5 voters. In other words, we cannot find a reasonable sample model that comes close to duplicating the results of the Trutanich poll. As the Trutanich polling memo does not share the sample model, it is impossible to judge exactly how theirs was constructed and the assumptions they made. The Trutanich memo also does not indicate whether its initial vote question was asked before any information was given to voters about the candidates.

April 10, 2009 1:10 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Higby - This is wonderful!

Basically on-topic comments and no rambling on and on by z.d. to bother scrolling through. Might even start reading here again.

Thanks!

April 10, 2009 2:02 AM  

Blogger mary whoopee said:

I'm no Zuma Dogg, 9:10, but I'll take a gander at answering your question. The reason we have needless, run-amok CANCER-ESQUE development is because of the labor unions, plain and simple. The IBEW, etc. (as well as their pushy lobbyists)OWN THE VERY SOULS of the Calif. state legislature and have rendered their proverbial nuts in a vice-grip. In fact, they've mandated that L.A.County ALONE build some 70,000 new housing units, I do believe. Isn't that what Grieg Smith proclaimed at Wednesday's council meeting? Jose Aguliar posed the simple question: "Why are we building more when we have a water shortage as it is?" Smith, out of sheer exasperation consequently could not resist violating the Holy Brown Act and retorted: "C'mon, you know the state has mandated we built 70,000 new housing units this year alone..." I interprete that statement to mean: "We've sold out to the commies up in Sacramento and the union thugs-- DON'T REMIND US!!" (KUDOS,JOSE!)

April 10, 2009 5:50 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Noel Weiss campaigned against Jack Weiss - he called himself "The Good Weiss" now he's endorsing Jack because? Well one reason might be because he's been promised something in return. That's called 'pay to play,' it's illegal, and Noel Weiss has just shown us that he's just as much a phony as Jack.

Is Noel so hungry for power that he now cozy up with Jack the slimiest, most pro-development, dirty-money taker in City Hall?

As for Amerian, he's still sitting on the fence. He called out Jack in TV ads. The idea that they're even talking is abhorrent.

Politics in LA needs strong independents and, so far, Berger and Trutanich are the only ones true to their word.

April 10, 2009 8:05 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

We need really strog independent thinkers. We need people who are well educated, effective and above reproach

We need honest, God fearing men and women to hold public office and do what is right for the people. All of the people, not just the majority that voted for them.

I say, call Diogenes of Sinope, and get him on the job. (Unemplyed vagrants who cadge coffee, food and gas money need not apply)

April 10, 2009 1:00 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Paul Goodwin. 1:10

In the past, Goodwin Simon Victoria Research has worked for Jack Weiss.

Did Jack Weiss pay for the survey you discuss in your 1:10 post?

Did any of your questions address how many more sleazy actions Jack Weiss and his campaign would have to initiate before the respondent finally became so disgusted that s/he would vote for Trutanich?

The fact that an incompetent sleazebag like Weiss made the runoff is yet another indication that the City of Los Angeles has reached an extremely sorry state.

April 10, 2009 3:18 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Goodwin Simon Victoria Research BS on Weiss appeared weeks ago and was commissioned by Weiss. Latest fundraising shows Trutanich ahead of Weiss according to the LA Times and the City Ethics Commission. Weiss is resorting to lying about being the "winner" of the first debate, but the money poll seems to show Weiss as having a much harder time raising money.

Weiss squandered $1.7M in the primary, and has so far raised $400k. He will need to raise a lot more than that to make an impression, and after failing to get more than 36% of the vote in a primary that he banked on wining, he's hoping that some big wallets out there still think he has a chance.

It really would be a day for celebration if Carmen Trutanich is elected - perhaps we can start the trend to dump career politician hacks like Weiss, and have leaders who will be accountable.

April 10, 2009 6:14 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

8:05
Ever see how Noel Weiss follows Janice Hahn at City Council like a love sick puppy dog?

Maybe she did not give enough love for him when he ran for City Atty so now he's latching on to Jack Weiss.

April 10, 2009 7:44 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Who paid for the Goodwin Simon Victoria poll?

April 10, 2009 7:45 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Fact is Weiss and Trutanich are about a thousand dollars difference, according to that Times article you cite, and that's nothing when it's between something like $409,000 and $410,000. Plus Trutanich didn't declare the expense for his bogus polling, because "the bill came late," isn't that convenient. What this shows is how desperate he is to try to look ahead in fundraising by skewing the books.

Weiss has barely begun his major efforts while Trutanich has been doing nothing but. And he claims to run as the un-politician, but his own website screams about himself: "The hottest new politician in California."

Another sign of Trutanich desperation: Cooley tried his best to get Caruso to run against Antonio, but now that he's backing Weiss and working on his behalf, they're trying to spin this loss for Trutanich against Weiss.

April 10, 2009 8:22 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

April 10, 2009 8:22 PM,

I thought you didn't post anonymously on Mayor Sam. It doesn't matter that you do, but your life's mission seems to be trying to convince people you do not. Just give that part up and post away. You have good info sometimes, although not everything you said the other night panned out with the GM I spoke with on the topic as a follow up.

April 11, 2009 10:45 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I am a cop in the city of LA and i am voting for Trutanich for City Attorney.

Jack Weiss has done nothing for the citizens of LA or the men and women of the LAPD.

He just uses any photo op he can get with the mayor or anyone that will tolerate him.

I do not believe he truly do a quality job as City Attorney.

April 11, 2009 6:35 PM  

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