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Friday, June 05, 2009

Lunchtime Hotsheet


Late last night, Councilmember Eric Garcetti tweeted, “My district director reports from Chicago that privatized parking meters have created such an outrage it is all that the city can talk about.” Garcetti, of course, is referring to Mayor Villaraigosa’s push to privatize meter and garage operations. Meter privatization in Chicago led to spike in parking rates, followed by a revolt in which parking meters were “mangled by tire irons and coin slots filled with Super Glue.” LA’s livability has taken such a hit in recent years, part of me thinks: go ahead, make my day; we need a breaking point. PS: For another glimpse into the world of Chicago shot-caller–baller management Villaraigosa so admires, check out this piece on the city’s longest-serving councilmember.

The Daily News reports Paul Krekorian is renting an apartment in Valley Glen while he mulls a run for City Council. Tomorrow is the deadline to establish residency in CD2. Considering the state of affairs in Sacramento, it’s hard to fault Krekorian for considering a fresh start (and healthy pay increase) in sunny Southern California.

Also via the DN, a judge is set to decide Monday whether to renew the LAPD’s eight-year federal consent decree. Councilmember Dennis Zine and Chief William Bratton say the oversight has served its purpose and should expire. The ACLU argues we aren’t there yet.

The LAT reports that Wikipedia has blocked contributions from Church of Scientology's Los Angeles headquarters and a number of Scientology critics. The two sides were apparently fighting an intense revision war. The article notes that three years ago, Wikipedia banned Capitol Hill networks “when it was revealed that congressional aides had been deleting references to unmet campaign promises.” Meanwhile, a war of revisions continues to rage on Jack Weiss’ page.

Finally, if you haven’t already, click over to version 2.0 of the Times’ Mapping LA project. Nearly one hundred boundary changes since the February release. The census data is a bit stale, but it’s fun to browse. … Crime and voting data would make it super useful.

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12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

According to one account (whose accuracy I haven't verified), certain parking spots in Chicago could cost $170,000 a year:

http://slashdot.org/submission/1013497/Chicago-Pols-Pass-Law-Requiring-468-a-Day-Parking

June 05, 2009 11:59 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

It took 4 years but Thank God the Council is finally standing up to this sorry excuse for a Mayor!

June 05, 2009 12:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Roderick called Krekorian what he is. A G.D. carpetbagger!

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/06/carpetbagger_alert.php

June 05, 2009 12:34 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Bill "quadruple your parking meter fees Gold in the Gutter" Rosendahl did such a great job on that one, he DESERVES to be Senator of the whole United States.

After all, when he told the Weekly that he cared less about world affairs than he does potholes (unless of course it's gays in Iraq) that should NOT be a warning that maybe this yo-yo is wound too tight to remotely ever consider filling the shoes of Feinstein!!!

Okay so she knows from world affairs, who cares? Bill the meddling flip-flopper figures he'll be the go-to guy for all of So Cal INCLUDING San Diego (WHERE did he get that one?) on... homeless and the poor? No, he's just driving them out of Venice.

Cops and public safety? No, he demands more cops then swipes the trash fees "for cops" that were supposed to pay for them, so he can yell at Bratton and pretend he's para los pueblitos.

Parking and traffic? Changes his mind and offers inconsistent policies that cancel each other out there but sounded good at the time and made him feel liked.

Education? Of course he's had nothing to do with it but he's trying to claim credit for the school going up at the old Ambassador Hotel site because that's where Robert Kennedy, JR. was killed and he worked for someone who knew Kennedy.

He DOES have a pretty dandy art exhibit in his office hallway about gay weddings, though. Did he ever tell you he was gay?

People seem to hate him now that he's exposed his huge ambition because he's always claimed he has none, and a phony is the worst.

June 05, 2009 1:45 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Bill rosendahl fucked up the elephant issue, and changed his mind because he didn't want to be disliked by the zoo employees.

he changed his mind in a heartbeat. gutless. and I would never vote for him. fag or not.

June 05, 2009 1:51 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:02PM The Council were strengthened by the downfall of Jack Weiss - the Mayor's golden boy. Weiss's screwed up campaign cost the Mayor a ton of political capital. Was it worth it AV?


Wonder if anyone in the CD2 race wants the Mayor's endorsement?

June 05, 2009 1:54 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

They carry baseball bats in Chicago to deal with the exhorbitant parking meters...

This is the first I've heard of crazy glue, but, why not??

They price themselves out of the market.

June 05, 2009 4:04 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:02 and 1:54 probably same person agreeing with herself.

Not a chance - you'll see chaos like it's never been before. All this nonsense with Bill Rosendahl's bizarre flip-flopping on everything from traffic to the homeless to Billy to Measure B to meddling in La Brea Gateway and the Ambassador Hotel site school in other districts at the last minute in order to be liked -- all the tip of the iceberg. His ego despite a laughable record as the Iron Whim being only the start pf the Council Follies.

Nothing will get done, things will have less forward momentum than the spectacle of Billy the Elephant. If you think Bill flapping his gums this way and that only to change his mind every time someone presents a different side he wants to agree with is a good thing, you'll LOVE the next four years.

And then with Trutanich and that idiot buffoon Zine in tow (on his Harley in leather? with Rosendahl along again?) you'll see incompetence, influence peddling and pay to play and oafish grandstanding the likes of which hasn't been seen yet (if Trutanich's past at Rocky's office and with his friend the DA is an indication). Sure they'll have to tone it down and make it less obvious but Bradley-Gates will look like the good old days.

It will be such a chaotic mess every one of those councilmembers will engage in a free-for-all jockeying for power -- Rosendahl/Parks/Smith going against sanity in the trash fee for cops wars and trying to make like they're heroes is just the start. Hahn will be even more glued to her buzzer and reminding the President, "I still have six more seconds left, hold my time!" Perry will demand her sign district and Rosendahl and Zine, who in their ignorant and cowardly fashion have blamed Weiss for all the billboard woes when he's the one trying to forge an ordinance that gets consensus, will be forced to make decisions: Will Rosendahl agree to be disliked by Perry, Hahn and Wesson etc. in insisting on a blanket ban, or will he try to get rid of all of them anyway? How can he decide when someone will dislike him one way or the other? Who will they blame now that they don't have Jack Weiss? They'll be exposed for what they are, and maybe that's a good thing.

"Oppose Antonio and Bratton but try to alienate Antonio from the Chief, divide and conquor" will be the order of the day. Zine's been playing that one for a long time, openly jealous of Weiss's endorsement. Even though he's gone on am screamer radio to diss the Chief on SO40 (and Bratton's returned the favor), his idiotic self-named Paparazzi law, etc. Parks will continue to think he's chief and oppose Bratton on everything.

The idiotic papers demand Antonio fulfill his promises from the past but went out of their way to ensure he doesn't get the team to make that possible.

The city will lurch along without any vision, and the CD5 codgers who think they should control their CM like a puppet fortunately lost their bid to do that with Vahedi, but they've already got their talons out for Koretz who will find out just what a bitter bunch they are.

The people decided that strong leadership was always suspect and change at all costs was better than experience, competence and the guts to take a stand -- they'll see exactly what that means. The ridiculous spectacle of Rosendahl and Hahn's preening ambition and theatrical grandstanding about things they know nothing about isn't even the warm-up act.

June 05, 2009 4:23 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Ace ran the worst campaign instead of capitalizing on his candidate's strengths on issues like anti-terrorism where he's become an internationally renowned player. He didn't challenge negative smears from the other camp early enough. Antonio should think seriously about getting someone else.

June 05, 2009 4:34 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

JackvWeiss should have used his terrorism expertise - he's actually been to Israel and could see Palestinians from his hotel window.

It is a great shame for liberals (who were too lazy or stupid or both) that they allowed Jack to be swift-boater by all the lies that the right wing media spread about him. Poor Jack never had a chance.

June 05, 2009 5:54 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Bitter Berger/Rumpole Fuentes is back and never misses a chance to snark -- so sad to be Berger.

June 05, 2009 6:21 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

6:21 PM I agree, it has to be Berger/Rumpole Fuentes, after all, everyone else loves Jack Weiss.

June 05, 2009 9:23 PM  

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