Afternoon Briefs and Outtakes before "El Grito" Festivities
"LA Times photo of "guess who" during today's City Council Public Comment session"It is 4:15 PM and with tonight's "El Grito Celebration" getting ready to begin, 13 well-paid politicians (minus Dennis Zine) sit behind close doors in search of the collective wisdom to draft some sort of resolution to the dire financial state of affairs on Spring Street.
For Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he has fallen back on his well-worn practice of abandoning others for the sake of political self-preservation by announcing his withdrawal of support for the "Early Retirement Agreement" crafted with the "Coalition of Unions" minus EAA. Villaraigosa has even mention that four letter word "V-E-T-O" as a threat, if the City Council goes ahead with the passage of the "Early Retirement Agreement".
For the likes of SEIU's Julie Butcher and AFSCME's Cheryl Parisi, the Mayor's act of "going back on his word" should not be met with shock or surprise. Many who have "join hands" with Villaraigosa over the span of his political and personal life will all agree that when times get tough or when something comes along that will benefit Antonio, he will act with "self-advancement" as his paramount thought, just ask Jack Weiss, Gil Cedillo, Tamar Galatzan, Martin Ludlow, Corina and his dad.
But in this saga, the bigger issue here is the financial welfare of the city. The likes of LACERS General Manager Sally Choi were the first to assert some needed truthful leadership, in butting heads with the "Coalition of Unions" with her steadfast stance that the fifteen year time period for paying back contributions to LACER, would be fiscally detrimental to the city's financial well-being.
Choi's reward for speaking the fiscal truth was having SEIU's Julie Butcher unleash a verbal tirade and release Choi's personal contact information to her "union brothers and sisters". But Choi held firm even when the City Council's budget committee overrode her recommendation of a five year repayment plan and sided with the unions on the fifteen year option.
Now the council sits behind close doors and mulls over whether to face a mayoral veto, the wrath of the unions. or maybe think of a solution that will place the taxpayers as the paramount interest?
PM UPDATE: Ron Kaye and Chelsea Cody report at "OurLA" that Council President Eric Garcetti has "(He) told members to stay on call and be available to resume the recessed session sometime between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Wednesday for a vote on an early retirement package being worked out in talks among unions, the mayor's office, Council members and top bureaucrats.
PM UPDATE # 2 at 9:05 PM: Councilman Bernard Parks is currently on air with KRLA's Kevin James discussing today's developments regarding the budget. He has just stated that the pension fund is 3 to 4 billion dollars in the hole!! Further, The CAO, CLA and the Council President are working through the night with union leadership, on a solution to present to the full council by tomorrow afternoon. Parks just stated that there was never the ten votes needed to pass the refinements to the pension plan/ Early Retirement Plan as dictated by State Law.
OTHER NEWS:
** KFI's Eric Leonard reports that Department of Building and Safety General Manager Andrew Adelman has resign this afternoon. Adelman had been placed on paid leave pending the resolution of his sexual assualt case. The LA Times catches up at 6:02 PM and the LA Weekly chimes in at 6:20 PM.
** Former President Bill Clinton is endorsing San Fransisco Mayor Gavin Newsome in the 2010 race for Governor. No doubt in this blogger's mind that the former impeached President has not forgiven Attorney General Jerry Brown for introducing the Whitewater Land Deal in Arkansas into the 1992 Presidential Campaign. Will Mayor Villaraigosa join his "social friend" in supporting Newsome?
** Continuing on the subject of questionable land deals, Los Angeles Times Reporter David Zahniser provide the details of what you get when the DWP, Mayor Villaraigosa friend Ari Swiller, Deputy Mayor S. David Freeman and the City of Vernon, all go land banking in Kern County for the same piece of property to build some windmills.
Walter Moore has this salient observation on Ron Kaye's LA post regarding this story.
The DWP was not "outmanuevered" at all.
Rather, the evidence indicates that all the entities are being maneuvered according to a single plan: cronies buy land at low price, then have their career politician lackeys buy the land from them at a high price, using taxpayer money.
This is the same story that happens every day downtown. It's a variant on the multi-million-dollar subsidies for the downtown developers and "anti gang" programs, and the dollar-a-year leases.
They get away with it because the local media -- with a few remarkable exceptions like David Z -- are too lazy to hammer home to oblivious voters how badly they're being ripped off.
Meanwhile, those of us stupid enough to have stayed here this long better start heading towards the exits. There is no scenario where this town pulls out of the nose-dive.
** One should note that among the performers tonight in celebrating "El Grito" at City Hall, is the band "Quetzal". You may remember them for dropping out of the "Festival Shalom" festivities in CD 14 due to the involvement of the Israeli Consulate. Plus they had some kind comments about a certain City Councilman.
** Downtown News Editor Jon Regardie has the latest from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich regarding the continuing legal standoff between the City Attorney and City Controller Office.
Trutanich provided these comments,
At Monday’s event, Trutanich addressed the matter, stating that only the City Council can settle the case, and that the opinion he offered before the election became moot once the judge issued a ruling.
However, after meeting in closed session last week with City Attorney officials, the Council did not settle the case.
The decision could be made final next month Trutanich said that the Controller’s office will conduct an audit of the city attorney’s workers’ compensation program starting Wednesday.
“But does that mean that when Wendy files a request to audit a city councilperson that they’re not going to object to it?
Absolutely not,” Trutanich stated. “If we dismissed our lawsuit we’d have Rocky II, and Rocky III, and Rocky IV. If the lawsuit stands you’re going to have Rocky II, and Rocky III and Rocky IV.
The only way to address the matter now, he said, is to put a ballot measure before the public giving the controller’s office the right to audit elected officials.
“I have already drafted it,” he said of the proposed measure, which has not yet gone to the Council. “I am going to make that available.”
Your thoughts.....................
Labels: Andrew Adelman, Ari Swiller, bill clinton, dwp, gavin newsom, Julie Butcher, LA City Council, LACERS General Manager Sally Choi, mayor antonio villaraigosa
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 9/15/2009 03:49:00 PM
18 Comments:
Doug McIntyre is a lot smarter than Jon Regardie on the Controller audit issuehin, and is also concerned with the principle and ethics or lack thereof behind it. Go Doug and Laura Chick, educate the public.
On the Zahniser land deal story, I wouldn't put anything past the Mayor and his croonies, but it sounds like the DWP just didn't want to pay enough for the land over the years it had the chance to make a deal so Swiller bought it. Now it wants to file an eminent domain claim against the city of Vernon, which doesn't sound right when Vernon did nothing wrong. Can get messy.
Where's Zine at a cricial time like this? Pretty convenient, not having to stand up to the unions including his friend Pat McOsker, head of the Firefighter Union who spoke out in support of Julie Butcher and the others today to take a jab at the City and the Mayor. He's finally right on this issue - is it too late and would the same deal have worked if the Mayor had agreed to it for certain back in June, as Trutanich claims in his LA Now quote to David Z?
Much as I think the mayor's been too easy on the unions for too long, seems to me that if he'd made the deal MORE certain in June it would have stuck us with a bad deal. Dumb thing for Trutanich to say given he's supposed to defend the city against a lawsuit from the unions who are claiming it WAS a done deal and would have worked out well for the city and them if acted on in June.
Regardie's take on the Controller issue seems kind of droll, when he says Trutanich dismisses it as "a minor issue" compared to budget cuts he's got to face. (So how is he still saying he's going to add the 50+ lawyers lost by attrition and the 200 secret police force?) Regardie seems to be implying that the whole ethical aspect is "minor" to him while to Chick, it's front and center.
Unseemly time for an El Grito festival just to shore up Antonio's eastside support. They should have cancelled it or I hope it's at least way scaled down. They could have scrapped the whole inauguration shindig, too.
Seen having lunch today.
Swiller
AV
Parke
Hacopian
Butcher
D'Arcy
You know some bad shit is going down if this bunch is all together.
Andrew Adelman resigned and Raymond Chan is named interim General Manager.
ZD predicted this six years ago right here on Mayor Sam...
Hacopian's working for Krekorian and D'Arcy conducted Essel's poll showing she's ahead of him, all cozy together. What does that tell us?
Trutanich is wasting his time on the Laura Chick lawsuit - the City Council DOES NOT want to dismiss a judgment that stops the Controller from auditing THEM. Trutanich does not have a problem with Wendy Greuel auditing him, in fact she's already started the audit, so the real issue is that the City Council needs to come out in the open and say that THEY DON'T TRUST GREUEL to audit them. This issue will go away when the judge makes his ruling final.
When that happens, Greuel will have to decide whether she wants to rack up more personal attorney fees in funding Laura Chick's appeal. The chances of an appeal succeeding are next to zero. The judge in this case has a reputation for giving very safe rulings and mot likely the Court of Appeals will agree with him.
So if Greuel has any sense, she'll say no to an appeal and join Trutanich in a ballot initiative to amend the City Charter to give her the express power to audit any and all of the councilmembers.
As for Laura Chick's attorney bills, Laura Chick will have to remind her attorney that he originally agreed to take the case pro bono, and he needs to eat it.
10;32, you're conveniently avoiding the point, that Trutanich promised to back Chick and her lawyer no matter how the lawsuit came down and he's now calling her and Woocher "losers" and sliming them both. It's bery telling and to be expected that his "lies and fancy speeches and soundbites" mean nothing to him or to you.
As Doug said, when Nuch wanted her endorsement he praised her lawyer as "fighting for truth, justice and the American way" and how the guy's a loser and a parasite?
It's all about Nuch to him, like the DAily News Editorial says, not what's best for the city.
Woocher did NOT agree to pro bone ever, Nuch agreed to back her and Woocher -- who has reduced his fees enormously so the amount is a joke. Compared to what Nuch is wasting elsewhere.
ALSO he knew about the Charter Amendment alternative at the very beginning when seeking her endorsement, and now claims he just realized? He's dumb but not THAT dumb, he's trying to play the council as fools. The Council had suggested that to Chick but she wouldn't wait that long, wanting to settle matters sooner, and getting Nuch's promise that he'd back her NO MATTER WHAT influenced her to hold out. NOW Nuch is advising the council not to settle but claiming they're telling him not to, convenient.
ALSO as Doug says, he tells Wendy that like Chick she has no right to a lawyer at all because HE'S her lawyer, but since he's prosecuting her by continuing the suit, he's saying "Disagree with me and I'll destroy you." Like he's threatened the Planning Commission, Pension (it's not about whether their decisions are right or not but about misusing the legal staff that's supposed to defend them to bully them) and even LAPD But that's not enough, in this budget crisis he's still demanding 200 secret police to spy on LAPD and other city officials, anyone.
AND encourage them in their suspicions of Greuel, advising them to continue the suit which is costing MUCH more than it would to pay Woocher: Perry and Alarcon and Cardenas stood up to openly say they don't trust any elected official to audit them, an opinion he's been encouraging. But then as Doug says again, her job is essentially so gutted that it's meaningless.
And Nuch ONLY wants her to audit Rocky's worker's comp books, not HIM down the line to find out he's lying about saving the city money on payouts, outside law firms, etc. Those would be IN FUTURE SPECULATIVE SAVINGS IF he hires the 50+ high priced lawyers and staffs back. PLUS he wants Wendy to be "shadowed by an extra set of eyes," he told Orlov, that is, by an audit team paid for by the city atty's office. The guy wastes mone like it's water and just TALKS and lies about "savings."
He's relying on the total lack of scrutiny he got during the election to get away with it all, and chalk up "wins" he can claim, true or not, however expensive to the taxpayer. Lies are his tools of the trade, as always.
The Mayor is not running for Gov. So he threw his buddies under the bus , true to his M.O. What`s new?
The most surprising thing to come out of this lengthy post is that Red Spoot actually KNOWS that V-E-T-O is a four-letter word.
Amazing!
How is that criminal investigation coming along, Nuch? Y'know the one you said you were pursuing regarding the AEG Michael Jackson event??? An update would be great any day now.
I just heard from an insider that the coalition is giving up holidays, personal days, vacation days, and sick time in order to get the erip deal. Problem is it is not worth 60 mil. We are so effed! I hate my union. Why are we giving everything up just to save a few newbies that came in. It was the same risk I took when I started with the city. Now, that old "shit" Schoonover and Mims get a shitload of money and my coworkers and i get to pay for it for the rest of our careers.
F*** YOU BUTCHER!
TRANSLATION of this thread:
Alarcon, Cardenas, and Perry have much to hide.
performance audits on those guys immediately. forthwith, even.
The coalition is talking about "concessions" which translates to "give backs". Why have a union if they are going to give back all we have bargained for? This is a clear case of taking one step forward and FIVE steps back. I don't blame the council and mayor, the responsibility falls squarely on the "concessions" the union coalition made. If they were not willing to make them, the city would not be willing to take them. I agree, we are all effed. F*** YOU BUTCHER AND PARISI!
Whats funny is that the idiot McOsker and Repovich are supporting this ERIP fiasco and don't understand that it will result in MORE pain...furloughs, layoffs, for fire and police. Morons...
What a mess!!#%%^*&(*&*&( The people who are actually the ones holding this city together are going to get screwed. Why haven't any city council staffers been canned. They do nothing. What about those 17 deptuy mayors making over $125,000??? Parks bad mouths unions yet he's getting a nice $294,000 pension because his union fought for it. Antonio can ax any idea of a political career in the future. How insulting and disrespectful for the clowns to have a festivities on the day people were pleading and begging for their jobs. OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Gavin's awesome. I'm canvasing for him from Kansas. 100 calls a day.
Newsom is nothing more then a pretty boy with big ideas. He won't be able to make a dent in Jerry Brown's Latino solid base and experience. Clinton has lost tons of support for his racist stupid remarks during presidential election.
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/El_Grito_Celebrations_20090915
Not one American flag among these losers who get free services thanks to us. Reporter states it cost city $125,000.They had tons of corporate sponsors who could have paid. This shows Antonio waving a Mexico flag. BASTARD!!!
Bad news for the city. One of my primary sources in my evaluation of the entire L.A. economy (focusing on commercial real estate) said this last night, "however bad you think the economy is now...in 12 months time this will look like a picnic."
I know there are people thinking we have hit the bottom already in the economy, and Wall Street will be bouncing back...
AND I KNOW THERE ARE UNION MEMBERS AND COUNCILMEMBERS AND GENERAL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO THINK ANYTHING BEING DISCUSSED WILL BE ENOUGH -- EVEN IF THEY COULD PULL IT TOGETHER AND GET STARTED...
NO!
Anything we have experienced up until now in Wall Street (Billions in pension losses) and all the U.S., State and local "pain" is just the start of the show. Just the mere first cocktail appetizer.
IT'S GOING TO BE SO BAD IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE.
(So keep that in mind in your future is tied to Wall Street, or the local L.A. economy.)
I can see the way the people in charge are handling this matter and there are two problems:
a) They are not even realistic in their evaluation of the future/where we actually will be standing next year and the year after (it's going to be MUCH worse...commercial properties will be going under, right after all the pension money was given to the developers to build the stuff they will be settling for pennies on the dollar.)
THE SHOE HASN'T DROPPED YET!
b) Besides unrealistic revenue projects and a fake budget with all kinds of padding and smoke and mirrors and concession people haven't made and have said they will fight in court, no one can agree on anything and I doubt they will agree in enough time to save the ship, because they are not realistic in their evaluation of the severity of the situation, so are not behaving or making decisions as though it were the end of the line.
THE CAR HAS ALREADY BLOWN PAST THE ROAD BARRIERS AND ARE HEADED OFF THE CLIFF LIKE "THELMA AND LOUISE" WITH THE FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR.
Go ahead and mock and scoff and scorn and attack the message. I've got three years of shockingly accurate predictions on this matter, and when a primary ZD indicator says, " "however bad you think the economy is now in 12 months time this will look like a picnic," I am going to issue the warning for those may want to take action based on this prediction.
WHEN RAINMAN SAYS, "296 toothpicks,' DO NOT GO AGAINST IT WITH THE "No, there are 300 in the box," argument. You'll get burnt, every time!
GOLD IS AT $1017!!! (Why do you think THAT is? Is that a sign to YOU?)
(Now go ahead and dispute what I am saying.)
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