Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce also known as the Downtown Interest Protection Racket has endorsed Chris Essel for City Council. Yes we know many of you are thinking "What a surprise." Considering Essel's previous positions supporting SB1818 and the Downtown view that Neighborhood Councils are pesky roadblocks to developer happiness, the Chambers nod to the "Queen of SB1818" is clearly consistent with Downtown's animosity towards the rest of the City.
It seems funny but Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed one of Mayor Villaraigosa's more controversial associates to the California Horse Racing Board. Keith Brackpool - whose Cadiz Inc. wants to build a multi-million dollar water project for several Southern California water agencies opposed by environmentalists - will earn $100 per meeting ruling on the ponies. Brackpool you may remember was reportedly part of the Mayor's recent retreat to Iceland to ponder what possible future Villaraigosa could have.
Good news for Billy the Elephant and those enlightened folks who believe that storing pachyderms in restrictive zoos is an idea whose time has come and gone. A judge has ordered that lawsuit filed by opponents of the boondoggle multi-million dollar elephant pen may go forward. Lets hope that both of the candidates for CD2 come out in favor of halting the project.
The mommies who write at the always excellent Beckford Parents Blog have an observation about the results of the CD2 election Tuesday: They're stuck with Tamar Galatzan as their School Board Member for another two years. Hopeful she'll get a clue they still speculate that Galatzan - who everyone knew would run for Wendy Greuel's open spot before she even got elected to the school board - may try again for Council in 2011. That means she'd have to give her school board seat and clear the way for a candidate more acceptable to the residents of her district.
It seems funny but Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed one of Mayor Villaraigosa's more controversial associates to the California Horse Racing Board. Keith Brackpool - whose Cadiz Inc. wants to build a multi-million dollar water project for several Southern California water agencies opposed by environmentalists - will earn $100 per meeting ruling on the ponies. Brackpool you may remember was reportedly part of the Mayor's recent retreat to Iceland to ponder what possible future Villaraigosa could have.
Good news for Billy the Elephant and those enlightened folks who believe that storing pachyderms in restrictive zoos is an idea whose time has come and gone. A judge has ordered that lawsuit filed by opponents of the boondoggle multi-million dollar elephant pen may go forward. Lets hope that both of the candidates for CD2 come out in favor of halting the project.
The mommies who write at the always excellent Beckford Parents Blog have an observation about the results of the CD2 election Tuesday: They're stuck with Tamar Galatzan as their School Board Member for another two years. Hopeful she'll get a clue they still speculate that Galatzan - who everyone knew would run for Wendy Greuel's open spot before she even got elected to the school board - may try again for Council in 2011. That means she'd have to give her school board seat and clear the way for a candidate more acceptable to the residents of her district.
Labels: beckford parents blog, billy the elephant, cd2 special election runoff, Chris Essel, Keith Brackpool, los angeles chamber of commerce, mayor antonio villaraigosa, tamar galatzan
Posted by Michael Higby @ 9/25/2009 02:00:00 AM
32 Comments:
Congratulations to Robert Culp and David Casselman for their continuing fight to prevent the too expensive, too small, and outdated concept of the elephant exhibit at the zoo.
$50 million down the tubes. Blame LaBong, Hahn, Rosendahl, Reyes, Huizar and all of those people who didn't want to use those tens of millions toward other things like paying the city's bills.
Higby can you do a story on how many articles Zuma "I'm Retired from Activism" Dogg has rolled out since losing the election?
He must have six stories on who's and what is to blame for his loss.
Has anyone else heard that he is busy lobbying to get a job with either Chris or Paul? He is playing a word game to vehemently deny that he is lobbying them, saying that they are lobbying him. One way or the other, he is engaged in the same practice that he criticised others for doing all the time, trading his endorsement for a job. He already admits that Nuch was going to give him a job, but that didn't come through. Too bad. We could have all been spared this.
What is the money line for when he will be back in city council? Wendy is giving even money.
Recall Tamar.
I want to see Mr. Zuma Dogg get a job in local radio because there are plenty of chances for him to make a difference that way.
Since he has so many connections in that field, this should be a "No Brainuh" as Doug McIntyre would say as he mimics Chief Bratton.
Higby, I don't like Essel and hate Villar but your endless, endless biased slams on her and working FOR Paul is sickening. He's OK, though a big spender and hypocrite, unlike that shyster Nuch you did and continue to do the same for. You
NEVER link the loads of negative stuff appearing all over about him, from the Daily News editorial's, Orlov's piece this week laughing at his inability to understand that lying is bad and people are disgusted by his lack of ethics, the reports in that paper and LAT about how he's whining he needs hundreds more lawyers and secret police on staff, slamming Rocky for the ONE sound thing he tried to do, be more fiscally responsible, slamming him for not spending enough of our city resources spying on and harassing other city officials, siccing that crazy Berger on them --
Paul is a known commodity, and not a slimeball, while it's Chris who has the slimeball Shallman working for her, so it's a hold-your-nose toss-up. All you're doing is underscoring why people are saying they really need a TRUE political blog that's not for sale by whatever candidate you support or hate.
3:34 AM (<-???)
How much longer are you planning to be obsessed with Zuma Dogg? Just a rough estimate would be great.
Signed,
Mayor Sam's Readers
Charlie no job for Zuma Dogg in radio. John Phillips on KABC said you can smell him a mile away. Radio studios are confined spaces. Can't stink.
I preface my comment by saying that I like Mr. Zuma Dogg. I am not sure if he would be any good as an official but I think there is a role for him, but in what way, I do not know.
I mention radio because Mr. Dogg has repeatedly said that he is something of a radio savant. IF he is able to find a job in radio, it would put his claimed resume to the test AND it would give him a platform that is almost as important if not more important than an elected role since it would help him reach more people. More people probably know the names of radio people than they do their councilman.
I hope Mr. Dogg is still reading this blog because I would like to see if he can leap back into radio and if he agrees it would be the perfect consolation prize for him. I don't know much about the industry, but I would guess that it is a good lifestyle too.
9:15,
I am only going to keep writing about zuma HALF as long as the rest of you wrote about the CD2 election.
By that standard, I will be done writing about zuma by 2015 (the year, not the military time).
The day I stop writing about zuma is the day zuma stops complaining about it and comes up with a new schtick in order to get attention.
3:34 will never stop obsessing over Zuma Dogg. What else in the world would he/she/it have to live for?
Hey 9:09 you freakazoid Higby didn't blog that about Tamar it was Beckford Blog you buttwipe.
Ah yes, that's a critical district and citywide issue I want both candidates for CD2 to wax eloquent on and devote sersious time to in what remains of their campaign
What happens to the elephant at the Zoo?
Hire a campaign strategist JUST to work on that, please.
Mike, thanks for writing about the Billy the Elephant story. I always got the impression you didn't give a crap about the story, whether from a humane or fiscal p.o.v.
Glad you're keeping apprised of it.
I'm more curious about when ZD will stop obsessing over the City Council and other aspects of L.A. government. The former being a body with which his credibility and influence rating can only be assessed in negative numbers. His childish and unproductive behavior has even moved them to punish all "public commenters" with controlled and more limited access.
Plainly put, he is to the First Amendment what drive-by gang shootings are to the Second . . . an excuse government can use to limit and control the rights of rational people.
9:09 - name a blog that covers LA politics that has multiple points of view. You may not have noticed that each of the writers supported and opposed DIFFERENT candidates. I don't see you whining about Phil's hatred of Krekorian but god damn make a noise about your girl Tamar - who people YOU KNOW by experience are familiar with what a train wreck as a school board member Tamar has been - and you lose your woody.
12:16 - read our archive. I've called for months to send Billy to a REAL sanctuary, such as PAWS (though I'm not wed to any specific sanctuary - that's up to the experts) AND to oppose that shady sanctuary Cardenas, Alarcon and Garcetti want to build on developer land in Lakeview Terrace.
The obsession with Zuma Dogg is unreal. You should see the stuff we don't approve for posting. There's a couple of people really obsessed with ZD. One is a wacko and one is a loon. Or they both are.
The criticism about ZD's actions and style in City Council meetings was mentioned by Walter Moore in a very good observation elsewhere on the web, that if ZD did not use the theatrical approach when he went to complain about things, he would be one of the many that simply are ignored by them.
ZD's style has drawn attention and put things right up front for the CMs to have to deal with or ignore. There's been regular and numerous examples where the Council Members really have no rational basis for doing what they chose to do on issues and they make bad decisions or take NO action where decisiveness would be called for (especially for a group that throws around the word, "leadership.")
If he had been your run of the mill, generic speaker, people still would not know much about anything of what happens at city hall and it would be business as usual with the cover-ups left unchallenged and thereby, accepted by the public as "not THEIR fault" when we now know that most of the time it is exactly "their fault."
The rules CMs want to create runs so counter to the direction that the Brown Act mandates that they head.
Public Comment at the end? A "Responsive" council? They just are not responsive to the public's interests but to the criticism and the undeniable blame that's been shown to be all theirs too many times. That's what they want to avoid over trying to do what is right.
You have the blogs such as this one that work to keep exposing secret deals and the power brokering that corrupts government operations. If they could, they would work to limit that next.
The government was run like this for a long time, just that no one looked in to see what was going on for the rest of us to know.
And what's more galling is that the CMs contantly use a strategy that tries to make it look like the public is at fault for what's happening, not them. The DWP pipes bursting has got them trying to get DWP to take the rap, when you know they set up DWP to collect money and route it back to City Hall- THEY could have made sure "maintenance" was given attention.
So now, people including Jan Perry, make themselves appear to be like john q. public, totally caught off guard by the infractructure beginning to self-destruct. Ridiculous. City Council ahould be doing their job and oversight is always so lame on their part. In a way, like Perry acts, THEY ARE CLUELESS, unable to put 2 and 2 together, even when given years to make the attempt.
Zuma Dogg is just one of the ones able to expose a lot AND get attention for those messages. That's what bothers CMs so much. Changing rules just makes them look even more culpable as they look for more foxholes to hide in and trying to knock out the searchlights that light up their mistakes.
in cd-14
12:40
Try to think your analogies through.
The Second Amendment does NOT ensure free shooting.
The First DOES ensure free speech.
Close, but no cigar for you. Try again.
For the love of ZD, Higby would you please share some of the crazier views about ZD? I'm sure he can handle it and it would be hella amusing. Besides, you shouldn't be out here preventing comments unless they bring down the blog like that cccrazy woman usedd to do or if there's real threat to someone's safety or well being. ZD can dish it out and I'm sure he can more than handle it. I'm surprised and impressed that you even admit to editing out some people. Kudos to you for admitting it.
Zuma has been on a writing tear on his blog ever since the election so he cannot divorce himself from the situation, as much as he would like or as much as he says he would like.
In fact I have never seen him writing this much stuff. What is going to become of him?????
Thanks for posting about the elephant exhibit.
GLAZA, in a last ditch effort, made it about lost union jobs and the union bought it and spoke out in favor of the exhibit. Ironically, there would have been more union jobs spread out over time had the exhibit been stopped because the bond money could have been used for other exhibits that are in deplorable conditions.
Add to that the Wasserman money and mayoral promises (you know, the guy in office who promised to close the exhibit who knows he can veto Council votes) are not kept.
One little unknown fact, those Malaysian elephants that will be shipped over are young elephants whose mothers had to be killed in order to catch them. I suppose that might not matter to many since their plight in Malaysia is horrible. But, for us to enable the mass slaughter of mommy elephants for zoo exhibits (in the name of conservation) is sickening.
3:58 p.m.
Study your Constitution and laws.
Both "free" rights have become subject to more limitations over time, and they have a tendency to increase when "freedom" is used as an excuse to attack and harm others.
There is no "free speech" guarantee, that you can say anything, anytime (or didn't they teach you the "yelling fire in a crowded theater" story back in high school civics).
In both cases, the "free" practice can be curtailed and usually is when reckless people abuse the freedoms and cause harm.
It's not "free shooting" that the government cuts back on in response to the criminal use of firearms, it's the right to bear certain types of arms, in certain quantities, and how they're stored, carried, etc.
EXACTLY like the legal and enforceable "free speech" limitations placed by governments... "you can ONLY protest HERE during the convention, you HAVE to have a permit to assemble, etc. etc."
(Ask ZD how the City Council, legally, put a "cap" on how much "free speech" he can indulge in a given session, the same way).
The analogy is a perfect good one -- and thanks, but I don't smoke, anyway.
You, however, weren't even "close" to understanding it. Take a refresher course in the Bill of Rights.
Each of the writers supported different CD2 candidates?
Please, give that a rest. The candidates were virtually indistinguishable. They were 5 fingers on the same hand. They reminded me of that SNL parody of Al Gore debating Bush a few years ago -- the follow-up debate -- after the media trshed him for just being "against" everything, and the next debate he was all "I agree with that, too."
If they had all been given the same money to promote themselves, it could have been a near X-way tie.
And next the winner will go to City Council, join the other 15-uplets that sit there and rubber stamp each others discretionary spending and hardly ever disagree with each other on anything of subsctance re: the future of L.A.
How is it that in a City of 4 million there are 15 CMs and Mayor who spend more time backslapping each other than they do in constructive debate about the City's future directions.
It's the STEPFORD Council.
How would this be for Essel to be saying during her campaign for the "tough crowds" she will face at debates and crowds like she saw during the primary:
Hi, I'm Christine Essel. I know there were several grass root candidates that many of you supported and I know it's frustrating that the two candidates with the most money are in the run-off.
So hopefully, I can at least make people feel comfortable that I mean it when I say I am here to use everything I know and have learned in the real world as a long-time financial executive at Paramount to help facilitate the commuity to accomplish their goals.
It's the job of councilmember to balance the needs and goals of the city as a whole while maintaining the integrity of the neighborhood community spirit.
I am here to tell you that is what I am here to do. And, I only have a year and a half to prove it to you. So, if you don't think I am representing the voice of the community and improving constituent services throughout my first term, you can vote for someone else in a year and a half.
Remember, I (Christine Essel) made the run-off as an outsider, not from an elected seat. You can laugh at the notion that I am an outside candidate. But I am not an elected official and come from the ouside business community.
You may think I have all the inside money, but I raised it as an outsider. I didn't just run for State Assembly and make promises and committments to the people who supported me only to use it to run for City Council.
Look at all the time and expense the State and District just invested in Paul Krekorian getting his office set up and the knoweldge invested in him for the Assembly position. NOW HE WANTS THE STATE ASSEMBLY TO HAVE TO START OVER WHEN WE ARE FACING A HUGE CRISIS. IT WOULD BE NICE TO CONTINUE WITH THE TEAM ALREADY IN PLACE.
And unlike Paul Krekorian, who's real world business experience is that of an attorney, I have a long career working at Paramount Pictures in a very competitive and high stakes business environment, where it isn't just politicians who have the luxury of wasting endless amounts of money in the most inefficent way possible. Hollywood doesn't play around with real money.
And as someone who started at the bottom of the ladder at Paramount Productions, one of the biggest operations in the City, State or Country...an international operation, I was continually promoted throughout my career in the financial departments, where I was responsible for making sure the numbers checked out and the budget was balanced.
...more
- continued -
So you won't be electing a career politician with a history of beuaracracy and waste. I'm the candidate who will bring my real life accounting and financial experience to the office.
Paul is a politician so he can only run the office like a poltician. I am from the business world, so that's how my office will operate.
And I took a lot of heat from "Zuma Dogg" when he called me, "Empty Vessle" Essle, because he was just a bitter candidate with no money or fliers, but when I started in the corporate offices at Paramount in the 80's, there weren't even any other women working in the department and it wasn't exaclty a smooth, paved road for women at the time.
So for me to be promoted all the way up the ladder in the finacial department should at least say something to the people of CD 2 that in these times of economic crisis and hard financial decisions that affect the community, you will have someone who has the understanding of the fundamentals and has proven, time and time again over my entire career that I can actually make it work at the office level. Not just talk about making it work.
Whenever you have a candiate running for office, people will always question their motives and wonder if they can trust them. I am here to tell you, I may have a lot of big friends and there may be a lot of big people who contributed to my campaign. But that's because I have a long career of doing business in this city with a lot of the movers and shakers. And I can work with these people to help deliver for CD 2 as it sometimes loses out to Downtown, Hollywood and other areas in the city. And I am letting voters know that if you do not feel I am continuously working with neighborhood councils and community leaders toward constant noticable improvement in my first year and a half in office, you can chose to elect someone else in a year and a half.
I hope the people following the election can get to know me a lot better than they did during the primary where there were ten candidates, not just two, so everything had to be answered in one minute.
And I hope you prefer your councilmember whose experience comes from the real world, where I was promoted by my bosses, time and time again for doing an outstanding job as a female executive in a man's world, in the most competive industry in the world -- over someone who is walking away from his expensive committment to voter that he just made as an elected official who's only achievement is being part of the team that put us in this finacial crisis.
Oh, by the way...I typed up 8:50pm on Essel based on a phone call I had where I basically interviewed her and asked the questions that I wanted to know about her and her decision to run. Just wanted to mention that because there is a swipe at ZD in the passage for being "bitter..." and don't want you to think she said that about me. I wrote that about myself as though she was saying it.
Note to ZD:
Who cares?
Nobody really cares what you think; go away.
I don't know 11:38pm, my blog view seem to be at it's maximum, so looks like people DO care what I think. But maybe YOU don't care. So try and be more specific.
OMG Look how the government want to stop our 1st ammendment rights when speaking out on the health care issue. I can't believe this Senator actually is saying this and its flying through web sites and e-mails alerting people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6rY3rxb60k
And here's a lyin' Republican who wants to be a Senator telling the public that the health care bill will regulate physician salaries.
You lie, Todd Tiahrt
Not even white Kansans can buy that one, they have to laugh in his face.
ZD PROMISED that if he had a bad showing he would disappear from public view and move back to Malibu.
We have all now witnessed his transformation into a politician who makes campaign promises and never keeps them.
Shame on you ZD, you are a fraud and a liar.
Go crawl under a rock and stay in your own blog.
ZD said, "he would disappear from public view."
NO, I said I was retiring from day-to-day activism duties -- and even added, but I can't walk away from myself. There is only one person who I can think of that keeps pushing this dumb angle. I said I retired from day to day activism duties and wasn't going to be attending the council meetings, which I am not. And I am not taking on "public advocate" issues on other people's behalf and am not the ticker tape for fraud, waste and abuse.
Why not just go back and re-post the entire post, in context?
Anyway...do you REALLY think anyone sees you as anything but a defeated, emotionally unstable, candle in the wind?
I can clarify it a thousand more times, and you will get it wrong a thousand more times because you don't want to understand or get things right.
Anyway, you better be sitting down, because you have NO idea how HUGE the "ZD" phenomenon is out there. Can't you see it has gotten out of hand and I have to try and squelch the fame a little bit.
Malibu ain't gonna work for me, because it's already too big a deal that I was around, and I can't spend my entire life "recapping" where I have been and how I have been doing, and a lot of people in Malibu also live in L.A., I am finding and know all about the past three years...and I get sucked right back into the "fame zone" harder than anywhere in the City.
ZD in Malibu is like Jerry Lewis in France. I thought it might have died down a little over the past three years, but it's a complete distraction. So I'm screwed and like I said, I can't walk away from myself, cryloser...but I've retired from day to day activism duties, and it's 10:17am, there is a council meeting, and I'm not even "jonesing" to attend. IT'S OVER AND OUT OF MY SYSTEM AND THANKS, LOSER.
Can't walk away from the fame though, and that's the problem.
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