Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Thursday
The vote to move forward a controversial plan to build a trucking school in Lopez Canyon was more like World Cup result as the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee went 1-1 (Krekorian-no, Huizar-yes). While Council Member Richard Alarcon, Mayor Villaraigosa and city unions want to slap the northeast Valley with this environment destroying stupidity community activists have been joined by adjacent Council Member Paul Krekorian in opposing the school. One can be certain that if anyone was proposing to build a trucking school say, in Fryman Canyon, instead of Lopez Canyon the howls of protest would be so much louder. But environmental injustice and racism from the City marches on. In the meantime while maintaining he is no fan of Alarcon or anything LA's Zorro Marxist cooks up, local gadfly Phil Jennerjahn's take is to blame the victim.
Nice to see the professionals are back in charge at the LAPD. You may remember that when hooligans rioted following the LA Lakers NBA finals win last year then Chief William Bratton's move was to disengage and let the rioters riot. This year Chief Charlie Beck has prepped an actual plan, including busting heads where necessary, but doing everything possible ahead of time to prevent unruly crowds from going apeshit. Oh, go Lakers!
Walter Moore uncovers something very few know but might be outraged otherwise. In a time of budget crunches the City has alloted nearly $125K to cover maid service and other incidentals at Mayor Villaraigosa's home, Getty House. Can't he just call Merry Maids and pull out his own credit card? Or he is pretty good at cleaning toilets, he can do it himself.
In the meantime while the Mayor is getting housekeeping services the dunderhands at the LAUSD are getting rid of school plant managers at local campuses as a cost-cutting move. Our friend Debbie Lopez writing at the Beckford Parents blog notes that Plant Managers such as Beckford's Henry will be laid off. If you're an LAUSD parent you may want to take note that your local school will be more likely to have backed up toilets, no one checking furnaces, water heaters let alone fixing broken things quickly. LAUSD will assign the duties to regional managers who will now have the responsibility for several schools. You may want to call LA's school board members; Beckford Parents has all the details.
Guess what! Two weeks ago LA's law severely limiting medical marijuana shops and crackdowns were in the works yet most of the shops continue to operate. A significant number of the "illegal" shops are apparently staying open in an act of civil disobedience with their lawyers on hold to battle the City in court.
Labels: beckford parents blog, debbie lopez, getty house, lakers, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, lausd, Lopez Canyon landfill, mayor antonio villaraigosa, medical marijuana, Richard Alarcon, walter moore
Posted by Michael Higby @ 6/17/2010 02:00:00 AM
13 Comments:
On the absolutely hair-brained proposal to run diesel truck driving students all over the methane filled Lopen Canyon site: Paul Krekorian demonstrated to rest of the City Council that sticking to basic principles is worthwhile.
Deputy Mayor Larry Frank stood up before Paul Kerkorian and Jose Huizar and absolutely lied through his teeth that the Mayor's office had looked at alternate sites before selecting Lopez Canyon for the proposed truck driving school. Everyone in the room knew it was a lie because the Mayor and Alarcon simply announced in 2007, with no public input at all, that Lopez would be the location for the school.
Kerkorian minutes after Mr. Frank testified stated that he did not believe that the City had made enough of a sincere effort to find a more suitably zoned location! This sent a message to everyone in the room that Kerkorian thought that Mr. Frank was a liar (which he is). Then, Kerkorian said he would support the community's appeal and oppose the granting of a horrible industrial use variance in the middle of open space.
Well, your recap of the Lopez Trucking Academy Appeal at PLUM makes no sense at all. If I didn't already know the details of the matter, I wouldn't understand a thing you were talking about. First of all, it was an Appeal proceeding. Councilmember Krekorian supported the Appeal, not the trucking academy. And Huizar didn't support the appeal. Unfortunately, people who don't really understand the issue, are mistaken in thinking its about the trucking academy. It's not. It's about preserving the Open Space Zoning. Alarcon had convinced the Zoning Administrator and the Area Planning Commission to approve a Use Variance in the Open Space Zone to allow the commercial / industrial use of a truck driver school. Commercial use is not allowed by-right in an Open Space Zone. That is the heart of the issue. This Use Variance sets a dangerous precedent for other Open Spaced Zones in the city. Hmm. Come to think of it, didn't Councilman Huizar just break ground for an open space recreational park in Ascot Hills? I wonder what he would think of a Use Variance for an truck driver school over there at his new park?
Paul Krekorian once again proved that his allegiance lies with the constituents that elected him. He's
the best council member we have and I hope the other council members take the time to learn from him how it's done.
"environmental justice and racism from the city marches on," says Higby here - at first I thought this was a guest post by Damion Goodman, the guy who's helped stall the long- overdue Expo line with such claims over demands that only the most expensive, tunnel version is acceptable. But NO, it's Higby himself. In a bizarre bit of opportunism to use AGAINST the Latinos like Alarcon and Huizar - bizarre claim.
THEN he claims that Chief Bratton intentionally let the Lakers riot.
Really desperate attempts for attention and controversy by shooting air from his big fat arse.
You people like Ron Kaye believe that once you endorse someone for office you have to claim he's god every time he opens his mouth, that everything he does is motivated by a love of puppies, parks, old ladies and tiny children. Not his own political ambition in going with whatever seems the most advantageous move.
In this case I believe that the Eastside should try to preserve all the open space they've got, make this a park, I'm sick of Alarcon, Reyes and Huizar on the one hand demanding subsidized high-density housing be added to the westside and valleys BECAUSE it allegedly has more park space and fewer people per acre, duh, calling that hidden racism.
They need more parks where their people live, and teach them to keep their own streets clean, pick up not throw trash and plastic and fast food bags in the street, consider how many kids they can afford to birth and raise if they can only afford a 2-bedroom apt., or move to Riverside. People are not "entitled" to luxury, subsidized housing next to Holmby Park.
However when Krekorian just told everyone to "find a compromise" of other land in the area for the trucking school, he passed the buck. WHERE is there such space?
They do need the jobs in the area too. Trucking can be a good job.
It was as predictable as heavy rain in the winter here, that the pot shops would continue to try to find a way to stay open, and fight closure with lawsuits that would be bloody expensive for the city to fight.
They SAID so. They invested many thousands to open shops, set up a viable business, paid taxes, stay out of legal trouble.
The City Attorney's office persuading the City Council to pass an ordinance which puts 95% of them out of business because they're suddenly too close to some "sensitive use" was clearly intended for his own political purposes and to follow the orders of Steve Cooley, not to prevent the city from predictable, enormous legal expense. Nor was the concern the true implementation of Compassionate Use.
They could have listened to moderate voices on the council and passed an ordinance that closed most but not so many that the shops consider it punitive and arbitrary, and a violation of patient rights.
"Can't he just call Merry Maids and pull out his own credit card?"
WRONG! As any rabid watcher of Attention Deficit Villaraigosa already knows -- he TAKES credit for things he hasn't done. He doesn't actually HAVE any credit, to speak of (I think Corina got that in the divorce).
Lawd knows he's certainly TRASHED L.A.'s credit rating while in office. It's a wonder anyone out there will carry City paper for even 30 days.
Higby you've gotten to someone at City Hall who doesn't like you exposing that Huizar/Reyes/Alarcon/Villaragiosa couldn't care two shits about Hispanic people.
Paul Krekorian has discovered you can get ahead in politics by serving the community.
And that you have a real cop and not a grandstander as LAPD Chief.
also.
With clowns like Tom LeBong and Janice Hahn on the Council the people hunger for leadership like Paul Krekorian's.
Deputy Frank, The Teamsters, and Alarcon have not looked at any alternative sites at all. They are lying through their teeth. This school just wants to get stimulus money and not have to pay rent in order to line their pockets with your tax dollars.
Also last year's Laker's game was in Florida so the LAPD had no reason to suspect that certain gangbangers would use it as an excuse to riot here - but bash Bratton anyway, it's what you do because he had the sense not to back a novice grandstanding Clown the never-ending Soap Opera.
When LAPD DID deploy in force, making sure there were no crowds and not one bad incident over the Michael Jackson tribute watched around the world, showing L A and its "finest" at their best, of COURSE you and the Clown along with Dennis Zine, the usual Republican cadre, went on the bark-bark, attack dog mode. Then shook down a major company which provides jobs and taxes, threatened to throw then AND his "boss" Jan Perry in jail, along with a cast of characters that could fill several melodramas.
You people are a piece of work. Of course, the Slimes is little better these days, and have admitted getting "news" off this blog among other biased sources, as people all over town are waking up to.
Hi Kevin!
10:28 wrote: "You people like Ron Kaye believe that once you endorse someone for office you have to claim he's god every time he opens his mouth, that everything he does is motivated by a love of puppies, parks, old ladies and tiny children. Not his own political ambition in going with whatever seems the most advantageous move."
Huh? You obviously don't know what you are talking about.
also wrote:
"They do need the jobs in the area too. Trucking can be a good job."
Everyone knows we need jobs, no question about that. But, located in a promised open space park that was mitigated to the residents for the dump being there and taking in muc of the city's trash, is not where they should be. If so, then why not Griffith Park instead which is in the middle of the city and a great location for acccessibilty? Col. Griffith would flip over in his grave because that was not what he designated his land to be used for.
He donated it to the city for use as a park and some members of the council are continuely trying to encoach on the park for commercial reasons. The City Council also promised the residents of the Lopez Cyn area a city passive park for open space in return for the dump in their front yard. The city has to pay up or continue to disgrace their commitment to the public.
God Bless Councilmember Bernardi
for getting that mitigation passed before the City Council and the Council needs to honor it.
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