Morning Briefs on the Los Angeles Political Machine for Thursday

The City Council "King of Retorts" CD 8 City Councilman Bernard Parks.

** Blogger's note: It was only time before the Office of CD 8 City Councilman Bernard Parks responded to the Gene Maddaus's "subjective agenda missive" in the "Former Weekly of Record", now the "Daily, Fact Devoid, Hatchet Job of Record", regarding to his supposed "power-clinging ways" on the the Coliseum Commission. Well ......., that time is here and this retort is classic!---Scott Johnson.

THIS IS A RETORT CLASSIC.

From the LA Weekly ............

Parks writes, "It's been said that facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. Someone should tell that to Gene Maddaus, who may have set a world record in the 1,500-meter trash with his article. Maddaus' 1,500 words were nothing more than a biased effort to push the agenda of some Coliseum commissioners who favor their interim general manager and USC's acquisition of the Coliseum.

"I know this because after I went public with my disapproval of interim Coliseum general managerJohn Sandbrook due to his lack of competence and the USC Master Lease due to its lack of credibility months ago, Coliseum staff informed my staff that Sandbrook intended to make things difficult for a nonprofit organization that hosts an annual scholarship fundraiser in the Exposition Park Rose Garden. The collateral damage in this political tit-for-tat would be my wife, who happens to be the vice president of the nonprofit.

"At issue was an alcohol license that the previous Coliseum general manager offered to the organization for the event. Sandbrook determined that the use of the license was improper and informed my office. My office informed the nonprofit group, and without any hesitation or hassle, the group decided to obtain a different alcohol license. They have used the same license for the last two years with no incident.

"My staff informed Maddaus of Sandbrook's plot and also gave him an email showing that I advised the former commission president as well as Sandbrook to have the Alcohol [sic] Beverage Control investigate this matter. However, this information never made it into the article.

"Despite this trivial circumstance, Maddaus tried to link the scholarship fundraiser to my position on USC's lease, claiming that I opposed USC control of the Coliseum because I would no longer 'decide which community groups get access' (to the venue). First off, the fundraiser is held in the Rose Garden — not the Coliseum. And secondly, the Coliseum Commission has no say over events in the Rose Garden.

"Throughout the article, when Maddaus wasn't picking and choosing the facts as he pleased, he was making baseless statements and attributing them to ... no one or nothing in particular! In one instance, he wrote: ' ... the L.A. Times obtained a confidential draft of the lease — likely from Parks' office ... .' And, he never substantiated that very strong accusation with sources or evidence; not even a hazy outline of a gunman on the grassy knoll. This wouldn't fly in my office's weekly newsletter, and it certainly shouldn't be accepted by a publication that boasts about 'decoding Los Angeles for its readers.' "

"The only thing this story 'decoded' was what some commission members and staff have been adolescently gossiping about for months. I don't know whether it was Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy or Dopey who spoon-fed him all of the half truths, but at least Maddaus was courageous enough to attach his name to his countless misguided thoughts instead of cowering in secrecy.

"The speculative nature of the Maddaus piece and the attempts by an embittered cabal of commissioners to hobble events in my community for payback are still dwarfed by two much weightier issues: the Coliseum corruption scandal and USC's new master lease. 

"I challenge the L.A. Weekly to adhere to its mission statement by 'confronting the city's political leaders' (those not afraid to be quoted, of course) on all of the issues surrounding one of our most beloved venues instead of writing stories now and recognizing the facts later." OUCH!!

** Speaking of "OUCH Moments", Mayor Antonio Villar is again on the receiving end of a verbal slap back over his "Republican Brown Face, Window Dressing Comments". This time its Utah Haitian American Mayor Mia Love, who calls upon the former Tony Villar to "start being responsible".  

** Once again,  Mt Washington Lawyer/Activist Dan Wright shines the legal light on 200,000 words of phony documentation that were incorporated into the City of Los Angeles Planning Department approval of an Eric Garcetti inspired skyscraper in Hollywood. Thanks to the work of Wright and his Silverstein Law Firm employer, that project is on hold. 

** Via Councilman Huizar's "Bloggin Maven on Choice", we learn that the "Westside White Guy" aka Kevin Roderick, has gone uber prissy on CD 2 City Councilman Paul Krekorian for daring to garner media attention over the ambulance bills sent to the families of two deceased Good Samaritans.

 "How about instead of a press conference for the cameras, (Councilman Paul) Krekorian quietly announces that he'll ask the full council to quash the fees — and if the council won't or can't, he could offer to pay the bills out of his office slush fund,"

Your thoughts .................
Scott Johnson in CD 14