Mayor Sam Candidate Endorsements: Anyone But Wesson for CD10

This is the next in a series of posts where JoeB and I will give our endorsements for candidates for LA City Council and School Board. Where there is agreement we will give the official MayorSam endorsement to the candidate. Next up is CD10. For each post we will give both Joe's endorsement and mine along with our comments. The choices in CD10 are:

MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT NO. 10

• HERB J. WESSON, JR., Los Angeles City Councilmember
• ANDREW "ANDY" KIM, Attorney
• ALTHEA RAE SHAW, Victim Advocate
• AUSTIN DRAGON, Employment Specialist/Businessman
• LUIS MONTOYA, Small Business Owner
• CHRIS BROWN, Private Business Owner
• None
• Other:

JoeB: Anybody But Wesson

Michael Higby: Herb Wesson is a joke with his animal shows in Council. He's another recycled politician from Sacramento. Althea Shaw however would bring the sensibilities of a regular person and would be an impassioned advocate for public safety and victims. Shaw was thrust into the spotlight when tragedy befell her family much in the same way Carolyn McCarthy became a respected member of Congress following the shooting death of her family members. Vote for Shaw.

Shaw Family on the Air

Vote them Out; Time For American Justice! Jamiel Shaw II, was murdered on March 2, 2008. Jamiel Shaw II, was murdered by a gang member living in the USA illegally, while his mother was serving in Iraq. Most of the politicians in Los Angeles support illegal alien gangs and sanctuary cities. Jamiel's family received no support from local politicians regarding Jamiel's Law. 

Jamiel's Law will deport illegal alien gangs out of the USA. When will politicians begin to support American Citizens who were murdered by illegal aliens? Jamiel's parents will talk about Jamiel and the far too many Americans who lost their lives at the hands of people who were NEVER supposed to be living in America.

On BlogTalkRadio tonight at 9pm.

Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Monday

Paul Krekorian Meets With Community Leaders

There are a few other races than CD14 in the upcoming primaries you may want to consider...

We haven't talked much about the Tenth Council District where Herb Wesson currently serves.  Althea Shaw, the aunt of Jamiel Shaw, the teen shot in cold blood by an illegal alien gang member, is seeking to grab the seat from Wesson.  Shaw, writing at her website, recounts a recent candidates forum where she said Wesson showed up at the last minute and did not seem prepared.

Over in CD6 three poorly funded challengers are going after incumbent Tony Cardenas.  Jamie Cordaro, Rich Goodman and David Barron have collectively raised less than 10% of what the incumbent has earned.  Still each of them say they're making the go of it. Each of them see major failings in Cardenas or the City government as a whole.  Cardenas enjoys filling potholes.

Read more »

Mid-Day Briefs on the Los Angeles Political Scene for Friday

"Mayor Antonio Villar off to Mexico to tout Eco-Green Agenda"

With the first major winter storm of 2010-2011 inbound for the weekend, Mayor Antonio Villar and entourage pack their bags for the warmer environments of Mexico City. Villar and other mayors of the world, will hack and cough as they discuss their respective green-based ideas for growing local economies, in the dirty, rarified air of Mexico's largest city.

As Villar and the other like-minded mayors discuss how to use the junk science of climate change to alter their respective economies, Villar is none too happy about another form of climate change taking place in California. That would be the "political climate change of citizen redistricting".

Villar bemoaned the fact that no Angelinos were among the pool of 36 applicants for the state's redistricting commission. This episode of civic pity brought about the ensuing witty retort from the keyboard of "LA Weekly of Record" Editor Jill Stewart, who poo poos "Mayor Ahhh Whinervillar's" bemoaning the lost cause of gerrymandering, perfected by the likes of Michael Berman.

So while Mayor Villar mucks up the already polluted air of Mexico City with dubious climate change pronouncements, based upon junk science. Positive political climate change, based upon elective facts, is coming to California and no episode of civic whining will alter this.

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Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday

The biggest threat to the LA oligarchy since Tom Bradley busted up the Committee of 25, Rudy Martinez, has opened his first campaign office.



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I'm Not Prepared to Throw the Shaws Under the Bus

Much has been written and said about the reported disqualification of the Jamiel's Law petition by the City of Los Angeles.

The City Clerk's office reports that only about 18,000 signatures were turned in; about a quarter of those required to even consider placing an initiative on the ballot.  At the same time, on this blog, Althea Shaw, the aunt of Jamiel Shaw, the murdered 17 year old athlete the effort centers around, claims she was certain the family and their supporters had upwards of 76,000 signatures.  Still too close for comfort but at least enough to get you in the door.

Claims made by Shaw that perhaps some petitions were allegedly lost, misplaced or otherwise misappropriated by City personnel have stunned and surprised many. 

I don't presume to believe that some type of "grand conspiracy" is in play here; however the entire incident leads to questions that should be at least answered.

1. What was the chain of custody of the signed petitions from the time they were turned into the City Clerk by the Shaws until they were returned to Ms. Shaw.
2. How are these documents secured? What are the security measures in the facility where the documents are stored? Who has access to these facilities and are these individuals supervised or monitored at all times?
3. What advice did Mayoral candidate Walter Moore give to the Shaws? Did they follow it? Why wouldn't Moore - as the instigator of the movement and an educated, successful attorney - make sure procedures were in place such as asking the Shaws to copy their signed petitions and otherwise document them?
4. If Moore himself did not have the time nor desire to manage the drive himself, considering that the Shaws had little if any political experience prior to losing their son, why didn't the candidate recruit someone to consult and provide technical support to the Shaws considering that he has been banking a major part of his campaign on the Jamiel's Law issue?
5. And finally, with all due respect to the Shaws, if the City's position is accurate, how could they make such an inaccurate estimate - not only when the petitions were turned in but in the progress reports that were given along the way?
   

 I believe that it is possible that the Shaws - who were motivated by grief and a legitimate demand for justice - did not have the complete set of political tools at their hands and could very well have made a series of unintended mistakes in the effort.  That being said however I feel that they were sincere and honest in their efforts and may have been further victimized by various politicial agendas in this town.

Leimert Aftermath: Throw Bernie Under the Bus?

As we continue to dig deeper into the raid on Leimert Park Sunday and alleged harrassment of the Shaw Family by City officials, something kept coming up.  The desire to place responsibility for the raid on Council Member Bernard Parks.

According to Zuma Dogg, police officers told him that the City Attorney was directed by the Council office (Bernard Parks) to conduct the raid on the park.  However, Council District 8 officials told Zuma Dogg that the office had nothing to do with the raid and had no direct knowledge of it beforehand.  Councilmember Parks Chief of Staff, Bernie Parks, Jr., told me directly that his office had no involvement or prior knowledge; when the news reports hit Monday was the first he was aware of it.

However this in direct conflict with the previous statements of an LAPD officer and a City report obtained by a source to the Sister City that listed Council District 8 as one of the participating agencies in the task force.

So obviously someone is not telling the truth here. Now this is where I digress into speculation.  After talking with Bernard Parks, Jr. as well as a few other individuals I believe that Parks' office is telling the truth about their involvement.  If the Council office has involved I doubt they would lie about it.  On the other hand officials of the LAPD Southwest Division have already demonstrated inconsistencies in their comments on the matter.

It is well known that there is no love lost between Council Member Parks, a former LAPD Chief and current Chief William Bratton.  Chief Bratton as well is a strong advocate against Jamiel's Law and has been critical of the Shaws and their supporters.  What better way to kill two birds with one stone - rattle the Shaws and finger Bernie for the effort.

Of course there is no evidence yet that Chief Bratton was involved in the planning of the raid nor that the Council office is telling the truth.  But at time when Councilmember Parks needs every Black vote he can get, I don't see him planning a secret police action against the Shaws. 

After all, Chief Bratton has endorsed Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, Parks' opponent for Supervisor.

Leimert Park Action Gets Curiouser and Curiouser

Controversy continues over the harassment of the Shaw Family at Leimert Park last weekend as they sought signatures for petitions to place Jamiel's Law on the ballot. Debate has continued over who was involved and who was responsible for the law enforcement operation during which the Shaws and their supporters were allegedly asked by police officers to produce their Social Security numbers as well as being told they were not allowed to collect petition signatures in a park and must go door to door to secure them.

The Witness LA blog attempted to take the wind out of the sails of the harassment angle of the story by interviewing a local LAPD watch commander.  According to Witness LA, South West Division Watch Commander Lt. Art Sandoval denied involvement in any organized action at the park on the 17th telling the blog's editor, Celeste Fremon, “The truth is this. There was no raid,” he said. “None of our officers made contact with the Shaw family. We were there because there was a street faire going on in the park, and we always send officers over when there are street fairs. ”

However information secured by the Sister City  by anonymous sources from allegedly within City Hall, confirms that indeed an organized multi-agency action, or "task force" was underway at Leimert Park with heavy LAPD involvement.  The article at WitnessLA briefly alluded to the task force action but omitted that the LAPD was a part of it.

The stated purpose of the action was to address a laundry list of annoyances at the park ranging from vagrants to drug use to parking violations to "loud drumming."  According to our informants, a number of agencies were part of the operation however the shots were allegedly called by the City Attorney's office and the Council District 8 office (Bernard Parks).

Sandoval was either misstating LAPD's participation or was not aware of the scope of the operation.  Far from just showing up to observe a street fair, the South West Division was intimately involved in the task force.  The team conducted a roll call briefing at South West Division which was reportedly led by an LAPD Senior Lead Officer John Biondo.  Our sources also state that during the roll cal guidelines were allegedly given to the task force by Deputy City Attorney Sharee Sanders.  Apparently there was no written plan for the task force; all instructions were verbal.  This seems to support what one of the police offiicers allegedly told Althea Shaw, that the police action was planned "a week ago."

In addition to LAPD, Council District 8 and the City Attorney's office, the City's Office of Public Safety, LA City Street Use Inspectors, Department of Transportation, Los Angeles Homeless Services, LA County Health Inspectors and Department of Sanitation were also involved. There is no indication that even though the action took place in a City Park that the Department of Recreation and Parks nor their Park Rangers were notified or involved of the action.

Considering that so far the City can't get its story straight on the matter, an investigation is warranted.  However given that the City Attorney's office and the LAPD were involved it is unlikely they can produce an unbiased report.  Given the District Attorney's handling of the Shaw's case they should not investigate the incident either.

Therefore the City Council should call on State Attorney General Jerry Brown's office to investigate the Officers' actions and what specifically the City Attorney and Council District 8's involvement was.

But don't hold your breath.

Pictures from Doug McIntyre's Press Conference!

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

Former President and CEO of the Century City Chamber of Commerce Robyn Ritter Simon has announced she's raised over $100,000 in her efforts to get elected to the 5th Council District seat to be vacated by Jack Weiss next year. Other candidates who have announced for the race are former Assemblyman Paul Koretz, who represented West Hollywood and also served on the West Hollywood City Council before moving to Los Angeles; land-use attorney Ron Galperin; and businessman David T. Vahedi, who ran against Weiss four years ago.

How are hard working, tax paying, decent citizens who are fighting for their community treated by a wannabe bureaucrat who trades on her politician husband's name? Searched for weapons and watched like hawks by police officers. That's what happened on the orders of Avis Ridley-Thomas of the City of Los Angeles Dispute Resolution Office when leaders from Sunland-Tujunga came to inspect important city files related to the controversial effort to place a Home Depot store in their community. Will officials from Home Depot get the same treatment? Ridley-Thomas says yes, but I tend to doubt it.

Where are the worst potholes in LA?The Daily News is mapping them out! Using Google Maps technology readers can submit the locations of potholes and add important details. Perhaps the Mayor can download those to his BlackBerry (or Jose Huizar's BlackBerry) and go out and fill them.

We talked the other day about the need to allow MTA commuters to take their bikes on buses and trains and the efforts of Councilman Eric Garcetti to get the transit agency to relax their rules. The LA Times reports however that folding bikes are allowed at any time on the train. I first saw these types of bikes when my grandparents brought back two of them from a vacation in Europe in the early 70s. They can be quite compact and easy to tote. However some wonder given the condition of LA's roads if these bikes are sturdy enough for safe travel.

Former State Contoller and Democratic candidate for Governor Steve Westly has donated $100,000 to the Green Dot Charter School at Locke High School. Westly who rose to prominence in Democratic party politics made a substantial portion of his fortune as one of the founders of eBay.

And finally you'll be seeing a new voice here on the blog: Althea Shaw. Althea is the sister of Jamiel Shaw, Sr. and the aunt of Jamiel Shaw, II. Ms. Shaw will share her experience as one of the leaders of the movement to pass Jamiel's Law as well as news from her local community. Welcome Althea!