Sunday Evening Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet

Oh crap the weekend is almost over.

While the Vatican prepares to throw US bishops under the bus and claim they are not liable for actions of the American clergy in efforts to cover up child molestation by Catholic priests, another Christian denomination shows it's progressive side by naming an openly Lesbian leader. The Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles ordained Mary Douglas Glasspool on Saturday.

Phil Jennerjahn can't seem to make up his mind.  After snatching up the intended website URL of his Congressional primary opponent Jennerjahn was more conciliatory and prepared to hand it over.  It appears that Jennerjahn will not surrender the URL of James Andion's campaign and has decided instead to "smash evil." And may we note that Jennerjahn's campaign antics seem to have pushed attention to his recall of Mayor Villaraigosa off the radar.

Fresh off deleting blog posts (note to bloggers who delete blog posts you regret posting later, Google Reader is an excellent archive of them) Zuma Dogg notes something that seems impossible.  Former readers of Mayor Sam who have sworn off the nasty habit are reading the blog and even posting comments. Nothing new for sure and noting to see here so move along.

Here's a blog post that Frank Sheftel would probably disagree with. Westchester Parents blogs that even medical marijuana dispensaries grandfathered under new City of LA legislation should be closed and that medical marijuana should only be available from doctors and pharmacists.  Period.

Bikeside LA asks the question "are there people who hate bicyclists in Los Angeles?" I don't know. What would you call them? Bikists?

Prediction: Bicycle Czar Job Opening at LADOT

 Michelle Mowrey serving LADOT's target LA bike rider. | Photo from Streetsblog LA

LADOT Bike Coordinator Michelle Mowrey rationalizes LA's half-assed bike plan compared to other cities is that LA must not be as "very white and very progressive" as Portland, Oregon.  Here are comments from a recent exchange between Mowrey and Bill Rosendahl during a Transportation Committee meeting.

BILL ROSENDAHL: Alta Planning is reportedly one of the finest consulting groups in the world for bike planning. How is it that the City of Los Angeles kicked off the Draft Bike Plan process with Alta but did not incorporate the robust Bike Plan process that Portland used/is using to develop their own Bike Plan? For example in Portland Alta maintained eleven working groups, and they used community bike rides to engage and survey.

MICHELLE MOWERY: With all due respect the City of Portland is 450,000 people. It’s a homogeneous community that is very white, and very progressive with respect to transportation. They have a trolley system that works very well, as well as their transit overall. We are a very diverse, disjointed city of 4 million people. They are 30 years ahead of us in the development of their, well, they’re not quite 30, they’re more like 20 years ahead of us in the development of their bikeway. So we’re a step behind Portland in what we’re trying to do. Granted, several of us would like to see a lot of changes in the city happen very quickly, but again we have a very diverse city with a lot of needs.

As Streetsblog LA points out the likely reason the plan is so-so is that the City didn't spend enough money.  Probably but also LA's city government is so dysfunctional and staffed with morons compared to most other cities on these type of issues it was impossible for our City to step up to the level of more functional cities like Portland.  Or, as Streets says, even equally large and diverse cities such as Chicago and New York.

Anyone want to start the countdown clock on when Mowrey gets the pink slip?

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

A group of bicycle activists staged an action in Hollywood Saturday night to protest for their rights.  In the meantime though a Twitterer found several bicyclists stocking up on libations at a nearby CVS drug store.

Zach at LAist reports that two same-sex marriage measures are in the works for the California 2010 ballot. One would resincd Proposition 8; the other would replace all marriage, gay and straight, with domestic partnership.

My friend and occasional Mayor Sam blogger Edward Headington doesn't get why Measure B failed. Ed says "I am still a little surpised that Measure B did not pass given the green mood of the populace."  We are all for green solutions but what Ed may have missed is that the angry mood of the populace was stronger on B than the green mood.

L:A Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt says he's not planning to provide funding for shuttle buses to Dodger Stadium.  CurbedLA reports McCourt commenting "But it's a few buses. We need robust, muscular public transit for Dodger Stadium to be a vibrant place. But that applies to the whole city, doesn't it?"

It appears most of our readers who spoke up wouldn't shed a tear if newspapers went the way of the dinosaurs. James Rainey writing in the LA Times contends that were local papers to die it would give a blank check to local politicians to be shady with the fishwraps no longer watching them. That would however presume rags like The Times were actually covering municipal politics to begin with.

Speaking of dying fishwraps here's an ironic tale. Though newspaper subscriptions are way down someone is posing as a door to door Daily News salesman as a ruse to rob the place.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday

Department of Water and Power General Manager H. David Nahai was booed and heckled at a recent community meeting.  No, this wasn't in Koreatown where the lights went out this weekend but in a Riverside County community where the DWP wants to build power plants near the Salton Sea. The Riverside Press Enterprise said E. Wastewater Pluribus was at the mercy of a "boisterous and sometimes angry crowd." 





Goofy Council Member Jan Perry's fast food ban made the pages of the Wall Street Journal.  Perry who believes that low-income Blacks and Hispanics in her District are incapable of making healthy food choices and therefore wants the City to make those choices for them.  As political consultant Alan Hoffenblum told the Journal, "It's very much the example of a nanny state."



Zuma Dogg runs a long screed provided him that accuses City Council Member and City Attorney hopeful Jack Weiss of everything from kidnapping the Lindbergh baby to being the third shot on the grassy knoll.  Most likely the odd piece which also calls on Zuma to appear before the City Council claiming to be the grandson of Jake Gittes, Jack Nicholson's character from the film Chinatown was composed by supporters of Weiss opponent Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich.  I haven't decided whom I'm supporting for this post but do we want someone named Nuch as City Attorney?  Bob Hertzberg you going to run?





The fantasy that the LA River is a waterway like the Danube, Mississippi or even Cosumnes continues.  River activists think that by paddling canoes down the storm drain they can convince the Federal Government the LA is a real river.  This is a combination of idealist hogwash and developer greed - if taxpayers can pay to clean and green the "river" it opens up the land surrounding it to development, much of which with government subsidy.  I'm all for cleaning up the storm drains and where appropriate building public parks or other open space around them but lets stop kidding ourselves.  We aren't going to see steamboats paddling along Riverside Drive anytime soon.





 Los Angeles Fifth District Council Candidate Robin Ritter Simon has set up a Facebook page for her campaign.  According to the candidate her 17 year old son encouraged Ritter Simon to do so and created the page for her.



Big doins in the sleepy little town of San Fernando.  The postage stamp sized municipality completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles - one whose largest employer is the LAUSD - is the scene of a political brawl to end all brawls.  A group of residents are seeking to recall Councilmembers Jose Hernandez and Julie Ruelas for among other reasons because they voted to approve a controversial development headed by a developer who allegedly bounced a $50,000 check to the city.



Rising gas prices and other factors are driving an increase in bicycling across the city.  Most drivers don't know how or refuse to share the road with cyclists and the problems are piling up.  Here's an interesting look at the situation and what the City is doing about the bike issue.