This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.
CD 7 City Councilman Felipe Fuentes 2015 FY General City Purposes Fund Report
As CD 7 City Councilman Felipe Fuentes nears his supposed, self-appointed Political Retirement in 2017, is "NOW", the time to start securing documentation on the past allocations of Discretionary Fund ......., and scrutinize his future expenditures?
How was (and will) Councilman Fuentes dispense with his remaining Discretionary Funds?
** Blogger's Note: In Part Two of the Mayor Sam's Blog endeavor to promote Openness and Transparency in disclosing the allocations of City Council Discretionary Funds, we present below the sparse, 2015 CD 7 City Councilman Felipe Fuentes General City Purposes Fund allocations. Compare to his alleged, Northeast San Fernando Valley Democratic Machine Ally, CD 6 City Councilwoman Nury Martinez (who was engage in a re-election challenge), the noted Eviction-engaging Officeholder, was a spend-thrift in choosing to transfer the majority of his available funds to this Fiscal Year before the 2017 Elections. Discerning, Local political observers will be sure to note, that the re-allocation of funds was initiated before the surprise announcement by Councilman Fuentes that he would not seek re-election. For the record, the documents replicated below, are not the "tell all" regarding the complete allocation of CD 7 Discretionary Funds. CD 7 is also blessed to have the Lopez Canyon Amenities Fund, which was the model for the creation of the CD 14 Central Los Angeles Refuge Transfer Station Amenities Fund in 2003. If you have any comments, feel free to post them on our Facebook Page ........., or if you have any salient observations you wish to share, feel free to email me at redspotincd14@yahoo.com----Scott Johnson.
But why is Fuentes rushing this already controversial DWP reform plan to the ballot without engaging in a robust and transparent discussion and debate that involves Ratepayer participation? After all, he needs our votes to approve the necessary charter amendments and $221 million Transfer Fee. According to speculation by City Hall insiders, Fuentes is either angling to be a full time, paid Commissioner (would you call that reform!) or a high ranking executive in IBEW Local 18, the DWP’s domineering union, so that he is in line to succeed Union Bo$$ d’Arcy as the union’s highly compensated Business Manager.
Page 1 of 2015 CD 7 General City Purposes Fund Report.
Zorro Marxist Gives City Dollars to Nuch and Some Tarzana Druggies
Carmen the Clown: How did he rate some dough from AlarcCON?
On a unanimous vote, your Los Angeles City Council took $100,000 for mitigation of the Lopez Canyon Landfill in the North Valley, money set aside to help folks in the North Valley communities, and gave it to a drug treatment center in CD3 and to Carmen Trutanich to stop folks from smoking. Dig deep folks, there are connected non-profits involved in all of this.
ITEM NO. (12)
12-0697 CD 7 MOTION (ALARCON - BUSCAINO) relative to funding from the Lopez Canyon Landfill Community Amenities Trust Fund to implement allocations to serve Lake View Terrace and Pacoima residents. Recommendations for Council action, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR:
1. TRANSFER $100,000 from the Lopez Canyon Landfill Community Amenities Trust Fund No. 531/14, Account No. L32 to the Sanitation Fund No. 100/82, Account No. 3040 (Contractual Services) in order to implement the following allocations to the following agencies to serve Lake View Terrace and Pacoima residents for the stated purposes:
a. Tarzana Treatment Centers, $90,000 for project support b. Los Angeles City Attorney Tobacco Enforcement Program, $10,000 for project support
2. DIRECT the Bureau of Sanitation to prepare the necessary document(s) with, and/or payment(s) to the above organizations, in the above listed amounts, from the above source, and for the above purposes, subject to the approval of the City Attorney as to form, if needed, and AUTHORIZE the Councilmember of the Seventh District to execute any such document on behalf of the City.
3. AUTHORIZE the Bureau of Sanitation to make any technical corrections or clarification as necessary to the above instructions in order to effectuate the intent of this Motion.
The Community Alliance for Open Space (CAFOS) threw a victory pot luck party at Dexter Park today to celebrate their recent court victory against the City of Los Angeles. Richard Alarcon's ill conceived plan for a truck driving school in the middle of Lopez Canyon Open Space was essentially destroyed in Superior Court a few weeks ago. Today was a day for friends, including these dedicated activists (look closely for some familiar faces), to finally relax, eat, and enjoy good company.
Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday-Special Land Use Edition
Kids, always remember; mixing Big Rigs and Open Space is a guaranteed recipe for a lawsuit!
Councilman Krekorian is scoring major points with the Foothills area of CD2 in recent days. First he was able to get unanimous approval by the City Council to allocate $250,000 of AB1290 funds to refurbish the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga. Later today, he will address the Prop O Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee with regards to the Verdugo Hills Golf Course. Proposition O, which was passed by City of Los Angeles voters in 2004, is designed to fund water projects that protect water quality, clean up pollution in the city's waterways, beaches and the ocean, and to help the city meet requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act.
If he is able to obtain funding to purchase the site, the VHGC could remain the beloved golf course and beautiful open space that it currently is, while at the same time serving as a natural aquifer recharge facility. The VHGC is currently slated to be demolished and replaced with 229 town homes. That proposal to demolish the VHGC and build dense housing has been fought against by just about every group and resident in the surrounding communities for over 5 years.
The LA City Council has approved a 25 year lease in Little Tokyo for the construction of a 38,000 sq ft sports complex to be named the "Budokan". With 4 basketball courts, a rooftop track and martial arts facilities, the Budokan will fulfill a decades long effort by Little Tokyo to bring a first class sports facility to the area.
In case you haven't heard, Councilman Richard Alarcon's effort to transform designated Open Space at the former Lopez Canyon landfill into a truck driving school has ran up against a Superior Court judge who has zero tolerance for a City Attorney and a Zoning Administrator that put politics and job security over the requirements of CEQA.
An absolutely fascinating report entitled "Portrait of California" has just been released by the American Human Development Project. This report examines the human condition in California's metro areas utilizing something called the Human Development Index, a composite measure of health, education, and standard of living. Spoiler Alert: Riverside-San Bernardino; you suck!
At post time:
Bennett Kayser 50.97%
Luis Sanchez 49.03%
Richard Alarcon got his ass severely kicked at Superior Court today! A Judge has made a tentative ruling that the City of Los Angeles doesn't know CEQA from Shinola and Lopez Canyon Open Space may not become Richard Alarcon's Truck Driving School after all! Griffith Park Wayist has the story.
Just a pleasant reminder. Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 15, 2010 is the LA City Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee hearing regarding the Lopez Canyon Zone Variance Approval Appeal and the proposed trucking school at Lopez Canyon.
WHEN: TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010
WHAT TIME: 2:30pm
WHERE: Board of Public Works
Edward R. Roybal Hearing Room 350
LA City Hall
200 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Please attend if you can and if you are planning on speaking PLEASE WRITE OR TYPE your 2 minute statement beforehand and BRING TWO (2) COPIES. Attach one to your speaker card and retain the other one for use while you're speaking. Kindly include your name & address on your statement and the speaker card, for the record.
If you are just attending and do not wish to speak fill out a speaker card and state you support the appeal.
Alarcon Diverts Public $$ to Friends Via 501(c)3 ... Again
UPDATE
A couple of points of information:
1. Ms. De la Torre and Ms. Chavez have contacted Mayor Sam and stated that Ms. Chavez no longer works for Padres Contra El Cancer. Ms. De la Torre insists she no longer has any communication with the former program director. Ms. Chavez also stated that though she worked with Ms. De la Torre in the past, she has no contact or relationship with her.
2. Here are links to specific document(s) referenced and not already linked in this article...
Note that charities, especially 501(c)3s, are public entities and their tax records are public documents... a matter of public record.
http://mayorsam2.blogspot.com/2009/02/health-research-and-education.html (undated document showing at bottom of page Ms. Chavez's business affiliation and contact information as Program Director at Padres Contra El Cancer, another 501(c)3. Since we first posted this, the original page was taken down by the source so we have an HTML version on MS2. We do have a .PDF of the original on hand at Mayor Sam HQ.) ---------------------------------------------------------
Chavez is/was also the Program Director at another 501(c)3, Padres Contra El Cancer, where, coincidentally, Maribel de la Torre is or has been the Director of Development for the same organization. The address listed for Chavez in Youth Speak Collective's tax documents (again, Form 990 for 2007) is the exact same address given by Padres Contra El Cancer as their business address.
There are three or four funds associated with the closed landfill in the northeast San Fernando Valley, all of which receive incoming monies from sales of methane which is a byproduct of the decades of decomposing City garbage underground. The Lopez Canyon Landfill Community Amenities Fund is supposed to benefit the people who have been highly impacted by the landfill. This area includes the parts of Lake View Terrace and Pacoima nearest Lopez Canyon, and most of unincorporated Kagel Canyon. Kagel has borne the majority of the landfill's impacts while receiving effectively none of the millions that have passed through the funds since Ernani Bernardi introduced the original motion with the best of intentions in the early 1990s.
Sadly, the history of abuse and outright theft of Lopez Canyon community funds seems to be endemic to District Seven Council Office. Previous CD 7 representative Alex Padilla at one point transferred all of the money from the main active account into his personal discretionary account for undisclosed uses.
So at this point in time, the Community Amenities Fund has for all intents and purposes gone from a community mitigation fund to a second discretionary fund for Alarcon, leaving the people impacted most by the landfill once again without a true democratic voice in how the funds are spent. Meanwhile, Alarcon's friends profit from the community's loss.
According to Alarcon aide (and coincidentally also his cousin) John de la Rosa, the Lopez Canyon fund is supposed to be used '...for the area north San Fernando Boulevard to Foothill Boulevard; east of Paxton Street to Osborne Street.' Completely contrary to Bernardi's original motion, De La Rosa's description of the impacted area tellingly leaves Kagel Canyon, the area most impacted by the landfill, out of the picture.
It seems nefarious behavior associated with this landfill runs in the family. De La Rosa was the manager of Lopez Canyon Landfill in the 1990s until he was allegedly forced to resign after being caught more than once significantly altering employee files without authorization.
...Oh the way Glenn Miller played.... songs that made the hit parade....
