Politicians, Media Suddenly Silent On Sanctuary City LA

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - We are 18 months from election day 2024 with a deafening silence from local politicians and media who spent years grandstanding about how California and the county and city of Los Angeles are sanctuary enclaves.

(Photo: Protestors at a 2017 rally where organizers called for a stop to deportations and to establish Los Angeles as a sanctuary city.  Photo: Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images via Vox.com)

Like their blue comrades in places like San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, New York, Boston, DC and Chicago, they finally got to be the cool kids in school, free to defy federal laws while grubbing for federal dollars to satisfy their political hard-ons for higher office and irrationally overpaid and unlikely employment for their families.

You're laughing or nodding because you know in your soul that this is true.

Oh, but the bills eventually come due.  Like Title 42, which ends at midnight tomorrow and even Joe Biden predicting "chaos."

To read the rest of today's column, jump on over to DanielGuss.Substack.com, sign-up for my free newsletter and share with friends.

Did These LA Officials Violate Federal Court and City Hall Rules?

@TheGussReport on Twitter - A few levels down the City Hall policy food chain, below City Council, the Mayor, Controller and City Attorney, still further down from the lobbyists, unions, departments and media, is the bottom rung of official Los Angeles political power.

Or whatever is left of it at that level.

It's where you will find LA's ninety-nine Neighborhood Councils, or NCs, overseen by the largely ineffective and appropriately acronymic DONE, or Department Of Neighborhood Empowerment, a bureaucracy that is largely in-place to keep the hoi polloi engaged but under control.

At least in theory.

For a few NCs, it seems that some re-education, as they fondly call it in Xinjiang, will be on the horizon.  Just don't hold your breath waiting for accountability.

To read my entire column on what went down at DONE, click on over to DanielGuss.Substack.com, and sign up for my free newsletter and share it with friends.

Keepin' 'em accountable.

Hogwash and Hypocrisy

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - Words not matching actions are once again all the rage at LA City Hall.

When former L.A. Mayor Richad Riordan passed away in April, those with whom I spoke, without exception, said he was our last great mayor.

He didn't perpetually make a jackass of himself on a national stage like two of his successors, Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa, did.  He didn't sloganeer like they did, and current mayor, Karen "Lock Arms" Bass, does.  And he didn't lose his first bid for re-election as James Hahn did in 2005, becoming the first alcalde to accomplish that feat since KKK member John Clinton Porter did in 1933.

Riordan was a moderate Republican, job creator and philanthropist who got LA through some of its deepest crises.  From time to time, he caused minor stirs by shooting from the hip, but at least he was authentic.

But, oh to have authenticity in LA City Hall these days, where post-pandemic words and actions once again gloriously misalign.

To read this entire column, head on over to DanielGuss.Substack.com, and sign-up for my free newsletter.  

One LA Politician's Request

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - Last week, I had productive dialogues with several Los Angeles politicians.  My rule for engaging is simple: conversation or respond directly to emailed questions.  I don't accept prepared statements from their media personnel because they are a dodge that answers questions that aren't posed rather than those that are.

One of those dialogues took place as I made my way to the scene of yet another random sidewalk death, this one in still-un-represented Van Nuys, thanks to the resignation of Nury Martinez, LA's irrefutably racist former City Council president.

Except the politician didn't address any of the questions I emailed.

Instead, while offering validation for my recent columns, the politician expressed a wish that I would also, "recognize in your writing some of our work and efforts in the district."

Easier said than done.

To find out why, head on over to my Substack and sign-up for the free newsletter.  And don't forget to follow me on the Twitters @TheGussReport.

A Random Street Death Becomes Vivid And Real

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - However many people lose their lives on the streets of Los Angeles on any given day, it is easy to see them as statistics, perhaps as a coping mechanism.

Numbers are cold and one-dimensional, at least until you meet the family and friends mourning their passing.  Then their death can quickly go from random and gray to vivid and real.

This is the story of one of those people, and his name was David Isaac Soto-Toral.

To read about what happened to this handsome young man with the broad smile and clear, engaging eyes, jump on over to danielguss.substack.com, and sign up there for my free newsletter.   Also follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

Shade & Fraud - Why Eric Garcetti Should Consider Other Career Options

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti won't be going to India as U.S. Ambassador any time soon.

President Joe Biden's recent re-re-nomination of him just a few weeks ago hasn't been withdrawn, but his White House - which keeps saying how important it is to have an ambassador in India - has yet to re-re-submit Garcetti's paperwork even though the second half of his term is well underway.

As of this morning, the U.S. Senate's Executive Calendar has a bunch of nominations, but none with the name Garcetti  on it.  

There are a few reasons why.

To find out, jump on over to my Substack.  While you're there, sign up for my free newsletter and follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

Why City Hall Paid This Journalist's $10,528 Legal Tab

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - It is getting to be an LA tradition.

The LAPD and LA City Attorney Mike Feuer cut this journalist's team yet another five-figure settlement after exposing dubious, corrupt or inept City Hall behavior that it prefers wouldn't surface.

In this instance, the LAPD refused to turn over a few public records from its Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) to see what the hubbub is regarding an alleged "domestic incident" at the residence of one Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles, aka "Little Ricky," as the late, great City Hall gadfly John Walsh used to call him.

Oh, you better believe that there's a lot more to this story, because why would the LAPD want to pay this columnist's legal tab if absolutely nothing went down at La Casa de Garcetti?

It isn't the last you'll hear about this situation.

And apparently, it won't be the last check the big wigs cut.  It certainly isn't the first.

For more detail, jump on over to my Substack.

Sign-up for the free newsletter while you're there and follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

Stay safe!

Stay warm!

We're Hearing Things

By Daniel Guss - Have it from several well-placed sources that a mucky-muck with close current ties to LA Mayoral candidate Karen Bass has a "situation" going on and it appears that powerful people don't want it known, at least not yet.

I once sued the LAPD for doing the same thing as it fought tooth and nail to prevent public records from exposing an embarrassing Eric Garcetti story.  City Attorney Mike Feuer wound up paying my legal expenses.

Anyway, my quickie column on this is over at my Substack.  While you're there, you might as well sign up for my free newsletter.   And don't forget to follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

"Eric Garcetti, LA's Prince of Maskless Privilege. Thanks, LA Times!" by Daniel Guss

 @TheGussReport - It is the Monday morning after the L.A. Rams' victory in the NFC Championship Game (played in Inglewood, not L.A.), and the local team punching its ticket to the Super Bowl in two weeks isn't the only headline-grabber.

The other national headline from the game is that L.A.'s Prince of Maskless Privilege, Mayor Eric Garcetti, mugged for photos with unmasked Magic Johnson, S.F. Mayor London Breed, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessica Alba to name a few.

Shouldn't this be the end of people considering the L.A. Times' political endorsements with local primaries right around the bend?

I delve in my new Substack.   You can read it here and be sure to subscribe and share.  It's free.

Also, follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

LA Must Protect Itself From Itself

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - It's 2022 and Los Angeles has a narrow, approaching window to start fixing its copious political challenges and corruption.

Having watched a few decades of local elections, here is what LA needs to do to save itself from itself.

1. Stop electing candidates based on their last name, skin tone and if they sound like an echo chamber of each other and the media.

2. Take everything the Los Angeles Times says or endorses with a grain of salt…and tequila. Stop relying on its endorsements since it almost entirely serves as a protective public relations unit for liberal and left politicians and their ideas to the total lack of balance of other sides, opinions and candidates. It is worth noting that the Times has endorsed, or even repeatedly endorsed, virtually every candidate currently or recently facing recall.

3. Start electing people from outside of the local political ecosystem. Encourage and elect those who have built something significant in the private sector. People who know what it’s like to make payroll in the face of illogical, oppressive and un-scientific government mandates. Think engineers, teachers (not school board members), healthcare professionals, private sector attorneys and the like. Elect reluctant politicians, not career ones.

Let’s repeat that: elect reluctant politicians, not career ones.

***

All the commotion so far about who is running for Mayor of LA and other offices is just that: chatter. It means nothing until February 7, 2022, when the candidate filing window opens to file a Declaration Of Intention to Become a Candidate. That narrow window closes less than a week later, on February 12. That’ll be the entirety of our options. People who fail to file will not make it onto the primary ballot.

Then there’s the race to gather 500 valid signatures by March 9, a rigged process designed to favor monied candidates. Those who submit at least a thousand votes for verification do not have to pay the $300 fee.

To continue reading this column, please join me on my Substack and sign-up to become a free subscriber.  Also, follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport. Thanks as always to our friend Scott Johnson for this platform.

LA Loses to Boston for Olympic Bid

Another "big 'effin day" is not meant to be for the City of Angels.

The United States Olympic Committee has chosen Boston as the site to represent the US' bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

Los Angeles had bid as well, with a major push by Mayor Eric Garcetti to secure the games for LA for a third time. San Francisco and Washington, DC were also seeking the nod.

National Park(ing) Day Spotlights Park-Poor L.A.

This Friday is National Park(ing) Day.

Sponsored by the Trust for Public Land, Park(ing) Day is an opportunity to celebrate parks in cities and promote the need for more parks by creating temporary public parks in public parking spaces. More than 400 temporary parks in 70 different cities are expected to appear in a parking space near you.

Park(ing) Day is a superficially apt name considering the amount of time Angeleos spend parked on LA freeways. However, the juxtaposition of 'urban parking lots' and 'green space parks' cuts a great deal deeper. According to data from USC's Green Visions Plan study, the poorer parts of Los Angeles are some of the most park-poor in the US. They're severely lacking smaller, quality neighborhood parks and passive recreation opportunities that a RAND Corporation study found to be heavily preferred by most Angelenos, regardless of race and economic factors.

The Department of Recreation and Parks was in the public input stage of a much-needed citywide Needs Assessment process to address this dearth of green space when they were broadsided by the Mayor and City Clowncil -- RAP was slapped with the highest budget cut of any department in the City (17%). For the last two years, Rec and Parks had been recovering from nearly two decades of being gutted by politicians and poor management. This latest cut clearly spotlights the Mayor's and City Clowncil's utter disrespect for the need of all Angelenos to recreate and relax.

In fact, each year in recent memory, the Mayor hasn't just cut Rec and Parks' budget, but has placed it on more and more unstable footing by increasing the percentage that comes directly from the General Fund. For 2008-09, Mayor Villar felt that no one would notice if he put roughly 80% of Rec and Parks' funding -- an all-time high -- at serious risk by forcing it to rely on the health of the General Fund.

Since the General Fund relies on City sales and property taxes which are substantially lower now during this economic downturn, it's likely that the 17% cut will end up far deeper in reality .


So just how many Los Angeles Park(ing) Day parking lot parks will be drawing attention to the criminal lack of parks, park space, and parks funding in Los Angeles? Go to Parking Day LA's web site to find out or to register your "park" and help bring attention to Los Angeles's parks issues.

Did You See LA'S Biggest Embarassment, Antonio Villarigosa Introduce Hillary Clinton in Commerce, California

Did you see LA City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa introduce Hillary Clinton in California on Friday? They have been airing it on C-Span.

Antonio mentioned that he was in Iowa three times -- and spent five days in New Hampshire. No wonder he had to declare a financial emergency for Los Angeles: He's flying all over the country doing everything under the sun, except his job as mayor. (Then when he gets back into town, he has to run the school district.)

The nerve of this guy to brag that as mayor, he flew to New Hampshire for five days. (How is THAT in the best interest of the City? I say they should count against his vacation days!)

Anyway, if you want to bankrupt the country, by spending all your money on "helping" people, vote for Clinton. I though government's job was to fix the roads and provide basic services. Not run everyone's lives for them.

Clinton announced she wants a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures to give people time to figure out what to do since they were victims of predatory lending. So she wants them to simply keep paying whatever they can currently afford (the current interest rate they are locked in at, without paying the new higher rate).

She called for Congress to pass an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as $110 billion to help low-income families keep their homes, to subsidize heating costs this winter and perhaps refund some taxes.

Well, that's very nice Hillary, but what do you tell the people who were responsible and didn't over-extend themselves and didn't buy more than they could afford. Now the people who made the irresponsible and fraudulent decision to by more home than they could afford, will be paying less, for a nicer home than people who stuck to the rules.

I agree, that if I ran a bank, I might not raise people's rates, and take in something, rather than nothing in this housing market...but that should be up to the bank who made the loan to decide for themselves.

Plus, she wants to spend $70 billion to hand out to low income people who are victim of circumstance. (Because they are not as successful as Eli Broad or AKG -- and it's not their fault!)

And remember, when she says, "all people in America..." -- she means, "all", as in anyone and everyone...no questions asked. (You don't even hear the VillarClinton team say, "all Americans". NOW, it's "all people in America." (And there IS a difference!)

One thing seems clear: Clinton and Villar are two peas in a pod. He should take her out to dinner at one of the illegal hot dog carts on the street, then buy her a counterfeit purse, watch or some other gift from an illegal sidewalk vendor.

"This economy may be working for some people, but it sure isn't working for everybody," said Clinton, to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers with union members.

She mentioned something about out of work construction workers who can't pay their health care: HOW DARE SHE SAY USE THIS EXAMPLE, WHEN HER OWN CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR (Villariagrosa) ALLOWS ANY NON-DOCUMENTED, NON-CITIZEN TO WORK ON THESE CONSTRUCTION SITES. (Yes Hillary, if you replace employed citizens with non-citizens, the citizens will be unemployed and won't be able to afford health care. Especially when you keep adding new trash, bulky item and other fees and new taxes -- LIKE PROPOSITION S .

THEN, you want to spend $70 billion and $110 billion to fix the problem. WOW, I thought I was listening to a Janice Hahn speech!

Meanwhile, it was Hillary's best delivered speech that I have seen so far. It was the best I have ever seen her do. Even if I don't feel she means a word she says and is a complete phony. I get reaaaaaal nervous when I see Hillary, Nunez and Villaraigosa standing together in cahoots.

IF ANYONE FROM BARACK OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN IS READING THIS...START MAKING SURE ANTONIO & NUNEZ DON'T CANVAS ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COLLECT UP ALL THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS...BEWARE THOSE HOUSE PARTIES...AND WATCH WHEN A BUS CARAVAN PULLS UP TO THE POLL. (You know you can close a gap, real quick that way since they don't check IDs and the people who work the polls like to keep their backs turned.) VOTER FRAUD...It IS an issue in Los Angeles, Barack...WATCH IT. I say you are gonna get creamed in Nunez/Villar's district if you don't watch the polls the way college students watched the polls in Venezuela and prevented Chavez from pulling his usual tricks.

OH NO...Hillary just said, "I'm glad Mayor Viagraosa is here, because L.A. is known as one of the cleanest, greenest cities." REALLY? Is that big yellowish-gray cloud hanging over the city a special eco-cloud. (I thought it was smog.) But remember VillarClinton, keep repeating something over and over, and they'll believe it!

[Note from ZD: I know some of the stuff I'm saying may surprise some folks. I really do see both sides. Compassion vs Free Market. (And sometimes you have to "fudge" things to make the system work in reality. But I just don't trust the VillarClinton team on this one. Like putting a nursery school class in charge of the candy store...or in this case, bank vault.)

Mandatory Spaying And Neutering Is Good Public Policy

By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, MooreIsBetter.com.

Remember how you cried at the end of "Old Yeller?" And you got misty in "Turner and Hooch." Don't deny it. It just means you're human.

Every single year, cities in California kill 500,000 dogs and cats. Five hundred thousand dogs and cats that could be someone's best friend. I want you to imagine a pile of 500,000 dead dogs and cats the next time someone tells you that mandatory spaying and neutering is a bad idea.

Unless you have a small stone where your heart should be, that is a disturbing statistic. It is heart-breaking to put one perfectly adoptable animal to death. It is unspeakable and shameful to kill 500,000 per year.

Mandatory spaying and neutering can reduce that number to nearly zero. By preventing the birth of unwanted pets, we can avoid having to kill those pets -- those innocent victims of the negligence, carelessness, laziness or stupidity of the people who failed to prevent their birth and failed to find homes for them.

You say this is "socialism," or "nanny state?" Tough. Unless you're going to find homes for all those dogs and cats, you haven't made the case for this routine, inhumane, shameful killing of pets.

The American Kennel Club has "threatened" to hold one of its big shows in another state if we pass this law. Is that supposed to matter to us more than preventing these deaths? Is that how crass they think we are? Hey, fellahs, take your poodle contest to Pocatello if you want. I, for one, would rather be on the side of saving lives.

Breeders likewise have "threatened" to take their business elsewhere. Fine. It's not like letting dogs mate in your back yard is exactly the cornerstone of our economy, you know. And the money we spend rounding up, caging, killing and disposing of animals -- not to mention the cruelty involved -- just isn't worth whatever jobs or tax revenues you generate. The pet supply stores can still sell dog food and cat toys to those of us who prefer shelter mutts and alley cats to inbred, disease-prone backyard breeder "purebreds."

Mandatory spaying and neutering of pets is good public policy. If and when we ever stop killing pets en masse in this state, we can revisit the issue later. In the meantime, to stop the killing, you need to stop the unwanted births. Dogs and cats won't wear condoms, and irresponsible owners won't "fix" their pets voluntarily, so we need to use the power of the government to do the humane thing -- and save tax dollars while we're at it.

My platform has always included mandatory (and free) spaying and neutering for dogs and cats in the City of Los Angeles. (You can see my platform at MooreIsBetter.com.) If we can do it state-wide now, however, so much the better.

Now go adopt a dog or cat at the shelter, would you? Do it for Yeller.