Morning Briefs in the Los Angeles Political Machine for Monday

The wreckage of "Ciudad de Los Angeles" after the failed "Reign of Mayor Villar". Photo via The Jennerjahn Report.

The cost of the fail eight year "Reign of Mayor Antonio Villar" continues to rise.

** It seems like yesterday that Mayor Villar was posing with the payasos of Cirque de Soleil's as the upscale circus-like entertainment show announced its grand plans for a long run presentation on Hollywood Blvd at CIM's Hollywood and Vine Complex. 

Well ........., those grand plans ran into a fiscal wall of reality as the high end cost of the show equated to low ticket sales, resulting in its demise next month. 

Then there is the issue of the $30 Million Dollars loan from the City of LA Community Development Department and its repayment ............ don't hold your breath.

** Mayor Villar’s labor brothers and sisters among the workers at the Port of LA and Long Beach are facing pressure from him and others, to end the job action that could have disastrous consequences for the local economy in the near future.  

** Mayor Villar’s transportation legacy took a painful hit at the ballot box as Measure J fail to gain the needed to two-thirds margin of the vote by a small percentage.

** Mayor Villar’s political mijo known as the Dear Charro, Princeton Graduate CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar’s own legacy, awaits its final tabulation as Downtown residents (but not the property owners), vote “yay or nay” to taxing themselves $85 Million Dollars for Huizzy’s Choo Choo.

** Mayor Villar’s Fire Chief Brian Cummings would find it wise to have an engine on standby tomorrow as his requested appearance before the City Clowncil Central Committee, is sure to cause sparks regarding his non-resolution on the issue of response times.

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

Observations on Measure J: "Not Good".

While Mayor Antonio Villar campaigns for the sinking President Obama Administration in Florida, his goal of extending the half-cent sales tax for future transportation projects via Measure J, is garnering bipartisan opposition.

Mayor Villar would suffer a major legacy failure if Measure J fails to get a two-third vote.

Joseph Mailander at his self-title blog:

Is New York City's subway working? Parts are not, but the out-of-style bus system was the first public transit system to fire up after the catastrophe.  Let's continue to build light rail a piece at a time, and not use the excuse of jobs to put funding for this on the backs of the same urban poor who depend on mass transit.

Ron Kaye at his self-title blog:

My own view is that extending the one-half percent sales tax through 2069 just four years after we agreed to pay the Measure R transit tax for 30 years without knowing they would burn our money in just 10 years by borrowing against future revenue is premature and unnecessary.Worst of all, it’s just lines on a map — not a transit system, which requires high frequency of service and good connectivity to get you from where you are to where you want to go. That isn’t happening now with a million hours of bus services being cut and fares rising, making life even harder for the transit-dependent and the working poor

 Bus Rider Union via LA Streetblog:

Inconvenient truth #1: Measure J advances a corporate-driven, Disney-fying and gentrifying vision of the city at the expense of low wage workers and communities of color. Why would the Yes on J campaign receive enormous campaign contributions from the likes of multi-billion dollar companies like Westfield Corporation, NBC Universal, and AEG? Precisely because these companies see Measure J as integral to accelerating their vision of Los Angeles, where public transit’s primary role is to bring people to and from their corporate theme parks and malls. Real estate developers and Metro’s own Real Estate Department like Measure J because it “leverages development.”

Betty Pleasant in her recent "Soulvine Column":

 Absolutely not! NO, NO and NO. We voted a tax increase for this not so long ago and now the county has asking for some more?! With none of it going on the Crenshaw Line?! NO.

Influential African-American Leaders oppose Measure J via the San Marino Tribune

“Members of our community vividly remember Mayor Villaraigosa’s betrayal of the Leimert Park Village and Crenshaw community,” said Damien Goodmon, Chair of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition. “We have regularly sought compromise since May of 2011, but Villaraigosa has remained uninterested. Measure J is simply the latest form of disrespect. It is quite audacious to propose a $90 billion sales tax increase on South L.A. that returns not a penny for the transportation requests of our community.”The list of influential black leaders against Measure J includes: 3 of the 4 most recent South L.A. representatives on the MTA Board (Mark Ridley-Thomas, Bernard Parks and Nate Holden), the current Chair of the California Assembly Select Committee on Rail Transportation (Mike Davis), the newspaper with the largest verified circulation in Southern California’s black communities (Our Weekly), the largest and oldest democratic club in California (New Frontier Democratic Club), the lead columnists of each of the large black papers (Betty Pleasant, Dr. Anthony Samad, Larry Aubry and Dr. David Horne), former LA City Councilmember Bob Farrell, the Black Clergy Community & Labor Alliance, African-American Cultural Center, Council of Black Political Organizations, South LA Power Coalition and the California Friends of the African-American Caucus, among others.Mike Davis – CA 48th District Assemblyman & Chair of Assembly Select Committee on Rail Transportation: “Since previous promises still go unfulfilled, can we really trust this proposition?”Mark Ridley-Thomas – L.A. County 2nd District Supervisor & MTA Board Member: “In an environment where … people are asking, ‘Why are we being hit by so many different tax proposals?’ Measure J is nothing more than a distraction.”Bernard Parks – Los Angeles 8th District City Councilman & Former MTA Board Member: “Although I fully supported the passing of the original Measure R, this particular rendition of a tax extension, [Measure J], is not in the best interest of the community.”

Could the opposition to Measure J be a part of a growing backlash against a "Failure Mayor"?

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

Morning Briefs on the Los Angeles Political Machine for Monday

When did $62 Million become $84 Million in proposed taxes to pay for City Councilman Jose Huizar's "Downtown Streetcar Legacy Project"?

"Whats an extra $22 Millions dollars in taxes gonna cost you in paying for my Downtown Streetcar Legacy Project"?

Since speculation is part of our bloggin format here at Mayor Sam, then maybe we should ponder whether CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar's recent vehicular follies, was predicated on "speeding away" from an inconvenient truth regarding his proposed tax to partially-finance the Downtown Streetcar Project. 

For the last couple of years since the return of a Downtown Streetcar was first broached, the Princeton Graduate Land-Use Attorney, has explored multiple ways of financing what has become his signature project. But as the Downtown News discloses, Councilman Huizar's proclivity for not being open and transparent, may endanger passage of his "Legacy Choo Choo".

When ballots are mailed to registered voters on Nov. 13, however, they will be asked to approve a much higher amount. In fact, $62.5 million does not appear on the ballot that must be returned to the City Clerk by Dec. 3.Instead, the ballot says area residents will be voting to tax local landowners up to $85 million. That is $22.5 million, or 36% more than what has been the focus of the campaign for the project. The higher figure is surprising some Downtown stakeholders who will be asked to pay for the streetcar.They include Greg Martin, vice president of Downtown Management, a company led by Australian businessman Joseph Hellen. “So they’re cheating again. It’s just more deception,” he said.Martin and Hellen, who have a history of tangling with Huizar, have previously criticized the project’s approval process, in which only renters or condo owners who live within approximately three blocks of the tracks will be able to vote. Property owners — including those who control large buildings — who don’t reside in the area are not allowed to vote, even though they will be responsible for paying the tax over 30 years. Martin said he wasn’t aware that the special election would call for a tax assessment of up to $85 million. Instead, he thought it was the $62.5 million that has been the focus of the campaign.“I’m actually not that surprised because I think the whole thing has been fraught with subterfuge, misleading promises, and this is par for the course,” he said.Huizar strongly rejects the notion that the campaign to woo voters has been in any way deceptive or misleading. He and other project supporters instead point out that the proposed assessments have been calculated based on assumptions of $85 million. That amount is what he says would be needed in a “worst-case scenario.” Huizar and others maintain that if less public money is needed, the assessments for Downtowners will decrease. “I don’t think it’s that big of an issue,” he said.   

Hmmmm, and not disclosing if you were at a "Happy Hour Birthday Party", is not that big of an issue when involve in an auto accident while driving a city-owned vehicle.

** Surprise, surprise, thanks to LA Times David Zahniser, we learn that the likes of CD 1 City Councilman Ed "Billboard Density" Reyes and his CD 2 colleague Councilman Paul "Digital Pandering" Krekorian, have gone the, soon to be Horseshoe colleague and current Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes route, in allowing a Clear Channel Lobbyist to write pending council legislation, to preserve hundreds of electronic billboards city-wide.

** We hope that California Governor "Moonbeam the II" took time this weekend to admonish his "Inner Bitter Jerry" for the borderline "assault and battery" on Channel 2/9 Investigated Reporter David Goldstein. This after Goldstein exposed the misuse of rented vehicle by CalTrans staff. Gov. Moonbeam II outburst is surprising considering that Mayor Antonio Villar has been confronted by Goldstein on numerous occasions and has yet exhibited his alleged "Inner Venice Room Temperament".

** You must give some credit to the government-financed consultants behind the efforts to extend the half cent sale tax for Los Angeles County transit projects, when they realize that T.V. ads featuring a certain "City Terrace Native", might not be in the best interest in garnering voter support.

** We chanced upon this accidental bit of objective journalism from the Daily News regarding Callifornia Governor Moonbeam the II's Prop 30.

This newspaper's review of state budget figures found:

The estimated $6 billion in extra revenue annually from Proposition 30 quickly would put the state on track to return to peak spending levels before the Great Recession.

The inflation-adjusted tax burden of Californians is now about the same as the average over the past two decades -- and will remain so even if Proposition 30 passes. But that tax burden is still among the highest in the nation.

 Thus a tax to sustain the free-spending ways of the big governmental beast. 

** Lastly on a lighter note, California State University Biology Professor and Whistleblower (in outing the ban of California residents from CSU graduate programs) Maria Nieto, has published a novel called "The Pig behind the Bear" which is worth a read and is garnering rave reviews.

Maria Nieto has managed to write a charming story that tackles huge cultural issues such as the assassination of Ruben Salazar. Part LA noir mystery, part family drama, part magic realism, Nieto takes us on a ride through Los Angeles touching the cultural milestones and heart of Chicano/LA history past and present.    Herbert Siguenza, founding member of Culture Clash  

For the record, Nieto is the daughter of Northeast LA Activist and retire Parole Officer Caroline Aguirre.

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

Watch Your Wallet!

What is Measure J?

The Metro Board of Directors authorized placing Measure J on the November ballot.

If approved, Measure J will extend for 30 additional years the existing one-half cent sales tax that was approved in 2008 and is currently set to expire in 2039 (Measure R). The additional funds will be used to secure bonds, which will allow Metro to accelerate construction of transportation improvements.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation reports that the projects accelerated by Measure J will advance the creation of 250,000 new local jobs (direct, indirect and induced workers) by starting construction on seven rail and rapid transit projects and up to eight highway projects within the next five years, instead of the twenty years currently planned. Measure J will also provide an additional thirty years of continued funding for local city transportation improvements, countywide bus and rail operations, Metrolink and Metro Rail Capital improvements and administration.

Under Measure R, there is an annual independent audit and report to taxpayers, and ongoing monitoring and review of spending by the independent taxpayer oversight committee. This oversight will continue with Measure J.