Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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May 5, 2021 After public outcry regarding illegal food vendors on the Santa Monica Pier, apparently run by a criminal family gang, authorities cracked down on the activity. Police would now accompany Code Enforcement Officers onto the pier, according to a statement from Deputy City Manager Anuj Gupta on April 21. The city also pledged to enforce parking restrictions so that the large trucks hauling the vendor carts would not be able to park in the adjacent lots. Residents were urged to notify...
Mike Bonin and the City of Los Angeles is sending out an online survey for residents and others who work in the city soliciting opinions on what types of calls armed police should answer and what should instead by answered by "trained, unarmed responders." The survey may be found at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSev-Ic5prXR8wr8eZef-d0JZGJb_1pa_ZhW9zoveSRGZ-u7HQ/viewform The proposal to create an unarmed response team was first floated in June, 2020, following the sensational death...
April 30, 2021 - Yesterday, CharityWatch, an independent and well-regarded charity evaluator, announced that it had updated its rating of the Humane Society of the United States. And once again, HSUS finds itself in the doghouse. CharityWatch has issued a "D" grade to HSUS, the latest instance in a pattern of poor grades for the animal liberation group. This is a good time to note that HSUS is not affiliated with local humane societies that run pet shelters–although HSUS certainly benefits f...
Every eight years, California's Department of Housing and Community Development comes up with a magic number of additional residents moving to the state for which the area must plan. The way they arrive at this number is shrouded in mystery and bureaucratese. For the future period of 2021 to 2029, HCD decided that Southern California had to plan for an additional 1.34 million more housing units. Officials all over the region were ordered to figure out how to shoehorn in this much housing. The So...
About 15 years after California's last Republican Governor, elected in a recall, complained about all the "girly men" in Sacramento; the leading Republican candidate in California's next recall election is, well, a girly man. As a Republican, I couldn't be happier about it. At a 2011 graduation, Arnold Schwarzenegger jokingly shared with Cal Berkeley graduates his secrets to success in America. "Rule number three: Marry a Kennedy," he said. Marrying into the Kardashian family was a brilliant...
Commercial tenants in city-owned properties who have been financially impacted by the pandemic will soon be getting some rent relief from their landlord. At its Tuesday night's meeting, the Santa Monica City Council voted to direct staff to design a Rent Abatement Program for city tenants – which will be funded by a portion of the $29.3 million federal stimulus the city is receiving through American Rescue Plan. The motion also includes a rent freeze for all city tenants for fiscal year 2...
In light of the recent demonstrations nationwide, where "violence erupted between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators and violence against law enforcement personnel," the Santa Monica City Council tried at Tuesday's meeting to pass an emergency ordinance which would ban certain items that "can be weaponized" at public assemblies and community events. But after some council members questioned some of its provisions and offered many amendments – in essence weakening it, the Council voted a...
Courts & Rulings New trial required in action over death of tased suspect The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, in a 2-1 decision, reversed a judgment pursuant to a jury verdict in favor of the City of Los Angeles in an action brought by the family of a man who died after an officer used a Taser on him, holding that an initially proper order barring introduction of Police Commission findings that the officers acted unreasonably was rendered invalid in light of testimony by a...
Last fall, Governor Newsom vetoed AB 331, which would have made an Ethnic Studies course a high school graduation requirement. His objection to the law was the model curriculum on which it was based. Now, the Ethnic Studies requirement may come before the state legislature again as the State Board of Education (SBE) unanimously passed a revision of the model curriculum. The issue has now passed to the Assembly Education Committee. Although the SBE claims they made 240 changes to the earlier,...
March 23, 2021 - Almost exactly a year since the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health shut them down, bars and wineries not serving meals are now allowed to open - as long as guests remain outdoors. Establishments offering meals along with alcohol can open indoors at 25% capacity. Guests at outdoor bars are restricted to 90-minute stays, which begs the question if Public Health is thinking about unintended consequences. Those same people hastily guzzling their allotted time-portion...
A bill that would upend the state's health insurance industry was introduced in the California State Legislature on the last possible day, February 19. The proposed legislation, authored by State Assembly members Kalra, Lee, and Santiago would establish a "comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage" for all state residents. The bill is co-authored by, among others, Lorena Gonzalez, who was responsible for the legislation gutting the state's gig economy. AB 1400 would start by...
In a press release that proves he has no idea of his job description, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon boasted of the ways he has helped criminals and flouted state and local laws during his first 100 days in office. The top "accomplishments" he lists are "no longer seeking the death penalty in 17 active cases" and "a 71 percent reduction in enhancements filed" in sentencing demands. Gascon claims his electoral victory gives him the justification to institute such "reforms" to...
The Santa Monica City Council held a special meeting last Saturday to discuss the community priorities that will guide the biennial (2021-23) budget. In a 4-3 vote, the Council selected the following priorities: addressing homelessness, creating a clean and safe Santa Monica, and cultivating an equitable and inclusive economic recovery. "The City Council chose to focus for the next two years on the two issues overwhelmingly favored in the unscientific survey of the public's priorities, addressin...
March 5, 2021 On Thursday, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon released a press statement regarding a poll conducted by Californians for Safety and Justice, claiming the results proved that crime victims prefer public resources go toward crime prevention and rehabilitation of criminals rather than their incarceration. Gascon wrote, "Large majorities [of victims of violent crime] support policies to shift resources away from incarceration and move toward prevention and rehabilitation."...
Most cities in California have struggled to come up with solutions to curb homelessness in their municipalities and it was no different for the Santa Monica City Council last night. At its annual study session on homelessness, the City Council discussed and rehashed at great length current programs for the homeless instead of focusing on new initiatives. "I don't know if we know how to solve this (homelessness) but we have to do something about it," said Councilmember Phil Brock, urging his...
ADDA Lawsuit Association of Deputy District Attorneys on LA DA Gascón's reforms (Audio) Last month, we spoke with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón about his various criminal justice reforms which were meant to address incarceration and racial inequity. Today, we follow that conversation with Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County. Plus, we'll contextualize with our criminal justice correspondent Frank Stoltze. KPCC J...
FEBRUARY 16 Los Angeles County's Department of Public Health announced yesterday that they expect to reach a level of Covid-19 cases that will allow elementary schools to reopen today. The state of California set an adjusted case rate of 25 per 100,000 residents as the threshold, and the county believes they will meet that threshold today. "This encouraging news means that dozens of elementary schools will be permitted to reopen for in-class instruction for students grades TK-6 as early as this...
Los Angeles's new district attorney, George Gascon, announced yesterday that he is seeking a life sentence for Tracy Walker, 56, accused of murdering three transients between June 7, 2020 and February 7, 2021. The defendant, an ex-felon, will face additional charges for possession of a firearm although a knife was also used in all three murders. Gascon's choice to apply sentencing enhancements and attempt gaining a life sentence for the defendant is a surprising break from his previous...
2/17: A bill was introduced yesterday in the California State Assembly that would limit the ability of government agencies that are not health departments from using information collected in contact tracing. According to AB 814, introduced by Marc Levin (D-Marin County), no law enforcement personnel would be allowed to engage in contact tracing. Nor could data collected in the course of contact tracing for carriers of disease be "used, maintained, or disclosed for any purpose other than facilita...
2/8/21: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ruled in favor of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County (ADDA) in a lawsuit against District Attorney George Gascón. The ADDA brought a civil lawsuit against the District Attorney to seek a court ruling to clarify Deputy District Attorneys' legal obligations in light of the District Attorney's directives. It is not about the District Attorney's beliefs on what criminal laws should be applied or not...
Over the weekend, California Governor Gavin Newsom agreed to change the current lockdown guidelines regarding places of worship in which all indoor worship is prohibited. Newsom's change in policy follows a United States Supreme Court Ruling in favor of South Bay United Pentecostal Church and against the State of California. The court, split 6-3 along ideological lines, ruled that the government cannot ban indoor worship. The government may, however, restrict capacity to 25% of maximum...
The Recall George Gascon Campaign is prepared to file a Notice of Intention and serve Los Angeles County's new district attorney with the papers on March 8. This is the earliest possible date, 90 days after Gascon was sworn into office. Gascon ran on a justice reform platform, promising to straddle, somehow, the rights of victims with a rehabilitative approach to criminals. As soon as he entered office, he made good on his campaign promises to eliminate cash bail and drop all sentencing...
The Santa Monica City Council voted to approve a temporary pay increase of $5 per hour for grocery and drug store employees in the city. A similar measure in Long Beach resulted in Kroger (parent company of Food-4-Less and Ralphs) closing two stores in less affluent parts of Long Beach. Sponsored by Kevin McKeown last week, the "Hero Pay" measure is similar to a temporary urgency ordinance that Los Angele County Supervisors approved on Jan. 26. It applies to unincorporated areas of Los Angeles...
A group called Protect Ballona Wetlands, has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate with the LA Superior Court. The lawsuit seeks to restrain the Calif. Dept of Fish and Wildlife from approving a project to “restore, enhance, and establish native coastal wetland and upland habitats on approximately 566 acres within the Ballona Reserve.” The group alleges that the State’s description of the plan as restoration is “disingenuous.” They say that the plan will actually harm wildlife, take the land out...
On Sunday, a crowd of about 30 demonstrators met at the Santa Monica Pier to protest the arrest of Alexei Navalny. He was sentenced today to two and a half years in Russian prison on a parole violation. Alexei Navalny is a Russian opposition leader, politician, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist. He came to international prominence by organizing demonstrations and running for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia, president Vladimir Putin, and Putin's government. Navalny has...
