As another year comes to an end

Well, here's a final post for the year 2008- and getting ready for another year to come.

I was sorting out the neverending paper supply of the past that seems to survive sorting and cleaning out, and found a lot of names from the past. From my teaching notes over the years, there were a lot of odds and ends of things and I found some of the Hollenbeck Middle School summer school notes that brought back to mind so many recollections of the collection of energetic, defiant, resourceful, mischievous and honest minded students that could bring out so much frustration and then make you feel that your day was well-spent by working with them. And this was only for summer classes that I mention from 2004. They are almost adults now and I hope other teachers were able to do their best for them all.

The students that I had at Lincoln brought a longer history for my time with them and I see some of them from time to time in the community. These students were equally as remarkable but of course, I knew them for a long time, some of them for years. I hope their year was fine.

Then I found another item from the funeral of my friend, Tomas Orcasitas, Class of Summer 1968. It was on New Year's Eve in 2002 that his body just could not work anymore and we lost him. He was a good friend of mine and of a lot of other people, too. I was kind of surprised to think that six years had passed since he died. He was a special person, and the first one of my good friends to die. I did not see him very often in those last year's but we spoke on the phone and he always made me laugh and was, above all, very opinionated and passionate about things. Miss, you, Tommy.

I guess that the New Year's Eve for me is a time of recollection of the things we've done and people we have known. I would like to think that no matter what time of the year it is, that we do things thoughtfully and consider that our time for everything is limited by things other than our own desires. Nevertheless, we can all make our decisions for the best- and who wants to make decisions for the worst?- and work in a positive way to improve things. My friend Tommy was somebody who was one who cared about others, especially young people and enjoyed getting them motivated to do better- but knowing him over the years, that was no surprise.


Have a Happy New Year.

More expenses to you coming from City Hall occupants

This is CITY HALL, a very nice looking building that's home to some of the worst and most expensive politicians around. Not only do the Council Members get paid over $186,00.00 a year- that's $15,500 a month- that is more than U.S. Congressmembers receive, they are searching for more ways for YOU to pay more fees and "taxes."

There's more to come (and there's always "more" with this group) - but for now, think about using a credit card to pay your parking meters. By the end of next month, the meters will be updated and you will see triple and quadruple fees for parking.

Council Members (and the Mayor, Tony Villaraigosa) really don't care since they don't have to live by most of the rules they pass (free car, free gas, staff of 20 each- over 90 for the Mayor-and on like that). Yes, there's so more that they have been up to, but they are taking a break now.

What a nice job of handling things for constituents.

A little more Christmas with parade photos

Some of the Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade photos of Lincoln High entrants.

there's a bunch more, but you get the idea.

I will post a little more in a few days, but smaller sized for a little better loading time.

Merry Christmas- 2008

Taking a break today, so, meanwhile, Have a Merry Christmas.

Back at you in a bit.

Pardon me, your Racism is showing through: Carson school shifts naming choice because "not a Latino"

Today’s L.A. TIMES is loaded with stories of controversy and political influence. The one I’ll mention now that will be the subject of my opinion is the LAUSD’s school naming process now becoming a politically-based decision as the TIMES headline captures- “Carson officials split over naming school after slain officer: City Council members endorsed naming a new high school after L.A. SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, but two have reversed course after Latino residents complained of not being consulted.” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-simmons23-2008dec23,0,2523668.story

The Carson city council agreed over 2 months ago with a decision to name a new high school after the fallen LAPD SWAT officer Randal Simmons, the first ever killed in the line of duty nearly a year ago. It was taken to be a good idea since Simmons spent lots of time working with the youth in the community as a church minister. Now there are members of the Carson council and community- and it’s not the L.A. City Council for a change- making the spineless, backsliding move to rescind the support for the name change. They say that the area is majority Latino and the naming should be for a Latino, choosing Cesar Chavez as their pick.

This school will open in 20012, and maybe the leaders should go back to school to learn a little about racism. THEY are complaining about the appropriateness of naming a school after a man who is Black because the NEIGHBORHOOD is mostly Latino. What? Some of the reasoning, if you could call it reasoning, is coming from a council member Harold Williams, a Black man. He seems to be yielding to pressure more than anything else, now doing some position-changing and looking for a way to make it look like it was his choice all along. Politics- how wonderful.

What goes into naming a high school? From the story:

District guidelines say high schools must be named after dead U.S. presidents
"and other nationally as well as internationally famous men and women." A
cross-section of the community is supposed to be consulted about the name,
and a survey performed.

Councilman Mike Gipson pushed the measure to honor Simmons,
who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes.

"We recognize his faithfulness to our community, to the children and young people who face challenges growing up and what he has given them and to making their lives better," Gipson said. "One person said Randal spent more time in Carson than his own community. He was someone who gave selflessly."

The guidelines don't say anything about race or ethnicity being a qualification for anything. The schools are supposed to be practicing the idea of being racially neutral or non-preferential in terms of race. That is what caused a lot of the civil protests in the 1950’s. Terms like color-blind and equal opportunity are so quickly left behind in a race to get favor with voters. We are supposed to be teaching young people to NOT base decisions on color or other factors that one has no part in choosing for himself, and instead, use character and deed for any judging to be done. At least, that is what I used to include when I was teaching. For many students, high school students, it was a novel concept that did not get their attention before, I learned. My students taught me a lot about view and conditions, and I appreciated that for my own development on issues and views held.

That whole picture seems to be forgotten so conveniently these days. Now, you have complaints that there needs to be a Latino selected for the naming of the school. That’s a big step in the wrong direction. The culprits here are at the local level more than the LAUSD, but you have a sure bet that under the current leadership of Monica Garcia, the scale will tip towards the naming decision to be for a Latino when it reaches them.

Julie Ruiz-Raber, a Carson ex-council member says that the Simmons choice is politically motivated, and Chavez is her first choice, claiming the process was a political ploy and was railroaded. Now, Ms. Ruiz-Raber, that "political ploy" assessment sounds strangely a fitting label for your own position, but then, I suppose it all depends on which side of the issue that you find yourself on.

Officer Simmons showed conduct of a heroic quality, and he practiced what he literally preached as a minister for youth. Now, you have a political career getting a little push by adopting the race-based approach.

The overall idea here is something most people of so-called leadership positions forget and that is that education is not all done in the classroom. The way that they handle this matter simply demonstrates for a lot of young people that there really should not be racially neutral (or ethnically neutral) for evaluating achievements or anything.

It looks more like a people-pleasing situation rather than simply being a well-deserved choice. Here, you have the lesson that race/ethnicity DOES matter. It is just another example of divisive behavior that the less-educated and the well-educated both share.

There are lots of schools named for Cesar Chavez, so the naming-honor is not something that is lacking for this figure of contemporary history. Putting the name of a local hero is has a lot in its favor. There are a lot of young people who personally knew and befitted from the man’s activities and efforts to better their lives. Choosing to name the school in this situation would be something that is relevant to the current student population and they could attach a greater connection to doing well for society, when they might not really connect with that idea where the school’s name honoree is so distant from their generation and not personal to them or their contemporaries.

I wonder what the view would be if there was an all white neighborhood in another state that said it did not want a new school named after a Latino, Cesar Chavez, because the community is all white. Would that be a right decision, and I mean "right" in a "right vs. wrong" context, not "right wing" and "left wing" orientatiions? It all depends on who is doing the judging, unfortunately. Did you ever see a game where the referees made calls that favored their own team or favorite player? It's like that now and it's wrong. The right answer should be a right answer in any examination on the topic and not change because you have different "referees." Here, they are moving to a very wrong answer if the ethnic aspect of voter demographics rules this choice.

Passing along a one-day deal: Free QuickBooks

Need a free copy of "QuickBooks"? I received an email from Steve Bass (check his newsletter, TechBites, < http://www.techbite.com/ > ) that was passed on to him- GOOD FOR MONDAY ONLY- at Staples-here is part of the copy:

Announcing one-day "Free" QuickBooks Pro sales event at Staples. See Web version.

December 19, 2008

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Chance for Clients to Get "Free" QuickBooks Pro 2009 On occasion
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especially if you do not have advanced warning.

Our team just learned of a one-day promotion in which a buyer
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started out as a small test, but Intuit decided to expand the offer. Intuit
wants to help small businesses through tough economic times, and of course we
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See the original web announcement: http://intuit.p.delivery.net/m/p/itu/prw/preview.asp?cid=13836959244&mid=1200586410&pid=398222

If you can use it, decide today, if not, subscribe to Steve Bass' free newsletter "TechBite" and get news of lots of things that will help, educate or just amuse you.

The City "asks" for your advice- Really?

Today's Sunday L.A. Times story starts off like something clever, "Go ahead: Try to run L.A. better; A city questionnaire let residents weigh in on how to allocate fund, given a budget gap of $433 million," by Marve Reston. I know that the writer does not control the headlines used, but this sounds like an outright challenge to the residents to come up with a way to do a better job than the City Council and the Mayor. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-losangelessurvey21-2008dec21,0,1574151.story

It would be a nice thought to believe that our city's managers are thinking about the wishes of the common folks in how the city operates, but in my opinion, it's a rare occasion that such a thought crosses their mind. Actually, I don't think they intend that this really is to “manage” the city, but really functions to see what numbers of people will be bothered by what the Council and Mayor will be doing anyway.

The idea that we are getting a chance to tell them anything is totally fallacious- phony, bogus, completely untrue. First, the mess they are in is really pretty much beyond our limited input to change at this stage of the game. Now if they had told us they really were looking for ideas maybe, say, earlier when they were SPENDING the money, it might be believable. Well, now that they are finding that their budget was blown, and all was "overspent,” it’s something of a waste of time. But we don't get "invited" for a real participation since we don't have a real idea of where the spending choices came from to make our tax dollars disappear because they hide information from the public and they don’t want anyone in their way.

It's really just another illusion of “participation” that is supposed to make you feel like you have a responsive government. The city survey is posted on the city home page, according to the story. I think I saw it while I was going through the website in several different and unsuccessful efforts at finding the Council Meeting Agendas “posted within the 72 hours before the meeting” that Council President Eric Garcetti says are there. If the surveys were really something that we were SUPPOSED to know about in the first place, you would have the council phones and all the websites and newsletter of these council members telling you that it's there. How many of you knew they were looking for your opinion? Maybe I am too critical.

They ask you about what should be cut. Where was that question when it was time to ask what money should be SPENT? Here’s a little taste of how freewheeling the council is. There is an event fee waiver category that allows city services to be done for free to the event organizers. That is, without having the costs collected or charged to them, as with expenses when there is a parade or festival or something that calls for more police and other services.

Some events that are for all the public and free are good reasons, but there used to be things like $7,000 here for the Dodgers playoff traffic control costs a few years ago and other money-makers getting a free ride, too. The continual complaints by the people that go to City Hall and bring it up every time seems to be getting them to cut down on the generosity, since we ARE in a budget crisis after all.

We really should have been consulted before the choices were made to dive head first into more debt. The Mayor tries to sidestep this problem and act like it was a surprise, but he was playing fast and loose with the budget money years ago and allowing some generous pay raises to happen in DWP contract negotiations. A consequence of those big raises was to make other departments expect the same big raises. They were not happy when that didn’t happen, creating a hostile frame of mind at contract time, with some work stoppages having occurred to show their displeasure.

No, we don't get to be part of the spending spree, but this slimy way that they want to say, "See, it's not so easy to run a city," doesn't fly with me. Asking if we should spend more on police and fire protection is kind of a loaded question- we need that, but with all the development and "smart growth" that they try to press on with, it just makes the need more urgent when more people are put into the same space. The Council and Mayor cannot be so stupid as to NOT see this, OR, maybe they are. (The mayor already announced he’s not cutting back on his spare-no-expense crusade to achieve his 10,000-police officer level for the LAPD. He’s ego and campaign involved here, but that, too, will be another story.)

In an odd way, their actions may show some logic in the way they happen to work out. By continuing the over-development of the city- besides getting money flowing to their special interest-campaign fund contributor-developer friends for construction and sales to generate profits- more development will mean there will ALWAYS be a need for MORE police officers and fire fighters. How about SLOWING DOWN on this trend to lighten up on the demand for services? Sorry, the Council and Mayor are way too far into development and “DENSIFICATION,” or packing more people into the same space that had LESS people before, for them to back up now and disappoint the special interests or admit they actually goofed it all up.

The other purpose that I think is too attractive for them to resist is the money they see coming in when development happens. They see that more people and business will make more numbers in the taxing operations of the city so that it's "making money" for the city. They ignore the fact that it also makes more traffic and parking problems, more crime, more pollution and more demand for good streets, water supply, police and fire protection services and just about anything else needed by people. In the end, I would say that the city comes out short.

I liken the Council's method to how a thief will sell the stolen goods, like a watch or electronic device, for just a small fraction of the price that the victim actually paid for it. The thief thinks it's a fine profit since he started out with a zero cash figure and now has some money. The victim who paid a full price loses out completely since ALL the value is gone by reason of the theft; the victim might even have been financially better off if he could have been able to buy the stolen goods back for whatever bargain price it was sold for.

So the city, by collecting taxes from the larger group of taxpayers, is doing the "selling" like the thief (and I don't think the labels are completely separated) and it's all profit to it. The residents who were here before now have to "share" an already insufficient amount of services and infrastructure with the addition that development brought in.

The city doesn't really care. Look at the giveaway of sign rights that happened a few weeks back when the council approved a deal that lets a developer have rights for Convention Center electronic billboards to be erected. The council gave this right away for peanuts when the advertising will bring in millions of dollars to the advertising company.

Furthermore, the electronic billboards are more accurately called a "blight" on the environment. Let’s see, first you had a clear view of things and now you have a big electronic billboard cluttering up the view and shining on with its messages all the time. And consider this: Is there a traffic hazard involved here? The council doesn't think so, or, at least not compared to the money that they will get- and as I mentioned earlier, ANY money is worth a lot to them, even if they ripped themselves off by the giveaway price collected. You can compare your own experience when passing the big billboard by the Harbor Freeway between Staples Center and USC, or the billboards on the Citadel property by the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) in Commerce. Can you keep from looking at them?

I will continue with this in the next installment- and there’s a lot to question when it comes to our shifty city hall occupants.

LHS Band and Drill Team- Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade

Taking a pause from the more serious items to show a little sample of sights and sounds of the Lincoln High School Band and Drill Team from last Sunday's Parade. This is just one clip to give you an idea for now of what went on if you were not there.

AND -You can see what the new band uniforms look like in this clip

There's quite a few more photos that will probably show up over the school break here as I can add them in.

(If your browser displays a second video title frame, well, I see it, too. "There is nothing wrong with your set." Those are technical issues that take up far too much time at the moment to try to fix- I have already re-sized the image from the earlier one that was a very small size, and that's enough for now. Besides, this is just a sample.)

LAUSD Board Pres. Garcia Runs Unopposed in March Elections

Monica Garcia, LAUSD Board President, is going to get a second term without any challenge, and being friends with Mayor Villaraigosa helps out all around. Here is a item from the Daily News Opinion blog that bears this out, written by Mariel Garza on March 5, 2008 12:01 PM:

"Friendly Fire: 'LA politics, it's all relative(s)'"

Lilia Esther Garcia was appointed to the East Area Planning Commission today. The board is responsible for planning decisions in Silver Lake, Echo Park, Boyle Heights and northeast Los Angeles.

The appointment means nothing to many until you realize she's the the sister of Monica Garcia, the rather unremarkable president of the LAUSD board of education and one of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's special hand-picked board members. She was also the former aide to Councilman Jose Huizar when he was the president of the LAUSD school board, who was the anointed replacement when Villaraigosa left the 14th council district for the mayor job. It's just like a big happy family here in Los Angeles politics. http://www.insidesocal.com/friendlyfire/2008/03/la-politics-its-all-relatives.html

A lot of the Mayor's relatives and friends (and their relatives) are moving up in the political goings-on, locally. The Mayor works to support them and I imagine it is expected to work both ways. Villaraigosa just saw his cousin John Perez elected to the state Assembly in June, as reported in the L.A. WEEKLY article,

"Villaraigosa's Mini-Me, John Perez" by LA Weekly , June 4, 2008 10:41 AM
"Who needs voters? The fix was in on the Eastside last night" By Max Taves. For the uninitiated, this is just the way politics works, friends and relatives added into the picture as you might see from another paragraph in this same article:

This isn’t the first time the mayor has made certain his family got into
power positions. For the past two years, Perez has been Villaraigosa's appointee
to the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. More recently, Villaraigosa’s
sister, Mary Lou Villar, was tapped to be a Superior Court judge in L.A. County
by the mayor’s sometime-political friend Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This is just a sample of the idea that "There are no coincidences," when it comes to politics. We could make a family tree if you laid out all the friends and relations, especially prevalent with Latinos, when applied to political offices.

There was a triva game, "The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" that showed how this was a small world and that any actor could be linked to Kevin Bacon in no more than six links; like "he worked with (somebody) who was in a movie directed by (director) who was a director of Kevin Bacon in (a movie)." This is even more pronounced in Latino circles. And just think, there was a time when only Ed Roybal was the Mexican-Americans' singular political representative in city and then higher level politics. Have we come a long way or what (at least in terms of representation, because ethics and forthrightness are in a league of their own for the modern day politicians)?

It's like the old charts of bands that traced artists as they moved from one band to another in their rise to fame, seeing their origins, like Eric Clapton playing with Cream, and then on to Derek and the Dominoes and solo. A lot of other rising stars could be traced who moved up after working together with other artists, also moving up. But here, its all politicians, and they really are not at all entertaining or pleasing. Maybe just "tolerable" is the best that we can expect.

Monica Garcia will be celebrating a victory early. It would be nice if the LAUSD had something to celebrate.

Government in Sacramento playing Shell Game at your expense.

"The shell game (also known as Thimblerig, Three shells and a pea, the old army game) is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud" (an excerpt from Wikipedia's description).

The state government in California is about as full of it as the L.A. City government, with a whole different cast of characters. Don’t worry if you don’t know them, they really don’t care about that just as long as they (a.) continue to be re-elected, (b.) are able to collect more money from people and businesses in California so that they can cover their bad money management decisions, and, (c.) continue to get paid all the benefits that they can from their elected post.

The other thing about the politicians at all levels you can note again is that they like to handle money in large sums, the larger the better. It looks to me to be an ego thing or some sort of an establishment of a pecking order among politicians- a kind of game: “Who can squeeze the most money out of what you already have” It also makes for increasing the opportunities to waste more money and victimize taxpayers at a higher rate.

Yesterday’s plan was another adventure by the Democratic majority into victimization of taxpayers along the way to the reaching a budget. The L.A. TIMES accurately labels their story , “California Democrats devise plan to hike taxes,” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget18-2008dec18,0,1785472.story The story gives the details and background, as well as views on the moves involved in achieving the plan, and what you can expect to happen now.

And here's a reminder of the size of the pot of money they affect. When they speak of a "billion dollars" that means "a million one-thousand dollar bills."

Or you could look at it like this: Put a THOUSAND millionaires into an arena and that would equal the wealth of ONE billionaire.

The plan that Governor Arnold already said he will veto, was to increase taxes, most of which they called “Fees,” which was done by majority vote by lawmakers instead of two-thirds vote that the State Constitution requires in matters of taxation. The proposed changes were as follows: INCREASE State Sales tax by 3/4%, ADD a “fee” to the 2009 State Income Tax bill for everyone, INCREASE gasoline tax by 13 cents each gallon.

The problem with getting more money was that the taxing power is limited. So what do they do to get around that limitation? Simple. “Let’s call the increased charges ‘FEES’ and you only need to have a simple majority, not a two-thirds vote.” The word they should have used was “disingenuous” because you can call an elephant a cow all day long, but you still won’t be getting any steaks or hamburgers to barbecue from that mislabeling.

Fees, in general, mean some service is done and there is a related price for it, like a "copy fee" for documents or "entrance fee" for city or county beach parking lots. You get the idea. The point here is that you are paying for a service and there is a set price to cover the value of it, so it's an actual FEE.

Now taxes just happen to be unrelated to the benefit you receive and more related to how much money your governing politicians need to pay the bills they were supposed to be managing. The amount is set most commonly in terms of a percent of something, like your income, your gasoline purchase or other unit of measure. Usually, when there is an increased FEE charged, there has been some increase in the real cost of the service.

If you see a cost to you that is going up and the amount of that increase is set by a vote of politicians without any real relation to the COST of doing the service itself, and it's a percentage rate, then you can be fairy certain it is really a TAX.

Well, the Governor’s veto, as the story includes, is not due to the legal terms “shell game” of the legislature, but by the fact that Arnold did not get all he wanted into the bill, including an ability to lay off more state workers which bothers employees unions quite a bit.

Read the story for more of their manueverings. And that’s just at the State level. More misdeeds are happening at the city level- but they are on their break until January when they come back and make the mess worse as they so typically do.

Some Christmas Cheer in a Card

I received some friendly mail in the past week from Loretta Sanchez, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, our "Congressperson." Although I usually am averse to "politically correct" trends in language, the gender-neutral applications are just very functional and without a sex-oriented bias, so no "Congresswoman" used here (by me).

But if you did get Congressperson Sanchez' seasonal greeting card (the kind that used to be called a "Christmas" card), you'll notice that she leans heavily on the gender aspect in the image that includes her cat and a motorcycle that I don't believe is hers. Some people may think it's suggestive, and thus, inappropriate, but really, it's suggestive of what? "Vote for me" would be the suggestion I think the Congressperson intended. But the card is nice and her greeting card from a year or two past was along the lines of this one, maybe getting more noticed.

You have to give her credit as not many in Congress could do quite the same card with any favorable effect. Do not confuse Loretta with her sister, Linda Sanchez, also a Congressperson.

Linda is expecting a baby in a few months and is single as of this date. I don't know if she's got a card out, too, but I'm not looking for it. Linda is, well, not the best role model for young people at all in that regard, but that's another story.

To end this observation of public servants and their communications with constituents, I just want to say I don't think the same card layout would look nearly as well had it come from my CM Jose Huizar, or CD-1's Ed Reyes. Bah, humbug to them both.

To Loretta's credit, there is small disclaimer on the back that tells us that the card was not done at taxpayer expense but, instead, paid for by a supportive fund of some sort. A truly nice card.

Alumni's honored Comedian and Actor Rudy Moreno on the tube tonight

Rudy Moreno, alumnus from the Class of 1974, has had a rewarding career as a stand-up comic for years, with a little break for acting here and there for variety. Rudy had even been the Grand Marshal, as I recall, in an earlier Lincoln Heights parade some years back. Tonight you will get to see him as an actor in "Criminal Minds", a CBS crime drama that should be on at 9 p.m. according to the latest email notice received.

Rudy's on-screen characters have been pretty quirky fellows in the past, if you recall NBC's "Kingpin" miniseries about a wealthy Latino druglord and the operations in the U.S. and Mexico. Rudy continued with some other character individuality in an episode of "The Shield," starring the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning Michael Chiklis. Rudy played a school board member arrested in a sting while carrying a bag full of toys, the adult kind, but evaded being charged with any crime as a political favor.

Tune in to see if what kind of character he becomes tonight.

Elections all done? Still a chance in March to change the City.

The Presidential election is over but the city elections are almost here. Locally, voters in Lincoln Heights will be deciding on who will represent it in Council District 1 ("CD-1"). Ed Reyes has been the Council Member ("CM") since winning the CD-1 seat on the Council in 2001, just barely avoiding a runoff election. The current term would have been the last term for Reyes, except that the City-created "Measure R" passed in November 2006 added a third term. That part of "Measure R" was played down so as not to draw attention away from the "ethics reform" half of the combined ballot measure, one prime example of the self-serving nature of CMs when fairness takes a back seat to personal interest.

Grab a copy today of the free L.A. WEEKLY at libraries, stores, restaurants and news stands before the new edition comes out tomorrow so you can see their big story on how public access t.v. has been cut out so that you will no longer have community access channels to see what the local politicians are up to as Channel 35 presents on cable t.v. now.

The L.A. WEEKLY gives loads of details to show how "special interests" can get lawmakers to change laws if they get to the right people to take their side. Fabian Nunez, ex-Assembly Speaker, was a prime mover on the state's change in the law. Could he have been motivated by the heavy campaign funds headed his way, as well as his favored charity getting sizeable donations from the telephone industry, including AT&T?

The CMs in LA really did nothing to resist cutting this out and voted approval. That means that there will be no more cable access channel, beginning next month. [The online version of the L.A. WEEKLY is still available at http://www.laweekly.com/ , but the hard copy versions can be carried around to read without having to be near a computer.]

And if you still believe that L.A. City politicians really care about the common people of the city, see "L.A. Slams Residents With Stiff Fees and Taxes" by David Heimpel in the same L.A. WEEKLY edition, also available onlline at http://www.laweekly.com/2008-12-11/news/l-a-slams-residents-with-stiff-fees-and-taxes/ . The continuing mismangement of the city by the council under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's so-called and ego-driven leadership means that when more money is needed they come to the regular people to carry the burden.

Ed Reyes, along with most of the other CM's, has continued to support these measures, being a strong supporter of Villaraigosa, even if that means that his constituents suffer as a result. Any examples to show you? Yes, and one big one is described in the "L.A. Slams Residents..." article, with a little sample shown here:

In May 2006, the City Council announced a trash-collection fee that
Villaraigosa sold to residents by publicly promising it would go to hiring 1,000
new cops. In concert with that, the City Council has boosted the trash fee 330
percent, from $11 to $36.32.

The fee hike goes far beyond the actual cost of collecting and dumping trash. By this fall, it had generated a $137 million mountain of cash. But Villaraigosa’s vow that the excess funds would go to hiring cops proved untrue. An audit by city Controller Laura Chick has shown that Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton spent only $47.2 million hiring new officers. Much of the rest went to raises and perks for the powerful police union.

This is an eye-opening article for those of you who just quietly assumed that city lawmakers had your best interests at heart and that things were all fine and well at City Hall. Well, that's not the way it is. If you do not do anything about politicians taking advantage of their power, they will continue to pick your wallet and leave you worse off, while they empower their own circle of friends with lucrative contracts and appointments to positions. These actions are there for you to see if you examine beyond what they present to you.

Ed Reyes as the CD-1 incumbent in the March election has the advantage in money for advertising and other campaign tools over his opponent, Jesus Rosas, the only challenger for Reyes to face. Despite the disparity in the power base shown in this Council race, you should really give serious thought for change, if only for the sake of change. A good showing at the polls will let politicians know that the voters' support is not to be taken for granted.

As another example of representation of the people and not the existing political machines of the incumbents, Mayor Villaraigosa is facing a long list of challengers for his second term. The most interesting challenger on that list is Zuma Dogg, a city activist, beginning over two years ago in that role with a dispute for his own matter with the city and learning the ropes of what goes on in city hall since then, much to the chagrin of the Council.

Zuma Dogg has probably attended more meetings than many of the Council Members over the last six months where he did not miss a single meeting. The CMs do not like that they have to explain anything to anyone, but he finds and reveals a lot of the problems that make the city worse, AND it's not just negativity. Among the discussions during limited "public comment" time that the Council provides, Zuma Dogg gives some pointed and highly spirited presentations that the CMs try to ignore, often only to find out that what he says IS true.

Ed Reyes' representation of CD-1 should be examined, as well as his ties to the policies and instructions he received from Mayor Antonio. As a certainty, the Mayor needs to be ousted for the benefit of the city- Villaraigosa is the "All-AboutMe 11-% Mayor" who cares about his own publicity first, over the city's well-being, over his duties, and even over family. (See the September L.A. WEEKLY article that reveals "Hours of travel, fund-raising and PR leave little time for his job. ... " http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/ )

Any vote for Reyes should be carefully considered- unless you work for him and then you just want to keep your well-paid job and might even make anonymous blog comments against the challengers to keep your guy in office. For the rest of use, some dedication to the constituents and not to the paycheck would be nice to see. Reyes, makes the standard council salary of OVER $186,000.00 a year, an amount that is the highest in the entire United States, and there's MORE benefits, too, you know. That's comes to a tidy sum of $15, 500 a MONTH, a salary figure that's really WAY, too high for elected "public servants." But just try to get them to take a pay cut and these "servants" just about revolt.

There should not be automatic votes for whoever is in office, raising your bills, wasting your money, and expecting you to be grateful for any attention you get from them. THEY should be thanking YOU for the support that put them into office, and, that support can and should be REMOVED when they fail to represent you. More later.

Last week this year for LHS classes; Short day today

The "Winter Break" that coincidentally matches the Christmas and New Year's holidays will begin as classes end on Friday. For many, it's already begun and absences due to that aspect of the season have increased.

Today is the last Professional Development Day for 2008- Parents: Your child will be out much sooner today.

The Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade on Sunday gave the school groups a place for them to perform for a wider group of people than before, and they made the most of it. While I did not see any programs available to actually pin down which entry was which, most had signs or banners.

The event was very well attended and the parade, if anything, was a little on the long side. The announcer for the parade was not Mr. Shapiro, and, again, that difference could be from old news; it might have been an old "cut-and-paste" promotion from another edition of the parade that was recycled too fast for accuracy. I am just guessing.

The announcer kept the crowd entertained, which is something useful, and this is where I found out that there was going to be "live snow" at the assembly area behind the BofA after the parade. I didn't look for that myself, since live snow should not be kept in captivity from my point of view. It's just to cruel for something that belongs in the wild.

Well, a tough week for students to stay focused on studying, but Friday will be here before you know it.

A few photos of LHS entries in Sunday's Christmas Parade

These are a few samples of the Lincoln High students involved in representing the school yesterday at the Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade.

There are more to add but these photos will give you a look at the marching band and their new uniforms.

Weekend events- a review of totally free Christmas season entertainment.

Here's s short weekend review of some free entertainment for the Christmas season:

There are a few items to mention that are happening this weekend, and totally free, with the local one being the Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade. That will be starting out at 11 a.m. from the formation area at the DMV office on Lincoln Park Avenue, getting on down the rest of Broadway as fast or slow as it goes.

I am not sure if this is a rain-or-shine parade, and suggest bringing an umbrella or poncho (the rain repellant kind, not the amigo kind) and that should make you prepared for whatever comes. As one who has been to the Pasadena Rose Parade where it rained through the whole parade, these things can help out a lot, especially for picture-taking. The participants that year turned out to be a hearty and determined bunch, and completed the 2-1/2 mile route, with most in high spirits, but very wet.

Also FREE on Sunday, a Tuba Christmas Concert at the Alex Theater on Brand Avenue in Glendale, 7 p.m., will be performed by a huge collection of tuba players coming together. It looks like the Tuba Christmas Concerts aren't a new thing, but the sure are not common since you have to gather a lot of tube players together, and Christmas is a good time to do it. Check the website for many more details on this whole thing, especially if you are a tuba player and want to get in on it or read about these things.


Another Christmas Concert program will be TONIGHT, Saturday at 7 p.m. in Eagle Rock, at St. Domenic Church. The Annual Christmas Music Concert, with all of the various church's choirs performing, will begin at 7 p.m.. It’s held in the church that is located on Merton St., across the street from the Eagle Rock Public Library and on the next block from Eagle Rock Elementary School. I mention this because yours truly has a role as guitar player with the Contemporary Choir’s segment of the program. That role seems to diminish each year, mostly in terms of sound reinforcement available to channel my part, relatively minor, but still, I will be there in my supportive capacity. It’s a seasonal break from the routines of the week and usually comes out very well, as I have seen it to be very audience-pleasing over the last 20 years.



Here a some photos of some of the Rose Parade entries who came from far and near to get a taste of some rare California rain.


These flag girls were very enthusiastic at the beginning.



The entrants kept up their spirits like these girls from Japan.

The flag girls with the L.A. All-City Band members

selected from each of the LAUSD high schools.

L.A. All-City Band

Some cultural aspects of ethnicities revealed

The earlier posts have not been very entertaining, but I think they are informative. Nevertheless, there is a little of both in the videos that I continue with in the "Ask A Mexican" video series. Here are presentations III and IV by Gustavo Arrellano.





and if that wasn't enough, more on culture as observed.




O.K., that's enough culture to consider at one time.

_____________________________________________________

There is one further departure from any real learning that I can give you, taken from the latest newsletter, Tech Bytes, by Steve Bass, a computer savvy writer who shares his knowledge in his website Newsletter Subscription Resources:

"Sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter

by heading to our, well, signup page. Previous newsletters are available online.

Want a TechBite RSS feed? Here's the link to stick into your RSS reader."

(see link also at "Find Help Here for Computer Newbies..." on the sidebar, too.)

****************************************************************
Warning: The following is another in the category of "absolute time wasters" that you may want to put off trying for another time.

*****************************************************************

Parachute Jump is a time wasting game that will test your skills in balance and physics. First click "Jump", then "Chute", ...... then holler "Duck" (Hint: watch the flag for wind direction and speed- just so you won't waste TOO much time.)

=================================================================

Council District 1 elections coming March 3rd. Consider.

As we head into 2009, City elections set for March 3rd will decide council offices in the odd-numbered districts up for election for another 4-year term (The even-numbered Districts will be up for election in two more years). Guess what? Lincoln Heights is in Council District 1 ("CD-1").

CD-1 Council Member ("CM"), Ed Reyes, is running for a 3rd term with only one opponent, Jesus Rosas, having qualified to be on the ballot so he's certainly pleased. The lack of any challenge to what City Hall routinely does is disheartening. Occasionally, the ire of the community is raised as with the aborted "Las Villas" project that would have put a restaurant and banquet facility on the site that was occupied by the Rose Eye Clinic. The biggest objection was made based on the intention to have alcohol served in the restaurant. Many opponents likened this condition to having a liquor store added to the neighborhood and scenarios of doom and disaster for residents and students were some of the extreme levels to which the discussion was taken.

The site is now a dirt lot across the street from the LHS on Thomas St. and North Broadway. CM Reyes resisted for a while, considering an addition to the business element of Lincoln Heights would be economically beneficial. Finally, the continued protests forced Reyes to reconsider the whole thing, and he relented in his support and the project ended. This was about as close as Reyes has come to being challenged while in office.

City elections largely demonstrate an historic apathy, with often only 1/4 or less of the registered voters participating in the city elections. The city council ran through two deceptive measures that pulled in the desired result in 2007. One total lie was the "term limits" proposition that really was a"term extension" ploy, connected with the "ethics reform." The Council supported this wholeheartedly- who do you think put it together? The result was to fool the voters to think that "ethics in government" were being somehow monitored and enforced. The reality was that the second of the two-fold purpose of this measure had the purpose of changing the term limits from two-term to add one more, for a total maximum of THREE-terms. That was played DOWN to a whisper level, lest anyone understand the true reason for creating the ballot measure.

The ethics part of the measure was another irony. What ethics are demonstrated by a council that intentionally misleads the voters? The called for in the ethics part of the measure had little useful effect, just a little re-shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic. But it did serve the purpose of camouflaging the term extension as it was designed to do.

Our city council, including the CD-1 representative, Ed Reyes, pushed another measure that was called a "10 % tax reduction of the phone tax." That was another completely dishonest move in intent, although not in math.

The City had a 10 percent tax on all phone service in the city. There was a court challenge to the City's tax because the federal enabling regulations relied upon for collecting this tax had recently ceased, but the City kept it's tax collection running. The court case was pending a decision that was very clearly heading to a decision that would declare the tax illegal and bar the City from collecting the 10 percent tax or any tax.

The "deal" that lured voters was a "reduction of 10 percent" of the phone tax. It would change from a "10% tax" to a "9% tax" and that IS "ten-percent." Sounds good? What's the catch? If the voters had simply all stayed home, or voted "NO" to the measure, the anticipated court decision would have invalidated the tax completely- you would have a "Zero" tax, reducing it "100%"; and the end of that tax altogether.

The Council saw this outcome clearly and quickly moved to create the measure to ENACT a tax by "voter approval." Such "voter" approval WOULD legally be the authorization needed to take the place of the federal provisions that were ended and no longer available to support the continuing 10-percent city tax. A "NO" on this measure would have meant what? It changes it all. The existing tax would have been ruled invalid and the City would be missing that money- and all politicians live to handle and disperse money, the more the better. We can examine to whom it goes at another time.

Now that the tax measure was voted on and approved, there is a NEW city tax put into place that collects 9% instead of 0%, NOT a good deal. Oh, and they didn't make the other parts of this very clear, but the measure not only created the 9% tax for phone service, it extended the City's authority to tax other aspects of phone usage including Internet activities. Proponents say that won't happen but they could not give a good reason for putting it there. If they did not intend to have it ready to be used and create more tax opportunities for the City, then why put it there?

All this is the City government that Reyes is part and parcel of and it's too bad that there is only one challenger to run for that office to represent CD-1, or any CD in an ethical manner. Both measures were supported by all CMs as you will find no comments by them as I have presented to show the "OTHER SIDE" that they did not want to reveal. That is not honesty, but whatever you want to call it, that IS what we have now.

One more week of classes for Lincoln High in 2008

Only more week in 2008 until classes end for the year at Lincoln and the 3-week Christmas (or, officially, "Winter") break begins, with a return date of Monday, January 12, 2009. As December arrived, the Lincoln High Alumni Association ("LHAA") provided the school with a gift of a Christmas tree to decorate and create a more festive school setting in celebration of the holiday season. Alumnus Marco Robles deserves much credit on his personal effort and involvement needed to obtain the tree and deliver it to its Lincoln High destination this year on behalf of the LHAA.

Christmas is coming. What to give Lincoln Heights? Try a parade.

The Lincoln High Alumni Association will be among the entrants in this Sunday's "Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade" that begins at 11 a.m. The alumni intending to participate were sent an email from the Association this week.

In case you did not receive the email and want to be part of this entry, what you should know is that alumni parade participants are asked to show up at the formation area at the DMV offices at Lincoln Park Avenue and Mission by 10 a.m. They will follow the cheer leaders and the school band. Participating alumni are asked to wear school colors and comfortable shoes. You can get any further information on that entry directly by contacting the Alumni Association through it's website.

The Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council's own announcement provides some additional details on the parade. From that web posting:

"At the end, there will be a celebration for the whole community in the
parking lot behind the Bank of America with Santa, snow, Christmas gifts, music
and food for all. Thousands of spectators are expected to crowd along the Parade
route. For over two hours they will be treated to a seemingly endless line of
colorful drill teams, dance groups, bands, classic cars, dignitaries and large
and small floats. The Miss Taiwan entry will grace an antique fire truck from
Fire Station #1."

The Christmas Parade announcer will be LHS teacher, Mark Shapiro, as noted in an earlier posting on this blog. He will be delivering the play-by-play on the parade from Griffin Avenue and North Broadway, making the adjustment from his regular duty as Lincoln High School's Football home games announcer. Now you have the location and you know his work, so get there early to find a spot to hear the Shapiro touch, a truly unique experience.

I am glad to see that the "Christmas Parade" is still called that and not a "Holiday Parade"which sounds so cheesy and yielding to political correctness. If there is a federal and a state holiday for Christmas, there should not be any hand-wringing over the title of a parade that comes once a year with most entries themed with Christmas decorations and Santa Claus as the big ending. Ho, Ho, Ho.

LAUSD makes it official- Brewer's Bought Out and Off

Well, there goes another page into the LAUSD scrapbook of economic fiascos and waste and abuse. This story continues with the saga of the LAUSD's search for salvation and relates to my comments from yesterday's posting here. "$517,500-plus buyout OKd for L.A. schools chief David Brewer," LA TIMES, 12-10-08 http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-laschools-brewer10-2008dec10,0,3316108,full.story


Another not-to-shrewd maneuver to cut the losses will make David Brewer an "Ex-superintendent" come January 31, 2009. And at the bargain price of only $517,500.00. That exit strategy was almost as notable as rivaling their sign-up of the Admiral as being a deal at $300,000.00 a year for a 4-year contract- and he doesn't even throw a decent fastball or have many RBIs for that price.


Brewer, however, did show that he could pitch some elusive curveballs during the job and even on the way out, not bad for being 62. Brewer is going out with a good boost as far as his slugging percentage goes, hitting the District hard on their final pitches and getting his own homerun, to continue with the baseball metaphors, shown very expensively in the L.A. TIMES story today:

Because the board terminated Brewer "without cause," he's entitled to
receive a buyout specified under his contract. The terms under the contract
are 18 months' salary, totaling $450,000, and his expense account over that
period, which adds $67,500. He'll also get cash for unused vacation pay, an
amount not yet calculated. Finally, he'll be eligible for health benefits
during the period covered by the buyout.

Since Brewer was given a job without any real standards to be met, what did the Board think they were going to do if "he didn't do his job satisfactorily?" Really poor vision for LAUSD - again. This is the organization that has the responsibility to work with students and standards for their performance but can't manage when it comes to their own operations.


If they had created a contract in the beginning with some measurable or objective items as even the lowliest of employees see in their own job descriptions, they might have been able to find sufficient "cause" to save the taxpayers a few dollars. But, not surprisingly, the LAUSD administration heads don't show that they care. They don't have any experience, successful experience, that is, in getting the District moving ahead. What they have in plentiful amounts is just a lot of experience in the waste of money and the abuse of the public trust.


The LA TIMES story includes comments from Kevin Reed, the District's head attorney when Brewer was hired. Reed tries to explain the difficulties involved with this mess, but the lack of foresight and planning as well as considerations of the realities of the problem they started out with should have called for more time at the hiring stage if they knew it was a difficulty. And if it was too big a risk, why take it? And why take that risk of getting an astronomically high-salaried person on-board with no experience in the task? But the LAUSD attorneys are holding the bag for that contract drafting part of the story, and now are covering their own asses. Read on in that LA TIMES story for other views.


If the problem was so difficult, what justified the Board in taking the financial risk that THIS outcome might happen? Simple. They don't HAVE to be accountable, their pay isn't affected, and life goes on for them. In terms of behavior that we often use in educating people, young and old, "There are no consequences for their actions."


How badly does LAUSD handle the operations of the District to generate an education for the "K through 12" population? I'll compare it to lending out your car to a relative for a while to get to work. You know, a simple favor. Then you get the car back and notice a few things about it like needing a wash. O.K. no big deal. Then you find a lot of dents and other body damage, noticing too, that the gas gauge is on "empty"and the engine doesn't sound right.


The example continues. On top of this, the cops come to check out a hit and run involving your car and, later, your mail brings you a lot of accumulated unpaid parking ticket notices to light up your life. So when you're at the police station you start to think about doing things differently. The LAUSD has been there and does the same over and over. What can you really expect when they have no controls? Are they just "hard core" or what?


Monica Garcia, the President of the Board, tried to salvage the situation, publicity-wise, for another day with her comments, taken below from the LA TIMES story:

In a brief appearance before reporters, Garcia took no questions and read from a
statement that echoed the concerns of Cortines. She vowed to develop a
"leadership plan," adding, "We understand that we need stability."

Well, all that is certainly reassuring, Monica. A word to the wise- Stay in school and you, too, will be able to make very insightful comments like these when the need arises. But shouldn't they have known about all of this BEFORE NOW? Oh, well. Here's another word to the wise- Better late than never.


David Brewer's comments on the state of things are just as transparent, simply being useless blather:

In a brief statement regarding the buyout, Brewer said: "No matter what
happens next, I will remain a champion for the children, teachers and staff of LAUSD."

* * *

Brewer said he recognized that the controversy over his removal had the potential to exacerbate racial tensions in the city. His departure, he added, should not be viewed through a racial prism, although he accused his opponents of pursuing political agendas to the detriment of children.

I really don't see that Brewer is sitting on any powder keg of racial tension based on what happens here to him. Brewer was pretty much an unknown to the average person in the city. If anything, it's the revelation of the details of his pay and benefits, along with the terms of his "buyout" that would inflame public opinion in this area. But he's just a player in the game that the Board runs on a daily basis, and unlike the conditions in Las Vegas, the odds are not with the house.

Will Supt. Brewer be leaving LAUSD (poorer)?

LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer has been on the job for 2 years, and was hired for a contract price of $300,000.00 per year for 4 years. There are lots of people who want him out now. What is all that about?


The Board of Education is more than anything else another political operation. They are now trying to get Mr. Brewer out for a very good reason. There has been no change seen to benefit the students, or the District. There’s nothing of an improvement in exchange for paying him to do the job. And that is a pretty hefty sum he’s getting. There is a $45,000.00 annual expense account to cover his needs, including meals, and a $3,000 a month housing allowance to go with the $300 grand a year salary. Brewer’s expense account alone is about equal to what an entry-level teacher’s annual income is.


That outcome should have been expected from the start and for the stubborn supporters of Brewer, after a year of no change, no real plan and no hope.


The LAUSD did two things that it does best, (1.) Nothing, and, (2.) Spend money for non-productive activity, also called “wasting money.”


Now, Mr. Brewer has focused on two items himself, (1.) his accomplishments as the Superintendent, which appear to be largely imaginary, and (2.) his willingness to step down from his position as the Board wants- as long as he gets his money.


You may think he’s being greedy and selfish, but his reaction is just normal behavior for politicians and he shares that quality with so many more appointed and elected officials in city, county and state government, and let’s not leave out the federal level. You have to consider that the LAUSD went out and selected Mr. Brewer for the job and worked out the deal to hire him. Why they chose him, a retired U.S. Navy admiral with no demonstrable experience in the education system to come in at a time of intense distress in the District is one question. Well, having no educational experience should have been a clue of what to expect. There was not even a real plan on what was supposed to happen, but David Brewer still says he accomplished a lot.


Ramon C. Cortines was appointed as Asst. Superintendent last Spring to help fix the LAUSD’s condition. If progress what actually happening, they would not have needed Cortines, who has to be paid well for his time, too. Mr. Cortines has much more experience so he is the one that is doing what Brewer should have been doing all along. At the tune of $300,000.00 a year, you have a lot of money going down the drain at the same time that LAUSD continues to ask for more money to operate the District. It is a District of declining enrolment and substantial construction in the face of that fact, a very contradictory situation.


Mr. Brewer was the focus of a Sunday, December 7, 2008 L.A. TIMES column by Steve Lopez (see posting of Saturday's items on this blog) that demonstrates problems with the hiring of Mr. Brewer and shows how the LAUSD Board has racked up another expensive misstep in management, all at the taxpayers expense. Nothing comes from the wallets of the politicians; nothing is taken out of the pay of any of them for any mistakes they make, no matter how big or how obvious they were. Maybe that is why this pattern of the Board should not be expected to change in the near or even distant future.


In the L.A. TIMES story today, December 9, 2008, “L.A. schools chief says he'll take buyout,” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd9-2008dec09,0,3527514,full.story Brewer defended his performance.

“Brewer said last week he didn't understand the board's unhappiness with his
performance. He also defended his record, noting that test scores rose this year
and that voters last month passed the district's largest-ever school bond."

‘I would take those two years and match them up against anyone else in
the country,’ he had said.”

Very simply, the response should be that speaking it doesn't make it true, and any test score improvement is a change that happens unevenly throughout the District, on a school by school basis. Brewer, like any politician takes credit for anything positive that they can find whether they caused it or not. And like a true politician, Brewer will deny responsibility for the bad things that happen on his watch.

The fact that the voters approved the bond measure last month for $7 billion has really little to do with the performance of David Brewer. Did anyone pay attention to what he said when they cast their vote? Did most people even know who he is? How can he claim that dubious credit. It had more to do with the District’s campaign salesmanship that was applied right before the elections. The Board launched the deeper journey into indebtedness for taxpayers that will last them for generations to come.


Why $7 billion anyway? Because they CAN “ask” for any amount and they DID, doubling the original plan to ask for a $3.5 billion bond to cover non-specific expenses, really just money to have to spare. Bonds are not free- maybe some thought so, but they are actually expensive. The taxpayers have to pay for the loan of the money and can cost taxpayers roughly double the face value over the life of the bonds.


In fact, the LAUSD will probably also waste a good deal of this amount per their track record. Remember the new Belmont high school, over $400 million for a high school that is the most expensive one in the country, and possibly, in the world, built over an oil field and earthquake fault? Don’t forget the “Arts” high school on Grand and Cesar Chavez (formerly Sunset Blvd.) old headquarters that was delayed in completion by a year and way higher in costs than the plan, all for the benefit of a design “image” for the city in the future, not for the students or our crisis-level performance..


Some actual performance “results” in the present time would have been nice, but they don’t see that over on Beaudry, the District’s headquarters. So you have another year of students passing through the system and the school was not ready to serve any of them. It is so typical. Every year of delay on any program or other change will mean another year of 12th graders moving on without being a part of whatever good it was supposed to create. Students do not stop to wait for the improvement; and then some just dropout.


But the Belmont project was the work of an earlier Board that escaped without any blame or personal responsibility for any mismanagement (which is normal for political bodies- and also explains why they don’t really worry about making mistakes). Most people are not familiar with the glitches, expensive glitches in money and time, that happened with the “Arts” high school- another Steve Lopez column earlier in 2008 reflects on that and is available through the L.A. TIMES online.


What happened during 2007 and 2008, with the payroll system catastrophe that cost over $100 million? Read Nov. 22, 2008, Daily Breeze, “LAUSD’s Payroll Mess” and judge for yourself. http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11091571


Mr. Brewer will be able to walk away with a lot of money no matter what, and that’s a pretty good deal since most firings for not doing what the boss wants doesn’t usually leave you with money for NOT working. So it looks like it will cost LAUSD $500,000.00 for Mr. Brewer to pack up and leave his job. Mr. Cortines looks like the one left to really do the work needed for school improvement, and Mr. Brewer’s expense accounts and housing allowance did not do anything useful for taxpayers.


One more thing, in his bid to appear to be the good guy, Brewer has cleverly shifted the talk to racial terms, and while he says he does not want things to be divisive in racial terms, HE is the one bringing that sort of characterization to the table. If he were not black but instead, every color of the rainbow, he still did not do the job that was needed to be done. I think that he relies on the tensions in LAUSD regarding racial concerns INSIDE the schools to come out ahead. Some beleaguered schools have now come to be run as charter schools, using specificly tailored approaches for the needs of the campus to solve problems. Uniforms routinely are part of the charter school differences and I think THAT change should be used in all LAUSD as a start to get some headway in straightening out things for school operations.


No, Brewer, because he is African-American, considers racial issues to be used as a shield from accountability for his game plan. It’s all a shell game and LAUSD is a player, the losing one again, to let it happen. Did they put a contract together for his employment that guaranteed him money for NOT working out? Did they add any terms to release him less expensively if they could not find progress while the District was under his responsibility? Well, if they did plan it, somebody goofed badly, again.


Some on the Board want to keep Brewer for the last 2 years of his contract- why? He’s not working out and he doesn’t appear to know how to change. The Board is to blame, too, for not getting a work plan for him to follow in order to measure up his progress against what they wanted to see, step by step, in regular intervals of time. Like I said, LAUSD has a track record, a very expensive track record.


This is another indication of a District too large to work effectively or economically. We don’t have students being educated, and we don’t have fiscal responsibility for the money that is spent to ensure it is spent wisely and not wasted. See Saturday’s story here on the LAUSD credit card waste.


If you wonder why things don’t get better, you can check out the people at the top, and not just the schools that your children and neighbor’s children attend. Board President Monica Garcia is openly aligned with Mayor Villaraigosa, who also added low-performing school to his duties, while still not attending to real city business.


Monica Garcia’s association with the Mayor is expected since she would not have won her seat without the Villaraigosa-approval.


Villaraigosa does not have a background of educational expertise, he just has a lot of money coming in from special interests to finance campaigns that function to hide lots of the revealing truth and color the lies to make them appear to be the truth. It all ends up helping everyone but the city, the schools and the students.