Michael Jackson's Death at Age 50.

The second celebrity death on Thursday was that of Michael Jackson, a pop star and musical industry icon. The sudden and unexpected passing happened just as Michael Jackson was in preparation for his re-entry into the concert scene with a 50-concert date schedule in England beginning next month.

The Moonwalk, the single white glove, the dance steps, the voice and all of the music over the years were things associated with Michael Jackson. One person with so much talent, but also a person with a series of troubles, legal and personal, that complicated his life and puzzled so many people. All that still did not stop his talent or end his popularity.

Had Michael Jackson not had the much publicized negatives in his life, he could have been even more popular and become universally admired without the reservations that many hold because of the controversies in his life.

In any event, there are postings all over the internet and items in the news for you to see, so I won't try to go over any of that here. He was 50 years old, and that is very young in this day and age. The exact cause of death is still being determined and may not be available for several weeks.

I just want to mention that the lives that we take for granted can be taken from us in an instant, no matter what plans anyone makes or how much moneyanyone has. Putting off things for a better time when you can do it now, especially when it comes to family members, may be a decision that's going to be regretted in the future should your plans be among those that become interrupted.

Consider that funeral and wakes are already too late to make the decision to say the good things to the person about and reflecting on good times that we enjoyed. What we should try to do is remember that fact and change things so that we can try to continue or add some more
good times and feelings to the list of things to be remembered about our friends and family.

We need to do what we can get the most when we are all here and try to eliminate the things that will cause us regrets later because we waited too long, or didn't think of things to begin with.
I will remember the good that Michael Jackson brought and for the entertainment that he brought to us in his music and performances over my lifetime, from the beginnings of the Jackson 5 when I was in college, until now. Anything else is a matter for a higher power to decide.

Farrah Fawcett Dies at 62

The news of Farrah Fawcett's death was expected but that did not make it any less sad. It is hard to imagine entertainers who have been a part of our past now succumbing at an age that is relatively young in today's time.

Here is a video clip that I found of many on YouTube. But I like for a couple of reasons, first that it shows Farrah at her best times, with so much energy, beauty and glamour that most of us on the older side can remember when we were all much younger. Some will remember her as "Jill Monroe" of the television show, "Charlie's Angels." And then there was that long styled hair of Farrah's that I think began the wave of wide-ranging popularity for that style. For people that were not familiar with her or any of these references, this can give something of a clue.

The second reason that I like this clip is that the background music, "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies is an upbeat and plainly happy song from that time when you could understand the lyrics that were, more often than not, about love and good times, all part of that time.

Mayor Villaraigosa Announcement on running for Governor: Good News, Bad News.

The Mayor was on CNN with Wolf Blitzer for his big announcement on whether he will be a Democratic candidate for Governor. Good news for California is that he won't be running. The bad news for Los Angeles is that he will be here for the full second term of office and that will begin on July 1st.

The Mayor's reasons for his decision not to run and the real reasons for his decision don't match, but that's o.k., he's always had a hardtime being forthright. He still continued with the theme of his first State of the City address, "dream with me" and he should have left that phrase alone, because it leaves him open to clever plays on words like, "And he's still dreaming; we need some real work done," or "Stop dreaming and wake up and smell the coffee, Tony." There's been nothing of real accomplishment by him in the first term. L.A. has lost more population in the middle class range and continues to pick up numbers of people in lower economic status as it's sancturary city status continues to contribute to that demographic shift.

When Tony says anything about working to help the middle class and to be business friendly, he's not even close to being honest. Rising taxes and looking for more ways to charge residents is making it much more expensive to live in Los Angeles. In July, another rise of .5 % sales tax will hit L.A. County. Many people who can afford to, are leaving Los Angeles. Tony's not the cause of all of it, but much of what he's done has had the effect of worsening things in many ways.

Tony's mention of the economy and the need of the city for him to be here to see it through was mentioned as a reason not to run. Much of what he said is happening is either not within his ability to really affect, or is part of his participation in the first place to help in making the present mess. Deficit conditions in the city were sped to the current status by just over-spending and no thought was given to the possibility that the good times were headed for a reality check. Nope, the city based everything on the continuing good times and they matched the good times with their big spending.

Rainy days arrived and the DWP contract and other labor union arrangements that the Mayor and council approved helped to make things worse both financially and in terms of morale and feeling of unfairness by other unions in the city where such choice terms were not offered. Now the concessions upon which the Mayor includes in the budget still are not approved by the unions and so, it's a problem.

Well, there's more to say on the reasons for his announcement today, but maybe it's simply that Lu Parker, his new love interest and news anchor on television Channel 5, just wasn't up to a move to Sacramento in the event he would win. What Tony did say concerning anyone in the family circle was that he wanted to be in the city, to be there for his 16 year old daughter as she completed high school. Tony is a man of many stories and some of them may even be true, but it really doesn't matter. If the city can be kept out of bankruptcy, that would be a big achievement.
While Tony has continued at various press conferences to reference all the city jobs that have to be cut, there have only been only a handful of actual cuts. Many of the calculations were handled by not filling vacant positions. He never crossed into the territory where real numbers of people were laid off. Tony still was trying to hold onto his favored position with labor and has delayed any action to cut payroll by layoffs, meanwhile, things are not getting better by such holding on.

Today's announcement on running for the Governor of California would certainly have been different if Tony thought he had a better chance of winning, and all the stuff he said today would probably be the furthest thing from his mind. After all is said and done, Tony still is the "all about me" mayor.

State officials' cars- stealing our taxpayer money, or a new way to steal cars, i.e., "wrongfully take"?

Here's a story from last week that you may have already heard, but does it matter to you that this happens? State officials are granted a vehicle, and I don't say "car" because these "vehicles" are so much more than "basic transportation" if you examine what each described official has selected. It's all in the story covered in the L.A. Times from June 16, 2009, by Patrick McGreevy, "Legislators' cars cost taxpayers $3.2 million in three years; The tab includes gasoline and insurance. Use by family members is covered too. The benefits, rare outside California, may be curtailed." //www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-state-cars16-2009jun16,0,7729878.story

The story lays it all out but you might remember what I have said earlier with the case of a lot- though not all- Latino politicians, and especially those with very humble backgrounds. They out and out become greedy and cannot believe their good fortune to become elected or appointed to a public office with all the benefits that come with it.

It's kind of like Halloween trick-or-treat for kids who are presented by some residents with a big bowl of candies to reach in and help themselves. Some are timid, reserved or respectful and take at least one or maybe a couple. But then you always have the others who are just in disbelief upon hearing this offer and make a generous grab of candies, sometimes going for two, and maybe having to be reminded to leave some for others to be able to enjoy, too.

When it comes to "free" cars, these guys/women can't get enough and request models that they might not lay out their own cash to drive. You might think there would be some guidelines to keep that greedy Halloween urge from taking over, but the outcome shows something more effective is needed to remind "public servants" just who is supposed to be the servant.

From the story:

When legislators' cars need maintenance or are in accidents -- even with spouses or offspring at the wheel -- taxpayers also pay, state records show.

The cost of providing lawmakers with Cadillacs, Lincoln Town Cars, Priuses and Lexuses, keeping the vehicles full of gas and fixing them when they crash was $3.2 million during the last three years.

Although that sum is a small fraction of the $24-billion budget shortfall, it has drawn the attention of the California Citizens Compensation Commission. The panel, which determines lawmakers' pay and recently voted to slash their salaries by 18% starting next year, will meet this week to consider cutting benefits as well.

Commission Chairman Charles Murray said the idea that taxpayers are providing legislators with $50,000 luxury cars is hard to swallow, given the state's budget problems.

"I personally think it's ludicrous," said Murray, who owns an insurance company in Los Angeles. "You have guys out of work, people losing their job, departments downsizing, and they [legislators] are saying, 'Look at me in my STS.'

"California is one of only three states that provide legislators with cars for use in their districts, and the vast majority of states do not provide gasoline cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That last part is important- it means 47 of 50 states do NOT supply cars, and personal cars are used. And for all the states, most do not hand over a gas credit card, either. How would any official ever be able to say "I feel your pain" and mean it when there is good pay, no layoff, free cars, free gas, additional per diems for another 30 grand to be away from home in Sacramento?

The mention of a pay cut of 18 percent is only taking effect on the NEW people coming into office. Why? Well, because legally, you cannot cut pay after the term of an official has begun, so only NEW "hires" and re-elected people will be drawing reduced pay, and the current piggies will still continue to splash around in the trough, maybe being termed out and headed for another office where their history of "enjoying themselves at the taxpayers expense" is not known to potential constituents. Or maybe it's explained away by some of the fast-talking, mumbo-jumbo, convoluted logic that passes for English language communication, spun just enough to make you think it was a bargain to the taxpayer.

Just what were the details here? A good chart to see some "offenders" in this area is in the L.A. Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-061609-me-state_cars-g,0,2596207.graphic Like the old George Gershwin song says, "Nice work if you can get it."

There's another blog that I have been clued into by Mayor Sam's blog- all the blogs for whatever your interest may be, and this one is Latino Politics Blog.com that gives some recognition to practices mentioned by people who occasionally confuse public office with being a member of royalty. http://latinopoliticsblog.com/2009/06/16/amid-ca-budget-crisis-latino-pols-cruise-like-high-rollers/

Among the views published, you can see a lot of hostile reader comments,definitely no nice but understandably so. The bigger problem is that things like this are routine with politicians and they don't expect anyone to find out of the abuse, and if they do, then it will not be addressed either in a timely fashion, or in a way that's going to be able to reach the offender. Here's where you have a different, more subtle kind of recidivism problem in crime.

In both the L.A.Times and Latino Politics Blog.com, they mention the family participation here. So, when Rocky Delgadillo's wife damaged the city car that only Rocky was supposed to drive, a lot of trouble surfaced for Rocky because of it and the lies he made to cover up for his wife. In Sacramento, apparently, the "car" is treated like the "family car," and everyone gets to use it. Oh, yes, and "we" get to pay for it. Isn't that crazy?

If Rocky had been a state official, his wife would be o.k. to drive and crash the car since California self-insures everybody, allowing the whole family to run up the charges for the taxpayers. Bonnie Garcia did her part to let her son participate in government operations:

Then-Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia's son Javier "made a right turn in front of oncoming traffic" in a December 2006 accident that cost the state $22,000, state records say.

And just to be fair in showing it's not only youthful drivers running up the bill for the state:

In September 2008, Maxine Yee, the wife of Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), was driving him to the airport when she ran into a stalled car. That cost taxpayers $32,600.

And now taking another old phrase, this time from an old t.v. show, "Kid are people, too," we have to keep in mind, "Politicians are people, too." Let's consider that phrase for what it does NOT mean: They are not geniuses, not that they can't be, but holding office doesn't make them such. They are not perfect- and that's in the sense of being "good", since some are perfect fools for what they preach, and the names on that list can be different for each taxpayer, depending on what you look while making it up. Neither are they automatically honest, truthful, or resistant to corruption by money or power.

They all bear watching and all need to be given an extra generous helping of scrutiny when it comes to what they are doing. And, giving credit where it's due, SOME HAVE NOT BEEN GREEDY when it comes to getting cars, and some even use THEIR OWN CARS instead of using government paid-for cars. So for those, few, I say, "Keep up that kind of approach in the rest of what you do."

Another Class of Lincoln High Grads Became Alumni Yesterday

I was looking forward to being able to see the graduation yesterday at good old Lincoln. This time I would have seen Lincoln High's Class of 2009, "The ........... ," -sorry, but I never discovered the "class name" selected by this year's graduating class- but due to scheduling conflicts, personal commitments or however it's phrased, I was unable to attend. This would have been my sixth consecutive year of witnessing the annual ceremony and watching as these high school students, often referred to as "kids," now, in one fell swoop, as its said, officially become "alumni," whether that fact has dawned upon them or not. It's just a fact. And for those already age 18, they begin adulthood as "high school" graduates, with the younger classmates headed for birthdays that will add that tag, "adult," to their personal qualifications.

All this happens sometimes too fast for many of us, and I think for the students too, to really take it all in. In my short time teaching at Lincoln, I had mostly 9th graders as the first students that I met for classroom instruction. For both them and me, it was our initial introduction to education at Lincoln High for the 21st century. Remember, I was in their shoes decades before in this very same school, a truly distant memory- more like history. But at graduation, you see some conclusion to the process. It's where the transformation of sorts over a four year span is finally recognized. It's a milestone in the lives of most people, and one that is increasingly missed by a number students in the confines of the LAUSD in favor of the dreaded option of "dropping out." And that is yet another topic for another day.

I really enjoyed these annual events, and seeing a lot of my former students heading out "on their own," gave me a feeling of both pride and dismay. The pride was there for the accomplishment of the students, however much weight that carries in this day, but it's nevertheless an accomplishment. The dismay came from wondering what level of education was imparted upon them each while at Lincoln, and whether that prepared them for their future, knowing how things are "from the inside" of the school walls as a teacher. It was a real learning experience for us all, especially in those first classes of mine at Lincoln, and coming back to Lincoln for graduations and seeing so many of these same students was itself a reward for my tiny bit of contribution to their LHS career. It was always a pleasant surprise to see that most of them were as pleased- often surprised- to see me come by as I was to see them.

I remember often telling my students that they need to ask questions of teachers now, while we are there to provide answers for them in class. I also added that it was now during class when we can sort through the mistakes that they should be making as we get along in the learning process. This should be important to them, I tried to explain, especially since high school is the last time in life when the education is free for them. I told them that any future instruction for them after high school will be at a cost to them or to someone paying it for them, a fact that they probably will not fully comprehend until they are presented with a tuition bill. But you, as a teacher, are only one of many each day for them, and some of what you say might be taken to heart and some is rejected, or equally often, I suspect, plainly missed.

But all that material detracts from the graduation that Lincoln hosted yesterday, a really high point for a high school student. And it's nearly, but not quite, a high point for those just missing out in participating in it by either being short a few units in meeting the requirements that are spread over four years, or, being kept back by not clearing the California High School Exit Exam, or "CaHSEE," as it's more commonly known in the vernacular of the educational system. For all attending the ceremony, there is a lot of pride and joy that the event brings, and probably a bit of relief for some or maybe even some anxiety beginning as parents will wonder what will be next for their children.

The whole topic is really too big for even my long postings here as I bounce back a lot of thoughts collected over the years, and I will just say to this class, "Congratulations" and "Enjoy the moment." Lastly, one thing that seems to remain over the years for L.A. area graduations, barely changed, if at all, is "Grad Nite" at Disneyland. It is something of a tradition itself that I have urged students not to miss, maybe for the simple fact that it IS tradition and that it makes this particular rite of passage complete.

Store owner victimized by Lakers fan riot to rebuild

The owner of the store that was looted on Sunday after the Lakers wrapped up the NBA Championship was really victimized twice- once by the crowd that came in and looted the merchandise, and, second, systemically by the LAPD who were present and failed to act.

Richard Torres was the unfortunate victim of a belief that the police can be at a scene and stop crime. In theory, maybe there's some deterrence accomplished simply by the idea that most people will balance out doing right and not doing right and getting punished for that when police catch up with them. But on Sunday night, that store by the Staples Center, a vintage sneaker shop with lots of the shoes there on consignment for sale, was broken into.

Torres, the owner of the establishment, was interviewed today on KFI 640 and he said that there were witnesses there who told him that the police were there across the street just watching this. Just yards away, but they only watched? Part of the reason for allowing this happen was that there were not enough cops there to handle the crowd that was about 150 people.

Torres said that when he arrived, there were about 4 police cars there. Witnesses said that the shoes were lighted and thrown at the police and most of the merchandise was damaged or destroyed, with an inventory value of around $150,000.00. He had extra strong glass that actually resisted the repeated attempts to break it and the crowd took about five minutes after that to use brute force on the door and finally got in. The police still were still hanging back. Apparently and hopelessly outnumbered, they began retreating, too, as the objects were thrown at them, but whose fault was that?

The sad thing that this shows it that the police protection is provided to the big interests but the ordinary guy has to assume he's going to get some benefit of police action and in this case he was way wrong. Chief Bratton was in his stoic mode at the press conference on Tuesday and probably was embarrassed that there was such a complete loss of control due to not having enough officers out that evening. Bratton issued stern warnings to potential parade troublemakers was all about complete enforcement. It sounded like the "Broken Windows" theory was put into action again, a little late for some, as you see. The particularly frustrating thing was that, really, this was something that a blind person could see coming, and yet, they didn't prepare. What was the thinking behind that? The Chief was going to be certain to be putting out enough police for the parade. He couldn't let that be another "fool me twice, shame on me" condition, could he?

Well, that's the thing to consider about a bureaucracy and police protection. First, having the resources to use, and second, deploying them in the correct manner at the correct time to be effective. A bitter flop in this case. It might have crossed one's mind that the riot was allowed to continue to the extent it did, intentionally sacrificing some security to show the public just what might happen if the funding and other needs of the Department are cut in this budget crisis. It's only a possibility, much like the conspiracy theories that abound when any public disruption or disaster occurs.

The parade, as expected, was tightly run and the attempt at gatecrashing was quickly handled, without any more security failures happening. Proper planning and execution does get the job done, but is that a surprise? Torres is already working to reopen and people are helping out with donations and also encouragement.

Lakers Parade and Rally- Private money coming forth- Mayor booed.

The Lakers parade was accomplished and there's private sector money coming to reimburse the City- and you know those contributions are not all about pride but with some "forget-me-not" expectations for later. Developers and billionaires.

But Ron Kaye's blog has another good posting today, "Let's Celebrate Champions -- Not Bums Who Fail Us," June 17, 2009, this morning, and updated with the YouTube clip from the rally that brought out the "boos' when they mentioned the Mayor and the Council members were there to say something. And they cancelled today's scheduled Council meeting just for this, too.

Later, Mayor Villaraigosa got up to the mike and was booed. This was as he tried out his DJ imitation and asked the crowd if they were ready to "pah-ty"- but maybe he got booed for asking if they wanted to "potty" which was exactly what it sounded like. But Tony never lets bad reactions like that ever stop him from trying.

What really is the complaint with these things more than the lousy choices most of them are, is that the politicians are even there AT ALL. Nobody wants to hear from them, no one pays atttention to what they are saying. Ther's not one thing, not one word, spoken that is any different from what anybody else there is saying. They just want to "belong" and be seen with the Lakers, and appear to be important. Besides posting those signs like "No Alcohol," they need a really to put up a big one that says "No Politicians."

Alumni Meeting This Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

The Alumni Association's monthly meeting for June will be held at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday. It's in the Student Cafeteria at LHS. Two days after Thursday's graduation, this should be a very quiet campus on Saturday.

We have elections for three of the offices and a vote on the by-laws amendments. That proposed change will remove some of the restrictive provisions on qualifications for voting membership and the manner of handling the Code of Conduct. For this election on Saturday, the latest opportunity for becoming eligible to vote was at the meeting last month.

And you people who used to come to meeting and don't anymore might come back to see what changes are happening and consider future participation in making changes. Come by, visit, you don't need to pay dues for attending any meetings.

NEWSLETTER- check the Alumni Page on the LHS website for a newly issued 2009 Newsletter.

Upcoming event AFTER THE MEETINGS, of course, will be the Summer Picnic on July 25th (see Alumni Events sidebar for link).

City to Pay A Million Dollars for a Lakers Parade?

Will someone let the Mayor and Council members know that there still is budget left that's largely a fiction- with the Union NOT agreeing to the terms. So why is Mayor Tony agreeing to a million dollars to pay for a parade for the Lakerss? The amount is HALF of the real cost of $2 million, but the LAKERS should pay ALL of it- they are a profit-making professional sports franchise and can handle it on their own or it shouldn't be done. Why should Mayor Tony give away more money, or ANY money (part of the answer is that it's not coming from his own pocket, like any politician's reasoning)?

The city parade from the Staples Center to the Coliseum is also going to disrupt traffic and tie up a lot of police. Aren't we short on police these days? And using up police hours is going to get a lot of overtime racked up, creating more bills for a cash-starved city budget.

Sunday night would be or should be reason enough to skip the parade. They can hold the rally at the Coliseum and crowd control could be better accomplished. Looking at the police handling of the rioting Sunday results in the conclusion that it was absolutely stupid. Too few officers assigned to be "the police presence" was not getting the job done. Maybe Bratton wanted to make it look "Lakers Fan Friendly" but there's such a thing as being taken advantage of by your friends.

Taxpayers will eat the bill for the damage and destruction to property, including police and other vehicles. Some guy lost dozens of pairs of expensive vintage sneakers when looters broke into his store. See the L.A. Times, "8 LAPD officers injured in Lakers celebrations [Updated]," 8:22 AM, June 15, 2009. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/lakers-riot.html

The police response to criticism was that it took time to get enough officers together to respond. Duh. Didn't anyone in LAPD management watch the game? You didn't need a crystal ball to see the risk and for Laker fans' behavior of the past and that commotion preview after the third victory, it was almost certain to happen Sunday. You don't need ALL fans to be acting badly, but there were enough and it should have been handled with better planning and then done with all possible SPEED.

Instead of taking a lot of time to respond, the LAPD could have gotten a big boost from the Sheriff's Department with the "mutual aid" provision actually requiring them to assist, in case there was any doubt about that. Of course, Bratton, as Chief, is way to proud to say the LAPD needed any help. Politics is again affecting public safety.

And Bratton is plainly disingenuous in saying that this was the work of "knuckleheads" as if this was a group of pranksters TeePee-ing a house on Halloweeen. There were lots of people committing crimes. If this were other than the Lakers celebration, there'd be lots of people locked up on Sunday night. Bratton tries to blow this off as no big deal, and that attitude is a huge contrast to his own famous approach to law enforcement, applying the "Broken Windows" theory. That involved citing people for any violation that could be found, tightening up on any previously lax enforcement of such laws that ultimately worked to weed out many offenders in the process and make the quality of life better for all. Well, on Sunday night, by letting enforcement slide for so long as they did, had the opposite effect. It encouraged further "celebration," and many cops got hurt, as well, costing money and the well-being of people unnecessarily.

People might have forgotten that riots, like fires, start off with a small event that gets quickly involved and out of control if not handled decisively and immediately. Maybe you might remember the Rodney King riots- also like a fire getting out of control after starting out small and quickly spreading, fueled by the television coverage showing there is NO police response and the mob mentality is present, overriding personal responsibility. Any reasonable expectation of a problem was ignored and no plan was put in place because no one made up one ahead of time, so we have a city riot for days.

Was the outcome Sunday what the Chief wanted it to be? Maybe a few in the LAPD are still gun-shy from that Melee in MacArthur Park two years ago when some of the police actually ran amok. I doubt if the same loss of control is likely to happen again, but then keeping cops away until way after the time that they are needed is not the answer.

I think that the cost to the city should be ZERO for whatever they want to do on Wednesday- whether it's a Parade or just a rally, but NO city money needs to be spent now when layoffs and furloughs of City workers are on the planning table. THIS fiscal behavior is exactly what got the City into the jam it's in. Spending without money available to cover it. People don't learn. That's goes for so many of the things mentioned in this posting, "People don't learn."

Mayor Tony has plainly fallen victim to his own vanity and arrogance. Unless Tony dips into his campaign fund of millions of dollars to personally cover the bill, he should just say "Good job, Lakers." Spending like a drunken sailor? Even a drunken sailor would have more sense than what's being shown in most Los Angeles city spending.

LATE UPDATE: It looks like someone's having more sober thoughts on spending. Private VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTIONS are being sought to pay for the what the City was going to cover. Well, still, that's not saying the city will not spend a penny for this event, and when they say that, I will be satisfied.

City Council Pay Cut by half- an idea whose time has come.

Ron Kaye blog, Ron Kaye L.A., posted the idea of a pay cut by half for City Council, "Paying City Hall Officials What They're Worth: How to Cut Their Salaries in Half," by Ron Kaye, June 14, 2009. I am in full agreement with that and have long thought that it should be done. It mightg be a drop in the bucket when compared to all the other budget items of the City business, but you won't see CMs do it voluntarily. And though it may only be symbolic, and so much of things today are of little substance and are only important because they ARE symbolic, it needs to be done.

The idea of a pay cut is like the thinking when giving gifts: "it's the thought that counts." Here it's definitely the thought, and that is that they don't deserve the hefty pay days, about $15,000/month salary each, and the thought on their part that they are doing a lousy job collectively and for most, individually, too.

There are some comments appearing on Mayor Sam's blog at "My comment on Ron Kaye's website/blog" https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=447159087728310650 by Phil Jennerjahn, one of the blog's contributors and an unsuccessful challenger to Mayor Tony. He gets lots of criticism for his views that are not always clear without further clarification needed, and this is no exception.

The bad thing about a pay cut of any kind is that it would not happen soon enough to hit them all before several of them are termed out anyway. The act is still worth doing for correcting a wrong that was that free ride on the State judge's pay scale with automatic raises for no other reason than time has passed. Merit is irrelevant; and you would not find much merit in evaluating most of what's done by many CMs. Some are good at moments, Zine probably being the best one for that. Others are plainly working for somebody but it's not the residents and taxpayers of the City.

Time to change this and bring salaries into line with reality.

A Flag Day Ceremony Monday at Betty Plasencia Elementary School in Echo Park

Sunday June 14, 2009 is Flag Day- a day to fly the country's flag, but it's not any State or Federal holiday.

I was checking around to see what kind of information that there was and for local items, it was not much. I came across this item in the local blog, "The Eastsider," as a June 12, 2009 posting, "Celebrate Flag Day with 962 Other Patriots," under the "School Yard" tab, http://theeastsiderlaschools.blogspot.com/2009/06/celebrate-flag-day-with-962-other.html

This was sort of a surprise to me for a couple of reasons. The first one being that I usually find little attention given to certain types of commemorative dates, like National Police Week this year, briefly noted here as http://www.nleomf.com/NPW2009/ . Especially on the little-noticed side were the patriotic type days that I find on commonly on the calendar and that appear to be observed only sporadically, especially this simply stated one, Flag Day, June 14th.

Next item to surprise me was the fact that this was in an LAUSD school. Generally, LAUSD IS where I usually find very little patriotism toward things that are U.S.-oriented, that is, attention more likely is found to be focused on non-U.S. things. Apparently an "unintended consequence" in the LAUSD's quest, or, more aptly, their stumbling over themselves, to address "diversity" in such a way it really results in promoting and maintaining "separatism," So to see this event and the particular fact that the United States flag that was one flown over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., is the one to be raised on Monday, was a special news item to me, as well as the fact that each student would be getting their own flag. I think more schools should be as concerned as this one is.

Well, the whole thing is happening at the Echo Park elementary school, Betty Plascencia Elementary School, named after one person that was very dedicated to the students, school and achievement. Betty Plasencia Elementary School was formerly Cortez St. School and one of the older schools in the LAUSD, on Temple St., by Angelino Heights and the restored old Victorian-style homes of old Los Angeles.

Flag Day is actually on Sunday, but the next school day is Monday and that will be their opportunity for observance of the day. One of the things missing from schools more now than before is the familiarity with our own country's special days and the reason for their significance, part of the history void in their education, and that seems addressed at Betty Plascencia Elementary in this case.

Here is a link that lists a lot more days for flag display http://www.flagfree.com/datodifl.html , many more than I knew of, and this is covered by LAUSD automatically when they raise flags at their school daily anyway- BUT they do not seem to be aware of May 15's half-staff requirement for Peace Officer's Memorial Day, and I was not aware of the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day half-staff practice on December 7th.

MMDs and "Hardship Exemptions"- what a combination.

The Tuesday Council meeting on the MMD issues of amending the ICO and hearing some of the applications was for the most part overshadowed by the City Employees pleading, informing, requesting, demanding and threatening during the public comment that centered on the actions, the proposed furloughs and potential layoffs.

The sheer numbers of hardship exemptions, well over 500 pending, is going to be a task for the Council members and the PLUM (Planning and Land Use Management) committee chaired by Ed Reyes. Since late 2007 when the ICO (the moratorium) became effective, not a single hardship exemption was heard by the PLUM committee or the Council. The "Exemption" carries with it no standards or guidelines of any specific nature. The inclusion of the guidelines was done at the direction of the City Attorney (Rocky Delgadillo) and he's been on shaky ground as an authoritative source of information since at least that time. One CM mentioned during the Council meeting that maybe they should not have relied solely on the City Attorney's advice. Too late now.

Some of the Council members were in agreement that there were more MMDs for Los Angeles that they would like. But the added comments that they will cast a "No" vote when deciding the hardship exemptions is a little disturbing since the idea of deciding on matters by a public entity is that it will be done fairly by them, and at least it will have an appearance of following due process. Announcing a vote before hand like that without even hearing any facts of a particular case is a pretty good indication that you have a sham process and comments like the ones made on Tuesday can create the possibility of more potential litigation and supply the ammo, as well. Sometimes people need to say nothing, and the City Council is the unlikely place to see that kind of self-restraint happen.

Well, that's still an open matter and speaking of shams, there will be more applications for "hardship exemptions" filed before it finally does take effect, which is not just yet. I said the Council members shouldn't prejudge a matter, but there's a lot of filings just to try to make some money off the situation that create the overkill of MMDs. The Council members just have to sort out what is there.

Tonight- Dance with the Stars at PCC for $5

All the Stars you could hope for tonight. Pasadena City College still has arts and music programs and that produces their Swing Band, directed by Dennis Kay.

The Music Department will be hosting a dance tonight, Friday, and you will truly be able to dance with the stars since it's being held on the rooftop of Parking Structrue #4 at Del Mar and Hill Ave. and you will have stars galore all above you.

The Admissioin is $5.00, sales at the door only, beginning an hour before the dance, which begins at 7 p.m.

Place: Parking Structure #4 is on Del Mar, just east of Hill, right next to the Football Field on the south side of the campus.

Parking is $2 at any student lot. The closest parking is IN Parking Structure #4 (except for the roof top level), which really couldn't be any closer to an event site in this day and age. Park in Structure #4 and you are there. The parking permits are sold in the vending machines.

Support their Music Department and have a good time provided by some enthusiastic band performers. I haven't heard the bands this year at PCC, but a friend is a recent addition to the PCC Jazz Band as the guitar player, and many students are in more than one band. From my personal experience years back at GCC, the Jazz Band WAS the Swing Band since that music part of the assorted music styles played by that kind of group. At PCC, they had several bands, in contrast to GCC's single, but always excellent band when Ray Burkhart was directing it.

Whatever the composition of the band, live music is better than recorded music, under almost all circumstances. The difference is the sheer energy level provided by the people in a live performance. The price is cheap for a chance to support the program for a few hours and when you get tired, your car wil be right there.

"Coast to Coast AM with George Noory"- a free "Streamlink" weekend trial now.

If you have heard "Coast to Coast AM" with Georger Noory on KFI-640 AM radio, they you're up late, or up very early, depending on which end of the broadcasts you catch. Better than staying up for those shows, you can catch up on a number of the unusual or intriguing subjects by using the FREE WEEKEND TRIAL of "Streamlink" underway from now until Sunday, June 14th. This will let you get podcasts downloads of current shows, either by mp3 or by using i-Tunes to download shows for later listening.

There are some older shows for downloading and an archive that can be heard in streaming audio. During this trial period, you really have access to quite a bit of programming for free, and you don't have to stay up at night to hear it. The commercial breaks are deleted to make an hour's show much shorter.

I do suggest trying the "Streamlink" subscriber service for the free trial available at this link: http://www.premiereradio.com/sweeps/streamlink/index.html just for the wide range and novelty of topics and this is one talk show that is minus any yelling, rants
and put-downs.

There is a daily emailed newsletter, "The Coast Zone," that can received for free. It's very good to provide daily recaps of the last show and there are several features including the topics and guests information for the upcoming shows. That trial signup page has that as a checkbox to add it, and signup is also accessible on the home page.

There is a lot to doubt in the shows but most of them are entertaining and informative, with the degree depending on your own subjective judgment. There's plenty of for conspiracy theorists, paranormal fans, occult observers and the UFO/government operations entusiasts. The bumper music is a very good selection of assorted oldies played out much longer than on most shows.

More Rocky Delgadillo land mines for Trutanich as outgoing Ctiy Attorney shows he's no friend to taxpayers

The L.A. Times reports again on the sleazy move by soon-to-be ex-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo that's left the City of Los Angeles taxpayers with political appointees taking on a civil service level of job protection. The souvenirs that Rocky leaves behind are pulling in paychecks for $100,000.00 to0 $200,000.00 a year. Rocky couldn't manage to handle things well for the city during his term, but who would have seen this coming? He applied some of his purported legal skill that ends up at landing his friends a secure, well-paying (actually "over-paid") position when they should be leaving with him.

Again, Rocky costs the taxpayers money unnecessarily. If there no way for the City Council to unwind this trick, the Council should move immediately to create a change to prevent future occurences by city politicians. What a slimy guy Delgadillo is to do that when the budget is all fouled up and the CMs are turning the cities pockets inside out while planning furloughs and layoffs for city workers. And this is supposed to be the top law enforcement officer, the City Attorney for Los Angeles pulling this crap that was done purely intentionally as a favor to his pals.

"Trutanich contends that tenure limits his appointing of a team; Los Angeles' city attorney-elect says aides with job protection under the current officeholder are taking up spots and that there is no budget allocated to bring in his own staff." By Rich Connell, June 12, 2009 Here are the pay details and the view from incoming City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. The Timse report is not entirely accurate if it's basing Trutanich's view as a "complaint" when you consider also the reference to the radio interview by Doug McIntre Thursday morning on KABC radio. I heard that part of the interview and you could not have imagined how tactful and careful he worded his comments to NOT sound angry or frustrated, both of which you would expect. I thought he was too much of a gentleman but really there's not much to be gained by rants from the City Attorney- at least the one coming in shows some class. I happened to hear an evening interview live with Trutanich by John Phillips on KABC radio where STILL he was avoiding any nastiness on a clearly provacative move by Delgadillo. Trutanich said he discussed some things will Delgadillo on the transition and they will work out some things.

And on this very topic, there's some good commentary from Wednesday's City Council meeting by Zuma Dogg. He laid it on the line there for the City Council, and that 2 minute clip is at http://lacity.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=130&clip_id=6190&caption_id=8542830

ZD's comments are very colorful but more than that, they drive the idea home that the City Council members continue to let things get beyond control through slippery moves of fellow elected officials.

I read the Zuma Dogg entry from Thursday evening in the "L.A. DAILY BLOG" and it's simply a scathing denunciation of Delgadillo and the underlings he installed to continue their sucking up of city money for the long run, like turning on all your faucets at home and going on a trip. Totally useless and destructive of the opportunity for his successor to operate at a 100% level.

Well the ZD comment is not even close to being as kind as Trutanich has been here, and you can read his "no-punches-pulled" commentary, "Did Nick Velasquez PURPOSEFULLY LIE or just make an un-innocent mistake when he said MOST of Hahn Appointees remained wtih tenure when they didn't; What kind of spokesperson is Nick Velasquez if he can't get the facts straight on his own office?"

See: http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/did-nick-velasquez-purposefully-lie-or.html

Another good entry there on the "L.A. Daily Blog" for Thursday is the long item on "Medical Marijuana Dispensaries" (MMDs) and that seems to me exactly what happened. All the blame lies with the City Council's poorly written ordinance with the unspecified criteria for exemptions, and then leaving ALL the applications for hardship exemptions UNTOUCHED by the PLUM committee or Council since Fall of 2007. This is what created the groundwork for what followed. And that was the MMD exemption "filing panic" or "last chance filing" sparked by Jose Huizar's announcement in early May, or so, of his motion to strike the Hardship Exemption. That's where the bulk of the people making the filings got their inspiration, a really big backfire to the purpose of the motion.

Who is on that PLUM committee you might wonder? Chair: Ed Reyes (cd-1), with members: Jack Weiss (cd-5) and Jose Huizar (cd-14). So it kind of fell on Jose's lap, this obligation to respond to his Eagle Rock constituents' complaint on the growing number of MMDs in the local area, being part of the bunch- that being City Council and the PLUM committee- that "dropped the ball" on this (more accurately, they never even picked up the ball). Ed Reyes, reportedly, rejected Huizar's idea of beginning hearing the applications for exemptions with all due speed. If that was correct, Reyes looks like he made a complete turnaround on that view by the time Tuesday's Council meeting came around.

BUT THAT'S A DIFFERENT TOPIC. DO read Zuma Dogg's comment on that to see if that's not the case. http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/la-city-council-needs-to-base-medical.html (I don't agree with the "too many MMD's" analysis by ZD, and I think DENSIFICATION is not the effect that you want with MMDs and the controlled substances sold that are only legal for medical purposes. So far, the sale of caffeinated coffee is not in any way made a crime and a comparison is unfair and misleading.)

One week to go until Lincoln High's Class of 2009 Graduation.

Yes, it's the month of June now. It brings with it the "June Gloom" to welcome you to each morning, the June weddings that produce the June Brides- and then there's the high school graduations. On Thursday, June 18th, exactly one week from now, another academic year ends for students at LHS, and for the graduating seniors, this exit from Lincoln will be their last one from any high school for good. It's all happening up on the hill on Andrus Field, aka, "Andrus Stadium," but "Stadium" is more wishful thinking than anything else.

Some things don't change when it comes to graduations, but I hope that Lincoln begins to work on making it a better experience all around. I don't know when the service clubs finally were disbanded, but often these members were the ones that helped with guiding and ushering at events. Since that time, some of the duties have defaulted to the ROTC members, but the assistance for guests being seated is "on your own" with not much done to help later-comers find any open spots available in the bleachers. That part could stand improvement. It's always been my thought that there's no de-briefing after any events to iron out the glitches and fix the problems so that they don't recur. Like most things within LAUSD, it appears not to be among the concluding "to-do" items for running events, and the same things will show up again.

The school admin probably presents the graduating students with a lot of things that should and should not be done and what rules to pass on to the guests, but enough people don't get the word or don't abide by the restrictions. The air horns, the type used in boating, are probably the most annoying devices ever to show up at graduations. Maybe if these actually were confiscated instead of being gnored by the school police, we could experience the event more comfortably and the school police would be seen as a little more active in their duties, hence more useful. That's been my observation, at least.

Sound is often an "iffy" proposition, and it could be aided by having somebody venturing out into the stands during the event to report back on the volume level. Doing sound checks before hand will check the operation but the volume levels may be inadequate during the graduation. What starts out as audible is later overcome by the audience applause and often, yelling by exuberant family and friends. The result is that you may just be unable to hear a lot of what's announced as the diplomas are awarded.

Last June's graduation somehow seemed very sparse in terms of the speeches and presentations and ended earlier, at least it seemed that way to me. But I suppose we should be thankful for small favors.

The music side of things is a variable. With the school now having a marching band, there might be some members available to present some live music this year. Last year was simply recorded music or none, I don't remember because it was not memorable. The year before was nicely done with the small group led by Mr. Huff, to provide some music before the graduates were seated. Mr. Huff is also one of the the alumni faculty at LHS, graduating a year or two behind my class.

One thing that has to be decided is whether there will be any recitation of the alma mater. It seems so dated and I'm sure it's relatively unused during any other part of the school year, I really wonder why we bother with it at all. But if they print it on the program, is that supposed to be an omen of some sort if it's not going to be sung? And if it's going to be sung, then there should be some time set aside to practice it. An inaudible or otherwise fouled up singing of an alma mater would rank as one of the more lame things to happen at a graduation. Where that alma mater IS sung, I can almost be certain that anyone singing it is reading those words off of written sheet since it's not the kind of tune that you would expect to be loaded onto anyone's i-Pod.

Well, in week it will all be done for the campus activities. And then Grad Nite at Disneyland will wrap it up. Some things don't change.

Board not united in seeking to oust teachers where "serious crimes" are involved.

The news is already old by now but it's still a sign that the LAUSD is still run by a Board that either misses the point of some factual situations, or, the teachers' union has again exerted influence in an attempt to deflect a meaningful response to a serious issue. "L.A. school board votes 4-3 on motion to ease teacher firing; Members approve a resolution, opposed by the teachers union, to suggest changes to state laws that would expedite the firing of teachers accused of serious crimes." By Jason Song, L.A. Times June 9, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd-teachers10-2009jun10,0,555460.story

The vote was 4-3 on this. The L.A. Times has recently printed stories about some of the situations the could be within the scope of the legislation proposed. This is the Board that is voting and not the legislature, and it's a recommendation not any vote that actually passes a law. So why would there be opposition to do something that would clean up the problems that the system has presented? Briefly, the Board just continues to show why, as a decision making body for the District, it has certain political agendas that supersede the education and welfare of the students. It is a dysfunctional Board. AND, this is NOT the stronger version first proposed by Board member Marlene Canter.

The resolution had been withdrawn twice because of lack of support and union opposition. It originally asked that the district lobby to alter state laws to ease the firing of teachers deemed to be poor instructors, but Canter, the resolution's author, revised it to focus only on teachers accused of egregious or immoral acts.

And consider this: when there is such a teacher retained who is drawing pay, that could be money freed up to go to the salaries of other teachers and who are IN the classrooms and actually teaching. This is what I see as evidence of the union's priorities, where it throws up obstacles to dealing with the problem, all in the name of job security- think about student security.

---------------------------------
Former L.A. Daily News Editor and now blogger, Ron Kaye has expressed a similar view on the actions of the LAUSD Board, see his blog- Fire Teachers Who Molest Kids? LAUSD Needs a Committee to Study the Question , a posting from June 10, 2009, with reader comments.

MMDs on the Tuesday Council Agenda; Proliferation In Los Angeles, Blogs Comment

The Tuesday Agenda Item (18) will present the opportunity for the Council to amend it's current ordinance, the "ICO" ("Interim Control Ordinance"). That ordinance imposed a moratorium in 2007 on the opening of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries ("MMDs") in the City. The amendment will be the elimination of the existing "hardship exemption" that was included in the language of the ICO, and by which MMDs use as a justification to begin business operations in violation of the ICO.

The violations are not being prosecuted by the City Attorney's office, although I think the language is there to allow it. The City Attorney's office has been waiting for the the City Council to rule on the existing applications "hardship exemptions" before it will act. There are over 500 MMD's in Los Angeles and it's growing, with more rushing to get in under the wire and beat the impending elimination of the "exemption."

ALL of the hardship exemptions filed before an elimination of the provision will not be affected, as it only will be effective for applications filed after it takes effect. The notion of "no ex post facto laws" bars retroactive application.

"RON KAYE L.A.," a blog on city issues http://www.ronkayela.com/ has presented views on this in the June 6, 2009 posting, "What Do Pot and Cell Towers Have in Common? You Can Help Stop Their Proliferation," by Ron Kaye, http://ronkayela.com/2009/06/what-do-pot-and-cell-towers-ha.html where he discussed two types of problems for local communities, left unattended by the city through the inaction of the City Council,

Public nuisances like cell phone towers and medical marijuana cooperatives seem to pop up everywhere around us on a daily basis

In both cases, the problem is caused by the failure to do its basic job of providing rational standards for regulation and control. In both cases, you can actually do something about the problems in coming days.

The blog has a lot of other posts, usually at least one new one a day on the ongoing topics in the Ctiy. (Look at the comment on CM JACK WEISS's exit and another example of favoring developers over residents in "Gateway to Hell: Jack Weiss' Goodbye Present to Developers," http://ronkayela.com/2009/06/gateway-to-hell.html .) And when you talk about development, you usually have to include the idea of, "What in the world is the Ed Reyes' Committee on "Planning and Land Use Managment" ('PLUM') doing?" Jack Weiss and Jose Huizar are the other two committee members, all staunch supporters of Villaraigosa and his policies. That might give you a clue on why things are as they are.

My other favorite blogger and activist, Zuma Dogg, posts today on his "L.A. Daily Blog," about "The Future of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries On City Council Agenda for Tuesday," http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/future-of-medical-marijuana.html .

It's a fairly detailed look at what's happened and what the Council will probably do. There's quite a bit of commentary here on the way the system is handling the issue.

A second and more recent posting Monday on ZD's blog is Do you have ANY idea how HUGE The Medical Marijuana Business Is In Los Angeles...It's THE BOOM Industry!!! by Zuma Dogg, June 8, 2009. The commentary is about the present picture we have in L.A. in particular and the idea that the City has mishandled the conditions so badly that they won't be able to change it. The suggested idea of taxing the sales to generate revenue is one that has been brought up in the past often and that has been discussed by many over the years in the support of legalizing marijuana. The overview of the situation seems pretty dismal, but it's the message, not the messenger that should be processed here.

We have a problem in the sheer numbers of facilities that have begun business operations as MMDs after filing for hardship exemptions, with that going into high gear after the announcement of Jose Huizar's proposed motion to end that exemption, exacerbated by the admitted inability of the city to act under it's the provisions of own ordinance. That condition is beyond belief. So this is what Council produces in light of the fact that they are the highest-paid Council members in the country? Obviously it has absolutely no relation to the quality of service provided. What a poor return on all that money that's paid out is all I can say about that.

MMDs really should be allowed for the purpose of what conditions they were supposed to address, medical needs of patients, but the whole picture has become so compromised that it makes a joke of the system. The function now of MMDs is being converted to address, simply put, the needs of marijuana users under the guise of a medical need. The list of conditions by which physicians make recommendations for the patient to present in order to get his or her marijuana is huge.

The City has handled this matter as poorly as it could have been done, it seems. If you compare what is opening in other cities in the state, you see this is where all the openings happen, a direct result of the idea that the City Council has painted themselves into a corner and are unable to cope with what they should have done earlier.

The suspicion and general idea on MMDs by many is that the "patients" are just people who find this a convenient way to get their supply of the weed without really having a medical condition that is affected by or relieved by it. Some people have bought enough weed to the point where they are able to resell it. This shows one example of the corruption of the purpose of MMDs and the real-life usage of MMDs is, plain and simple, a substitute for the overall legalization of marijuana. When you look at the ads placed in the "L.A. Weekly's" print edition, you can see a battle of marketing which might be related to all the money that can be made. Whatever happened to the concept of "co-ops" providing low-cost products for the co-op members, with the profit margin being a secondary concern? That's all too 60's-type thinking. Welcome to the 21st century.

The city has not charged any fees for the business of MMDs as Oakland and San Francisco have. Missing a big opportunity to at least recover expenses for the time that is needed to handle the processing of the applications is a major foul up by the CMs, especially when you consider how badly and eagerly they gouge the public at the parking meters. So here they simple give away city services, a completely unreasonable outcome, when they process MMDs, a business entity that should be subject to some sizeable fees. The other business that gets super low fees imposed upon it is the billboard industry. And in both cases, the Buiding and Safety Department's Inspectors that are suppposed to check up on the business are under-manned and can't do the job like it needs to be done. Thus, even where the law can theoretically be enforced, you have a tiny group to do a big job. So collecting NO money to offset the expenses that can be expected to be incurred by the City for the tasks is unreasonable or just stupid. But you wil find that a lot in what happens in City Hall.

City Council is always behind the times on thses things and when they do act, that act AGAINST the public's best interest unless, of course, it happens to match what special interests want, or it gets a CM some political mileage.

Well, we will see what's next, and that will probably include a whole bunch of delays while the proliferation of even more MMDs will continues. I really have little faith in the work of the city council as it is composed now. They have too much time spent on the wrong things and this is one of the consequences of many that are apparent; you can only imagine what's happening with what's less apparent in the City affairs.

Zuma Dogg's take on the Delgadillo situation is on target.

Just checking Zuma Dogg's "L.A. Daily Blog" and there's quite a bit, maybe more than the average L.A. resident would know about. I see that his assessment of the conditions being left by outgoing City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo as mentioned in my earlier post and L.A. Times story reference is a no-holds-barred summary that should enlighten you on the workings fo real life political manueverings that hurt the service to the public.
"Shame on Loser Like Nick-Velasquez and Ben-Austin Who Want a Free Ride on Your L.A. City Taxpayer Dollars (during this economic hardship) " http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/shame-on-loser-like-nick-velasquez-and.html

There is a lot of abuse of power that goes on behind the scenes and you can get peek by reading some of the posts on this L.A. Daily Blog, http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/.
There's an assortment of posts that are pretty informative and what printed there is often ahead of the pack in breaking stories and filling in details. It's also presented in ZD's own style that puts off people, but it's the message not the messenger that you should keep in mind. I like Zuma Dogg's postings and I think most of the time that he's got some news to bring out. Some people simply despise him for what he reveals and you can figure out who those people may be.

Rocky Delgadillo did no favors with what he leaves L.A. city government. You should remember that the next time you ever see his name on any ballot and return the favor by voting against him- and keeping him out of office would be doing him a favor when you really consider the whole situation. The L.A. Daily Blog's post tells you who some of Rocky's friends are, too.

On July 1, L.A.'s newly elected take office; Delgadillo's leaves his mark.

When the new City Attorney, City Controller and CD-5 Council member take office on July 1, you would expect the outgoing officials to have cleaned out desks and to take the appointees who are going out with them. Not so for the case of Rocky Delgadillo, outgoing City Attorney and locally noted as a Franklin High alum. The L.A. Times reports today, "Trutanich to inherit top Delgadillo aides;
With budget cuts looming, many who worked for the outgoing city attorney have been given job protection. Several have relatively high salaries." By Rich Connell. June 8, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-city-attorney-jobs8-2009jun08,0,4769343.story

Usually, the incoming person is able to replace the old appointees the with new selections, but Delgadillo made some changes that prevent several of them from being removed. So Rocky has left some friends with job security and the new City Attorney, Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich, has to make some adjustments. The salary for each person is between $100,000.00 and $200,000.00, The Times has the details and with the City budget as tight as it is, you wonder why Rocky would have tied the hands of the incoming City Attorney as he did.

Well, Rocky has a history of bad decisions and outcomes and you can check on that yourself; he's already cost the City a lot in use of outside counsel when there's about 600 attorneys in that office. You'd think he'd have arranged for some of them to work on those assignments to save the hugely expensive legal bills of outside counsel. That's one item of regular and large billing during Delgadillo's term of office that did not help the city treasury or the public.

Trutanich has announced that he WILL be working on having more work handled by the City Attorney's staff and cut down on the cases sent out to private firms. We may be headed in the right direction now and it's about time.

LAUSD Quiz: What significant event happened on this date: June 5, 1945?

(Whoops!) Make that "June 6, 1044"- (sometimes you just expect that you are typing the words and numbers you meant to use, and the obvious is obviously missed. Ed. 6-8-09)

What's the answer I should hear uniformly? D-Day, the Allied forces invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy to fight back against the Germans in World War II that would ultimately end in the defeat of the Germans.

A simple map that shows the locations of the five beaches where the troops landed. http://images.france-for-visitors.com/images/pdf/invasion-beaches-france-map.pdf

The question really is not one that might be tough for only LAUSD students, but probably for a lot of other high school students who really don't seem to be in touch with American history, generally. But the emphasis on the LAUSD side of the probe is due to the suspicion that many have not really been taught much about history, neither World nor American, to make questions like the one in the title unnecessarily more challenging than they should be.

I won't begin a long discussion or review of what is not taught and why, or whether the events in American history have become swept into the corner in favor of other things. The real point is that this is one anniversary of a date in history that was very significant to the course of WW II in Europe. This was a period in history where there were so many people, Americans and Allied factions, as well as the Axis powers and their citizenry, plus all the people who fell under the control of the Germans and Japanese as they invaded more lands. Each person possesses some personal, first-hand recollections, but as time moves on, more an more of them are dying and the rich history that could be added to from each person is lost unless passed on to others.

For the remaining people of the era, that day from 65 years ago does mean something important. There could be a better appreciation of what we have now from taking some time to inquire of surviving persons of their experiences, either as military participant or as civilians. WW II had an impact that could not be ignored by people alive at the time.

Living history is one of those thing that seems so easy to get, but becomes a lost opportunity by postponing or forgetting that many friends, neighbors and relatives and possibly co-workers can be the source for some real history. There were reports a few years ago that WW II veterans were dying at the rate of 1,000 per day. One item I found has stated this figure and relates a few real life experiences about the situation, too, to put it into better perspective. http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.politics/2008-05/msg03775.html The people of that day were referred to as "The Greatest Generation."

These are the kinds of things that can be preserved by recording oral histories from so many people on so many experiences. In this way, you get a true appreciation for the times and the people and it may even influence how you live your own life. In this day of such a wealth of technology, we don't record as much as could be by audio or video means, but instead usually use the advances in technology for the most mundane things. The more communication advances, we see a decline lower the level of any meaningful thought.

Application of this technology to capturing recollections and opinions from are ever-aging populations of WW II people could be a positive force in terms of collecting historical artifacts. And this approach is practiced by some classes, among the teaching and learning techniques that are employed these days. More should be do this.

Friday- more Special Events and Fee Waivers awarded by Council

City Council is managing to squeeze in a few more fee waivers and there are some "special events' that look like reimbursement will occur- if the City does not lose track of that part of it's business duty. Still, a budget crunch would make it more essential that event organizers look to private funding and more fundraising by participants or volunteers instead of relying on the City to come through. The idea of partying when the City is turning its pockets inside out for money, and then trying to pick our pockets and lift our pocket books makes this sort of action one that needs an overhaul. It is an especially important item, as it should be, even if only symbolically if you consider all the millions of dollars at a time that the City Council manipulates, directs, and redirects, in the course of their daily business.

Demonstration of ideas by "Symbolism" is important. If it's not, then all these marches and demonstrations by assorted groups has to be chalked up to a need to get together, more so than the message that they are trying to send.

Amazingly, there is an event that's paying for its own way, " 09-1293-CD 8 - l. MOTION (PARKS - PERRY) relative to declaring the Peace on the Streets Event on May 31, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event)."

Noted it the motion for this matter,

The New Ground Harvest Church is sponsoring the "Peace on the Streets Event" on
May 31,2009, from 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. This event will include a rally for
peace and provide informationon health and wellness issue. Approximately 300-400 people are expected to participate in this event.

I really see that this is what should be happening more. Paying for their own events is just to reasonably expected. What is puzzling is having an employee union, SEIU, get a fee waiver by the City for its own rally.

Also see that the BET 9th Annual Awards below gets $25,000.00 waived. Some of this might be considered " an enticement that generates more spending by the event attendees and organizers, but that's really a speculative trade-off, since the EVENT itself has some credibility bestowed upon it by being held in a major city, namely, Los Angeles.

Some of the events are fundraising events and what the City contributes in a fee waiver actually operates as it's own contribution in the sum of the Fee Waiver. That raises questions in matters of religious organizations being supported by public money. The separation of church and state division becomes a division that I think is crossed in these items. I am sure there is an explanation available from the council members, but whether it is technically correct is another matter.

HERE'S TODAY AGENDA ITEM ON SPECIAL EVENTS AND WAIVERS:

"ITEM NO. (16)

09-1277
et al. MOTIONS relative to “Special Events” to be held in the various Council Districts.

Recommendations for Council action:

DECLARE the following community events as “Special Events”; APPROVE any temporary street closures as requested; and, INSTRUCT the involved City departments to perform such services as detailed the Council motions attached to the various listed Council files, including the waiver of fees, costs and requirements and other related issues, as specified:

09-1277
CD 9
a. MOTION ( PERRY - GARCETTI) relative to declaring the Heroes for Hope Fundraising Lunch on June 10, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $1,000).

09-1278
CD 9
b. MOTION (PERRY - HAHN) relative to declaring the World Wrestling Entertainment Event on August 21-23, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

08-1669-S1
CD 9
c. MOTION (PERRY - HAHN) relative to declaring the ESPY’s and X-Games on July 11, through August 3, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

09-1279
CD 9
d. MOTION (PERRY - GARCETTI) relative to declaring the Grand Opening of the James M. Woods Apartments on June 25, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $500).

09-1282
CD 9
e. MOTION (PERRY - REYES) relative to declaring the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus on July 6-10, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

09-1283
CD 1
f. MOTION (REYES - PERRY) relative to declaring the La Feria de los Ninos on June 13, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $3,000).

08-2096-S1
CD 1
g. MOTION (REYES - PERRY) relative to declaring the Kermes Street Festival on June 20, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $2,700).

09-1285
CD 9
h. MOTION (PERRY - REYES) relative to declaring the Kings Fest Event on August 28-30, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

09-1287
CD 9
i. MOTION (PERRY - PARKS) relative to declaring the Flesh Car Crash on July 2, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

09-1291
CD 13
j. MOTION (GARCETTI - ZINE) relative to declaring the UBISOFT Event on June 3, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).
09-1292
CD 13
k. MOTION (GARCETTI - ZINE) relative to declaring the UP Premiere Event on May 29, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

09-1293
CD 8
l. MOTION (PARKS - PERRY) relative to declaring the Peace on the Streets Event on May 31, 2009 a Special Event (the event sponsor shall reimburse the City for all fees and costs associated with this event).

07-1663-S4
CD 8
m. MOTION (PARKS - PERRY) relative to declaring the Ninth Annual BET Awards on June 18-30, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $25,000). "


LATE NOTE: There will be some new guidelines that he city will follow beginning July 1, as CM Parks announced today, and many of the expenditures approved as here, will not be borne by the City to the same degree, AND, "for-profit" entities, such as the BET, "Black Entertainment Network," will be responsible for reimbursing the costs and expenses they create to the City.

Two things that come to mind: It's about time, and, I'll believe it when it happens. Talk, manipulation and avoidance are among the politician's stock in trade.

While the LAUSD decides Teachers' fates, the Building program goes on, and poor performance is unabated.

Another consequence of the LAUSD building boom is that it goobles up neighborhoods and displaces people as it demolishes housing. The current catch phrase in City Council is "affordable housing" that a developer or the developer's friendly Council member has to mention in the presentations and it's like a secret password to open the doors to approval of more development, only the "secret password" is neither a secret nor what it purports to be, "affordable." Demolishing of housing happens often to the areas where the housing costs are relatively low, and where many people may have long paid off their homes. At the same time LAUSD schools are being built, a certain number of families are usually displaced, taking their children with them. This is only a little of what happens in the whole eco-system of construction in the LAUSD environment.

See what the blog, L.A. Curbed has to show in Echo Park where change is continuing
"Curbed Wire: Echo Park Loses A Street, Hollywood Construction Report," Thursday, June 4, 2009, by Dakota. http://la.curbed.com/archives/2009/06/curbed_wire_echo_park_loses_a_street_hollywood_construction_report.php Marathon Street is being closed by the City as requested by the LAUSD for school construction, although the size of the school will not be changing.
The posting refers to the blog, "The Eastsider L.A." for more details.
"City blinks in stand off with school district over Echo Park street closure " from June 2, 2009. Much of what I mention is also noted here, not by coincidence, not by copying ideas, but because that is what actually is there for all to see, no matter who writes or comments on it.

The LAUSD is down to about 2,000 teachers to be laid off, but the Construction program is still going full speed ahead. It's on course to have about 110,000 empty classroom seats by the end of the program in 2012, as the enrollment continues to decline. A few months back, a District person said they were completing one school a month.

How does that work? Building goes on in the face of declining enrollment and the District is searching for money to keep the teachers from being laid off? Well, most of the reason is due to the fact that the money on the operations and money on the construction and modernization side is required to be kept separate. So you can pass by a number of sites and see construction continuing while nearby schools have teachers launching campaigns to save their job.

Money for the building side was authorized by one of several bond measures from years back. Because the wheels at LAUSD spin slowly, you have a long delay that comes between the voter approval and the actual spending.

The bonds for the school buiding programs were approved by voters in the usual way, "Looks like a good idea," and a "Yes" vote is generated. That creates authorization for BORROWING money to do the work. I think most voters see most Bond measures for the first time when they hit the polling place and read the inviting language that welcomes a "Yes" vote- and here we are, loaded with more public debt and more schools are being popped out month by month, destined to be populated by charter schools, the only ones that are growing.

One of the ideas of handling money that I noticed in working in public agencies, and in the LAUSD in particular, contributes to the condition. That happens when there is money available in the erratic funding channels, often a feast-or-famine matter. You just don't give it up, and the "use-it-or-lose-it" rules that most bureaucracies follow in budget matters where "saving" or "carrying over" the money is not allowed, simply creates a culture of spending. And sometimes that is done with uneconomical choices made as a result, sometimes those choices are outright wasteful of the money available, but the "were going to lose it anyway if we don't spend it," works to remove any guilt on these matters. It's like a gift card that has an expiration date, spend it or it's gone. (Note: In California, actual gift cards, by statute, don't expire... yet).

Meanwhile, LAUSD continues with trying to be all things to all people without really equipping students to be able to do the best that they can. The main problem that LAUSD schools have that keep most low performing students in that category is the poor reading skills possessed. Some in high school really are three grade levels behind according to assessment testing. I and other teachers exchanged the same question, "What happened earlier when they were one or two grade levels behind?" Another factor for high school problems arising is a change in school practices. From what my 9th grade students told me, middle school did not introduce them to either "final exams" in their classes, or "failing" in their report cards and repeating the grade. All produced bad results, making high school their rude awakening in some cases, when it should not be a battle against students- they just were not taught anything differently, part of the "system's" casualties. They were not prepared for high school, just as high school is not sufficiently preparing the masses for "after-high school" life, what ever it may be.

Well, you always have good students, succeeding students and student that excel in school. They are not the problems. The attention to the other end of the spectrum is what causes so much of whatever problems you want to examine, in or out of school. The dropout problem in intertwined with this condition, as well, and until the LAUSD stops diluting its attention by spending disproportionate time on diversity and multiculturalism (as with City Council, overemphasis on "diversity" really now operates to promote separatist mentalities, no assimilation here) and begins pushing the academics and actual subjects of functioning in society, we will continue to see this poor outcome, unabated and still sucking up tax dollars for little rewards in exchange.

Charter schools vary in their approaches, but what helps them is the flexibility they are afforded by being of a much smaller organization. They can react more quickly to needs and adapt which keeps them successful in most cases. The LAUSD is too large to do that and until they truly subdivide the District, it will stay the way it is.