As the year ends, we see singer Etta James now terminally ill.

There's a December 18, 2011 news story from Reuters that Etta James, age 73, a singer from way back who I remember from at least high school days, is temrinally ill.  Her most memorable song for most who have heard her sing, is  "At Last." a real classic among ballads.  I happened to favor "Tell Mama," a more upbeat tune that let a lot of energy come through.  It was a time back in high school days that soul artists flourished and were inspirations to many of the newly arrived British Invasion artists of the 60's.

I think it was Beyonce who sang her own cover of "At Last" several years ago that provoked some anger in James.  Etta stated very clearly that "that's MY song...."  and was not pleased by the Beyonce version.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/17/us-ettajames-idUSTRE7BF20Q20111217

Sad to hear of the news but there's a difference of opinion among James' sons, according to the report in Reuters about the condition being terminal, although they agree the singer is in deteriorating health.

Tonight - The LHS Alumni Association Fall Dance in Santa Fe Springs

If you are an LHS alum and haven't heard about the Fall Dance, the LHS Alumni Association's fundraising event tonight at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs, then you are likely in the minority of active alumni still in the Southern California area.

The links in the sidebar LHS official website will let you know more about this.
OR
you can just call dance chair persons: Mike Ibarra - S’66 - (323) 683-6102 -or-  Luz Lopez - S’75 -- (310) 701-6846

At last check, the ticket prices were $35 per person.  Call one of the numbers above if you are interested in information about at-door ticket sales.

Lots of activity in at City Hall but Mayor still hooked on hitting the publicity circuit.

The mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa- who will be just Antonio Villar when he ends his term according to reports on the divorce settlement, is totally into publicity as long as it include the mayor.

He continues to exercise that personal choice that belies his claim to care about the city.  That commitment the city is simply overrulled by a terminal case of narcissism to make publicity opportunities a regular preference. 

It's a choice made by the mayor in the midst of all that's happening with the city that means a lot for how L.A. residents will enjoy or suffer (as the case may be) living in L.A. including steep hikes in DWP rates, Sewer fees almost doubling, the budget still short, OccupyLA creating costs for L.A. (aside from demands), and all the FBI subjects of investigation as fraud, waste and abuse happen to be more the rule than the exception.

Here's a selection from The City Maven blog "Pressers" section today http://www.thecitymaven.com/ to give you an idea of how the elected "leader" (by a slim majority of the approximately 18% of the city's registered voters who came out to cast votes- so that's roughly 10% of the registered voters choosing this mayor) ostensibly "works" for the city of L.A.

"10:15 a.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will participate in the Great California ShakeOut at Target in Northridge.
11:30 a.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will recognize Domestic Violence Awareness month at LAPD Headquarters
7:30 p.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will attend the Safe Passage Domestic Violence Awareness Month event at L.A. Live.
8 p.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will speak at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Great Futures Gala at L.A. Live"

The L.A. Weekly's editor, Jill Stewart referred to Villaraigosa as "The Partyboy Mayor" in a radio interview a few months ago, and he surely seems to be that, as well as the subject of the L.A Weekly's "11% Mayor" - a reference to the time spent on real city business based on his official calendar records..  http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/ 

"The All-About-Me Mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa's Frenetic Self-Promotion-Hours of travel, fund-raising and PR leave little time for his job" By Patrick Range McDonald Wednesday, Sep 10 2008 
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/

Not much seems to have changed aside from the mayor continuing his mission to find a new office to hold and maybe get better publicity photos from it.  We might have been better served had Villaraigosa spent more time in his office, in the city and not be so busy involving himself in all that he manages to find that does not get the job done as mayor for L.A. residents and busineses.
There was a continuation of this L.A. Weekly story a few months later: "Villaraigosa, the All About Me Mayor, Is Still 11 Percent There,"  By Patrick Range McDonald,  Wednesday, Dec 31 2008
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-01-01/news/villaraigosa-the-all-about-me-mayor-is-still-11-percent-there/


Well, he's the mayor until July 1, 2013 when the March 2013 election results will produce another mayor, one who might do better, let's hope.

LHS Football (tonight) v. Eagle Rock HS- Kenny Washington Story in L.A. Times

The Lincoln Tigers will host the Eagle Rock Eagles Friday night.

The L.A. Times this week published a story this week about Kenny Washington and the ongoing work that's being done to honor the former Lincoln student athlete who broke the NFL color barrier. "Remembering forgotten hero Kenny Washington," by Bill Plaschke, October 12, 2011, http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-20111012,0,2930677,full.column

A key part of the story tells much about the big picture for Washington,

Mark Shapiro has spent 35 years shouting out yards and numbers to Lincoln fans with a tiny microphone while standing in the seats in front of the marching band. In the most sadly perfect of ironies, on Friday night at a Kenny Washington memorial game designed to raise money to fix this field, he couldn't talk about the honored man because nobody could hear him.

"And believe me, somebody needs to talk about Kenny Washington," said the retired teacher and softball coach.
Welcome to Kenny Washington's house, the home of a man who fought for something that has not fought for him.
On March 21, 1946, Washington signed a contract with the new Los Angeles Rams, making him the first African American in an NFL that had been unofficially segregated the previous 12 seasons.

The former UCLA star, who signed when he was 28 years old and coming off five knee surgeries, lasted just three pro seasons. He retired young, and when he died at age 51 of heart and lung problems, his memory seemingly vanished with him.

"He wasn't in the NFL long enough, so he just faded out of sight," said Jim Tunney, former longtime referee and Lincoln High administrator whose father once coached Washington here. "And now nobody knows what to do with him."

Washington broke his sport's color barrier a year before his former UCLA football teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, yet pro football never retired Washington's No. 13, and his Los Angeles hometown has yet to put his name on any parks or fields.

Read the rest of the story for the current status of the effort to give due notice and honor a person from Lincoln's historic past.

LHS ALUMNI meets Saturday at 9:30 in LHS Cafeteria

The location of the October Meeting of the Alumni Association is back at LHS in the student cafeteria and NOT in the Cafe in the Heights.

LHS Alumni Association Meeting Saturday

This Saturday at the Cafe in the Heights is the place for the LHS Alumni Association's monthly meeting at 9:30 am.

One topic will be the Fall Dance that's planned for Saturday, October 22, 2011. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event will continue until midnight at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs that has been the regular site for LHS Alumni dances.  This event includes a buffet dinner as with past dances there.
Get your tickets now.
Contact persons Mike Ibarra - S’66 - (323) 683-6102 -- Luz Lopez - S’75 -- (310) 701-6846

Dairy Demolition event on Albion St. happening Thursday- New Park Coming.

There's a bit of news since the last posting- well, lots, but here's a start, that's very specific to Lincoln Heights.

The Downey Recreation Center has that baseball diamond and newer gym on the south side Spring Street,  That's all changing now as the Carnation aka Foremost aka Swiss Dairy property was purchased by the city and is being cleared out for a park to come in. 

I received an email invitation to come to the event on Thursday, at 12:30 p.m. sent by Mike Fong, an aide to  mayor Villaraigosa.  There's a pdf flyer that goes with this but it's a very typical one.  The main news is here.  There should be a lot on hand with food and beverages to help make the most of this project.  The speeches probably will be the downside of the event, unless you happen to like speeches that generally are feel-good things to get your votes in the next election. 

Here's the message that you might consider answering if you are in the area that day:

"Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Councilmember Ed P. Reyes, and officials from the Departments of Public Works and Recreation and Parks cordially invite you
to a Demolition Kick-off Ceremony for the Albion Dairy Acquisition Project,
A Future Los Angeles Riverfront Park

Thursday, September 29, 2011
12:30 pm
Downey Recreation Center
1739 Albion Street
Los Angeles, CA 900031

Please RSVP to mike.fong@lacity.org if you are interested in attending the event.

Thanks and have a great day,
Mike"

City business- making appearances? Is this what a Mayor should be doing? Being in

The mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, still does not find a purpose to staying in the Mayor's Office to get to city business, the real kind, and continues to tour city to keep his face before the cameras.

From The City Maven blog's "Morning Coffee" section,  http://www.thecitymaven.com/2011/08/10/mavens-morning-coffee-66/ today's listing of press items for city hall shows the mayor to be making four public appearnaces:

Pressers

10:30 a.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will help launch a bilingual Internet literacy program at Magnolia Place Family Center.
11:30 a.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be at L.A. Live to announce the location of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup.
7 p.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will attend Summer Night Lights at Imperial Courts Recreation Center.
8 p.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will attend Summer Night Lights at Jordan Downs Recreation Center.

This doesn't seem to be the best use of a mayor's time when you consider what condition the city is in.  But then, why should he change his ways now as he travels the city with his security detail and assorted staffers, all paid for by tax dollars, too. 

Does anyone really want to see him out in the city instead seeing him stay in city hall, getting to know the place, and trying to get familiar with city work to be done.  The real priorities of this city don't match those of the mayor.

 Maybe there's a reason for the mayor to have over 200 staff members when the other mayor's had less than 100 to assist them.

L.A. City Public LIbraries are open on Mondays again.

The city's libraries are open again on Mondays. You may have noticed that annoucement in the news  where the city politicians are taking the credit, led by mayor villaraigosa, as usual, who pounce upon any opportunity to give an appearance of effectiveness. 

The money was the issue according to the city council and the March election gave voters Measure L to approve to move more money to the library's budget.  Yes, politicians brag that it did not raise taxes, but they don't tell you what it DID do.

The change that happened from Measure L is a simple one, it just makes the library's share of the pool of money guaranteed as a larger sum- AND THIS MEANS it will have to TAKE AWAY from another department the money to keep things in balance. That impact will be more clearly seen when that cuts for making up the balance happens.

Closting the libraries on Mondays was in my view a political stunt to get the public to later support restoring the day by approving another manipulation of the budget picture.  The city council COULD have left the libraries open on Mondays by their own power, but THEYwere the ones who decided WHAT department gets funded and what departments get CUTS.   They chose the libraries- had they chosen a less visible part of city operations, maybe the level of attention would not be enough to get voters swayed to the positions put forth as "solutions" as they would where it the libraries, a more essential service to the city.

So taking credit for what condition they CREATED is not the meritorious act they'd have you believe.  Taking credit for anything "good" is a practice you will find, most often displayed by mayor villaraigosa, always the narcissist.   You are not told of the "discretionary" funds of assorted amounts, that the city council members have, that they can apply for matters in their district.  You did not see any CMs volunteer ANY money to keep ANY libraries in their districts OPEN on Mondays by taking some discretionary funds from their own accounts. No, they use this for self promotion and splash lots of it around in the election years to get voters attention and buy loyalty, shown by the period ending with the March elections.

You don't have much mention that the libraries, by the terms of Measure L, will become a stand-alone entity, meaning "independent" for a shorthand description.   Much like children grow up and eventually, move out, with the parents no longer providing the food, housing and so on.   The city council sees its job made easier to push the library department out from under its umbrella and have it pay its own utilities and other costs of operation that were part of the benefit from being entirely under the city's system.

I think there's more to see in the future that's still putting the library in a bind and still having cuts to be made to other spending where the money is taken from- that is not highlighted ever.  City Council continue largely to do what IT wants, driven by personal agendas and special interests.

A lot of CM's time spent with lobbyists making their requests would be lots more than the skimpy 2 minutes any one person gets in public comment on a matter. Keep that picture in mind whenever you have a question about why things in City Hall are being decided in the ways that they are. 

The libraries being closed on Mondays was shameful in how a city considers the needs of its consitutuents, but poltical planning was a far more important consideration above all else.  It needs to change.

The next City elections will be in March 2013.  There will be some open coucil seats then.  One is in Lincoln Heights, as Ed Reyes' CD-1 current term is his last.  Look for him to keep looking for another political office to head for  He filed last year for an expected open seat in the state's office but, like musical chairs, sometimes there's a spot you find and sometimes it's not there.  It didn't open after all, so Ed stayed put in City Council..  Career Politicans manage to talk their way into more terms but lose touch with being a public servant and become used to "being" served instead.   A change through voting is what's needed.

LHS Alumni Association July Meeting This Saturday (afternoon)

There's a monthly meetng of the LHS Alumni Association that is set for Saturday, but the time is changed from the usual 9:30 a.m. hour to the afternoon, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to the LHSAA calendar on the LHS website.  I usually get an email that confirms the meeting date and time, but that has not happened as of this writing.

The location is The Cafe in the Heights across the street from the campus on North Broadway.

I did get an email reminder last week for the fundraiser Dodger game, ticket at $20, is on for Sunday, July 31, 2011, at 1 p.m.  See the website or sidebar link here for more information.

Fireworks Show Saturday Night at Lincoln Park- All day events from 2 p.m.- Eagle Rock on Sunday.

Well, Lincoln Park will be the site for the fireworks show on Saturday night, July 2, 2011.  Events, from politicians making appearances to actual entertainment will be happening from 2 p.m. onward until the fireworks begins at 9pm. 

Included is "Fault Line," a Latin jazz band, at 3:30 pm and 430 pm, for a couple of half hour sets. I heard this name before from many yearsback and they were a locally based band.  I recall that the version of that band that I heard was very good and I hope this version carries on that quality.

There are several other bands before and after Fault Line, and there should be something for most, if not everyone, to enjoy.
I am not able to show the flyer that's out now, but it's very basic and says it's presented by Council member Reyes, City of L.A. Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce, sharing the flyer space very equally in print.

The program has the listing of times for the day's events, with many bands. 

ALSO THIS WEEKEND- If you like fireworks shows, this is the weekend, with more fireworks on SUNDAY .
Fireworks at Eagle Rock Park, with the first of the Summer Concerts in the Park, Sunday, July3rd, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the Fireworks Showtime at 8:45 p.m.; there will be 4 more Sunday at 6 p.m concerts there this summer at 2 week intervals.
"Ronnie and the Classics" will be the band for this Sunday's concert.

Different approaches to promotion in the Council Districts.
This flyer, by the way, is just a top notch, glossy, colored two-sided item that, as usual for Council Distric 14, has the name of  "COUNCILMEMBER JOSE HUIZAR" displayed in the largest, all caps letters.  Have to hand it to Jose that he never misses an opportunity to self-promote, especially as there is one more term available to him as council member. 

Ed Reyes in CD-1 may be less concerned as he's termed out and will be looking for another office to occupy in the same year as the mayor, 2013, and or maybe he's just becoming a bit more frugal in handling expenditures.  Who knows?  And the other part unknown is any sort of breakdown of how much that is spent for each event is from specific funds  from tax money collected and how much is from any donations from private sector sources.  Some annual events this 4th of July have been cancelled due to budgets being very tight.  Views differ on what deserves spending of public money, but the deal's are done in these cases, so enjoy it while it's available, as next year you may be different.

But the "functional" vs. the "High Gloss" style is very apparent for the events that, above all, are supposed to be about celebrating the birth of this nation.   As things go, I really don't think that's something anyone really gives much thought to. That is, much thought if they were aware of the fact in the first place.  All part of the decline of the educational system and the interest given to history overall.

The Mayor visits Lincoln Heights with Martin Sheen at Downey's Pool(s_

In another tour of photo ops today, mayor Vlllaraigosa has Lincoln Heights on the list, as reported by The City Maven in her Morning Coffee items:

"1:30 p.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attend the kick off of Kaiser Permanente’s “Operation Splash” at Downey Recreation Center."

I don't know what this details of this are about, but then I don't think the mayor has much more information either, as long as there are cameras there to present himself.  He's a busy guy today with 3 other events to attend before this one.  Well, I suppose this is a lot more fun than dealing with the city's financial woes and seeing what the real job of mayor is about.

The Downey's pool was re-done a while back and I will still miss that No-diving shallow pool of a place where most of the neighborhood young people, at some time or another, went into the water during off-hours as the trains rumbled by on a regular basis, and back when there were just hoboes and not homeless living under bridges by the tracks. 

That was a long time ago when the city seemed to run well without all the daily scandals we are reading about these days. The mayor's had his share of those stories in the news, but he's termed out and auditioning for another job to occupy his time until July 2013 end of term.    I don't think he will be around much in the city with the new position of his, as if running the city was not a handful already.  If you haven't heard, keep reading.

Earlier this month, Mayor Villaraigosa spent the weekend on the East Coast to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Baltimore, Maryland where he was selected as president.  Well, I suppose the real condition of the city here is not known to the ones who chose him, or maybe that is irrelevant.  A real case of moving on in the wake of disasters.  A role model for all who otherwise would have figured there's not any hope for them- just trying to see the silver lining here.

The LHS Alumni Association meeting this Saturday

The meeting:   Lincoln High's Alumni Association monthly meeting.

More:
This Saturday, June 25, 2011 at The Cafe in the Heights, at 9:30 am, located on North Broadway, across the street from the campus near the Lincoln Park Avenue cross street.

Sample What's on "L.A. Radio.com." It's all free access until June 27th.

While Don Barrett is on a vacatioin for a while, he has made his LARADIO.COM available to non-subscribers to access it for free until June 27, 2011.  So you have until Monday in 9 days to check what this is all about.

Go back to see what's been on the web site and I am sure you will find something that will interest you, especially if you are of the older persuasion.   There's a lot about the present and future of radio as well as a lot of people and events of the past on this site.

The instructions are on http://www.laradio.com/ to get access- the password will be "free" by the way, as is the site for the next week.   Consider subscribing from an informed position of sampling the site.

See L.A. Dodgers' Tony Gwynn, Jr.-Today- Lincoln Heights' St. Vincent de Paul store- Noon

Here's the announcement that just came in by email this morning from KABC Radio AM 790.  This is kind of late notice to rearrange the Friday schedule for most, but here it is- you might pass it along.

"Today, meet L.A. Left Fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. Head over to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store from 12:00pm-1:30pm. Get your Dodgers stuff signed, plus 50% off for their Father's Day Sale. Located at 210 N. Avenue 21 Los Angeles, CA 90031   . more here."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last minute notice may be good to avoid presenting a temptation to ditch class to see a Dodger.   That might be one of the unintended consequences here, but I don't know how popular this appearance will be.  Now if it was Tony Gwynn, Sr., and 20 or so years back, I would probably work on visiting at noon.

If you are old enough, you might remember former Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda's radio ads for the Dodgers, "You can take a family of 4 to a game for $10, the best bargain in town."  Prices at the Stadium for the lowest general admission tickets are more than that for just one ticket now.

Times have changed.  Let's hope that the owners will be changing now.

The Passing of Another Figure from Our Past- James Arness, "Gunsmoke"

There's been more and more passings that I see now of the figures from the entertainment industry. Of course it's an eventuality for all of us.  From the times in school, maybe more so than now, there were lots of television, radio and music persons that had some long standing visibility, and were a part of the culture at the time.  That's what this sort of posting recognizes and I will make entries as more come up- maybe even go back to recall some who have already passed on, too.

James Arness, actor. and star of the western series, "Gunsmoke," that ran from 1955 to 1975, died last week at the age of  (May 26, 1923 to June 3, 2011) at the age of 88.    There's a summary that gives you a bit of information on the actor and the television show - "Legendary ‘Gunsmoke’ Actor James Arness Dies At Age 88."  http://www.etidbits.com/legendary-gunsmoke-actor-james-arness-dies-at-age-88=4600


As usual, Wikipedia has more details on Jame Arness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Arness

This was something of a classic show on tv that I remember watching over many years, with this show, Gunsmoke, being the longest running westerm amid a flood of western shows, many memorable and created during period in the 60s.   James Arness' brother was Peter Graves, a star in hsi own right, heading a cost of another show of major popularity, "Mission Impossible," and more recently known for the "Airplane" movies and "Police Squad" movies and television sitcom.

We all have memories from our younger days that came along with our time in school, from elementary to high school and beyond.   My school years now are moving back to an older era as each year passes, and that's the way for us all, even if we don't feel older.   The passings of entertainment figures reminds us of that aging and maybe gives us cause to try to enjoy the present even more now with whatever time we all have left.

More than a morbid view, this is to say we should all work to make a difference of some level, for our families or society.  And to be specific, it should be a "positive" kind of difference. We all know that there are loads of people who seem to have the purpose of making their mark on the day with criminal activity, too often considered by them and their peers as an "accomplishment."

So, from in my view, that's not what we are here for, and shifting the balance of things for our younger people, especially, to know that they have the choice of direction to go and the positive side is what is right.  Too often- and here's the school teacher kind of view coming out- parents don't get involved with even small things that can guide their children.  Leaving their children to learn all in school is not the way to go.  Would you let some strangers have complete control over your money decisions?  Then why drop out of the picture for your kids, something of more value than money, and let "someone else" show them what's important in life?

Teachers aren't supposed to be baby sitters or substitutes for parents but it's often what happens.  I have seen too many students looking for guidance that they are not getting from home.  We do help others, but family needs to be the big factor if you want to see success at any level of life.  Teachers and school can only help for part of each day. What parents and family are doing matters as a huge influence, and it can be a bad influence that's being shown, as you can see with some accepting gangster outcomes, or worse, encouraging it.

So, back to the passing of James Arness, and what this has to do with what I mentioned.  It was a reminder of the past when we were young and had a lot more choices than now and a reminder of the past when things seemed simpler and more innocent that today's life. 

We can't change the past that gave us our experiences and memories.  We can, however, affect the present and do that on many levels.  The first one needs to be our young people.  These will be the ones who will soon be taking over from us who are already, or will become, the older generation.  It would be a good idea to equip them with the tools and the "good" side of values to help them in the future decisions that they will make for themselves and for others.  Recognizing that the responsibility for that needs to be accepted by us will go a long way to improve life overall.

LHS Alumni Association monthly meeting this Saturday at LHS.

MONTHLY LHS ALUMNI ASSOCATION MEETING NOTICE
DATE:       SATURDAY, April 21, 2011
TIME:        9:30 a.m.
WHERE:   LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA

Here's the news from Frank Beltran, Alumni Secretary, via email from Mike Ibarra:

"PLEASE SUPPORT THE LHS ALUMNI - MAIL IN YOUR $20.00 ANNUAL DUES* (Fiscal Year, July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012) MAIL: LHSAA, PO BOX 31257, Los Angeles, CA 90031

Log onto the high school website for Alumni news and updates:
  <http://lincolnhs.org/apps/news/?id=4>

PARTIAL AGENDA ITEMS:
Come and meet active alumni participants.

• Committee Reports
• Alumni Association SPRING Dance, Follow-up Report
• Texas Hold 'em Tournament, Follow-up Report
• Executive Board Elections Nominations Update.....
• June Executive Board Elections & Nominations Update.  Nominations DUE, May 25th
• Dodger Fundraiser (July 31, 2001)"

Elections Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 17- Take 5 minutes to vote.

We get the right to vote in this country free to the private citizen.  It wasn't always that simple for all eligible voters to do that.  I bring up the 60's era and the civil rights struggle where there was violence and death in this country as a consequence of people seeking to exercise this simple activity.  It's been a long time since the vivid news pictures and stories were fresh and too frequent, and so it's not such a valued right for a lot of people who were too young to experience the era first-hand, or for others who just don't think about that history at all.

Tomorrow will be a very low turnout of registered voters since, like with many and church-going, they only show up for the big days like Easter Sunday and Christmas, and not much in between.  The election in the 36 congressional district is down south, and Janice Hahn among the candidates to fill the post exited by Jane Harman that runs to 2013.  It's an all-party primary and the runoff for the top two vote-getters wil be July 17th.   It only involves that district so limited attention to that is much the case for a lot of us.

More local is the LAUSD District 5 election, a runoff election between Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez.

I will vote for Kayser since I cannot take anymore of the Villaraigosa influence on government, paid-for by special interests and showing us as a city on the brink of a bankruptcy.  We haven't yet reached a bankruptcy only because it is being held back from that by a city council who follow the mayor's direction like following a carrot on a stick, using band-aid "solutiohns" to let them finish their terms.  No long term solution is planned..  LUIS SANCHEZ is just too cozy with his boss, MONICA GARCIA, with too much "admiration" for the mayor and for her former boss, JOSE HUIZAR.  Huizar brought us the A-G track, all-college bound type of curriculum, that is a contributing factor to our LAUSD student dropping out.  Neither Garcia nor Huizar will consider that consequence. Supt. CORTINES did state a year ago that a "one size fits all" approach is not the way to go. 

So BENNETT KAYSER, supported by the teachers union, will get my vote.  I am not a big supporter of the union based on the fact that like all unions, the priority is working for the members and not the outer sphere of involvement that created the need for their jobs in the first place; here that's the students.

But compared to SANCHEZ and the wealthy special interests that get a big piece of the money spent in school operations, as Villaraigosa's adminstration is all about, I will not help that along.  If there were demonstrable results that the SANCHEZ side had ANSWERS to the problems, maybe I'd change. BUT MONICA GARCIA has been there since I was teaching and the only thing I see is a district struggling under poor management- the board's management.   A CHANGE is not their style. Make a change now and go with KAYSER.   If Sanchez wins, you will have a Villaraigosa stacked Board and things will really become worse as with the city's operations.   And there will likely be more spending foulups as they funnel contracts to the friends and shape expenses to boost incomes for the same groups.

IF YOU STAY HOME- you lose all around.   A low voter turnout election magnifies the impact of the voters who show up.


COMMUNITY COLLEGE trustees election-   Please get out anf vote for LYDIA GUTIERREZ AND NOT Scott Svonkin.  The Community College Board of Trustees has allowed waste and corruption to go unchecked and one person added here would be a part of the corrections needed.  I can't see any reason for re-electing the ones remaining as Trustees in the March election, but voters often don't read news to see what's plainly been there to see.

Neither of my choices is "perfect" but they are the "best" ones running here and should be better than their opponents in doing the job.

Villaraigosa announces "Operation Pothole Weekend" - report your potholes

Here's a press release just received from Mike Fong, aide to the mayor (and aide to CM Ed Reyes before that), about the pothole weekend that will fill a lot of potholes on the public streets in a single weekend.  I heard about this at a meeting last Saturday of the LA Neighborhood Council Coalition, "LANCC," by a new staffer in the mayor's office, Joseph Hari.  Calling in to 311 is the simplest number to remember to report the location of your favorite potholes to be filled.

These LANCC meetings usually present us with early information on what will be happening from the city's side of things.  So often the news is usually about cuts made in city services whle the actual layoffs, delayed for a year or two from first announced as essential to the budget, amounted to just over 400 people  among the city's very large general fund workforce. 

The DWP, Airports Department, and Harbor Department have their own budgets separate from the "general fund" and coming from the fees each department collects.

Here's the press release- and if only this was the only problem for our city government. Note that the Public Works Commissioner Andrea Alarcon's last name is the same as (currently indicted and awaiting a distant trial date) City Council member, Richard Alarcon.  That's his daughter who has the job, and it makes you wonder how "the best qualified for the job" happens to be found right there in CM Alarcon's family. 

---------------------

LOS ANGELES (May 10, 2011) On Saturday, May 14^th, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will launch the public awareness campaign for the City’s largest “Operation Pothole.”  At 9:30 AM, the Mayor will join City forces to fill a pothole in Venice and to ask Angelenos to identify potholes as part of their volunteering efforts on Big Sunday. Angelenos can join “pothole patrols” and report pothole locations around the City to the 3-1-1 hotline 7 days a week from 7am to 10pm. The Board of Public Works will be using this information to fill an unprecedented 20,000 potholes the weekend of June 4^th and the 5^th.

“Starting today, I want to encourage Angelenos to call 3-1-1 and report pothole locations in your neighborhoods. With your help, we will undoubtedly be able to exceed our goal for the upcoming Operation Pothole weekend,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “The condition of our street network affects the quality of life for every Angeleno, so we need your help to identify potholes so that we can fill them Operation Pothole Weekend and provide more comfortable commutes for LA motorists.”

The City of Los Angeles fills an average of 250,000 potholes annually. “Pothole repair is one critical component of our overall street maintenance and resurfacing program,” said Public Works Commissioner Andrea Alarcon. Under the Mayor’s proposed budget, in the next fiscal year, we would be able to fill over 300,000 potholes to ensure safer streets for City residents, said Alarcon.

The Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services is responsible for responding to pothole service requests. Upon receipt of such requests, the Bureau of Street Services will dispatch a crew to inspect the location and make the necessary repairs. Our goal is to respond to pothole service requests within 2 business days, however, it can take longer depending on the type and extent of the damage, said Bureau of Street Services Interim Director Nazario Sauceda. "During Operation Pothole weekend, the Bureau of Street Services will dispatch over 100 crews to make thousands of small asphalt repairs including potholes, popouts, and skin patching,” said Sauceda.

For more information or details, contact the Department of Public Works Public Affairs Office at (213) 978-0333

--------------------------------

It sounds like another one of the mayor's deals to get some high visibility for yet another attempt to find a public position after he's termed out in July 2013.  Meanwhile, take the services while the city offers it; thre may be no money "available" later for such repairs to be done, so make those calls to report locations

Community College trustee- Vote recommendation for Lydia Gutierrez over Scott Svonkin

In a pinch for time now, but the Tuesday election has a run off election for Community College Board of Trustees.  I ask for you to vote for Lydia Gutierrez over the other canddate Scott Svonkin.

The L.A. Clean Sweep organization (I am a part of that) endorsed her for the March 8 election and that continues.   There's been lots of problems with bad management of money by the current board, and we need change as for most elected officials.

There's a series in the L.A. Times that ran for about a week with billions mismanaged in operations.

L.A. Weekly has some items to check to see about why Svonkin is not the best candidate here:

"Scott Svonkin, San Gabriel Unified Board Member, Lets Teachers Down: Plays Hooky to Campaign For L.A. Community College Board" April 13, 2011, Mars Melnicoff,
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/04/scott_svonkin_laccd_utla.php


"Scott Svonkin's Personality Problem- How did a food-spewing bully get major Democratic backing to run for Community College trustee?"  http://www.laweekly.com/2011-04-07/news/scott-svonkin-s-personality-problem/


Check some of the problems that the Times reporters found, and that calls for change:
A story on the writers investingating the Community College operations and the series the Times printed is here: "Spotlight: L.A.Times reporters Michael Finnegan, Gale Holland deserve Pulitzer" by Morgan St. James- March 9th, 2011 10:05 am.  http://www.examiner.com/writing-in-los-angeles/spotlight-los-angeles-times-reporters-michael-finnegan-and-gale-holland-deserve










 

JPL in Pasadena has an Open House this weekend- An inside glimpse into history

There is an Open House this weekend being held at JPL in Pasadena, where you can get a view to the history and work of JPL, one of the principal participants in the space race going back to around the time of Russia's launching of it's Sputnik satellite.

The JPL home page gives more details.  It's free and with free parking, something you don't have at, well, Dodger Stadium, for one example.    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/open-house.cfm

It might be something useful for parents to take their children to where there may be a rekindling of interest in this area among the young people like we had in the 60s, ultimately getting us on the Moon in less than a decade. 

Without leaving the ground, another area of interest for us is eathquakes, and JPL is also involved in that subject among all that JPL does.   You might have noticed that it gets called by television and radio news reporters whenever we have an earthquake of any level for more information.

Even if you don't see your children becoming scientists, it may inspire them to do better in their studies to get into whatever their potential can take them to.

Vote for Bennett Kaiser, NOT Luis Sanchez for LAUSD Board, Dist. 5 Election

The LAUSD Board seat for District 5 (or simply, "Sub-district 5" for many) is coming up on TUESDAY, (like all elections), May 17th.  If you have absentee ballots, you may have already voted.  If you still haven't voted, here's some things to think about if you have this office on your ballot.

Luis Sanchez served as chief-of-staff to Monica Garcia, the LAUSD Board President.  From my observations over the years, Garcia's actions show that she's been  more loyal to the political force that got her into office, namely, Antonio Villaraigosa.

Garcia, before being elected to this office, was the chief-of-staff to Jose Huizar, and was supported by him to succeed him in office.  Huizar left LAUSD for City Council in 2005 as Villaraigosa left CD-14 before completing his term (that he promised he would complete and not run for any other office during the CD-14 campaign).   Huizar became thoroughly a follower of Villaraigosa, as he remains today, though not vocalizing that alliance much.    Huizar supported Garcia and it's an all "Villaraigosa" influenced "leadership" that they demonstrate.

VOTE FOR KAYSER- a big reason is to stop the downward spiral of LAUSD's performance and get someone that doesn't have the VILLARAIGOSA Agenda as his guide.    Villaraigosa, if you remember, put aside attention to mandated duties as mayor of Los Angeles to work on affecting, or really, taking over, LAUSD's operation,  The path was a long and costly one in terms of money, time and lost opportunities for the public servants that were involved.

Meanwhile we have a city approaching bankruptcy with a mayor that's been distracted by one thing or another over his entire term of office, yet he has huge influence in moving LAUSD to breakup, a goal of his and his special interest "friends" that I see as benefitting finacially from this.

You have charter schools and assorted partnerships that are not LAUSD controlled being handed brand new multi-million dollar schools, all paid for by the publc from bonds approved by voters many years ago.. I really do not believe approval would have happened if this result had been know at election time.  I think it was a plan all along by many involved here.

As I've already stated before, I am not a big fan of LAUSD and the way it operates, but then I am even more skeptical of the charters and alternative forms when they still are finding their ways to improved education of students.  I don't think handing over schools over like we are seeing now assures success or the responsibility for such actions.  

SANCHEZ would push in this direction as Villaraigosa and friends want that.  There's a fortune in contracts and deals in all this, paid for by tax dollars, that is not visible on the surface and it's an unspoken factor in all the changes.   I don't see the VILLARAIGOSA influence, and it's there more and more as board members of this alignment win seats. 

I think students should come first, not politics.  I recall Monica Garcia's statement, to paraphrase it, that she discovered she was Chicana after arriving at Cal State Berkeley.  I see she's been into activism as we were seeing in the 60s but we are not in the 60s anymore.  Creating issues to support political agendas is part of that "leadership" that produces no real progress with students.  Garcia lost all credibility with me when she supported a charter schools continued funding when it had shown severe criticism of anti-U.S. values in favor of more contrary views. (And it's fine to have a different view, but don't take tax money if you are preaching against the things that created what you have and what you seek.)

KAYSER doesn't have that heavy influence of the opponent and the race card has been played to sway things to Sanchez, or so I have heard (it's rumored, so you can skip this if you haven't seen it happening yourself).    Any "race" factor in running for offices doesn't seem to me to be part of the Job Description and is a cheap way to win votes- but it often works, so we continue to see it.

KAYSER seems more genuine here as one needed on the Board while SANCHEZ is a "worker bee" for the Villaraigosa/Monica Garcia/Jose Huizar style of misdirected and non-productive "leadership" that costs students in favor of making better deals with "friends" and boosting their egos as they get more power.


VILLARAIGOSA and his administration is what I am most familiar with and I see no positive thing overall happening from his office. On the contrary, so much that is bad government and Pay-to-Play has shown up that is like a virus running through all he's connected with, especially the City Council and the Board folks.

Don't make the situation worse. Vote for Kayser.

A retired LHS science teacher's letter on solar power in Eagle Rock Patch

Well, the title may not be quite clear, but what this is about is a letter from Jan Freed, an Eagle Rock resident now retired from teaching, who taught physical and environmental science at two public schools, one being Lincoln High School.  The subject is the need and benefits on moving to solar power as electricity continues to become more expensive.  http://eaglerock.patch.com/articles/letter-from-a-retired-school-teacher-who-has-seen-the-writing-on-the-wall-go-solar


The letter from Freed is very informative and this solar power conversion might be something you may be considering already.  I won't go much now into the usual other complaint that I have about the DWP being operated as out of control public agency from an accountability standpoint, thanks to the enablers aka City Council and the mayor. The creation of a Rate Payer Advocate as approved by the voters really should not have been needed if the City Council itself did its job and did not allow the DWP, essentially, do what the DWP wanted to do, resulting in arriving at our current condition.

LAUSD Board candidates Bennett Kayser & Luis Sanchez, 7:30 pm forum at Eagle Rock Elem.

Well, there's nothing like late notice.  The two candidates in the May 17th runoff election for the Sub-District seat will meet at 7:30 pme tonight in the Auditorium at Eagle Rock Elementary.  (I was among the group that was supposed to be "in the know" on this as one of the sponsoring group, and we had it scrubbed as of  last week, only to find a few days later that it was "on."  Well, coordination isn't always happening where it might be.)

This position is being vacated by Yolie Flores as she heads into the private sector. leaving her mark as a supporter of parent's who want alternatives to classic LAUSD schools that are currently operating in assorted forms.

Kayser would be my choice here since Luis Sanchez is LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia's chief-of-staff.  Garcia was elected to the LAUSD post as Jose Huizar left LAUSD to head on over to the City Council seat in CD-14.  Now remember that CD-14 was represented then by Antonio Villaraigosa who promised to serve the entire council member term  for us here in CD-14, on of many promises that he failed to keep.  That promise to serve out his whole term didn't last too long as we all know the rest of that story.

But Huizar had, as his chief-of-staff, Monica Garcia, and like musical chairs, she moved to take the LAUSD office that Huizar vacated, elected with the weight of Huizar and his benefactor, Antonio Villaraigosa, helping get the votes.

With the sad state of affairs that the LAUSD is in, what with them having shown us huge cost overruns on the many school that are costing way too much and being completed so slowly with one delay after another for many of the more expensively built schools.   The enrollment in LAUSD has been on the decline consistently over the laste decade that there is no longer the numbers of students now as before which created the need for more seats in the first place.

Villaraigosa was now the mayor and he was more interested in LAUSD and making it turn around (yes, he of little relevant experience) than dealing with his mandated responsibility of the city government itself.  But after spending much time, energy and money on the takeover of the school district, and being disappointed in that endeavor by the court's decision that he could not "take over" the District, or even just a little chunk of it, he's finally been able to insert several of his supporter/followers on the Board to have the influence that he wanted.  If Sanchez is elected, it would tilt this power more decisively in Villaraigosa's favor to have Board decisions go the way he and his friends want it to go.  Not a good situation at all for students but then the mayor and crew don't really have that as their main concern.

I think Antonio's got plans to dissassemble the LAUSD from within and all these expensive new schools are being handed over to charters and partnerships, it seems.  I don't think voters would have approved the huge bond measure if they knew the buildings were going to be given away as they have been, and it's not stopping, no, not with the Villaraigosa aligned folks getting their say-so.

At the same time, the city has plunged into financial chaos, as the mayor had somehow put the city business at the lower end of priorites over the years while he manuevered into a position to get into the Obama administration, but Obama was wise to pass over Antonio while taking many of the better staf members to D.C.    Then there was the run for governor. That effort fizzled so badly that his announcement that he was NOT running for governor was of his choice, partly to take care of city business and partly to be a father to his youngest child. 

So the city's floundering and now the attention is back on city government with the budget deficit unimaginably high, and bankruptcy is within reach.  As soon as the July 2009 inauguration was done, Antonion and love interest, Lu Parker of Ch. 5 News, quickly left L.A. for travel to South Africa.  (It was during this time period that the Michael Jackson memorial events happened, using huge numbers of LAPD officers to attend to anticipated crowds by the Staples Center.  I don't think the city ever recovered anything close to what expense it took for all these events to be handled by the police and other city services.

So with all the links to the political machinery of the mayor and cronies like former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, living large while in offices and finding his son on the wrong end of the law with a homicide charge, I think there's more than enough Villaraisgosa-style of influence on the scene to go around for now.

Kayser should get the vote and Luis Sanchez needs to be turned away at the door to keep that Villaraigosa influence from spreading any further.  The track record from Antonio activities just taints all the rest of the picture for me to believe any other of his cohorts will think of students first and not let politics rule their decisions.  Monica Garcia has showed me that problem too many times already, and you know that Sanchez was not chosen for his job as chief-of=staff by disagreeing with her.

Vote for Kayser. And this turnout on May 17th might hit a low of 10 percent of the registered voters who actually will show up to vote and make a difference.   And in  a low-turnout election, anything can happen.  No to Sanchez. Yes to Kayser.

LHS Alumni Association's Spring Dance tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 30th, is the date for the Alumni Association's Spring Dance at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs.

This is a fundraiser that happens to also be affordable.  It's an opportunity to visit with old friends and meet other alumni and just relax for a while.   There is a buffet style dinner that's included and there's music as well.  Come by and visit, eat, trade stories and dance- or any combination of these things.

Check the side bar, and for more details, see Alumni page. A main contact would be Mike Ibarra.

Former Dodger Pitcher Bobby Castillo, LHS alum, at Alhambra for meet and greet on Saturday.

Bobby Castillo, the former Dodger pitcher and a Lincoln High alumnus, will be in Alhambra tomorrow afternoon according to the announcement sent out from KABC AM-790 radio, the Dodgers L.A. network station.  DETAILS: http://kabc.com/Article.asp?id=2156746&spid=11456 that also appears in the current edition of the Alhambra News.

The announcement mentions that Bobby was credited with teaching Fernando Valenzuela how to throw a screwball, a pitch that Valenzuela relied on for much of his career success.

Time and Place: Alhambra Courtyard on Saturday, April 16, from 12:00 noon-3:00 PM

Stop by if you have a chance and visit with Bobby.

Mayor Villaraigosa's State of City speech- Was he talking about Los Angeles?

The State of the City speech for 2011, the 6th one delivered by the mayor of Los Angeles, Antoinio Villaraigosa, and the accompanying delivery style by the mayor is what you'd might expect to hear with all thing in order, a very rosy picture. 

He did not really explain just where the money is going to come from to pay for all the things he described when you have to notice now that the libraries are closed 2 days a week and the LAPD has put a hold on new academy classes until the money situation is settled. 

The mayor is responsible for the city and that interest into LAUSD's area is not anything that's in the city's charter, but that's just a small detail for the mayor, too small to really pay attention to.    Maybe the real issues that a mayor's actual responsibility touches just is not interesting enough.   If you followed what the mayor has done over the years, the story calling him "The 11% Mayor" for all the time spent on real city business is appropriate.   

Since that story came out Antonio's not produced much improvement, hiring Austin Beutner to the be "Job Czar" and head up over a dozen city departments.  Usually each department has a separate person to run it.  DWP was one of Buetner's departments until the recent appointment of a "permanent" general manager.

But the Mayor is never one to let taking credit slip by without attaching his name to it.  And here, you have to really wonder about the "deal" he's talking about with the city employee unions.  There's got to be a lot of Council members wondering how the mayor is going to make his predictions happen when they've been working off and on for the last year to balance the budget.

Well, at least the speech sounded good.  There is one thing I am very sure of, and it's not the accuracy all that was mentioned in the speech. I know that the mayor had somebody write it for him.  The whole thing was too slick.   I really wonder how many of the city council members have begun to doubt Antonio's abilities.  Maybe that's the wrong question since that's probably happened a long time ago.  They now should wonder what is his game plan, since it's not re-election this as his last term.

You can bet on the regular things here, that "friends" will be the ones to get contracts, other deals and the benefit of the money from whatever projects and programs that public tax money supports. Whether it will be spent wisely for something measurably productive is yet another question.   Count me in as one of the doubters of the whole group.  With Wesson, Huiizar, Cardenas and Council President Garcetti each fined for violations of ethic rules and the mayor getting a fine for "ticket gate" with all the free tickets received, how can you have faith in them.  And I forgot that Alarcon's still facing a trial along with his wife for lying on voting documents about where he really lived.

By the way, don't worry that any of them will actually feel any pinch from paying the fines since they have diferent funds that come from the same ones that got them into trouble and these sources will provide the money to pay fines.  So in the end, there's no shame and no pain.   And these are the leaders that continue to be elected and re-elected to office, a real crime that voters had all in the palms of their hands to change.  An especially dismal picture when you see these people win elections with roughly less than 10 per cent of the city's registered voters choosing them as way less than 20% of the registered voters show up at the polls.

I still wonder how Antonio came to see the city as he described in the speech.

Alumni Meeting for April this Saturday at LHS.Tickets for April 30 dance on sale.

The Alumni Association meeting witll be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011 at LHS in the Cafeteria. 
There's lots to cover and the Alumni Spring Dance will be two weeks later at the same place as the fall dance, Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs.

See the link in the sidebar.  Tickets are available at $35 each.  You can get tickets at this meeting as well.

Mayor Villaraigosa gives the 2011"State of City" speech today at 5pm.

Look for Mayor Villaraigosa to give the annual “State of the City” speech today, Wednesday, at 5pm.
The 2011 “State of the City Speech” that Mayor Villaraigosa presents each April will be different this time around from what the reports are in the L.A. Daily News and other news sources.

"Villaraigosa to focus on education in his State of the City address-The mayor's emphasis on struggling schools comes as city officials are wrestling with a deficit of at least $350 million and trying to retain services even after deep budget cuts."
maeve.reston@latimes.com
howard.blume@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-of-city-20110413,0,1123266.story

The Mayor has long sought to involve himself in the operations of the LAUSD even though it is outside the jurisdiction of Los Angeles City government. The Board of Education is in charge of running the district. The Mayor directed lots of his attention into getting involved where no other mayor or recent or old memory has ventured. Some wonder why so much attention goes there while the mayor’s personal attention to city business has been demonstrated to be low or worse.

Ultimately the mayor obtained “partnerships” to operate 10 schools that were low performing and so far, no one has reported that this has been a failure. A large segment of the faculty at Roosevelt High were not happy with the way the educational process was being handled by the mayor’s group a few years ago, but that has either been resolved or they have accepted what’s there.

To get back to the speech, the mayor is abandoning puttying more pressing issues into the forefront of the topic. The budget problems don’t do much to show the mayor being at the top of his job, so he will move to the education area, something that really is not the pressing issue for the city administration, but when you consider how severely distressed the city’s finances are now and will continue to be for years, the education area might make the mayor look good, satisfying his ego, and that’s part of the needs for this mayor all along.

The main motivation I expect here that puts “Education” into the spotlight is that it is a distraction from what bad news the budget issues bring us. There has been poor performance by the mayor and city council in handling taxpayer money since Day One.

There is one thing that most don’t notice that’s changed from the first ones made by Villaraigosa, and that’s the style of delivery. In the first one and maybe the second one, too, Villaraigosa appeared to use the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream…” style that you associate with some greatness of purpose. Unfortunately, there’s been no greatness with this mayor.

Maybe the mayor’s former delivery was made with the idea that these speeches would be part of future videos that all would refer to in L.A. history. Well, that’s not happening, so Antonio’s just using his regular style in making these speeches, finally abandoning the notion that he would ever be a great or even competent orator or that the content would be somehow worthwhile.

For a while in recent years, the mayor’s spoken words as heard in the news, were interrupted by “uh’s” and “ah’s” that gave the impression of either some underlying health problem his mental processes, or, simply a lack of preparedness on his part for the subject discussed.

Well, I don’t expect any great surprises as I have come to see most politicians, especially this one, use these moments to set up things for themselves, skipping the possibility that they would admit blame but usually finding some other reason for things turning out so poorly. He used “dreams” a lot in his themes. What I think will be his “dream” here will be some attempt at leaving his mark on the education system. The marks that he left elsewhere were of little use to the residents and businesses of Los Angeles.

Fundraiser Spaghetti Dinner Today at Lincoln Park for 4th of July Fireworks Show

Here's a last minute notice for a fundraiser to go to the 4th of July Fireworks show at Lincoln Park for July 2011.  It's a Spaghetti Dinner with tickets priced at $5 each, and this still is a bargain item that includes garlic bread, salad, and beverage. Sponsored by the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce and the City Dept. of Recreation and Parks.

This is all happening on:
Saturday, April 9th,
from 3pm to 6pm at the Lincoln Park facility, 3501 N. Valley Blvd., Los Angeles.
- where there's lots of free parking, as well.

I don't have details on where contributions can be made for any of you who would like to help out but will post as I learn more on this.  Fireworks displays are one of the things that have a general appeal to the community.  It takes little effort to watch, a real spectator event, and these can be seen on a more widespread way from a distance, that a lot of other events can't match.

These are professionally presented for a safe and enjoyable experience that avoids the risks that people still take with "safe and sane" types of fireworks, and the other totally illegal and hazardous types you always see and hear around 4th of July.  

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

This is one of the ways that these events can happen when the public works to support community events.  The City funding of all things is severely diminshed based on a lot of things that I won't go into any detail now, but you know there's lots of blame to go around at City Hall- and the CMs still can find money for pet projects, usually from "discretionary funds" of each CM.

For many events now, there has to be real partnerships put together to raise money to cover events, and if they are important, there should be support to make them happen.

LAUSD teachers get pink slips, even one of the better performers.

Aside from the city government's budget problems, the LAUSD has it's own continuing combination of woes involving budget and personnel. It looks like there is not enough money to keep the current teacher level at the present level after September, so "pink slips" were sent out as a prerequisite to layoffs of teachers.

The other part of the problem for the District is that performance of students still is lagging behind what's needed. Overall, this makes the District's education programs very much of appealing target for takeover by partnerships/charters and whatever other form of non-District operation that is being created.

Focusing on the pink slips story in the L.A. Times, "Singled-out L.A. Unified teacher shares skills with colleagues"- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-broadous-teachers-20110403,0,4961288.story By Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2011.  This is a teacher who has be able to improve student performance so well, that he's been consulted for assistance in improving other teachers' skills. The problem for Mr. Miguel Aguilar, an elementary teacher, is that he received a pink slip to make him subject to layoff. It's not a certainty, but he's still within the group that may find itself unemployed despite superior performance.

The "seniority" list is at work for deciding who goes, as it is in most other union-represented businesses. Performance is not the deciding factor, although a recent court decision appears to allow the District to take into account other factors in retaining teachers where there is overall low seniority within its roster which would leave a particular school without experienced teachers and many subs. The negative impact on the learning potential of students who have had their school cleaned out of such teachers by seniority-based layoffs is what makes the difference. This generally would not apply to schools where the number of the teachers laid off may be less intense.

Mr. Aguilar has 8 years of seniority and is still not high enough on the list to be "safe" which should make the teaching profession one that will have few takers in the current state of the economy. When you have experienced, credentialled teachers out of work, it's not not very enticing a career area for most looking for even a semblance of stability.

In the past, the LAUSD has cut down on the projected job losses and this is always a possibility here. Yet, when that happens and money is found to ward off the layoffs, it can cause doubt on the union's part as to the District really being forthcoming in what they present as the budget condition. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Alumni Association Meeting on Saturday

Meeting tomorrow of the Alumni Association.

Here's a message forwarded from Mike Ibarra:

YOUR ATTENDANCE IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.

MONTHLY ASSOCATION MEETING NOTICE
DATE of Meeting: SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011
TIME: 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA


PLEASE SUPPORT THE LHS ALUMNI - MAIL IN YOUR $20.00 ANNUAL DUES* (Fiscal Year, July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011) MAIL: LHSAA, PO BOX 31257, Los Angeles, CA 90031

*New Memberships will be valid until May 2012. You get 3 months FREE !

Log onto the high school website for Alumni news and updates:
http://lincolnhs.org/apps/news/?id=4

PARTIAL AGENDA ITEMS:
Come and meet active alumni participants.

Committee Reports
Alumni Association SPRING Dance (April 30, 2011)
Annual Alumni Yearbook Picture (Immediately after (Immediately after the meeting -Wear your Alumni Gear)
June's Executive Board Elections

Looking forward to seeing you this Saturday.

* 2011 Tiger Spring Dance *
Only 15 days left for $35.00 ticket Price

Frank Beltran, Retired Principal
Vice President -Membership, LHSAA
f.beltran@gte.net
f.beltran@mac.com
213.200-1007

L.A. Clean Sweep endorses in L.A. City Elections on Tuesday- your vote is important. In CD-14, elect Rudy Martinez

LA CLEAN SWEEP IN THE MAIL -AND ON CABLE TV IN FINAL DAYS.

Election Day is Tuesday. Just a very quick message for voters living in the city and in an even numbered district-

The local organization I support, actually a city-wide local group, is the L.A. Clean Sweep movement. It was formed to bring us responsible government to City Council and end the corruption that you can find in the news every week. All this costs the taxypayers who live and work in Los Angeles in the form of reduced services for increased costs, while deals happen to help "friends" and special interests but not much to better the conditions.

As we have seen Los Angeles conuncil persons act in a continued manner that creates no improvement while their management and that of the Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, heads us closer to a bankruptcy each day.

We want to sweep out the old and put in people who want to change the practices that have put us in this situation.

The candidates endorse by L.A. Clean Sweep reached after a detailed process including candidate interviews and finally a vote on the recommendations by the membership to produce this list.

Here is the complete LA Clean Sweep Candidate List:

District 2: No Endorsement

District 4: Stephen Box

District 6: Richard Goodman, David Barron, and Jamie Cordaro

District 8: Councilman Bernard Parks

District 10: Austin Dragon

District 12: Kelly Lord and Brad Smith

District 14: Rudy Martinez

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Rudy Martinez is challenging Jose Huizar in CD-14, a district that covers Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Boyle Heights and areas of Downtown.

I have followed the activities of city hall for a few years and the need for changes now is crucial if the city is going to change at all. We have seen examples of the city council use meeting after meeting to produce little action on its services and personnel. For approximately 9 months, they debated and maneuvered things to be more of an employment agency to put hundreds of people into the DWP, separately run (as you may have noticed from several news stories over the months).

The City created ERIPs early retirement that cut over 2400 people out of the general budget to lower the staffing. An entire accounting department was effectively stripped of its staff by the numbers taking the early retirement package. That was an expensive offering to entice retirement and the condition just mentioned was not seen until it was already done.

Another 300 people not paid from "general funds" used ERIP that did not help the budget since they were not paid from "general funds" but the expense only added to the costs of the program. As usual, lack of accountability runs rampant in city hall and needs to change.

This is just one example and there are many dozens more examples that show us that the highest paid council in the country ($15,000 per month salary) does not make for bettter performance.

You may have noticed that Council member Bernard Parks is an incumbent endorsed by L.A. Clean Sweep. Parks is probably the only one who has paid attention to the budget among all the CMs. He is not perfect but he does present the financial conditions to the council as it is, and many don't want to hear that. For month's they used to say "the 'B-word' in reference to "bankruptcy," very representative of the state of denial they pursued in the years since the budget crisis has worsened. Mr. Parks was often the bearer of bad news that was often not truly recognized by the other CMs.

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IN CD-14
CM Jose Huizar has failed in his representation of CD-14. His ads say "He's a fighter." Really? He's not done much in his 5 plus years in City Council although he loves to claim credit for everything by attaching, "Jose Huizar Presents...." This past year was an all out effort to try to claim credit for anything as if it was money coming out of his own wallet. The real picture is that it comes from taxpayers in one way or another and much of what Jose claims credit for would have been done by anyone in the office as part of the job.

He does have favorites, putting around a milliong to "Bring Back Broadway" and working to put a street car in, a very expensive proposition but that's Jose. Being a friend of Mayor Villaraigosa and supported by many of the same supporters the Mayor should tell you a lot. CM Huizar was selected as the successor to CD-14's council member when the Mayor cut short his term to run for election as Mayor, even though he promised to serve out his full term as CM in CD-14.

There are very many CMs loyal to the Mayor and you do not hear any criticism from them of the many opportunities that have come where some better leadership did not happen.

In this campaign, the relationship that Huizar has with the Mayor is kept very quiet so as to keep peace with the Mayor and to avoid showing the tie with the failed Mayor, lest people see the link.

Rudy Martinze in CD-14 is the better choice. Putting most of the campaign money from his own pocket tells you he is not in any sense a "bought and paid for politician"-notice Huizar's funding comes from assorted factions and it's there with the expectation of "getting what they paid for," otherwise called "patronage politics."

Rudy Martinez has successful private sector business experience that you don't see among council members and this is what's been absent in the City Council for many years. Martinez should be able to bring a better perspective that could only improve what the City Council does. Huizar, like most in the current council, is a career politician, looking ot maximize his time in office and then move on to another. Maybe we can make that move happen sooner.

In CD-14, vote for Rudy Martinez. This will be a low-turnout election which means you can come out and have a bigger impact than you might have in the state-wide elections. Many people are registered and just don't bother to come out thinking everything is not going to change. Come out, make the changes happen. If you put the same people back for another four years, how can you expect that they will change their behavior after already working at least one full term?

Vote March 8th- City Council -Elections for Even-Numbered Districts.

Tuesday, March 8th is the next election for the even-numbered districts. 7 council seat are involved.

Lincoln Heights is in Council District 1, and not involved until 2013. Expect Ed Reyes to run for whatever other office comes open first in either state or federal levels since he will be termed out in 2013.

In CD-14, you have two choices, the incumbent, Jose Huizar and the challenger, Rudy Martinez. Antonio Villaraigosa was once the CM in CD-14, promised to serve out his term of office and then ran for Mayor and won. Jose Huizar may also cut his term short if he is re-elected, and run for City Attorney.
(more on this later).


There also is the Board of Ed. election for some offices- Yolie Flores is not running again so District 5 will have a new member of the Board.

The L.A. City Council put several ballot measures up for the voters to decide. In some cases, it was put to the voters since the council could not decide the matters themselves.

More on these items to come.

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Comes and Goes- Unnoticed at LHS?

An Unnoticed Day at Lincoln High School- Again?

I think that it's become a tradition at the alma mater to let opportunities for any gains in knowledge to slip through the fingers of those who try to assure us that our students are learning all that they can.

Lincoln High School, as the namesake of one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country, seems not to be able to make any progress in informing the students attending the school of any of the history of Lincoln.

I have come not to expect very much at these times that the students could become engaged in learning even a minimal amount of history from an abundance of sources.

A bit of celebration of the life of Lincoln might go a long way to instill a little knowledge and pride in the school. For many, I think the test scores have become the singular interest in their being and what really could do a bit to advance education and character simply falls by the wayside.

As usual, I have to add that, "I could be wrong." Maybe there is some focus on the life, times and accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln individually by some teachers, but the entire school is not involved in any common recognition as I determine from searching the LHS web site. There might be some large benefit with not much outlay of effort if each February there was a focus on this president. They have a year to try to do better in 2012.

I think that we have an easy job to find out so many things about this person in comparison to less prominent presidents and smaller figures in history that have high schools named after them.

I think that this blame falls to the leadership of a school. At Lincoln, it seems that the ills that plague the entire LAUSD operation are similarly present at the school where test scores, achievement measures and a number of theories have all the attention, along with so many efforts at recognizing "diversity."

It's all disappointing that these times come and go with little notice. Instead, there should be much, much more attention given to use this as an opportunity to involve students in some common theme especially directed to LHS as the district's high school uniquely bearing the name of Abraham Lincoln.

SOME LINCOLN FACTS -

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809.

President Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States.

He was assassinated on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre.

This was the first Presidential assassination in American history.

The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1866, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states.

-From http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/us/lincoln.aspx with links to other Lincoln sites.

Also on this site is the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg
November 19, 1863
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MORE ABOUT LINCOLN FROM his place among the U.S. Presidents at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ below:


ABRAHAM LINCOLN
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln

LHS alumnus Carlos Moreno, resigns as California Supreme Court Justice for life in private sector.

Carlos Moreno, California Supreme Court Justice

Many of the older alumni are more familiar with Justice Moreno, an LHS 1966 Summer Class graduate (and that Summer-Winter label is truly a sign of the old times) than the more recent LHS alumni. Justice Moreno will soon be Mr. Moreno as he's resigned from the California Supreme Court to pursue private practice after a substantial period of service.

There's a story from the February 1st edition of the "California Bar e-Journal" that will familiarize the younger people about him, as well as add some insight for many of us who actually knew him from way back. Here's the link,
http://www.calbarjournal.com/February2011/TopHeadlines/TH1.aspx

Congratulations is in order for his service on the court and we hope to see him around as he resumes practice locally.

Mayor's Anti-Gang Official in Fight with Cops, Arrested

Yes, as the L.A. Weekly story put it, Blanca Martinez-Navarro went gangsta on the cops at the Conga Room downtown. It all seems very bizarre and does nothing to promote any credibility for that program when you can chalk this up another case of employee bad conduct here.

The story about tells it all:
City News- "Blanca Martinez-Navarro, Gang Reduction Staffer For Mayor Villaragosa, Arrested At Conga Room For Allegedly Attacking LAPD Cop," By Dennis Romero, Mon., Jan. 24 2011 @ 7:00AM
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/01/villaragosa_staff_arrest.php

Another interesting part of this is the comments added to the story. While I can't go for the "spic" reference, there's something to the idea of reverting to apply some parts of early life experience, if she did actually come from an environment of gang activity. Worse, it may be a current method of dispute resolution that slipped out in a moment of stress.

Either way, it's completely unacceptable but Mayor Villaraigosa has 2 very obvious choices to make: Upon verification of the facts (if the reports are correct) he will discharge her for her bad conduct and that will be that, which I would choose.

The other choice is to keep her, provide some counseling and blame her stressful life issues, with a need to protect her husband from the perceived harm from the police. Of course the husband and the wife were in or approaching a "domestic violence" condition but these things turnaround on responding cops all the time. Her perception of the situation that she might think supports defending her husband appears to be affected by a large quantity of alcoholic beverages. My opinion as created by reports but it's hard to spin this in a good way.

Antonio would try to keep her employed to downplay the embarrassment it's brought to the unit and to the mayor for choosing such persons.

Agan, to mention the comments, some are too supportive of so many things "wrong with this picture." Read them and compare. He's just too forgiving and I do not see why. I wonder what WOULD have to happen to make him change his view. I think she like many needs to actually claim RESPONSIBILITY for her own conduct. That's a big part of what's missing in the lives of so many people these days.

What's coming up? LHS Alumni January meeting

"WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK"

Maybe not. Well, if you don't post one day and then don't do it again each day until now, you get a big break in the blog like here. But a lot happened in that big month of a break- some of it noted below.

So the constant rains have subsided for a while, the Rose Parade has come and gone and Lincoln High's pilot program participation for an early beginning the school year in August is now adopted by the LAUSD district-wide, beginning next August. A few days later, we get some very cold weather- and "cold" to L.A. natives comes in at a higher mark on the thermometer than for people coming to L.A. from other parts of the county. But it was very cold for a while compared to other cold spells.

There was a Christmas Parade in Lincoln Heights down North Broadway on what may have been the hottest day in December, with a few participants needing some help at the end from the paramedics and police on duty. Roosevelt High made its appearance for the first time in this parade.

When I was last following the season, the LHS Tigers varsity football team was going into the city playoffs with a pretty impressive record but then encountered an early loss on the road, ending the 2010 season much better than we've seen in recent memory. The team, coaches and supporting personnel all deserve a big hand for the work put into a very successful season.


ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEETING

After taking the month off in December, the Alumni Association is having the first meeting for the year at 9:30am on Saturday. I don't have the location down as a certainty, as the meetings were last held at the "Cafe in the Heights" after a long run at the LHS camus across the street in either the student cafeteria or the teachers' cafeteria. So more on that coming up.

There's another dance coming up in Spring that should be as good as the last one. It has a good chance of that happening probably because it will be held at the same location, Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs. More details coming, or check http://www.classmates.com/ for the event.

So, there's the quick recap and now to put my writen here for a while instead of on other people's blogs.