A Coalition of Neighborhood Councils met in Glassell Park with City Controller Wendy Greuel Guest Speaker.

North East Central Alliance of Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils. It's a new group comprised of representatives of the Neighborhood Councils from the central and northeast areas. A meeting was held last night and City Controller Wendy Greuel was a guest speaker who gave a very informative presentation on the functions of her office and some of the activities already in progress when she took office last month, and a few things being planned. (See http://necala.ning.com/ for information about the organization.)

Ms. Greuel acknowledges that the office has been called the "watchdog" for the city, but noted that there's also the regular tasks of the office, including handling payroll for the city. One surprising comment she made was that there was only one person, a woman, who was handling the payroll duties. There was not a lot of time to detail that one out but I hope they all take care of her to keep the paychecks on time for their sakes.

From Ms. Greuel: On a different but large impact level was the fact that there will have to be personnel reductions in the city. So far the city has not done that, if you noticed among all the ideas of the mayor to balance the budget- a 30-year leasing out of parking rights for a lump sum payment, having the zoo taken over by privatization, and so on.

From another source, the actual number of persons laid off will be only a handful. (The ironic thing in the Mayor's "shared sacrifice" slogan he's used in preaching about the desperate conditions in finance that the city occupies is that city jobs holders have not be hit yet, and the layoffs, firings, closures of facilities and negative effects of the economic downturn have only been happening in the PRIVATE sector- there is yet the threatened city layoffs to occur.)

Controller Greuel said that every day that there's no action is another day of more expenses being created. At the rate of current activities, she gave out some numbers where at some point in the future, the funding obligations for the city retirement pensions will be a few billion dollars of a budget of only a few more billion. Some changes will have to happen to keep things working, possibly change in the retirement benefits but all those details were more than what this meeting was about.

The real fact of the matter here is that the Neighborhood Councils, composed of volunteer members, formed at a time that there was some strong notions of Valley secession from the City of Los Angeles, creating the body of citizen involvement for the neighborhoods to convey their concerns to city hall. The idea, again, was to give a voice to people and groups who felt slighted.

Let me tell you that the current level of evolution of this system still leaves a lot of this "voice" idea very much something that is raised to deaf ears. The city council is the power broker in the city and the Neighborhood Councils exist as a service arm of the city, in part, and as a means of delivering concerns of an area's residents to the city hall through the council members. It is only "ADVISORY" and the wishes and concerns of NCs can and have been ignored in many cases by the CMs.

THe COALITION exists as a way to create some clout, putting together all the little mice gathering to demonstrate some strength where being stepped on was easily done before in the roles of NC entities and the members individually.

There still is a lot to be done to generate more strength in the organization but it has more of an opportunity to shape things as a collective body than the singular NCs, should they wnat to make waves. All in all, it's something that gets the CMs attention at least for now, where single NCs are only segments of the city, with many different styles found among this city-wide body of volunteers. In fairness, I have to say that not all NCs are ignored but that depends on the CM and the response any particular NC wants.

From my experience, there still is a lot of information that doesn't come to our NC from the CMs office even though "we" (the NCs and it's stakeholders, i.e., usually residents and business owners in each area) are supposed to be somewhat "sharing" or "partnering" (to some level, at least), with the Council Member for the Neighborhood Council in his or her district. We mostly find out through "the grapevine" and the news media, including the Los Angeles Times. Where's the "sharing" of information by the CMs and the City, generally? Still a long way to go to get consistent recognition of any appropriate worthiness, in my view. The Coaltion approach is a co-existing way to move things and I'm all for it.

Among the several matters discussed in the meeting on Wednesday evening, the most interesting of all was the discussion from the new City Controller. So far the impression I received from Controller Greul's visit was positive one. Of course, she's a politician and there's always that trust issue present to some degree, depending on the partcular politician and his or her track record, but Ms. Greuel seemed to have significantly less "boilerplate" items in her presentation than, for example, her benefactor, the Mayor, let's say. I hope that she keeps true to what I understood during the campaign that she would operate with independent judgment and be swayed by the Mayor's agenda. So far, there's some hope and a dose of reality with her in that office. Let's hope it lasts.

"Texas Hold'em" LHS Alumni Fundraiser on Saturday

The Lincoln High School Alumni Association will be having the Texas Hold'em Fundraising event this Saturday afternoon in South Pasadena. This is not a "sport" that I am familiar with, and the Alumni Association is taking it's first plunge into this particular endeavor.

The number of players that the event can accommodate is 100. See the sidebar link under "Alumni Events" for details.

As I am not familiar with this as being a spectator activity generally, I can't give you any other information on what's involved, other than what I've been told. Prizes were being arranged and gambling for real money would not be happening since that would be a good way to risk a bust and messing up the day for lots of people.

UPCOMING EVENTS
There are some reunions coming up of assorted vintages of classmates (see sidebar) and there will be a Shakey's Pizza Night fundraising event in a month. The opening of scholl for the 2009-2010 academic year is right around the corner and this will bring football action to Lincoln in just a few weeks. Alumni involvement in the food booth is always a good place to mix up some visiting and a little bit of work for getting funds together that will eventually be returned to benefit students and the school.

Back on the LARadio.Com password sharing situation: Subscribe.

I wrote about the fact that there are many subscribers to the L.A. Radio.com website, http://www.laradio.com/ .who are passing along their user name and password to other people, and this cheating has been hurting the website in a monetary way, and you know that's important. This has been sometihing that's gone on for many years, but now it just may be enough to hasten a complete end to the website as it is now.

I checked the web site and found out - for anyone who thinks it's any huge financial burden to subscribe- that the price of a subscription from now to the end of the year, over FOUR more MONTHS, is really affordable: "The subscription for the remainder of 2009 is $15.95."

Why subscribe to this site? There's news and information each weekday on this site that is very behind-the-scenes, personal, and many times the only place that this information will be found. I really recommend this as a source of a lot of news, entertainment, history and reference items, as well as a lot of personal stories, old and new, of people you have heard on the radio now and in the past. Even if you are not a big radio fan, there's still something for nearly everyone and the ARCHIVES have all the past columns that you can check for what's happened in the past 10-plus years of the website.

Music Flashback from LA Radio.com to August 25, 1971, and a Comment on Password cheating

Before getting to the less enjoyable items of events in politics of Los Angeles and Sacramento by persons who used to be called "Public Servants" I will stay on the lighter side a little longer, but still, you see there's a gripe here, but not so much for myself, but for the site where this music information was presented today.

Going back to the well today for another taste of days gone by in music, taken from today's LARadio.com, that by the way, is a subscription site addressing the radio industry from mere listeners like me, to inside industry operations and the story behind scenes and more information about current activities and a lot of history and stories.

Password Sharing on LARadio.com
Another note about this site, laradio.com, is that it may not continue past this year since there are thousands of hits daily on this site using other people's passwords, even though the basic yearly subscription cost is only about $4 a month. A subscriber will give out his or her password then it continues to be used by more people, continuing with others now "Sharing" the password.

Sharing passwords on pay sites really is not harmless and hurts the small operations like this one, speeding the end of its operations as not being worth the effort that it takes to put it together everyday. In this situation, the results directly create an effect that is immediately and directly felt by the website.

There are two harmful sides to this password-sharing action:

First, giving out the password is being the first offender and simply unfair, violating the agreement agreed upon to be the only user in the first place.

Second, getting the password to use for free is being a cheapskate, and it's done by many who could afford to pay. Collectively it amounts to some significant financial damage to the site's operations. If people find LARadio.com to be enjoyable- and they must if they keep checking it out- a cost of less than a dollar a week is fair and a bargain for what it there every day.

It should not be a huge burden when you consider the other things that people spend similar amounts of money on routinely, for example, when eating out anywhere, even fast food. And have you seen parking rates ANYWHERE, both public or private lots? The cost of ONE beer at a restaurant or bar would about cover a month's worth of the subscription. This site is very cheap to subscribe to, but the password sharing is being really a cheapskate. That's the gripe.

As you see, this music particular part of LARadio.com gets my attention everyday, but unless they are songs from farther back, I usually don't know them as well.

Top Five Flashback, August 25, 1971:

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart by the Bee Gees,
Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver,
Signs by the Five Man Electrical Band,
Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye,
Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight.

For me, this was all at the end of my time as an undergrad and the beginning of moving on to other things. There were lots of people from four years of time as a student that I would never see again, or would fade out, little by little, friends included. Disco had not begun yet and you can see the Bee Gees were performing a delicate ballad here, while Marvin Gaye had begun to move on to social commentary in his songs.

Going back to August 24 in 1962 for some hit tunes.

Here's a few tunes from this date a long time ago, appearing in today's LARadio.com. You might remember these songs, and if you remember them as original hits, then you are from a long time ago, too. This music was from a time before the British Invasion, Psychedelic Rock and it followed the period where DooWop was strong. The Beach Boys and other groups had helped to keep surfer music maintain a solid hold in the pop scene around this time.

The songs in the list could all be heard on single stations that at that time played all types of music before the later change that kept stations playing music in particular categories like country, R&B, hard rock, Soft Rock, Smooth Jazz and so on. If you listen to 94.7 "The Wave" now, you will hear songs on that "Smooth Jazz" stations that were once conisdered very pop, including rock, Motown, easy listening, regular oldies as well as newer releases. Just goes to show you that changes happen all the time and there's often a return to practices of the past that work out again at a different time.

Top Five Flashback, August 24, 1962:

The Loco-Motion by Little Eva,
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by Neil Sedaka,
Things by Bobby Darin,
You Don't Know Me by Ray Charles,
Sheila by Tommy Roe.



One feature of these songs of this period in the past is that the lyrics are very easily understood and the content is usually about life experiences relating to love and relationships or group activities like certain dances and events that mostly are on the fun side.

PostScript: The singer, Little Eva, only 19 when "The Locomotion" became a hit, died on April 10, 2003. The obituary in the UK site for "The Independent" from April 12, 2003, show quite a bit of her life's path and also demonstrates that many financial rewards from hit songs and their re-birth when performed by other artists do not always trickle down to the original artists and performers, especially in those days.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/little-eva-730204.html

GLAD event Saturday Noon to 4: "A Taste of Eagle Rock"

There's a food event on Saturday afternoon, from 12 Noon to 4 p.m. to support the "Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness," GLAD, in Eagle Rock tomorrow that will have a lot of food items brought to one location for the cost of $25 per adult ticket. Children 12 and under: $10; Children under 5: Free.
See flyer: http://www.gladinc.org/PDFs/Taste%20of%20Eagle%20Rock%20Sponsor%20Packet.pdf

This annual event is a fund raiser for the non-profit institution that does a year-round credible job of providing service to hearing impaired persons- deaf and hard-of-hearing. You see Council Member Jose Huizar's name on the linked .pdf flyer, but don't let that scare you away; most events happening in any Council District ususally have the the Council Members helping to get these kinds of events going and you will see those names included very clearly. There are some non-profits that you might have heard about if you follow city hall politics which will cause raised suspicions of worthiness, but this a good one that's not in that category at all, so if you want to try an afternoon of food tasting of assorted types all in one place, do come on over and enjoy.

The location is very near Occidental College, a few blocks further north on Eagle Rock Blvd. at La Verna to the west.

A little sample of songs from back in 1970 and 10 years later.

All this should have been posted yesterday, but just getting up these items for Friday:

Here is something that might jog your memory, going back to LARadio.com's "Top Five Flashback" for August 20, 1980:

Magic by Olivia Newton-John,
Sailing by Christopher Cross,
Take Your Time Do It Right by the SOS Band,
Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones,
Upside Down by Diana Ross.

Another bit of music history/trivia from this date, August 20th, coming from LARadio.com was:
1972 – Isaac Hayes, Bar-Kays, others perform at Wattstax Festival at LA Coliseum.

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

I have another list of top five tunes, also from LARadio.com, for August 18, 1970, that I will post now since I haven't posted for a while, just trying to digest all the news that has been happening, so here's the item from Tuesday:

Top Five Flashback, August 18, 1970:

Make It With You by Bread,
Close To You by the Carpenters,
Spill The Wine by Eric Burdon & War,
War by Edwin Starr,
In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry.

The lists are separated by ten years, but I can remember each of these songs very well, something I can't say for the "Top 5" of anything that's been played on the radio these days, and the lyrics were usually understandable and could be repeated in front of your parents without a second thought, a little different from some of the pop music today.

Amid all the bad news, an item of Airline Humor from Mechanics

The whole local scene is pretty dismal with the city needing a new police chief, and a new mayor if you think about his actions of heading for vacations in Africa and then Iceland after a few days in the city, then off to Las Vegas. You might remember how the Mayor returned after a huge deployment of LAPD officers at likewise huge expense to the city (= taxpayers) and angrily contradicted the messages sent out by his subordinates after the Michael Jackson memorial event at Staples Center, taking the side of AEG for not seeking any reimbursement to the city.

The Mayor was around for a bit to blast the firefighter's union because of a mailer sent out to tell residents of reduced services as a result of the city's handling of the budget, while the hiring of more police to reach 10,000 officers is still being pursued. He didn't like the mailing, but then he's out of town so often that contract talks just can't happen until he's around, leaving the mess to just continue a little bit longer, getting the city deeper and deeper into a hole.

Had Chief Bratton stayed on, it might have been uncomfortable for him as a political ally of the Mayor, to tell his officers that they were going to be facing reductions as the budget realities bring that result closer and closer. And that scenario has to be something that Bratton did not want to deal with.

But the item to see now is KFI 640-am radio reporter Steve Gregory's blog entry http://kfiam640.com/pages/stevengregory.html
"Makes you wonder...... " Sunday, 08-16-2009, 5:40pm PT, that gives you a look at how a situation in the airline industry is handled. As he points out, having a college degree is expected to fly an airliner, but only a high school diploma is needed to fix one.
(Reproduced below in case the blog entry linked happens to change.)

From Steve's blog:

Sent to me by a friend who flew with me on the inaugural LA flight of the Qantas
Airbus A380 double-decker jet...

After every flight, Quantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Quantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

Remember it takes a college degree to fly an airliner but only a high school diploma to fix one. Reassurance for those of us who fly routinely in our jobs.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last..................

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

A couple of things to take from this: College isn't for everyone and people with degrees aren't automatically smarter than others.

Technical/vocational jobs are nearly all pushed to the side in favor of a conventional College track in LAUSD, and in many other districts. Some of the dropout problem could be attributed to the absence of providing things that are important to learn, and that address more areas for student learning to engage them in the educational process instead of further alienating them.
\
After all, isn't the idea of high school to prepare the students for being successful in life? And this doesn't always seem to be what they are doing in schools. The one-size-fits-all "college track" does a disservice to many students who could benefit from some meaningful choices.

Alumni Meeting Saturday; Some events coming up.

The Alumni Association's monthly meeting for AUGUST will be held at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday. It's in the Student Cafeteria at LHS.

Admission is Free (of course) and anyone may attend- you don't have to be a dues-paying member. Other guests are also invited.

Upcoming events -

AUGUST:

See the sidebar item, "Reunions," for the independently organized events information.

Dodger Night on Wednesday, August 19th at Dodger Stadium for 7:10 pm game. "Matt Kemp Bobblehead doll Night." THIS EVENT IS A SELL OUT

Tiger Alumni Texas Hold’em fundraiser Saturday, 08/29/09

The Public Costs: 1. Cleanups, and 2. Sidewalk Sales in Lincoln Heights and Block Parties Elsewhere

1. Dumping trash leads to a need for "community cleanups" as a public expense.
2. Lincoln Heights activity, the Sidewalk Sale coming up at the end of August was an approved expense.

Getting to the second item first: Yesterday, Wedesday, 8-12-09, was a busy day in city council for fee waivers. There were only 10 Council Members present yesteday.

ITEM NO. (67) (a., b., c. was Passed with 10 "ayes", another unanimous vote, one public comment, no council comment or further discussion.) included these parts below:

08-0776-S4
CD 1
a. MOTION (REYES - PERRY) relative to declaring the
Sidewalk Sale in Lincoln Heights on August 28-30, 2009 a Special Event (fees and
costs absorbed by the City = $4,500).

But it's not only Lincoln Heights getting the benefit of city money- here's more spent on parties, literally so, at $2,200.00 apiece.

07-2470-S1
CD 7
b. MOTION (ALARCON - KORETZ) relative to
declaring the Lakeview Terrace Eagles Neighborhood Watch Block Party on August
22, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $2,200).

07-2299-S1
CD 7
c. MOTION (ALARCON - KORETZ)
relative to declaring the FERP Neighborhood Watch Block Party and Carnival on
August 29, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $2,200).

2. THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY CLEANUPS needs to be reduced.
Just for your information so that you can see that there's really not anything happening that is "Free" in the city and that somebody is paying for it. The questions then become, "Is there a benefit to the public for the activity? and then, Is this benefit worth the expense, considering the economic situation and the impact achieved?

Something to think about, like the neighborhood clean ups- we wouldn't need so many if people would stop throwing their crap out of car windows while driving or dumping trash from cars when they open the doors. The curbside gutter is not a trash container and makes for more expense as the "gutters" are serving only as "storm drains" to run out to the sea so there's no flooding whenever it actually rains in L.A. Dumping pollutants makes that condition worse.

There are alternatives for disposing of most things to preserve the environment in the long run, and in the short run, to keep things clean.

That trash dumping also happens when storekeepers sweep off sidewalk trash into the street. And the wasteful practice is watering off sidewalks to do the samething, and it is now illegal to hose off sidewalks in the City. One thing I think that goes on as a problem is the overflowing with trash of city trash containers on the sidewalk. When the trash gets back on the ground it becomes that problem mentioned above. And you know some storekeepers use that public trash as their own dumping method, and they don't bother to make arrangements to use private collection like other commercial establishments do to get a dumpster- and then dumpsters get loaded by anonymous cheapskates when left unlocked. It's an odd sort of chain-reaction.

Such a lot of trouble for what should be simple trash disposal task. But the NEED for cleanups would be reduced if people simply would not use the streets and instead throw trash at home into containers or take them to trash containers as they shop or go into buildings. Just another level of small responsibility that collectively could improve life.

Alumni Dodger Night August 19- More Dodger game opportunities

Well, first, The Lincoln High School Alumni Association's Dodger Night on Wednesday, August 19th is sold out. Well over 100 tickets were sold and that should be a good game if the Dodgers continue as they have been. Another "plus" for that game is that it is also "Matt Kemp Bobblehead Doll Night," by the way. There was some speculation earlier in the year before the selection was made for the Bobblehead Doll that it would be Vin Scully, Dodger announcer supreme who has been broadcasting Dodger games since they were in Brooklyn and Chavez Ravine was just a sleepy little neighbohood behind the Armory. That, for my two cents, would have been really tops as a selection, even better than a player selection, but this is what was finally decided.

Did you miss the original Manny Bobble head doll night? Do you crave a Manny Bobblehead Doll, or maybe two? This announcement (reproduced below, in part) may just be for you. http://cbs2.com/local/dodgers.manny.ramirez.2.1112985.html , Aug 3, 2009,

"Dodgers Adding Another Manny Bobblehead Night"

The new bobblehead will be compliments of San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino. In conjunction with the announcement, the Dodgers are offering a limited number of Manny Bobblehead Packs in which fans can purchase a four-game ticket package that includes both bobbleheads featuring the Dodgers' left fielder.

For just $64, fans will receive the initial Manny Ramirez bobblehead from July 22, a
reserved level ticket to the Sept. 16 game where they'll receive the Curtain Call Bobblehead, and one reserved level ticket to the Dodger games on Aug. 23 vs. Chicago, Sept. 6 vs. San Diego, and Sept. 20 vs. San Francisco. Seating is also available in the Lower Reserve for $80 and Field Box seats for $120 each.

Here's a chance for fans to get that doll and more that I found on the Dodgers web site for some Dodger ticket deals: http://www.mlb.com/la/ticketing/specials.jsp#mannywood , with some key excerpts below-

From the Dodger website, here's the breakdown for that Manny Ramirez Bobblehead Doll package:

• (1) Manny Ramirez Bobblehead (originally distributed on 7/22/09)
• (1) Ticket to Sept 16th game vs PIT (First 50,000 fans to receive Manny's Curtain Call Bobblehead)
• (1) Ticket to the following games:
• Sunday, August 23rd vs CHC, 1:10PM
• Sunday, September 6th vs SD, TBA
• Sunday, September 20th vs SF, 1:10PM

Prices per package:
• Field Box -- $120
• Lower Reserve -- $80
• Reserve -- $64

And while I'm on the site, here's something for the many Military personnel that are around:

The Dodgers are pleased to offer the following discounts to all military
personnel with proper ID for every Dodger home game in 2009!

Pricing:
• $60 Field Box for $20
• $13 Left Field Pavilion for $7
• $11 Top Deck for $7
* Tickets are available on the DAY OF GAME ONLY and are SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. They may be purchased at any ticket booth, 90 minutes prior to game time until 60 minutes after the first pitch, with proper military ID. Limit of 4 tickets per ID.

To purchase discount military tickets in advance, please visit dodgers.com/military. Be sure to join us during the first week of September for Military Appreciation Week when we salute the armed forces:

• August 31st vs. Arizona - Navy Night
• September 1st vs. Arizona - Air Force Night
• September 2nd vs. Arizona - Army Night
• September 3rd vs. Arizona - Marines Night
• September 4th vs. San Diego - Military Appreciation & Friday Night Fireworks

And the other thing here that might be of interest is for seniors or kids who get a deal on prices, with the "catch," if you want to call it that, is that these are for same day games, beginning 90 minutes before the game and it useful except for the chance you have a sell-out game.

The Dodgers are pleased to offer the following discounts to all seniors and kids
ages 4 - 14 for every Dodger home game in 2009!

Pricing:
• $13.00 Left Field Pavilion for $7.00
• $11.00 Top Deck for $7.00
* Tickets are available on the DAY OF GAME ONLY and are SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY.

They may be purchased at any ticket booth, 90 minutes prior to game time until 60 minutes after the first pitch, limit of 4 tickets per kid/senior.

City Hall problems- where do we start to sort it out?

Well, getting back to the keyboard after a break from the local scene. So much simpler to make comments on other blogs but I think there are many that demonstrate some vital points that most people don't want to know.

In the past few local elections, so many people I have spoken with have really been pathetic in their lack of interest in what City Hall dwellers are doing that affects our lives in so many ways that are just accepted.

The parking meter rates quadrupling from 25 cents per hour to a simple "round-it-off-to-the-nearest-dollar" rate was one of these things. If there were more people who objected to this outright gouging by our own elected officials they would back off. It's happened in some areas but that is behavior that is exceptional, and most people just accept it.

Quality of life is very quickly affected by the actions of the local politicians, while the federal counterparts don't have such a daily and immediate reach for most of us to feel. I get the "apathy" from people who are professionals, responsible and otherwise able to read, but they don't see the importance of local politics, at least to be aware of how it has affected their lives. Assuming that these guys in the City Council Chambers are wise and all-knowing is one of the myths that politicians would love to have continue. The truth is that they are even more susceptible to outside influences now than ever before, and they look to "your" well-being only as a secondary matter- unless you are part of the "special interests" that puts them in office and parts with large sums of money to have that happen.

Well, the city has been in a financial bind for a long time and the Mayor admitted it (much later than he could have if he'd been on the ball instead of doing his own thing out of L..A. city limits). Tony said that there'd be layoffs and that was around January. We still don't have that and instead, there's "early retirement" that's coming up now in City Council for cutting people but cutting people with some very nice financial packages that they will take with them and that will have to be paid off until they die by the city's taxpayers.

The whole thing is now seen to be very expensive, more expensive than they thought and there still have been no layoffs on the city side of things, while the private sector has been laying off people left and right, and with little or no notice in many cases. But the City doesn't act decisively to do anything- well, let's change that statement- the City does not act decisively when it comes to personnel decisions that will help the city's positioni in this troubled time.

The CMs WILL act boldly when it comes to jacking people around financially by imposing new rates, costs, charges and they say there was no other alternative. But when it comes to trim some of their own workforce and their own "share the pain" B.S., you just don't see ANY action there.

I have a link to Ron Kaye's blog in the sidebar and if you have not wandered into his blog out of curiousity, you really should consider making it part of the routine as far as local news. The big impact of the early retirement packages being planned for city workers is the important item today in that blog under the title of, "The People's Hero, Sally Choi: City's Sweetheart Early Retirement Deal Blowing Up,"
http://ronkayela.com/2009/08/the-peoples-hero-sally-choi-ci.html#comments

There are some video selections from today's meeting and you may get a taste of what the commotion has been about our bad politicians after seeing it. As I said before, some other blogs have some good topics that make it worth your while to check things out. Check past stories on RonKayeLA.com and you will see a lot of other ills on the city level that affect life in Los Angeles.

Mayor's school: A Spanish-only program in a Watts elementary school reported.

There is a summer program reported in the Wave local newspaper that John Ritter Elementary School in Watts, one of the Mayor's group of 10 schools that he's taken to improve, has a program of instruction conducted in Spanish exclusively. "The Bottom Line: At this summer session in Watts, Black students need not apply," By BETTY PLEASANT, Contributing Editor, Story Published: Jul 8, 2009.
http://www.wavenewspapers.com/opinion/50316762.html

The story mentions the fact that the local parents of Black children are left out and the teachers that do not speak Spanish were also left out of the picture. The idea of education to improve performance, to all of what I have seen over time, needs first to develop some competency in the English language to open the doors to the rest of achievement. This is not what they have in mind here at this school.

The Black parents say their children also need to be helped and it's pretty plain that they are not part of the scheme. Since the story was written, there has been a rebuttal, printed in the Wave, that defends the program. "Article is misleading on school’s summer program." Story Published: Jul 17, 2009, by a letter from Angela Bass, Superintendent of Instruction, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
http://www.wavenewspapers.com/opinion/letters/51044412.html

The Mayor's involvement in the Parnership plan has appeared to be very slight, as a personal matter, and it's been heavy on delegation of authority. The enthusiasm for this takeover by the Mayor has ebbed over the many months and much of the early support by teachers, especially reported at Roosevelt High, has changed to disillusionment and frustruation, with no progress seen by these teachers. Part of the complaints there were that they were not included in what has been going on. "Roosevelt High teachers give the Education Mayor a failing grade," by Steve Lopez, May 20, 2009. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/20/local/me-lopez20

Well, you can read the stories and consider that the idea of "dual immersioin" in language reall amounts to "no immersion" in anything. The idea of learning language by "immersion" is a concept that is completely impossible in Los Angeles, and here's why: First, to be "immersed" you have to be completely surrounded by all communitcation done in the single language, which would be English, for example. The use of Spanish would not and really "could not" be done at all in classes or anything in the hypothetical school program if this were to be the true approach applied. This forces the actual use of the second language for the practical funciton of communicating and then result is an acquisition of that language skill, slowly but surely.

This is something possible where, for example, you travel to another country and find no one uses English, forcing some quick study of the necessary words and phrases to get along with your basic needs. Effectively, you have no choice, and the "immersion"part similarly forces you to sink or swim in that language.

Contrast that with life in Los Angeles where you don't have to venture far to find someone who speaks Spanish and English with at least a functional level to allow the language gap to be bridged. The student in an English immersion program would not be able to experience "forced" use of English since there are so many around to provide "help" with the English-Spanish communication difficulties, even unintentionally, thereby reducing the "discomfort" level of the situation, but also eliminating the effectiveness of the concept.

So "dual immersion" can be the reality with a source present for either language to assist, but the function of the "immersion" in a single language is entirely lost as a tool to achieve the potential possible in the language area.

And if you have doubts, consider that where there is a crutch to use in the language situation, or really, in any area where help is welcomed, you will use it. But with some things, the "learning" is enhanced in this style, yet in language, for a real push to learn, it's something different that does benefit from "toughing out" the communication obstacles and arriving at the answers that way. It's not the only way, but just a very intense style that can produce large gains.

If you notice, people who use others to help get around the language barrier will really reduce the rate of acquisition of skills in the second language. The other part that you might consider is that if your source of instruction has weak grammar, you will pick up that, too, but that's no different than what we learn from others in a single language environment.

Read the stories and remember that the rebuttal comes from somebody who is in the business of justifying their existence and since there's a very heavy connection to politics (as if the role of the spokesperson is not political all by itself), you have to realize that truth and honesty are not the primary goals, and survival and perpetuation of their jobs might be a reason for the comments you will see.

As a more cynical and pragmatic observation, you have to consider that parents often treat school as a form of day-care to account for some of their children's activity while they go to work, and some parents would have to find alternate means of child care for their children for the time there is no school, regardless of whether they speak English, Spanish, or both. But that's not the primary concern here, so let's move on.

And let's see, just whose program is this all about? Oh, that would be Antonio Villaraigosa, the "all-about me" mayor.

LHS Alumni Summer Picnic this Saturday

The Lincoln High Alumni Association will be hosting the Summer Picnic for 2009 this Saturday at Schabarum Regional Park in Rowland Heights MAP

All Alumni and friends invited, see Flyer and come on over. The time is from Noon to 6 pm (but printed as "5pm".

Hope to see you there.

Will the MTA bend to pressure to give AnsaldoBreda the contract?

"MTA chief recommends against Italian firm's rail cars; Agency staffers report that the cars being built by AnsaldoBreda under an existing contract are too heavy and years behind schedule." L.A. Times story by Maeve Reston, July 21, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rail-car21-2009jul21,0,7988438.story

The Italian company, AnsaldoBreda, is favored by the mayor and the union really wants the Italian firm to get the deal, even though it may not be the best deal for the city's money and future. A $300 million expense for 100 light rail cars to be built would really have to be considered in light of the past performance of AnsaldoBreda, and it's not been making the grade.

The idea of a company making jobs, regardless of whether the expectations may be accurate, is all that matters to the union and to many on the City Council, too. Just claiming membership on the Council does not ensure that the best for the City's interest will be done by them. There's been plenty of goofs in the past. And by "goofs," I mean mistakes and bad choices, and not a characterization of the members of City Council, thought it may be fitting. It may be that the costs may not be a good deal, but when you deal with unions, that's not their concern, only that there's jobs present to use by, or to produce, union membership. That's their business. The welfare of the city and it's limited finances are not best left to be judged by any union.

There's even less credibility with politicians. They just want to be re-elected and keep running for offices so what ever gets them the most votes is their baby. With some, when the City Council is involved, you just mention jobs and you've got Ed Reyes and Bill Rosendahl already moving to your side. Now whether there's any jobs with futures of any sort attached to them can be an entirely different matter, and usually the details seem to me to be treated too lightly by the decision makers. Pitching "jobs" with any project is a good move that is a good way to get results to go your way, and you bet that that's always something that is tried to be woven in for the best reception.

Well, we will see if there's any integrity there or if the pressures that the special interests and assorted lobbyists used will get this deal to look good enough to vote for, even if it's just wishful thinking or - and this could be what it is- if it's really just a plain, out and out, bad deal for the city that puts money into important pockets.

City Council's Tuesday Meeting to address City expenditures connnected with Michael Jackson's Memorial event at Staples Center

City Council had put off all the matters for the Michael Jackson Memorial event to Tuesday to be heard at the same meeting, allowing all the parties involved to be a little more informed and prepared. Council member Dennis Zine has already voiced his positon, to find out who authorized the expenses and to try to get reimbursement to the city.

The amounts spent by the City are in dispute. The $1.4 million spent for the 3,500 police called out for duty is only about that, but another sum, nearly $4 million is the figure given to Zine by the city sources for all the city services and personnel involved.

Mayor Villaraigosa has shown his colors on this and they don't match the city's. He said, in a widely covered press conference turning on the staff and the general sentiment of officials, that the web site (that he was supposed to have authorized) to collect donations was ridiculous and that AEG the owners of Staples Center and promoters of Jackson's events would NOT be asked for ANY money. So there.

Tony is still a little off-base as far as public opinion and his choice not to run for Governor was really based on the fact that he has low popularity, and this move fits in with what he's done all along in the past 4 years of his first term.

Tomorrow's meeting may be a show down, or a lot of backpedaling. Tim Leiweke, President & CEO of AEG, says he has no responsibility for the expense and did not cause the City to act as it did. And on top of all that, he is buddies with the mayor, who for all his talk of a "World Class City," still does favors for people that have put out dollars for his campaigns and activities. After all, that's what politics is all about. They all deny it, but you can see what makes sense as the stories unfold.

"Noche Tropical"- on Saturday Night, 7-18, Dance at Guadalupe School

"Noche Tropical" on Saturday, July 18, at the OLG School Grounds, 4-10 pm, Tribute to the Fathers Club Members.

INFORMATIONAL NOTE: The Guadalupe School ("Our Lady of Guadalupe School") is an elementary school that goes up to 8th grade.

This event was brought to my attention by another LHS alum several weeks back, with the accompanying letter below providing a comprehensive report. Of course, time moved faster than I expected and this late posting is the result, with the date here already. The Chico Band, a versatile and seasoned band that provides something for everyone, will be playing. That alone is worth the ticket price. Some of you may remember them as the band that played for the 1998 LHS Gala at the Biltmore Hotel where they did an outstanding job as a dance band.

"Dear Alumni and Friends:

We are so excited for our upcoming event, “Noche Tropical” on Saturday, July 18, at the OLG School Grounds, 4-10 pm, that we have decided to pay Tribute to the Fathers Club Members that for so many years served the children of OLG and the community with their hard work and dedication. We now need to thank them and recognize their efforts. If you have one of these great gentlemen in your family, please get in touch with us so that we can add his name to our guest list.

Everyone is working together to make this night amazing and just as special and memorable as our last event in May. Our purpose to provide Our Lady of Guadalupe School students with resources that will give them the opportunity to realize their dreams and become leaders in our society is now becoming a reality. We did well in our last event but that was only the beginning!

Please invite your friends, relatives, and other classmates so that they may also experience these life changing experiences with us. We all are very grateful for the support and love that was shared by many at our beloved OLG School.

Putting on these events takes special acts of kindness and generosity to make them profitable. We encourage you to help us by donating any amounts of cash that will go toward the following items:

music
stage
dance floor
tables and chairs
tarps or umbrellas
food, raffle items, bottles of alcohol, mixers
cases of sodas and
drinking water

Whatever you can give to support us in our efforts to make this event a success will be greatly appreciated. We have already been blessed with the support for a few items and that has given us momentum to receive more. Please send your checks made out to OLG to the school c/o OLG Alumni, 436 North Hazard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90063. We also encourage you to go out into your communities and seek donations and sponsorships from your local vendors or from your places of employment.

If you attended our last function, you saw that it takes many people to make it a successful event. So if you would like to volunteer to help us make it much more effortless and smooth for everyone, please let us know.

Please share the information of this event and get for us updated contact information from other alumni and send it to us so that we can include them in our invitations and mailing lists.

Please visit and encourage others to visit our website at http://www.olgalumni.com/ . Our website is updated with news about the school, the alumni association, pictures and stories from our last event, we are selling OLG apparel, and see for yourself the positive stories of progress made in our journey to make a difference at the school and in our community

Please continue to network with other alumni and invite them to “Noche Tropical.” Tickets can be purchased by calling Paul Villarreal at 626-324-1864 or Bob Razo 323-229-6487. We are here with open arms to welcome you to where you once belonged.

As I reflect on the work we are doing and thinking about our alumni, it excites me to hear the new and positive experiences our young and older alumni are having at this time in our lives. Being able to hear and experience these things with you, makes me more eager to serve you, our community and our school. It states in the Holy Bible that you must be able to "Give to Receive." There is no doubt that we have been given the best gift of all by being able to attend our beloved OLG School. The families of OLG are truly special because our history, tradition, and culture are evident in the parents and grandparents that sacrificed to send us to our school.

On behalf of the children, staff and faculty of Our Lady of Guadalupe School, we thank you and we look forward to seeing you at “Noche Tropical.”

With Love and respect,

Paul Villarreal
OLG Alumni President
Class of 1990"

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. Admission: Free (of course) and anyone may attend- dues-paying members or not, and other guests are also invited.

ALUMNI NEWSLETTER- check the Alumni Page on the LHS website for the recently issued 2009 Newsletter.

Upcoming events -

JULY:

Summer Picnic on Saturday, July 25th This is back after a one-year hiatus and you past attendees will remember the place, Schubarum Regional Park in Rowland Heights beginning at noon. It's an opportunity to have a relaxing time with alumni and families in a low-key setting for a nominal cost.

AUGUST:

Dodger Night on Wednesday, August 19th at Dodger Stadium for 7:10 pm game.

Tiger Alumni Texas Hold’em fundraiser Saturday, 08/29/09

Did Michael Jackson's Death Help the L.A. City Economy?

TONY'S BACK
Well, the Mayor is back from Africa where he went with his new girlfriend, Channel 5 news person, Lu Parker, just one day after he was sworn in for a new 4-year term, promising to be that best mayor he could be, or words to that effect. Well, as if things did not hit the fan hard enough when Villaraigosa left Los Angeles by the events following the death of Michael Jackson, sendimg everyone and everything into near-critical mass with police assigned to just about every activity that occurred after the pop singer died.

EXPENSES TO THE CITY (AND THE TAXPAYER).
The whole series of events seemed to culminate in the memorial tribute last week at the Staples Center. The cost for the police and all the city services that the taxpayers have to cover amount to nearly $4 million dollars. Some have put the cost at about $1.4 million but that's really just the cost for police salaries used on these activities. Matt Szabo, the Mayor's spokesman and cover-up artist, tried to justify the expense as a city obligation last week and not something that should be paid for by the people who caused it. He did not make sense in the radio interview. He made a good try but it is not possible to make sense of it.

COUNCIL MEMBER JANICE HAHN SAYS THE EXPENSE WORTH IT.
Legally, there's not a real good basis for the city to charge anyone. There was no contract, there's no law on this to make it a chargeable item, and there's just the idea that the events brought money for the city by tourists. JANICE HAHN, Council member was totally nuts in saying that the costs that the city spent for this were actually GOOD for the city. She is just out of her mind if she applies her math skills in that way.

To take that any further, if you can have more of these celebrities dying and huge events happening, how would the city come out ahead? HAHN says it generates huge amounts of money for the city, so it was worth it. So are we spending $4 million or $1 million of city expense and then it all comes back to the city? She has to be just deluded beyond help.

Let's say people spent at hotels and for meals and renting cars or whatever they do to spend money, how much of that is HELPING the City taxpayers when the salaries of the city workers is paid up? There's your $4 million or the $1 million spent as tax dollars for the workers and the city services. Now where does THAT money come back to the city treasury?

True that there's lots of money to be made on the people, but WHY is the city supposed to supply the employees and services for SOMEONE ELSE, a private sector person or company to make money? The city still has the bill and the private businessmen are walking away counting their money and smoking their cigars, and maybe they say to the city, "Thanks for the help."

Does that make any sense? Janice Hahn is as nutty as often or more than she is noteworthy in her comments. This event has her totally looney.

AEG SETS UP THE STAPLES CENTER FOR THE MICHAEL JACKSON MEMORIAL
The expenses that seemed to use endless supplies of police and other city workers and services served to totally boost the Staples Center publicity for the event. It was broadcast around the world, had famous entertainers and the casket of Michael Jackson there, too, after the Hollywood Forest Lawn funeral was held at 8 a.m. that day.

Did you know that the Staples Center, operated by AEG, charged the television crews for the risers that they set up in front of the Staples Centers? $50,000 or more, depending on locations. The final haul was estimated to be about $500,000.00 for the risers. Everywhere there were making money off the Jackson death. The event was recorded and you know there is going to be a dvd for sale. Already there is a tour as a tribute to Michael Jackson, with the money, of course, figured out to be worth it all.

The whole circus - and the real circus, Ringling Brothers, performing at the Staples Center had to be postponed a day for the memorial event.

REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTED (DEMANDED) FROM AEG BY SOME ON COUNCIL AND OTHERS
The costs were not legally recoverable (so far) from AEG or the Jacksons or anyone, so the city was just SOL. Council member Dennis Zine was adamant in his claim for the city to be reimbursed for the money. He had some really comprehensive figures for the city services used up and also noted that the police were not able to respond to other work if there were there, so some things had to wait, although these might not have been emergencies, but the work was done in preparation and in assigning 3,500 extra police to the estimated throngs that were going to show up.

Then the police and event organizers announced that the Staples Center would not be accessible for anyone for two blocks around without a ticket to enter the area, so this was what I think explained a lot of the falloff in the people who were expected to be outside. Like the Academy Awards, you can't get in, but you can see the arrival of stars, but not here. You were not even going to be able to see anything, not even the building from where they were cordoning off the area. So why bother going? The way the I.D. bands were handled made it seem like a hopeless task for anyone wanting to slip in or counterfeit the bands. And so very few went out on the street since it was all going to be on television anyway, and the weather was hot to make hanging out in the street something not too enjoyable.

PAY PAL ACCOUNT OF CITY TO COLLECT VOLUNTEER DONATIONS.
In order to try to recover some of the money spent by the city , a website was set up to collect donations from fans (or anyone) for the Michael Jackson Memorial expense. It collected a total of about $17,000.00 at one point last week, hitting $35,000.00 when it was shut down last Friday. The whole site initially crashed when there were so many visitors that the site, specifically announced on news shows across country, couldn't handle it and that was it for about a day. Matt Szabo, while speaking for the Mayor's office in Tony's absence, announced this website as a means of collecting donations to the city when he was interviewed on the radio last week.

NEWS CONFERENCE BY MAYOR
The mayor really was excited about AEG after he said that the city had a responsibility for the event and expenses and babbled on about how the city is not going to charge for a funeral since this is a "World Class City." He said that AEG (owner/operator of the Staples Center and organizer of the "memorial" for Michael Jackson) is not going to be asked to pay any expenses. Mayor Tony was so agitated that he said he disagreeed with his staff and he thought that that idea of asking for donations was ridiculous. Obviously that idea did not come from him and it seems Jan Perry thought of it as a means to get some sort of recovery of costs.

The Mayor was typically full of his self-importance and presented several specious examples of why is was right for the city (that still is about a half-billion in the red on the city budget, by the way) to absorb these expenses. Maybe his trip made him forget such small details. The Mayor ranted on and on about AEG and the good that they have done for the city and money that was brought in by them. He did not mention that most of the money goes into the pocket of AEG ("Anschutz Entertainment Group") and AEG's owner, Phillp Anschutz.

In case you don't know, AEG and Anschutz were big contributors to the Mayor's campaigns, and have associated groups that paid for many of the trips that the Mayor has taken, have contributed to many of the ballot measures that the Mayor supported, and gave lots of money for the Yes on Prop. 1A measure to raise taxes which would have meant that taxes planned for sporting events would not be imposed. AEG did not want to see any taxes put onto their ticket prices, preferring that individuals pay them directly, it appears.

Well, Tony came back into town very arrogant and very rude to his own staff who have tried on many times to save his butt from many of his situations and statements. Dumping on Matt Szabo I suppose it is tolerable by Matt as a dedicated staffer in the Mayor's office who gets a pretty good salary to take the heat- he just didn't expect that the heat was going to be coming from his own boss.

The whole analysis made of the situation by Tony in the speech was, to use one of Tony's words, ridiculous. Absolutely and completely. He has no idea of how to make an analogy of any proper relevance or having any connection with the truth. Armed with the facts, just about all of the pitch Tony made can be dissassembled for the coverup that it is.

CITY COUNCIL WILL ACT NEXT WEEK ON MOTIONS.
Next week, Tuesday, the City Council will deal with the motions and reports that have been requested by various members in connection with the Jackson memorial and related events and expenses. At this time, only CM Dennis Zine is speaking out on the need to pursue the matter and get AEG to cough up the money for the work that they had the city put out.

As I mentioned before, CM Janice Hahn was totally in support of letting the city hold the bag on the expenses, justifying this event as one that brings the city lots of tourists and money. That was really something that would be difficult to assess in terms of real dollars. It really seemed that she was in on something on Friday, like hearing what Tony was up to on his way back from Africa with Lu Parker, and Hahn wanted to be loyal to the Mayor. A huge mistake as her contrived assessments and conclusion were difficult to quantify and prove, and entirely useless in restoring the dollars to the City treasury to pay for things like salaries and services.

CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS STILL SITTING ON THE FENCE WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE A POSITION BY NEXT WEEK.
As politicians, the CMs want to keep their jobs. Naturally, since it pays an outrageous sum ($15,500.00 or so per month) and they really don't do much they are held responsible for in the end. But they need to vote on measures and the votes will tell you where they are.

Dennis Zine has been very diplomatic under the barrage of criticism that the AEG people and Zine haters have heaped upon him. Nuch Trutanich, City Attorney, seems to be deterimined to find out the facts in the situation to see what money can be recovered and the rest of the CMs except Hahn, have taken no public position, typical of their weasel approaches to important issues. But when it comes time to give out plaques to their friends, you just can't shut any of them up. Tune in on Fridays for the awards presentations that hold up the meetings if you want to see what I mean.

THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW- LET'S LEAVE THE $50,000.00 LUNCHES ORDER FOR LATER.
Well, there's more to the story and I need to end it now as I began this when Tony finished his news conference Monday and most of the news has already covered a lot of what I wrote here. So much for any "news" aspect, but the idea of the PEOPLE of the city getting the short end of the stick because Tony does not want to upset his friends who expect him to do favors is the point.

I mentioned elsewhere that the AEG people, probably Anschutz himself, and Tony talked about this and Tony promised to call off dogs and leave AEG alone. I am afraid that is not an acceptable solution for the people of Los Angeles. Someone might introduce the Mayor to the concept of "fiduciary duty" and mention that he totally fails on that account. And the financial history of AEG contributions is worth another couple of paragraphs to sum up that very serious monetary involvement in influencing government, but needs to wait if this item is going to be posted this week, already Wednesday now.

Too much power, too much arrogance and too many bad choices all leaving the city still in tough straits moneywise. That pledge of Tony's about being the best for L.A. lasted what? Almost a whole day? Hard to imagine that things would be more strained when he returned and that Tony would mix up the people he's supposed to represent.

A KMET Friday arrives.

Some good news for a Friday. "KMET"- The old fm radio favorite of many that left the air when Smooth Jazz "94.7 The Wave" took over in 1987 is back for a day on 100.3 "The Sound." Here's some of that news as reported by Don Barrett's L.A. Radio.com,

"KMET Sounds Off. Legendary KMET returns to Los Angeles’ airwaves for one day today. The original djs, the jingles, the rock stars, and – of course – the groupies [now in their 40s] all will be there, on a day that host station 100.3 The Sound (KSWD) is calling, “Finally a KMET Friday"

‘Finally a KMET Friday’ will begin on 100.3 The Sound much like their weekday routine began for more than a decade, with top-rated morning DJ Jeff Gonzer and newsman Ace Young reuniting on the radio at 7 a.m. Joining them as the day unfolds will be djs Paraquat Kelley, Jack Snyder, David Perry, Rick Scarry, LA’s first female program director, Sam Bellamy, and sales manager Bob Griffith. The day will conclude with legendary KMET oddball Dr. Demento presenting his greatest hits at 7 p.m.