Another High School for LAUSD, starting at $66.5 Million in Huntington Park. .

From the Tuesday LAUSD Board of Education agenda, there's a simple listing under "D. Open Session Items" that seemed pretty bland until I got to the price tag, $66.5 Million. It's O.K., that's just an authorization and like most things in LAUSD, this is subject to change. This price tag will probably look like a bargain after the work has begun and more changes are made to boost the price to something more noteworthy.

At least you won't see this match the Beaudry High School, aka Roybal Learning Center. It was going to be named "The Belmont Learning Center" http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-belmont10-2008aug10,0,1095667.story "New name, new life for Belmont school."

Here's the agenda item:

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District
SPECIAL MEETING ORDER OF BUSINESS
333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room
10:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 17, 2009

D. Open Session Items
1. Board of Education Report No. 127
- 09/10 - Postponed from 11-10-09 Regular Board
Meeting.
Facilities Services Division
(Authorization for Staff to Enter into a Development Agreement for the Delivery of South Region High School No. 7) Recommends authorization for staff to enter into an agreement with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. for approximately $66.5 million for the delivery of a 1,620 students high school to be located at 6361 Cottage Street in the City of Huntington Park, and adopts the plans and specifications for the school
pursuant to the requirements of Education Code Section 17406.

So, am I being to critical on this project? I don't think so and I just look back to the other projects that support this idea. Back to Belmont/ Roybal (and for a time, "Vista Hermosa"):

"$400M High School Opens 10 Years Behind Schedule," from the CBS-KCAL television story of Oct 18, 2008. http://cbs2.com/local/Roybal.Learning.Center.2.843826.html
This is the most expensive school in the United States, built over an earthquake fault line (like most of L.A.) and over an oil field (Do you remember when there were oil wells there on that slope before the land was graded?).

Over at the old Board of Education headquarters on Grand Ave., you have the recently opened High School #9, the Arts High School, coming in at a price tag of $232 Million, at least that was the figure from the story last year in the L.A. Weekly- the L.A. Times story this year has some updated information on cost and how they choose students, but that's for another blog day.

"Art School or LAUSD Folly?" in the L.A. WEEKLY on September 03, 2008, http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-04/news/art-school-or-lausd-folly/ gives you a sample of the things that run up costs and delay completions of schools. This school is very close to Roybal and its the second most expensive school in the U.S. to build. Only in L.A.

By the time the schools are done, the original population that the building plan was based upon has changed by more students leaving the neighborhood entirely as there's more "gentrification" happening in L.A., pricing out people, or the students head to charter schools or Catholic or other private schools. And don't forget that there's lots dropping out so that a 9th grade class has a high casualty rate by the time a 12th grade graduation day arrives.

I read a while back that the plan for construction will complete 2 schools a month until 2011 when the project is done.

And for those of you in the Cypress Park, Glassell Park area, High School #13 (if I remember the numbering correctly) is quickly taking shape. That property in the old train yard off San Fernando Road next to the Fed Ex facility only cost LAUSD $50 million two years after a firm bought it for $30 million undee the noses of the LAUSD Board 2 years earlier after the LAUSD did not move quickly enough to get its act together. Mayor Villaraigosa's friend and campaign contributor was part of this deal. A $20 million profit in 2 years? But then that firm filed for bankruptcy as the real estate market dried up. It was reputed to be the biggest single owner of downtown real estate.

Well, we will see how long it takes and how much it costs for this school- and there's also a chance that they are building this school for it to be taken over by a charter school. Somehow that doesn't sound right that LAUSD should be building schools that it realistically has a chance of not operating. Again, as memory serves me, the number may be up to 250 sites. Well, that's LAUSD.

LHS Homecoming Friday at 6 p.m.- v. Eagle Rock H.S.

Lincoln High's last game is the Friday, November 6, 2009, the Homecoming Game - (and, yes, it's at home, and at night- and for you who have been out of touch with things at the campus, we've had lights since about October 2001, give or take a year. There's not much parking, as usual, but there are lights.)

Varsity game vs. Eagle Rock, at 6 PM, the JV at 3 PM, and the Homecoming Dance to follow at 8 PM.

A Parade This Sunday on Eagle Rock Blvd.: It's the 4th Annual Northeast Veterans Day Parade

Northeast Los Angeles Veterans Day Parade
Date: November 8, 2009

Time: 1:00 p.m . Starting Point:
LAFD Fire Station 55
York Boulevard and Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041

The route proceeds North on Eagle Rock Blvd. to

end, one block South of Colorado Blvd.

Ending Point: City Parking Lot:
Merton & Chickasaw (1 block S. of Colorado Blvd.)
Los Angeles, CA 90041

Among the entrants will be Lincoln High and Franklin High- Eagle Rock High appears to be continuing with their own technical difficulties and is not making an appearance.

4th Annual Northeast Los Angeles Veterans Day Parade covering the Northeast Los Angeles area which is comprised of Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Mount Washington, Cypress Park & Highland Park.

Phone: 323 258-0776
Fax: 323 255-6387

Contact Name: Ruby de Vera
Position/Title: Event Chairperson

L.A. City Council- support for LAUSD mandatory uniform policy- Both the resolution and an LAUSD policy are way overdue.

There was something that came on the agenda for Wednesday's Council meeting that appeared to be worthwhile, but the only question to me was, "Why did this take so long to happen?" The Council came to agree on a resolution- and that's all it can do since the City Council has no jurisdiction over the LAUSD schools- and made this resolution, a purely advisory item, to support the LAUSD mandatory school uniform policy when it brings it up.

The motion was co-sponsored by Jose Huizar, Council member for CD-14 and former LAUSD Board President before he arrived at City Council. If you don't remember, it was after Mayor Villaraigosa left CD-14 for the higher calling to the Mayor's office that CM Huizar moved up in office and pay.

The only wonder I have is why Jose did not make a substantial effort WHILE serving as LAUSD's Board President for this. But again that rule of thumb applies, especially so with government, "better late than never."

===================================================
As appearing on the agenda today:

"ITEM NO. (20)
09-0366
EDUCATION AND NEIGHBORHOODS COMMITTEE REPORT and RESOLUTION relative to support for any plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to implement a mandatory district-wide school uniform policy.

Recommendation for Council action, as initiated by Resolution (Huizar - Hahn - LaBonge), SUBJECT TO THE CONCURRENCE OF THE MAYOR:

ADOPT the accompanying RESOLUTION to include in the City’s 2009-10 State Legislative Program SUPPORT for any plan by the LAUSD Board or Superintendent to implement a mandatory district-wide school uniform policy, IF AMENDED to delete the phrase “including in the City’s 2009-10 State Legislative Program.”

Fiscal Impact Statement: None submitted by the Chief Legislative Analyst. The City Administrative Officer has not completed a financial analysis of this report.

Community Impact Statement: None submitted.

(Rules and Government Committee waived consideration of the above matter)"

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

The current policy of LAUSD is to allow each school to decide for itself whether it will have uniforms.

A parent spoke in Spanish through an interpreter to the Council about the positive experience that the policy brings and her remarks were very relevant, perceptive and supported the ideas that I have long agreed with. The benefits of a mandatory school uniform policy far outweigh the disadvantages that may exist from adopting the school uniforms policy.

A big feature she included was that there was some deterrent effect with gang involvement Also mentioned was that the students appeared to do better overall in school after the uniforms were adopted. Discipline is improved and you can identify which are the school's students inside and outside of school by the uniforms. It helps school security. The expense of the fashion race is bypassed and a better attitude is formed by students.

The Markham Middle School experience in city was cited by an official who also spoke. I believe he may have been a school police representative. The beneficial outcomes that arise from adoption of the school uniforms policy were related by him

Council Member Cardenas said he would vote for the motion, but that he requested also that there be documentation of the benefits that resulted that were attributable to the wearing of school uniforms, rather than making the assumptions that the beneficial changes described will actually happen and that they will happen as a result of school uniforms being adopted by a school.

This was something interesting and unexpected to hear from a CM. Usually it is THEY, the CMs that make far-reaching assumptions and predictions, citing no authority or factual basis for the conclusions that they present in proposing the assortment of motions that they continue to generate.

In that same process there is little opportunity to challenge the conclusions that the CMs state in their presentations, especially right before a vote that ends up in the usual fashion, a “unanimous” vote of all CMs present, apparently reflecting little of any contrary public comment made by members of the public to whatever degree that it appears compelling, immediately preceding the vote. The “done deal” effect in operation again.

But here, CM Cardenas seemed to be hedging his bet and on the face of it, I don’t see any ill wind blowing from that Northernly direction. Am I suspicious or doubting? Over time and through observation, I have just come to see that all that happens is not usually a result of only what is presented in city council meetings and there’s often more happening to be seen later.

For now, this is all that can be done by the City Council- they have their own greedy hands full now with trying to fix the city budget with a mounting deficit. The ball is in the LAUSD’s court- to use another sports metaphor that I follow with one more below.

The LAUSD’s action on uniforms would be something more than a pure “Hail Mary” pass to try to improve the performance of a generally failing school district. There is much present to address the concerns of the opponents of such a policy and we can get to that later, if and when LAUSD get things moving.

As I have said before, the District moves too slowly on things, too much attributed to putting politics ahead of function usually. It’s the students that get churned out of the District's schools year after year in June graduations, or earlier by dropping out, that are shortchanged. THEY suffer and WE all will suffer, too as a result of the consequences of an under-educated youth.

===========================================
When I was last at Lincoln already four years ago, there was no leadership in handling dress code violations, to the extent that the existing dress code was known. Teachers were not encouraged to do anything about that. In fact, there was more of an environment to ignore even obvious violations that mostly arose with the female students, lest you be accused of some misdeed yourself as a teacher.

And so it was at LHS, from the top down. Only one teacher, who I admired for actively and successfully addressing the problems as they arose, able to act on this. (It was something that motivated me as a teacher to not ignore students throwing trash on the ground, especially when they were standing right next to a trash can, as I walked from one classroom to another. Those things CAN be handled successfully for all concerned with some postitive attitudes.)

Here, a mandatory uniform policy would essentially bypass that entire situation and maybe help to right the ship. If concerns are that "expense" is an issue, there are many solutions for that as the need arises.

For now, let's see how long LAUSD takes to try to save it's programs and schools with a practice that's been followed in most if not all Charter Schools and the Catholic and other private schools for years. The prospect of a Charter School taking over some or all of the facilities at Lincoln is real- 5 consecutive years of PI status, "PI-5," but the process moves so slowly, maybe some effective changes can be made to ward off those proposals when made.

City Controller Wendy Greuel, tonight's guest speaker at ERNC meeting.

City Controller Wendy Greuel will be visiting the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council meeting as a guest speaker tonight. The ERNC meetings are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The last word received from Yvette Rojas of the City Controller's office was a confirmation of the visit. There will be a short presentation with a Q&A to follow before getting to the agenda items.

You might ask, "And where is this meeting supposed to take place?" The ERNC meets at "The Eagle Rock Center for the Arts," 2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041, one block west of Eagle Rock Blvd. http://www.eaglerockcouncil.org/

Side Note: By the meeting time, Mayor Villaraigosa will have announced his selection for the next LAPD Police Chief. (News update: The expected Chief will be Charlie Beck, Chief of Detectives- official announcement to be made at 11 a.m.)

Tony Cardenas thinks the City needs to make "lactation rooms" in City buildings/Offices.

Here's something that caught my attention in the news on the radio this afternoon. Tony Cardenas in a sound bite says, that when he speaks with women, and I don't know if this is an ice breaker at a party or something that's part of official communication: "every time I bring up the idea of a lactation room they think it's a great idea."

This just seems so much a low priority thing that affects such a small part of the population that it doesn't support taking attention from other things that are looming for the Council as city business with an urgency.

This was also mentioned in Mayor Sam's blog in the Comments posted that I did not notice Friday:
http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2009/10/los-angeles-politics-hotsheet-for_30.html

By Anonymous:

More pages from the "nanny" state . . . (although what this has to do with
either "information technology" or "government affairs" is tough to figure. . .

Information Technology and Government Affairs Committee Tuesday,
November 3, 2009, Room 1010, City Hall - 2:00 pm

Members:
Councilmember Tony Cardenas, Chair
Councilmember Jan Perry

FILE
NO. SUBJECT (2)
09-1950
Motion (Cardenas – Perry) relative to the
feasibility of creating lactation rooms for mothers with newborns in City
facilities with 250 or more occupants, and related actions. (Arts, Parks, Health
and Aging Committee approved motion on October 13, 2009)
October 30, 2009
11:23 AM

The 2pm meeting's Agenda is here: http://ens.lacity.org/clk/committeeagend/clkcommitteeagend2463332_11032009.pdf

Of course it's useful to lactating women but in terms of absolute numbers, how many women are in that condition AND are city employees AND can't manage otherwise without the City creating physical space for this purpose? Tony Cardenas says that maybe they can get Gerber or some other baby product manufacturer to pay for the cost. Oh, really? We have a poor economy and companies have been cutting back all around for nearly a year, and "donations" from corporate sponsors have been dwindling for standard charities and public service organizations. There is very little to motivate a busines, especially without a trade-off in return, to pay for such a thing .

I would guess it's either city-paid or it doesn't happen and if it's city-paid, it should come with a chunk of salary from the Council members that approve it.

Student cheating a life long-skill? Richmond Gang Rape a sign of Moral Decay?

A couple of things in the news this week have a connection to each other although only indirectly.

Students and Dishonesty.

First, "Seeds of adult dishonesty are sown in youth, study finds," by Carla Rivera, October 29, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dishonest29-2009oct29,0,25349.story

The story in the L.A. TIMES on Friday seems to establish a couple of things that some have already thought were happening generally. Namely, that standards of honesty and doing right don't rate as highly with youunger people than older ones and that the students that cheat in high school are more likely to do so in later life. The study was done by the Josephson Institute, an organinzation that works on ethical issues training and information.

The story in the TIMES does go into the possible reasons for more teen cheating and dishonesty. That discussion of reasons makes sense but still does not justify the behavior, it only explains its possible causes.

If the results of the study are accurate, there's a lot less that's good to expect of our future leaders and future politicians (as if the politician types needed new reasons for dishonesty). The story goes on to show that an ethics program in Downey Unified School District was begun four years ago and suspensions and expulsions are down and attendance is up.

The Second Story- Gang Rape Outside Homecoming Dance.

In the news this week there was the other story about the Richmond, California gang rape of a 15-year old student (Ed. note: corrected from earlier "16-year old" reference.) outside the school's homecoming dance. A group of males acosted her as she left the dance early to get picked up outside by her father. The men took her around the location an alley and raped her for 2-1/2 hours, witnessed by at least 20 persons with no one calling 911 for the police or trying to stop it. some people were said to have recorded the scene on cell phone videos.

The girl's assault was being talked about inside the dance and another woman called police to report it. Some reports say they were still in progress when police arrived. The question in most people's mind is "Why" no one called the police at all, even if they did not want to be seen doing it at the scene?

Another question is "Why would anyone record the video and not call police?" Did they consider this crime to be some form of entertainment?

This loosely ties in with the idea in the "dishonesty" treand among young people. A lot of disinterest in the welfare or caring about fellow human beings could result in this kind of inaction. The Kitty Genovese murder in NY was the clasic example of such failures to help. In that case, decades ago, the woman was assaulted and her screams were heard by a large number of people, but no one called police. The conduct at Richmond, a high crime area as described by many, shows that we haven't had any consistent instilling of values in young people.

Most in high school, adults that is, when it comes to teaching right from wrong and seeing a value in doing good, simply say, "That's the parents job." You'd be surprised how young people see violence and crime as an acceptable kind of behavior. There was a very large proportion of students that had no idea of common courtesies such as "Please, Thank You, or You're Welcome." (There's enough adults. too, with this pattern, so you can see that's why it was not learned or reinforced. I had to say, to respond, for each instance that another teacher shrugged it off, "Well, SOMEBODY has to show them and they can't do that in my class."

It was a pretty novel concept to many but progress was made slowly but surely. It's just that not enough attention is given to see the voids in the makeup of young people, maybe with all the pressures of teaching to the standards and the tests, there's no time to teach as much about fitting in with other human beings.

Yet, simply explaining with some examples and asking a question, "How would you like to be treated in the situation?" often begins to turn on some lights and begins to put it together for students. No one wants to be treated badly and to further demonstrate things, you could ask, "What if this were your friend, your mother, your sister, your baby sister or brother?" or some less numerous combination presented to not go overboard in the exercise.

And now this rape situation seems that it should be intolerable to ignore and not call police, but that's what happened. Maybe the kinds of questions and discussions I had with students never were presented to these young crime witnesses.

That's why the gang rape story, a horrific and brutal example of human behavior, could be explained to some extent, but it would never be justified. Those perpetrators, some adult and some teens, look like they are facing the most serious penalties for the felonies and the youth offenders are said to be charged as adults.

So there are the two stories that do have a connection of sorts, something that calls for causes to be addressed since neither should be an acceptable level of behavior.

The quietly launched LAUSD Duffy-Cortines summer deal that bumped out permanent subs

On 10-29-09:

"Senority system in LAUSD keeps good teachers out,"
By Larry Sand, Updated: 10/29/2009 04:42:33 PM PDT

The writer is a former teacher. He sides with the union's deal to give priority for substitute teaching calls to go to the laid off teachers over the existing body of substitute teachers, many of whom have been subs for years.

This is a story that has generated a few comments. Some of these favoring the laid off teachers and some favoring the subs, especially noting that most of the subs have the greater seniority. You can see that at http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_13669698

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earlier stories as the Substitute Teachers came to realize their dangerous reality:

Sept. 22, 2009

"Veteran substitute teachers protest loss of work," L.A. TIMES- "L.A. NOW" section online http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/veteran-subs-protest-loss-of-work-and-endangers-health-benefits.html From the story:

Under the agreement, 1,800 full-time teachers who were laid off this summer are given preference for open substitute jobs. In L.A. Unified there are roughly 2,200 openings for substitute teachers every day.

Subs must work one day a month to keep their health benefits and must total
100 days worked in a school year to earn benefits for the next year. In his
statement, Duffy pledged to help the veteran subs recover the work hours they
needed.

The deal was criticized as a secret one because this part of the agreement was not given much or any publicity. The Times' writer says they had to go find this out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 15, 2009

"L.A. schools chief stands by controversial deal to use laid-off teachers as subs," [Updated] October 15, 2009 11:47 am, L.A. TIMES' "L.A. NOW" -

The Los Angeles schools superintendent says he opposes revoking an agreement that has imperiled health benefits for more than 1,000 veteran substitute teachers while costing hundreds of them regular work.

In an interview, Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said he stands by a deal that was designed to help recently laid-off full-time teachers by giving them preference for available substitute jobs over veteran subs with more seniority.

I think that Cortines is just tired of dealing with the same work and especially, he's not interested in helping AJ Duffy, the union president, to look good to his members- and then create more power for Duffy. The idea of dealing with the union to save jobs was a task in itself and this detail is more Duffy's problem than that of Cortines.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 22, 2009

"Veteran L.A. substitute teachers losing work -
L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon Cortines stands by a one-year deal made with the teachers union to give assignment preferences to laid-off instructors, including those with less seniority" By Howard Blume, October 22, 2009.

The arrangement to bypass teacher seniority only came to light when the district provided a copy of the agreement to The Times. The deal then created a firestorm within United Teachers Los Angeles, especially when veteran substitutes noticed that they were getting little or no work. Many subs rely on their district employment as primary income. They also get health benefits when they work at least 100 days a year and at least one day a month.

Because of the ongoing state budget crisis, the Los Angeles Unified School District on July 1 laid off about 2,000 full-time teachers who had not yet earned tenure. About 1,800 of them then signed up for sub work. On average, the district employs about 2,200 substitutes a day.

You can see from the numbers that after assigning the substitute assignment calls to the laid-off teachers, there's not much left for anyone else. It doesn't do much for the regular subs, who were effectively doomed by the Duffy-Cortines arranged agreement. Cortines say it is designed to keep teachers around until the economy improves and they can come back to LAUSD.

He did not mention that there is a steady decrease in enrollment in LAUSD schools over the last decade, at the same time a school building surge is continuing, now producing about a new school per month.

As an aside, consider that (1.) many of these new schools will ultimately become managed by charter schools and (2.) you have lots of school in the fifth year of PI (Performance Improvement) status.

After 3 consecutive years of PI status, the state can take over the school. Right now, taking over schools is sort of "on the back burner" for the State, preoccupied with some other problems, so any changes will be slow to come, but meanwhile, 2 or 3 more years worth of students will be churned out of the LAUSD, either by graduation or dropping out, educated NOT to their fullest potential.
==========================================================================

Here's an abstract of a doctoral work: "National Implications: An Analysis of E-Mentoring Induction Year Programs for Novice Alternatively
Certified Teachers" that considers the importance of mentoring on novice teachers, a category of teachers that leaves the profession at high rates (30% and up) within the first five years of teaching. It considers the impact of mentoring and e-mentoring to reduce the attrition rate. Pay rate, to the surprise of lots of people, is not among the leading reason for leaving teaching.
http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Anthony,%20Taiwanna%20D.%20An%20analysis%20of%20E-Mentoring.pdf

The object of the study is what to do about keeping and making good teachers by mentoring approaches that will support them and make them better teachers who, in turn will produce better educated students.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Article of June 8, 2005:

The issue of The Total View newletter from Success Performance Solutions that advises on hiring at topic 1. Fifty Percent of New Teachers Leave in 5 Years. on http://www.super-solutions.com/teachershortages.asp

According to a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey of 8,400 public and private school teachers, the main reasons for high teacher turnover and attrition rates are with inadequate administrative support (38 percent) and workplace conditions (32 percent).

Teacher recruitment and other supply-side solutions may not only fail to solve the problem, but could also make it worse if recruitment strategies involve lowering teacher standards, or if the effect of increasing teacher supply is to deflate salaries or erode working conditions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008

Here is an article "Why Are New Teachers Leaving- The Case for Beginning-Teacher Induction and Mentoring? -that talks about what's needed to help new teachers become successful, namely the mentoring of new teachers and how the structure should be to establish such support on a systemic basis. This is a very detailed plan that is described showing the entire plan and what should be done and what is the purpose of the actions.

http://www.icfi.com/docs/beginning-teachers.pdf

DWP is going to be collecting more from you, but why?

Here is more from a Tuesday entry on Ron Kaye's blog http://www.ronkayela.com/ that you can examine to see that the DWP collects and has been collecting for years, loads of money. "DWP Calling: Your Money or Your Life (Or Why We Need to Know Where Our Money Goes)," By Ron Kaye on October 27, 2009. http://ronkayela.com/2009/10/dwp-calling-your-money-or-your.html


You might have sensed that part about collecting loads of money from you, but did you ever wonder WHERE it went? All that money was collected as a public utility only have it passed along to the "General Fund" of the city to use as it pleases. Instead, they could have been using it to improve service and maintain facilities and infrastructure.

The DWP collected so much money that the City Council had simply used it as a regular supplier of cash, not really doing much for the utility's customers of water and electricity. Remember, too, that this is a monopoly, the only game in town, and you really have no choice when it comes to sellers of water and electricity. It's all DWP and only DWP when it comes to getting electricity or water.

Check the numbers and see the added note at the beginnig of the October 27 blog posting that reflects the City Council meeting's outcome. The DWP requested approval for bonds for applying to DWP improvement on Tuesday, October 28, 2009. Bonds are the way that money is obtained. Actually it is borrowed to pay for things such as government projects. They are very expensive and the amount used comes from selling them to investors who will get paid back, usually from more taxes imposed upon the publie. The High Speed Rail to San Francisco sounded cool and I
am sure many voted to approve the project because of that, but it won't be ready for many years, while the costs to cover the bond repayment begins to mount fairly promptly.

That approval by the City Council, often colorfully referred to by many critics as the "City Clowncil," is mentioned in the linked posting and repeated below:

Editor's Note: The City Council, after a lengthy debate about Google
vs. Microsoft email products, unanimously approved both the water and power bond plans of DWP without debate, setting the stage for further rate increases. Google email won unanimous approval to be City Hall's email.

The DWP has a history of actions that cause most reasonable people from wondering, "Who's in charge here, anyway?" This ranges from the breast feeding classes for employees paid for at the work site by the DWP when the health insurance already provides this benefit, to the payments for an outside Public Relations company when an in-house ability already exists and when there is no other competing utility because DWP is a monopoly. All these came at hefty prices and the PR problem was corrected finally but it shows that they need serious watching.

By the way, David Nahai, ex-GM, resigned earlier this month and is getting paid as a "consultant" to answer emails and phone calls "during business hours" at just under $150,000 for the time left this year. Nahai was solidly behind the breast feeding expenditure. That was back when Nahai and the IBEW (union) were more in agreement than when Nahai left. Ron Kaye's blog gives a lot more of the details for dozens of the city politicians' activities that are not what they should be doing for the public and the voters.

Another resignation from L.A. City Pension Board, LHS alum Moctesuma Esparza

"Another member of L.A. pension board resigns," by David Zahniser, Oct. 28, 2009 . http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/national/la-me-pension28-2009oct28,0,5787968.story The news here involves an alum from the Lincoln High Cl. of 1967, producer Moctezuma Esparza, who was appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to the "Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System," aka "LACERS." Esparza's position was a volunteer position. This makes him the seventh of the Villaraigosa appointees to resign in the last six months according to the Times' story.

The story explains some of the reasons for departures, and while there is no actual violation of anything now. Esparza has some business interest that could be considered within the newly changed law that prevents a person from holding a commission appointment while having dealings that may conflict with the public's interests.

The city's retirement system has lost a huge amount of money over investments in the downturn of the economy. This is something that is being investigated to determine whether any dealings happened to benefit individuals making the investment selections. The City is responsible to make up losses to the pension fund, something that doesn't happen with most private pension investments. The city's budget woes were made significantly more serious by these losses, with many investments made in projects of unusually large size and carrying significant risk. Losses were suffered when those went belly up or were otherwise devalued in the real estate market's plunge.

The various reasons for resignations of the other members are stated in the story. It appears to be a good choice on Esparza's part to leave in order to be clear as not having any question of conflicts of interest raised from potential personal benefits that could arise as a commissioner on the pension board. It's a problem he doesn't need to be involved with. Esparza is known for producing many notable movies, among them, Selena, Gettsburg, The Milagro Beanfield War, and Walkout.

Council plans to ban more outdoor smoking

"L.A. officials express support for smoking ban in outdoor dining areas,"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/a-los-angeles-city-council-committee-voiced-support-for-a-ban-on-smoking-in-the-citys-outdoor-dining-areas-tuesday-but-or.html Something that the L.A. City Council does to pass time instead of deal with real issues of budget, crime or traffic, not to mention soaking the public for as much as they can in as many ways as they are able to invent- parking meters, trash fees, traffic tickets raised, telephone tax created, fee waivers as special events to unqualified events, and on and on.

The one of the originally published versions of this story in the L.A. Times had incorrectly stated that a ban would extend to a 40-mile radius from a taco truck

The actual application of the proposed city ordinance is "40-foot radius of mobile food trucks and refreshment kiosks." Note: "mobile food trucks" appears to be the current descriptive title for the more common term, "taco trucks.' And historical note: Does anyone remember the label, "Catering Trucks?" Those were trucks that had a route to stop by businesses daily for breaks and lunch but the food was already preapared instead of a carrying cook and kitchen on board. At that time the franchise fast food places were not found everywhere like today, and McDonald's was still establishing its place on the horizon. Now you find McD's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and many other franchises in a short drive, or even walk, from whereever you work, go to school or live.

Well, first, a while back, the city wanted to limit where taco trucks could park for any length of time before they had to move on. The courts struck that law down, so now the city goes the other way, and constructs a zone that appears to be more accommodating of their operations and including them within conventional eating establishments. Right about here, I think it's a good place to remind you that City Council is known neither for its consistency or proper prioritization of any issues.

The comments on the L.A. Times blog responded to the story's initial typo banning smoking within a "40-mile radus" instead of 40-foot radius from a taco, or, "mobile food truck" or "food kiosk.'

Some samples of comments from the version, "L.A. council to consider banning smoking in outdoor dining areas," October 26, 2009, at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/la-council-to-consider-banning-smoking-in-outdoor-dining-areas.html,


That's a tough new law. I don't think you can ever be 40 miles from a taco truck in California.
Posted by: Omond October 26, 2009 at 06:52 PM

What? Within 40 miles of a mobile food truck? That has to be a typo. If it were county wide that'd mean if there's a truck in San Gabriel I couldn't smoke in Pasadena.
Posted by: Matt Reed October 26, 2009 at 06:55 PM

How will I know if I'm within 40 miles of a mobile food truck?
Posted by: Kevin October 26, 2009 at 07:12 PM

How will I know if I'm within 40 miles of a mobile food truck?
Posted by: Kevin October 26, 2009 at 07:12 PM



The City Council will spend hours in a hearing on ONE agenda item and still bungle the outcome. To offset this time imbalance, many times they will then pass agenda items in other important areas very quickly with unanimous votes after little or no discussion. (Where there is public comment on an "agenda item," within seconds of the last speaker, they call for the vote and you get in ALMOST EVERY CASE, a UNANIMOUS vote that makes you think what the speakers said mattered not a bit. I think it's the case and you'd have been paid more attention speaking a foreign language instead of English. (That's because you would have an interpreter there, and everything you say will come out twice.)

There are lots of blogs around that chronicle these things so I won't go on any longer with my own list. www.ronkayela.com is one place each day to find so many examples of a malfunctioning city government that you really have to wonder, "Who elects these people anyway?" ANSWER: usually a "majority" of a 12% to 18% turnout- barely 1/5 at most, of the registered voters. . In other words, a different outcome could result with way less than 1/4 to 1/3 of the REST of the registered voters choosing differently.

Dance Contracts for High School students

There's a story in the news this week about the use of "contracts" for high school students. This contract happens to be directed to dancing. Aside from the dress codes that never seem to be handled well in LAUSD, as far as I have seen, there is the dress and behavior at school dances.

The L.A. Times story on the topic carries the headline, "Schools putting the moves on hold," By Carla Rivera, October 26, 2009 . http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dances26-2009oct26,0,1724549.story

Downey and Aliso Niguel High are using "dance contracts" to address the problem of explicit teen dancing. The story covers a lot of the experiences in student behavior and this is an attempt to address the matters. Read this for some enlightenment on current student culture if you haven't seen what's happening yourself.

I think it's about time for this to happen. LAUSD should take notice.

City Council and more gouging of the public at large. This time it's Appeals fees.

At Tuesday's Council meeting, Agenda Item 23, was all about raising more fees and this time for appeals of city planning decisions and the like. Effectively, it would price out many from making appeals, while at the same time, provide a cap on the fees for developers.

The matter was continued to Wednesday (today) and appears now that the action today is to put it on hold for now. It is pending city people doing more work on determining the actual costs involved in doing appeal work and the frequency of appeals, as well as identifying which groups or individuals that make the most use of the current system. It will come back to Council in a few weeks with some reports - and I'm just guessing here- it will be a report used to sell it for approval to get rates kicked up, as that was the plan all along.

Richard Alarcon was among the vigilant on this and it's nice to see him on the public's side for a change. Ed Reyes? Ed is all for the boost, as is, and tries to say "You all voted for it already." Really, the original notice provisions were a potential source of litigation based on the Brown Act's mandatory disclosure requirements that were not met in the prior form.

Shame on you guys- and after THAT (the nature of the proceedings) was made known, the objections to the change came rolling in. Ed was somewhat in awe of the late and mounting numbers of objections received on this- thank the internet and instant communication to rally the people. Sorry, Ed.

Rather than re-hash it all and have a delay putting up this post for another day, you can look over and read Ron Kaye's blog for some descriptions and comments to help sort this out, "Three Years, Five Months, 68 Days ... and Now 24 Hours More To Figure Out Planning Appeal Fees," By Ron Kaye on October 20, 2009 . Our man in CD-1, Ed Reyes, was especially peeved on the ouptpouring of objections that were coming in from the public and, for a welcomed change, from fellow Council members. http://www.ronkayela.com/

There is more on the same topic in Tuesday's postings on Mayor Sam's Sister City blog, http://www.mayorsam.blogspot.com/ with comments, of course. "How Does the City Stop Activists? Price Them Out of Existence! " October 19, 2009.

The current budget woes of the city, above $500 million by some estimates, make them very desperate for collecting money. You already saw the parking meters fees quadruple and there are now extended hours of operation, all leading to more inconvenience to motorists, as if driving was not a job in itself, now parking is a source of more problems. Parking tickets bring in money in this regard, and you know the changes were not accidentally made. No, "Ooops!" here- that was their plan.

And you can expect more schemes to come but the favored unions will continue to benefit and be lightly treated, the other special interests will come out ahead and the lowly city residents will endure more charges imposed by the ones who are supposed to look out for us.

DWP still not finished trying to get more of your money.

The DWP still continues to make the life for the city dweller more expensive and add more feathers to the IBEW bed. Tomorow will be another day for this to be pursued and very possibly another day that the "rate payers" will be forced to carry the burden of the best employee deals in town. Ron Kaye, on his blog, http://www.ronkayela.com/ , has regularly followed the political activities locally, and lately he's been very keen on pointing out some of the goings-on at the DWP.

This union pressure is nothing new but there are many who really did not have any idea of just how MUCH power the union wields. You have Mayor Tony Villaraigosa coming into office and one of the first things he approved, something carrying over from earlier time, was the DWP contract that is better than anything Santa could bring a city worker. The Mayor has always been a union supporter since that's where lots of reliable votes come from. If there was a better source of votes, you would see him courting that entity, and vigorously so.

This is common to all politicians, however. And that's part or maybe the biggest reason that you don't have these folks remembering to work for the city people instead of the UNIONS' interests. It happens especially so with the city council and that's why you hear a lot of tough talk from time to time from the Council members, but then when it comes time to DOING something and voting on something, they waiver and you wind up with what the union sought in the first place, before all the tough talk and show. There may be a little window dressing added to make it look like a good deal for the tax payers, like a few Fridays ago where the city union members spent most of the morning commenting. The result was that there's still huge budget deficit and the hole is getting deeper each day by about a million dollars, according to City Controller Wendy Greuel.

Please look at the postings from today and in the past few days on http://www.ronkayela.com/ - today, "City Hall Blackmail: Fewer Cops at Lower Pay, More DWP Workers at Higher Pay," shows how two different (and outageous) outcomes are unfolding. The continuation of the exercise of power by the DWP, a city agency literally controlled by the union, appears arriving at the reality of having police take a big chunk of the - as the Mayor says- "shared sacrifice," while the DWP gets better pay than they have already. The DWP employees get at least 20% high salary for comparable positions that do other city employees, some positions said to rate at almoest 40 % higher.

I will add here the item of raises. The raises is private sector are usually tied to the cost of living and the profitability the company experiences. The COL has not risen, and many in the priviate business sector are shutting down and laying off employees, but still the DWP looks for raises and has somehow manages to avoid imposition of furloughs, forget about lay offs.

READ Ron Kaye's blog and go back for days and you will get a better picture of the illogical and hypocritical behavior of our elected and appointed officials. The "appointed" ones were "appointed" by the elected ones- and there's lots of political pay-back that decides who gets these appointments. H. David Nahai was getting roughly $330,000.00 as the GM for DWP, appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to that job.

Now Nahai's quit, but got a consultant contract for essentially the same figure to run to the end of the year. The law allows DWP commissioners to hire Nahai as a "consultant" without any Council or Mayor approval as long as the contract is LESS THAN $150,000. Nahai's pay will come in just under that amount- for simply being available during business hours by phone or fax, to answer questions as the new guy takes over.

And the "new guy" at DWP is David Freeman, who had the job before and should know most of what it's about now- so we wonder just WHAT does all this money pay for? An HOURLY billing with invoices would make sense, but then Nahai would not get all that money. So you wonder just WHY was that deal created- and DEFENDED by the DWP Commission President, a lawyer who you would think could craft a better deal FOR THE PUBLIC, not the quitting-Nahai?

Well, there's more happening, and more to comment on later. Check http://www.ronkayela.com/ and also see the Friday, October 16, 2009 entry, "Bratton and the Conflict of Interest Issue: The Berkow Connection" that's got some comments challenging the views expressed by Ron. It seems that if you have power and are connected, then you get to do whatever you want, and that's the part too many people are willing to accept with a shrug of the shoulders, so things like that continue to happen.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Alumni Meeting at LHS

The Alumni Meeting for October will be held in the Student Cafeteria beginning at 9:30 am tomorrow, Saturday, October 17, 2009

Adam Carolla on KFI-640 AM this morning, Tim Conway on Friday

Adam Carolla, former morning host at the late KLSX-FM 97.1 Talk, is taking the mornng 5 to 9 spot while Bill Handel is out today, Thursday. Picking up where he left off, he's funny, annoying, opinionated, informative, and all the things he was before, but on an on-air powerhouse 50,000-watt station instead of a podcast (which, though less well-known, is still accessible on the internet world-wide, well, maybe not China.).

Tomorrow, Handel is out again, and Tim Conway, Jr. will take over from 5am to 9am to close out the weekday morning drive time. Tim, another former KLSXer, is heard regularly his own show on weekends at KFI in the 4pm to 7pm spot on Saturday and Sunday. Also, check out show #100 for "A pretty good podcast" on iTunes that features his long-time partner, Doug Steckler, with Tim Conway.

Tim is a busy guy with a few other radio gigs going on, too, after the end of FM-Talk radio. http://www.timconwayjr.com/

By the way, another former KLSX team, "Frosty, Heidi and Frank," now have the morning show at KABC-AM 790 for now, weekdays from 9am to 12 noon, as it moves to get younger listeners into the demographics.

Holiday Tomorrow: Columbus Day- What's Closed?

Here's something that may be useful for some of you since the Columbus Day holiday is getting to be one of the less noticed ones nowadays- a list of closures for Monday that I borrowed from the Daily News -

Columbus Day: What's closed, what's not
Updated: 10/09/2009 11:58:27 PM PDT

GOVERNMENT: Federal, state, county and city offices, courts, libraries and animal shelters will be closed.
MAIL: The U.S. Postal Service will not deliver mail.
SCHOOLS: Public schools will be open.
TRANSIT: Buses and subway services in Los Angeles will run on a regular schedule as will Santa Clarita Transit, Antelope Valley Transit and Ventura County's Gold Coast buses and Metrolink trains.
BANKS: Banks will be closed. Stock markets will be open but government bond markets and some commodities markets will be closed.
TRASH: Trash will be picked up on a regular schedule in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale.
STORES: Malls and supermarkets will be open.

Associate Justice Carlos Moreno in the L.A. Times.

Here's a story that was in the time almost two weeks back about a 1966 grad, Carlos Moreno, who is now an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Before that, he was a judge in the federal District Court in Los Angeles after spending time on the bench as a judge of the California Superior Court. I mentioned Ruben Brooks a couple of weeks ago, another Lincoln grad from 1967, and the "Summer" class, if you must be picky- but those distinctions really matter to the old school purists- and Ruben was the Student Body Pres, which I believe was similarly a student office held by Justice Moreno; possibly it was "Class President," but either way, it was something to all back then.

So Magistrate Brooks has been presiding for years over cases in San Diego in the Southern District of California, in the U.S. District Court system. Ruben did get a head start as a U.S. employee when we were among the many seniors working at the Terminal Annex Post Office part-time. Yes, "Sub-Postal Assistants." I don't think the union people liked it much, but it served many purposes for us all that final year at Lincoln, financial being the primary one that I recall.

So I reach back into the past for this story that you may have read on that Saturday morning, but I think that the readership of the L.A. Times has fallen off so much that maybe it was missed by most. I have to remind everyone that there are Lincoln success stories, and you usually only hear the bad things that people more easily bring up, and more vigor, as well. So here is that opportunity given back to you to see the story, "Carlos Moreno, California high court justice, is raising his profile," By Maura Dolan, September 26, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-moreno26-2009sep26,0,2480141,full.story

The story just is a very mild but insightful look into what's going on these days with Justice Moreno. You might recall that he was on the short list for appointment with
the opening arising on the U.S. Supreme Court. In such things there's always more than meets the eye going on. There was more pressure on the Obama administration to appoint a woman and if that woman was also a Latina, well, what do you think? It would be hard to pass over that situation. Here is where Associate Justice Sotomayor came into the picture and after a lot of fuss that resulted in nothing but a little backpedallng and reconsiderations of characterizations and circumstances, the mini-storm passed and she was finally confirmed and is now serving on the U. S. Supreme Court.

Well, there was only one spot open and even to be considered is an achievement, but the story goes through a little more background that maybe might have caused some lawmakers and others some concerns, all from a political perspective, of course.

Read the story, consider the era that he and that we came from and then think about what we can do to make current young people educated enough to be aware of such opportunities AND to become better products of the LAUSD. It may be a mix of instilling motivation and resolving individual obstacles for students that will turn the tide. The LAUSD has been operated by its Board for years to make time in LAUSD schools more of a disservice to many students, though not all, but definitely more than our generation saw.

Even with the conditions that generated the Eastside Walkouts, aka Blowouts, we still were relatively more prepared than are students now. It's all my opinion, but from the time teaching at LHS, starting with experiencing the low level of importance respect that many students show teachers and administrators, it's an uphill battle for all concerned to see that many will be able to head on s successful path without getting some academic equivalent of shoring-up their skills later on.

Lincoln High hosts OPEN HOUSE tonight-10-6-09

It's that time again at Lincoln High, "Open House." At this time in the school year it's usually termed a "Back to School" or other such named event, but the very direct and inviting label, "Open House," is the choice. It's this evening, THURSDAY, 10-8-00, from 5 pm to 7 pm. The LHS web site states it clearly,

"Be sure to come out for Lincoln's Open House. See great displays of
student work, including exhibits, demonstrations, student performances, and
more!"

Parents should have received the information on this already, but sometimes students don't pass along the news to their families. So, if you have a child there at Lincoln, visit and see what things are happening, and find out what you might to help your student be more successful in high school.

Communty members should also take the opportunity to visit and see what's there for your neighborhood young people's education each day. You probably will see people you know anyway. Check the exhibits and size up things for yourself. Community interest for better workings with our schools would be helped by small steps taken like a visit here - and YOU can see how far Lincoln High has come in making improvement in the "people friendly" experience department- one of the weak areas of most presentations over the years.

There are a lot of reasons to show up for these things. Too often there are parents who miss out on opportunities, for one reason or another, from learning more to help with the school experience for their children. It's a very important time in their lives. Consider that it's only a few hours and making the effort shows your children that you do care what is going on in their lives, something that not everyone manages to show, but it's an important thing to all.

LHS Reunion Time this Friday for 60's classes and friends- AND 1962 musical flashbacks

There's a reunion that is set for this Friday evening for those classes of the 60's, centered around the Class of 1964, with committee representatives from several other Classes. The location is the Marriott Hotel in Norwalk just off the I-5 freeway in the area by the Superior Court and the multiplex theaters (Norwalk Blvd. off ramp).

See the information in the Reunions sidebar for more details and tickets. It should be a good time for the 60's classes who can reflect back on all that time of protest, social unrest and the Vietnam War that colored the era, as well as put together their recollections of those times that have changed with Lincoln High's environment right there with the changes.


Now, for the old music part. Here's a bit of music history from L.A Radio.com, http://www.laradio.com/ from yesterday, going back to October 5, 1962:

"On the radio, we’re listening to Sherry, Monster Mash, Ramblin’ Rose, I Remember You, and Venus In Blue Jeans. On television, we’re watching Rawhide, Route 66, The Flintstones, 77 Sunset Strip, and Sing Along With Mitch."

"Sherry" was one of a string of popular songs from the Four Seasons, featuring Frankie Valli and that signature falsetto that gave you the huge clue as to the artist. The songs sounded so similar to each other but probably because of their style. All these songs were very recognizable. Some of Frankie Valli's later songs as a solo artist were "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," and "My Eyes Adored You," all in the same romantic ballad style, and those songs are old now, too. If you remember all those, then you have to be pretty old.

"Monster Mash" by the late Bobby Boris Pickett was a NEW song then, and you hear it every single year around Halloween- and it's that time again. Expect to see Elvira around, too.

"Ramblin Rose" was a hit for Nat King Cole- younger readers not familiar with the name might be more knowledgeable of the name, Natalie Cole, who is his daughter and a singer in her own right with a famous "Unforgettable" duet and video with her late father. A YouTube 1992 example of that is here,
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-1GVKbhYrcGM/natalie_nat_king_cole_unforgettable_1992_the_unforgettable_concert/

That song, "I Remember You" was a country style song and and old one and I find Frank Ifield dong that one in 1962, with a clip from t.v.'s Midnight Special hosted by Andy Kaufman introducing Slim Whitman who sounds very close to the first version. But try the Diana Krall version on YouTube, in photo collage style, very updated and not much of a hint of country there anymore, but still it's close to the original oldie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP6-7cI5VRw&feature=related


"Venus in Blue Jeans," done by Jimmy Clanton (You don't remember this one? This might help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X0zYBNe-1E&feature=related )
The sound was all in the pre-British Invasion style. It had a little more of an orchestral sound thrown in and there you have it. The time for this music happening was also overlapping the Doo-Wop period of popularity that was everywhere since you really didn't need instruments, just voices. I associated Nightingale Jr. High with most all of this music.

Jimmy Clanton might be remembered for another song from times, a little more upbeat than "Venus in Blue Jeans" and that was, "Go Jimmy Go." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wNe_NP0voY&feature=related All the videos here are collages of photos and album covers- notice the hair styles shown.

Hairstyles? Whenever I brought out old Lincolnian Yearbooks from "back in the day" at Lincoln (the 60's era) my students ALWAYS noticed the hair styles as being so "different" from "now," yet most students at the time tried to blend in with everyone else so you had "the style" established for students. Not for all, but most. There is a sort of goal for students, for high school students especially, to get through the day without being singled out for anything, or anything bad, at least. There's conformity always there to something, usually to each other.

And now, if you can remember those old t.v. shows named above you definitely are old- and these still were all done in black and white for black and white televisions and their sort of small screens and big cabinets, then the furniture style, too. I don't think there was even a choice for color t.v. sets available yet.

Now, the modern times bring us iPods and things to watch big movies on super tiny screens. That's progress.