More on Arnold Alvarez-Glasman and associates.
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June 29, 2007
June 28, 2007
Glasman Chronicles
We're not going to write anything else on Arnold Alvarez-Glasman. We'll just refer people to Foothill.
OK. I'm only kidding. We'll be back.
Hyberbole: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect
"The comments are among the most signficant yet in a debate raging on both sides of the Atlantic about growing income inequality and how the super-wealthy are taxed."
-Who exactly is raging about taxes? Too many people are more interested Paris Hilton's day and most politicians are using immigration proposals to curry favor with their base than stopping government take more of our money. The only rage I see is when I look at my paystub. Of course, I'm easily outraged (some might say).
Urban Honking. cool.
Terrorists as development critics
Al Qaeda Also Fed Up With Ground Zero Construction Delays
Being from NYC, and closely watching the delays in construction downtown (I refuse to call it ground zero) this Onion jab got a chuckle out of me.
Republicans have nothing better to do in Kentucky?
Porn as news
As we do more online, we all have become more focused on hits. We even have a hit counter that shows which stories get the most hits. The worry is that we become so obsessed that we do this because it will make us look good at the next corporate meeting.
Fairness Doctrine for me not for thee
If John Kerry is aboard, you know it's going nowhere.
So a secret ballot is more inhibiting in creating a union than a public ballot. Being a former union member, I say, bah!
June 27, 2007
Cops have nothing better to do in Florida?
Mayor Sam pulls a Glasman from the archives
Blog Mayor Sam's Sister City notes how 'Alvarez-Glasman' came to be.
- Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1989
GLASMAN ADDS MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME TO STRESS HIS LATINO HERITAGE
By TINA GRIEGO
"MONTEBELLO-- Arnold Glasman said it was the letter that topped it off.
Glasman, recently reelected as city councilman, told residents who attended the installation ceremony of the new council this week that he heard too many snide remarks during the campaign about his ethnic heritage. Glasman, who is half Latino and half Jewish, said he recently received an anonymous letter accusing him of "being Hispanic only every four years."
Glasman, who is a lawyer, announced at the meeting that in honor of his mother, Nellie Alvarez, and in order to silence his critics, he was changing his name.
"From now on, I will be known as Arnold Alvarez-Glasman," he said.
Glasman said he is not going to change his name legally but said his signature will change as well as the letterheads on all of his stationery at City Hall and at his law office.
"There is no real need to legally change my name," Glasman said. "This is a matter of making the public aware of who I am."
The move raised eyebrows among some who fear that Glasman may be perceived to be pandering to Latinos to gain support for future campaigns.
"Either the Hispanic community wants to claim you or they don't," one community observer said. "They don't care about a name."
"Just because I am on City Council doesn't mean I lose my identity or background or culture," Glasman said"
I finally hit the big time
The announcement on the promotion of Larry Wilson, Pasadena Star News editor, to public editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, Star News, SGVTribune, Whittier Daily News, found its way to LA Observed. And deep within all the shuffling of positions, I'm mentioned. I'm famous; I'm famous. In a very minor, narrow sort of way. But famous nevertheless.
More about Francisco Leal, one of the attorneys who could wind up in Rosemead.
With all due respect toJames Macpherson, I'll only be happy with outsourcing if this is how it works.
Another try for Russ
Russ Warner announced that he will once again run against Rep. David Dreier. Warner didn't make it out of the Democratic primary, despite having the money advantage in the contest. I thought he had a chance in the last election because of the rising tide against Republicans. But for 2008, I don't think that tide will rise as high.
Rocky goes after Methodist Hospital in Arcadia
For patient dumping.
Young Americans lean to the left
My father used to always use this quote from Winston Churchill, “If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.” I was reminded of this after reading this story.
June 26, 2007
Post-jail plan
The LA Times gives some suggestions on what Paris Hilton should do next. None of them has her shutting up and going away. *sigh*
Two for the price of one
Today, we give you two stories on Arnold Alvarez-Glasman, one in West Covina, the other Rosemead, where apparently he is angling to get another job. But the most interesting name thrown in the mix is Francisco Leal, city attorney for Maywood. In this fascinating story by LA Weekly's Jeffrey Anderson, Leal has had some interesting moments:"Perhaps foremost among the many controversies in which these lawyers have been embroiled are allegations explored in a 1999 L.A. Times story that Beltran, a Stanford-educated lawyer, and Leal, a Harvard Law School graduate raised by immigrants in El Paso, were threatening to launch recall campaigns against elected officials in Lynwood, Commerce and Bell Gardens if they did not vote to retain the two men’s legal services."
That would be the Bell Gardens where Glasman is now city attorney.
June 25, 2007
Daily Breeze and reader comments
The Daily Breeze has (a rather looooong) story on the challenge of readers posting comments. I'm a little surprised that everyone is so surprised that there are some jerks out there. But I think everyone is finding a way to get more input from readers. And that can only be good for us.
That's what I want. A legislative fix to fairness.
How about staying out of my pocket and go after them: By taking advantage of a provision in the law that allows expanding companies like Mr. Murdoch's to defer taxes to future years, the News Corporation paid no federal taxes in two of the last four years, and in the other two it paid only a fraction of what it otherwise would have owed. During that time, Securities and Exchange Commission records show, the News Corporation's domestic pretax profits topped $9.4 billion.
Heh.
Small town Rocky Delgadillo. (via foothill) My only comment is that I don't know how unusual this really is. I did stories on one school district attorney, who also worked for a few cities, and he had also contributed to board members. It might not be right, but it may be par for course.
UPDATE: We also might have more info on Arnold Alvarez-Glassman going to another city. Business is booming, I guess.
Robots replacing farm workers
It apparently is not far off, and how will this affect the illegal immigration debate.
Michael Moore
I'm not a big Michael Moore fan. Every time I hope he will set aside his massive ego and produce something that pulls people in no matter what their position, he disappoints. I admire well done documentaries and believe the best ones, such as the Fog of War, give viewers an honest and sometimes brutal look at the truth without the misrepresentations that Moore continually fosters in the name of entertainment. That's why I got a kick out of this story from a pair of filmmakers who have been brushed aside and sometimes shut down by Moore zealots.
Immigration bill and day laborer center's
Since Baldwin Park has been trying to get a day laborer center on Home Depot's parking lot, this story piqued by interest: "As the U.S. Senate prepares to resume debate on an immigration bill next week, Los Angeles city officials are lobbying in opposition to an amendment that would prohibit local and state governments from requiring home improvement stores to build day labor sites."
Though the Baldwin Park Home Depot is apparently voluntarily working with Baldwin Park, this could affect others. (h/t Mayor Sam)
June 23, 2007
Salman Rushdie
I should have blogged on this last week. The latest calls for assassinating the author by Islamic fanatics should have, as Tim Rutten notes, been loudly condemned by every writer, blogger, newspaper and editorial in this country. Instead, it was swept aside within the next news cycle. Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy, and the continued threatened and real violence to end it should prompt us all to stand up and fight.
It's National Columnists Day
" Most columnists brighten when they learn this fact – and then they sit right back down when they learn it was established in memory of Ernie Pyle, who set the standard long ago."
A Mighty Heart
I have no interest to see this movie. But I truly love how journalists are using this to combat critics:"The Americans who complain about "negative" news are the ideological cousins of those who shoot at CNN crews. The news is the news, good or bad, and those who resent being informed of it are pitiful."
June 22, 2007
"legislative aide to state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello"
For how much longer?
""No Confidence in our Legislators?" response
I'm not saying I agree, but David "Dave" Siegrist, of El Monte is persuasive in his argument dealing with this post.
"Since so many legislators are beholden to the "rich and powerful," why are we so surprised about the continually embarrassing decline in the numbers of people who vote?
When you see who is giving money to whom, voters ask themselves, "What's expected in return?"
And, invariably, the answer is "Access, Favors, and..."
Beyond that, let's look at what our legislators continue to do:
They pass so many laws that it boggles the mind.
The now hotly debated "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" contains a myrid of do's and don'ts. The laws that have been on the books since 1986 and before that have yet to be applied.
Why is it any wonder that there is such a lack of confidence and trust in so many elected officials?"
I'm a Communist
No, I'm not really. But would it matter? As a journalist, if I slanted everything I wrote because of my political convictions, only people who supported those positions would continue to read me. That's why I think the latest hand wringing over political contributions made by journalists is much ado over nothing. A sports reporter at the Tribune was noted on the list. And? Now, are there ethical lines here? yes. I shouldn't give money to candidate A if I'm covering candidate A. And I could probably come up with a few more if I really wanted to think about it, but I don't.
fyi: I'm a libertarian (small l) for the most part, and I have never given money to a political candidate or committee. I'm too cheap and would rather give it to a bartender or Dino's Chicken and Burger in Azusa.
UPDATE::"100,000 newsroom employees nationwide" and they find 144 who gave money.
June 20, 2007
33,000 flushes and counting
The latest from our water reporter. " Treated water continued to pour Wednesday from an open pipe at Service Road and West Covina Parkway in West Covina.
Officials from Valley County Water District say they are waiting on certification from state health officials before they can deliver the water to customers in West Covina, Baldwin Park and portions of Irwindale and Azusa.
Millions of gallons of drinkable water have flowed through the pipe into the Walnut Creek culvert and on to the San Gabriel River since last fall. Over the past week more than 130,000 gallons have been dumped. If you are keeping score, that's about 33,000 flushes."
Metrolink Covina crash
Reporter Frank Girardot has received a lot of complaints about the crossing arm near the intersection of Barranca Avenue and San Bernardino Road.
Earl Brown, 53, and his niece, Raven Smith, 10, were killed and Brown's daughter, Christina Brown, 12, injured when their car collided with a train there at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Metrolink officials said computer records from a crossing arm indicate it was functioning properly.
But residents who have used the railroad crossing have said that there were problems before. Police are still investigating the accident, so this story might not be over.
The NYTimes investigating the NYPost
Not really, but close. The Times apparently is investigating Rupert Murdoch who owns the Post as well as Fox News and is trying to buy Dow Jone and the Wall Street Journal.
A Monrovia bobcat
New blog plans to post picture a day in Monrovia. (h/t) foothill cities
June 19, 2007
Reporter Frank Girardot took this picture, though his name is misspelled. We'll keep putting this picture up until it stops. It's our contribution to water conservation.
June 18, 2007
Just for the fun of it
We're going to be putting the pictures every day in the paper for the time being of the gallons of water being wasted at a West Covina site because the state won't move to allow it to be used for human consumption. With water being such a precious commodity and drought-like conditions, you would think they would be a little quicker to fix the problem.
June 9, 2007
The 'Glendora Two' are safe
While we are not out of the woods yet, there is a lawsuit, we're getting close to the end of saga of the' two campaign sign teens.'
"This case basically involves two opposing factions involved in a local election," Booth wrote. "The complaining witness/victim was one of the incumbents. The suspects were all backing an opposition slate" about says it all.
- So what do we know?
A mother paid her daughter and friend to put stickers on signs of her husband's political opponents.
One of those opponents decided to have them arrested.
Instead of a citation, police actually arrest the girls.
Mother calls everyone, including us, to put a tale of abuse of power in the paper on the air.
That succeeds. (eventually)
City has a sign ordinance that is used to charge the girls, but the law is ambigous, possibly unconstitutional, and never really abided by. Except in this case.
DA declines to file charges.
Police refile charges.
Teens file lawsuit.
DA again declines to file lawsuit.
- Have I missed anything? I think the only one coming out of this looking good is the DA's office.
June 8, 2007
Glendora teen news
A reader dropped this in from the LA Times:
"That's the end of it," said Glendora Police Chief Charles Montoya.
Two teenage girls and the mother of one of them will not be charged with vandalizing campaign signs after the district attorney's office decided not to file a complaint, officials said Thursday.
The Police Department had referred the case to prosecutors, alleging that 18-year-olds Keleigh Marshall and Christina Giammalva put stickers on the political signs of Glendora elected leaders, including Councilman Gary Clifford. The stickers read, "This sign violates Glendora city ordinance," a reference to the city law prohibiting campaign signs on public property."
- and we're trying to find out more from the DA's office
June 7, 2007
Media catches on to Soto's illness
June 6, 2007
Even Homer nods
Kevin Roderick picks up on Foothill Cities noting that *Assemblywoman Nell Soto, D-Ontario, hasn't been seen for awhile, apparently because of pneumonia.. Unfortunately, Roderick also tweaks us for not noticing. I did notice, but we don't cover Soto, who represents the area to the east of the San Gabriel Valley.
*I had state senator, which she was when I was covering her.
Ouch!
"Your letters to the editor as well as the front (home page) have become so out of date that other then having a place to hang your advertising it really useless," says reader Robert.
- I hate to say he's right but he's right. Some local bloggers even have a more interesting homepage. All I can say is we are working on it with all the glacial speed that one can as part of a major corporation. But eventually it will change.
June 5, 2007
I come not to bury Glendora...
but I'm also not praising it. Tonight they're expected to announce a new city manager.
With solid defensive action by lobbying groups, cities are not obligated by open-meeting laws to announce before the meeting who they have picked and negotiated a contract with. They can but most don't. I find it hard to believe that the public should not be able to comment on a city's top executive position; and I don't find it hard to believe that cities don't try to be more open about it. The city's statement that the release of the new manager's name 'could jeopardize his relationship with the city that now employs him' is absurd.
On a side note, Glendora also played dumb with releasing the employee contract. That, of course, is a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act.
UPDATE: Alison Hewitt says it's Monterey Park City Manager Chris Jeffers. Better yet, she said they introduced him before they voted hiring him or approving his contract.