July 2007 Archives

An initiative campaign to modify state lawmakers' term limits has raised more than $2.8 million from Indian tribes, insurance companies, labor unions, drug companies and other interests that lobby at the Capitol. AP in the San Diego Union.

Fifteen contributors have given at least $100,000, according to campaign finance records available Tuesday.

The proposed ballot measure, which is intended for the Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot, would shorten from 14 to 12 the maximum number of years someone could serve in the Legislature under normal circumstances. But it also would allow dozens of lawmakers facing term limits next year or in 2010 to run for re-election.

The measure's proponents announced last week that they had collected 1.1 million signatures. They need valid signatures of about 700,000 registered voters to qualify the proposal.

The cost of becoming a U.S. citizen rose dramatically this week, but new legislation by a northern California Democrat could stop the fee hike in its tracks.

The bill by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose would void the new fee structure entirely.

Under the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the fee to apply for naturalization rose from $400 to $675. Meanwhile, prospective permanent residents must pay more than $1,000 instead of the current $300.

Lofgren, who chairs the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said she fears the new fees put citizenship out of the reach of many people, and that the agency should be more concerned with reducing its staggering backlog.

``Our immigration services need to move into the 21st century,’’ she said. But, she added, ``USCIS has consistently failed to explain or justify the amounts and distributions of this new fee increase.”

The government maintains the fees are necessary to improve service.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced Tuesday sh intends to hold hearings into new reports of weak security in electronic voting machines.

The announcement came on the heels of a University of California report that found scientists successfully compromised security on systems manufactured by Diebold Electronic Systems, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems.

Feinstein said the hearings will be scheduled for sometime in September.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, a longtime proponent of tough sanctions against Iran, applauded Tuesday passage of legislation he cosponsored giving legal protections to investment managers who pull money out of the country’s energy sector.

Congress passed the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act 415-11, with Southland lawmakers of both parties voting unanimously for it.

Sherman called the measure part of a strategy to isolate the Iranian regime.

``Divestment is a key element in our strategy to put diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran until it has given up its pursuit of nuclear weapons and curtails its support for terror,’’ he said.

The measure requires that the government regularly publish a list of firms that have $20 million or more invested in Iran’s energy sector, that sell arms to Tehran or that loan $20 million or more to the country. States would be authorized to divest from those firms. Meanwhile, pension fund and mutual fund managers who chose to divest would be shielded from lawsuits.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved legislation Tuesday that would force the federal government to rule on California's longstanding request for a federal waiver to implement its landmark anti-smog law.

The bill by California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson demands that the Environmental Protection Agency make a decision on the waiver request by Sept. 30.

California made the request in 2005. The waiver is necessary to implement the state's strict new emissions controls, scheduled to go into effect in 2009. Twelve other states including Florida that are prepared to adopt California's standards also are waiting on the decision.

Boxer on Tuesday said passag of the bill "sends a signal that the EPA should stop stalling and act now on California's request."

It's been four years since Dixie Chicks lead vocalist Natalie Maines criticized President Bush, but apparently those Southern gals can still make Republicans mad.

At a hearing Tuesday to examine the performance royalty system that allows broadcast radio to air songs without compensating the singers, Florida Republican Rep. Ric Keller said he objects to paying increased rates for political advertising on his local station "to make sure the Dixie Chicks have higher profits."

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who was leading the hearing, tried to tame his GOP counterpart's fears.

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Keller, it's my guess that the radio stations you will be advertising on are probably boycotting the Dixie Chicks,'' Berman said.

"I hope so," Keller replied, though his words were largely drowned out by laughter.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards brings his campaign to the San Fernando Valley today _ at least the part where he hopes to boost his fundraising effort in the state.

Coby King, long-time Valley Democratic Party activist, is one of the co-hosts of the event at his West Hills home, with buy-ins starting at $500 and then going up to $1,000 to take part in the VIP reception. Donors are limited to a maximum of $4,600 for the primary and general elections.

In a note to potential supporters, King wrote: "I cannot stress to you how important it is that we do everything we can to make sure John is our nominee."

Edwards has been trailing in his California effort behind Sens.Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama _ who have most of their time courting Hollywood money.

Ensign Eric Garcetti is off these next two weeks as part of his Naval reserve duty,
Garcetti, who in his other life is president of the Los Angeles City Council, is scheduled to be promoted this week to lieutenant, junior grade, as he completes his training in intelligence work.
Last year, Garcetti did his annual two-week summer stint in Pensacola, FL., and this year is assigned to Dam Neck, VA., at the Oceana Naval Air Station.

Suspicious that new residential and commercial projects in Los Angeles are creating more traffic than developers and city staffers had predicted, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel wants the city to set new traffic calculations that will generate more money to help fix congestion. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Now, the Department of Transportation uses national averages to estimate traffic from proposed projects. Then, developers must make improvements themselves, adding traffic signals and turn lanes, or cut a check to cover the cost of mitigation, including public transit or freeway ramps.

But in car-crazy L.A., new supermarkets, big-box stores and high-rise condo projects could create more vehicle trips than similar projects in Miami or Phoenix, Greuel said.

Steve Bruck eyed the car-maiming, jagged scar down the alley's middle, wiped his brow, and went to work.

His yellow Unibelt Asphalt Patcher had a steaming 5-ton load to wage war on the potholes that marred this quiet strip off Ranchito Avenue. Henry Magdaleno stood next to him, sweating under his hard hat. One pulled a lever, and the truck belched forth a steady stream of 250-degree asphalt into the cracked mess of the 40-year-old street. Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.

In half an hour, the crew's asphalt Whacker had smoothed the 3-foot-by-25-foot series of craters like a Zamboni on ice. The crew raked it like a Zen garden and then pounded it flat and even.

"Henry and I take pride in this," Bruck said. "If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right. Sometimes, we'll drive by a big patch and say, `Hey, I did that one.' It just makes you feel good."

Having used up the entire $2.2 billion taxpayers gave them to modernize nine campuses, Los Angeles Community College District officials failed to deliver many of the big projects and admit they spent a lot of money on little jobs. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

While completing 70 percent of the 658 projects they promised, the nearly 200 projects that remain will cost an additional $2 billion or more - highlighting a focus up to now on design planning, project reviews and smaller efforts such as marquees, landscaping, tree trimming and exterior waterproofing.

"There's no doubt in my mind that they've mismanaged the money," said former board of trustees member Patrick Owen, who served on the board from 1989 to 1993 and organized a slate of candidates that failed to unseat incumbent board members this year.

Big projects that never were built included a $45 million media arts building at Los Angeles Valley College, a $56 million consumer science building at Mission College and $37 million for a new technology center at Pierce College.

Attorneys for Home Depot's public-relations firm, Dakota Communications, have sent letters to two Sunland-Tujunga residents asking them to remove from a Web site an internal memo outlining a strategy to stack the City Council chambers with supporters. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The memo from Dakota Communications Principal Rick Taylor to Home Depot managers was obtained by the Daily News and posted on www.dailynews.com.

On Saturday, attorneys for Dakota Communications sent cease-and-desist letters to Joe Barrett, who had posted the memo on the Web site for his group, No Home Depot, and Doc DeMulle, editor and publisher of The Foothills Paper. DeMulle said he still plans to publish a copy of the memo in his paper this week.

eeing progress in efforts to combat gang violence in the San Fernando Valley, a city panel voted Monday to continue a pilot program teaming probation officers with cops. Daily News.

Deputy Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department said he is encouraged by a 30 percent drop in gang crime during the past month in the Valley, and he hopes to reduce the violence even more.

"I think that any number above zero is too high, and our intention is to strengthen the tools across the San Fernando Valley to come to terms with gangs," Moore told the City Council's Public Safety Committee.

The pilot program is expected to cost city taxpayers about $250,000 for a full year, with Los Angeles County also kicking in funds. In the program, a probation officer works at each of the Valley's police stations with uniformed and anti-gang officers. Reaching out to gang members and families, the officers try to avert violence and keep younger siblings from joining gangs.

No, it wasn't a state budget, a health care plan or a new environmental policy for the governor, who turned 60 on Monday.

But, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was told the CHIME Charter Elementary School in Woodland Hills was renaming itself after the one-time bodybuilder and actor.

CHIME school officials said the decision was made because of the governor's commitment to education.

"I am honored to have a high-quality institution like CHIME Charter Elementary named in my honor. The CHIME Institute shares my commitment to educating all children," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

No word on whether there will be any official ceremony to mark the change. CHIME was named "Charter School of the Year" by California Charter School Association in 2005 and in the same year was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a leading model of inclusive education.

Millions of dollars are expected to flow to Southern California projects under several massive spending bills approved by the House last week, even as the new Democratic majority denied a number of GOP pet projects for the region. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

And in addition to funding dozens of local projects, local lawmakers also increased the amounts California and other states will be reimbursed for the costs of jailing criminal illegal immigrants.

Passing easily, a $104.4 billion transportation and housing measure and a $53.6 billion bill funding the Commerce, State and Justice departments for 2008 now head to the Senate.

"We had a number of significant achievements that are good for California and particularly good for Southern California," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who was appointed this year to the House Appropriations Committee.

Tipoffs looks at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reaching out to community leaders to tell them what he has accomplished during his first two years in office and ask what they want to see this accomplished during this coming year. Also, Councilman Jose Huizar reaches out to school officials for better relations and Airport officials seek to mend fences with airlines.

Since April, homeowners selling a condo in Los Angeles have had to pay a $150 fee to the city under a 33-year-old affordable-housing ordinance that has never produced a single affordable unit. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Few condominium owners know about the new fee or the arcane law, which gives the city the right of first refusal to buy most condos built after 1974.

Without money to purchase units, the city has always waived its right. But, short on cash, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles voted earlier this year to begin charging condo sellers $150 for the waivers.

Build monorails. Forget monorails. Double-deck the freeways. Get rid of car-pool lanes.

From Santa Clarita to Studio City, commuters around the region have resoundingly spoken out about what drives them crazy getting around Los Angeles - and how to make it better.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

The ideas on how to ease the Southland's persistent bottlenecks come even as a recent state report projects California's population will balloon to 60 million by 2050, further straining already jammed freeways and roads.

But while transit officials grapple with funding issues and dwindling space, nearly 100 readers who outlined their transit visions to the Daily News were quick to target two key areas: public transportation and freeways.

And the short of it is: M

Amid criticism that Los Angeles County is fostering a culture of secrecy, County Counsel Ray Fortner on Friday recommended making public again some information his office had recently ruled was confidential.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Fortner, who is expected to give a report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, recently decided to end a long-standing practice of releasing details about lawsuit settlements contained in Claims Board documents.

But the decision drew the ire of Supervisor Gloria Molina, who said the policy change was made without input from the supervisors or the public.

In a memo to the board, Fortner wrote Friday that he is proposing the Claims Board documents provide basic information about settlement proposals while maintaining the confidentiality of his office's detailed legal analysis.

They are both public hospitals in low-income communities, where poor and uninsured residents line up for hours to see a doctor. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

And they are both in the middle of gang territory, where the patients frequently include victims of violence.

But that is the end of the similarities between Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar and King-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook, according to officials, community leaders and even some patients.

"The difference is (Olive View) operates with positive political support," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes the Sylmar facility,

Just when you thought Arnold Schwarzenegger A) was done being in movies, and B) couldn't run for higher office, along comes The Simpsons Movie.

"President Schwarzenegger" (voiced by Harry Shearer) plays a key cameo role in the film, deciding the fate of Springfield and setting up the film's central crisis which Homer must resolve.

When we first see him in the film, he is in the Oval Office pining for his old Hollywood days, complaining "I hate dis job. Everything's crisis dis, end of the world dat. Nobody opens with a joke. I miss Danny DeVito."

Soon his environmental secretary Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks) is spelling out his choices for how to deal with an environmental crisis in Springfield.

Cargill: I've narrowed your choices down to five unthinkable options. Each will cause untold misery ....

Schwarzenegger: I pick number three!

Cargill: You don't want to read them first?

Schwarzenegger: I was elected to lead, not to read. Number three!

(Hmm, wonder if that's how Schwarzenegger came up with his idea to hold a special election in 2005?)

An online rumor that Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, is dropping out of the Senate race and instead is looking at a run for City Council is absolutely not true, Levine said this morning. He is still enthusiastic about the race and expecting to win.

"Nope, I never said that to anybody. I'm not dropping out of the Senate race," he said in a telephone interview this morning.

"Things are looking good. I've got a lot of endorsements. Everything's great.
I'm excited about it."

The Mayor Sam blog printed rumors yesterday that Levine is considering dropping out of the June 2008 Democratic primary against former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley "due to low polling and fundraising numbers" and is instead looking at a run for Councilman Dennis Zine's 3rd district council seat.

According to the latest reports filed with the Secretary of State, Levine has about $160,000 cash on hand in his campaign account, and Pavley has about $508,000.

Levine's said he's gotten up to $200,000 since that report was filed, and is confident in reaching his goal of $1 million.

Corina Villaraigosa, the estranged wife of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, spoke out for the first time on Thursday to a group of young women. KNBC Video,

Mrs. Villaraigosa received a standing ovation Thursday when she spoke at a mentoring group's fundraiser.

The public speech was her first since the announcement in June of her divorce from the mayor.

"Know that when you keep commitments to yourself, it's easier to keep commitments to others," Corina Villaraigosa told the group "Girls Today, Women Tomorrow," a mentoring group, at the downtown Los Angeles fundraiser.

Suppose you work for a business that lets you drive a company car. But your spouse decides to take it for a spin and crashes into a pole in the driveway. Who should pay for the damage? Edwin Garcia in the Daily News.

If the "business" is the California Legislature - and if you're one of the 80 lawmakers elected to the Assembly - it's taxpayers who foot the bill.

In addition to a car of their choosing, Assembly members get a benefit that pays to fix any damage to the vehicle - no matter who is driving and whether it's being used for official business.

That policy is one reason taxpayers have forked over more than $300,000 in the past five years to repair Assembly members' vehicles, according to a San Jose Mercury News review of public documents.

City officials admitted Thursday what many residents of Panorama City and North Hills know and feel every day - there is fear and loathing of increased crime in their community. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcón, who represents the area, and Capt. Jorge Villegas, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Division, said they were surprised by the wave of fear depicted in a Daily News story Monday on crime in the neighborhood. But they conceded that it is justified.

Alarcón and Villegas both spoke at a news conference where they unveiled a series of measures they said will help reduce crime in the Panorama City/North Hills area.

The Daily News article revealed that the year-old Safer Cities Initiative had not only failed to cut violence in that community, but that residents have become so afraid of gangs and drug dealers that they don't even report crimes they see.

After winning some concessions, the Los Angeles Planning Commission gave its unanimous approval Thursday to a $143 million plan to expand Providence Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills. Daily News.

The panel issued a conditional-use permit for the 101-bed, four-story tower at 15031 Rinaldi St., after Providence officials agreed to develop a traffic management program and revise its parking plans.

"We are doing this, not because of the wonderful work you do as a hospital, but after studying all the land-use aspects," commission President Jane Usher said at the conclusion of a 90-minute hearing.

In a bid to strengthen services and revitalize its image, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles is set to announce about $13 million in funding today to groups around the region, including a range of new programs. Daily News.

Nearly 140 agencies will receive grants from the area's largest charitable group, down from 188 as the United Way seeks to hone its focus and boost the effectiveness of its grants.

The plan will give dozens of agencies funds for the first time even as the United Way separates from others that have received support for years.

The move targets key areas - fighting homelessness, improving education and providing child care - and comes amid a broader United Way effort to become more involved in public-policy issues.

Saying she wanted to clear up reports that she no longer lives in her district, Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke issued a statement Thursday saying she is still living in the Second District.
“In an effort to clarify an issue regarding my residency in the Second District at the time I campaigned for a fourth term and at present, I want to assure everyone that I have always maintained my primary district residence and I intend to remain a resident of the Second District,” Burke said.
On Wednesday, Burke, 74, said she was “accosted” by two reporters at her Centinela Avenue residence, who demanded to know why she had not been spending the evenings there and why she met a staff member there and allowed him to park his car in the garage and drive her to work.
“Unfortunately, I was running late for an appointment and did not have time to provide the reporters with a full explanation,” Burke said. “However, I did invite them inside where I indicated that I had been remodeling and had a partial wall removed and installed a new kitchen. I also found out that, without identifying themselves, the same two reporters earlier approached my sister-in-law at her car when she was leaving the property, asking her if she lived at the residence. Her initial thought was that she was being carjacked.”
Burke said a lock box contains a key to the front door, which has been there for several months to allow the workmen to have access to the house.
“I suspect as the workmen left the property and returned the key to the lock box, the reporters saw them leave the property,” Burke said.
Burke's spokesman James Bolden said the supervisor and her husband, Los Angeles Marathon Chair James Burke, have owned a house in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood since 1981, which was rented out for a number of years and then was remodeled.
“I often spend weekends there and have been staying there during the termite work and remodeling of my Centinela Ave. town home,” Burke said. “I had hoped that the remodeling would have been complete at my Centinela Ave. residence by now.”
Bolden said the Burkes rented a town home from 1992 to 1995 in Marina del Rey, which is in the Second District. In 1995, they purchased a different town home in the same complex and lived there until 2005.
They sold that town home in 2005 and rented a condominium, also in the Second District, until June 2006. That's when they purchased the Centinela Ave. town home. Bolden said the supervisor has been living there during the week, and spending the weekends at their Brentwood home with her husband.
Burke, who has served as a supervisor in the Second District for 15 years, will become chair of the Board of Supervisors next year. Following four decades in office, Burke plans to step the end of next year, Bolden said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will make his pitch for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The two will be in San Jose, touring a business developing technology to help reduce the greenhouse gases, a new effort launched by the governor.

Secretary-General Ki-moon has called for a series of meetings with world leaders to begin discussion on a global climate change solution.

"The Secretary-General has made climate change one of his top priorities at the UN and has taken swift action, calling for world leaders to work together to develop a global consensus on fighting global climate change," Schwarzenegger said.

"A critical part of the global solution must address the needs of fast-growing economies like China and India and we have innovative technologies to make that happen right here in California. I am eager to show the Secretary-General our state's advancements in technology that may help to reduce emissions and hope we can work with the United Nations on their commitment to building a global solution."

Boeing Co. faces a nearly half-million-dollar fine for allowing excessive levels of lead, mercury and other toxins to flow from its Santa Susana Field Lab into the exclusive West Valley community of Bell Canyon and the Los Angeles River, regulators said Wednesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

If Boeing is forced to pay it, it would be among the largest fines levied against the lab owner for environmental violations.

Following up on a directive earlier this year from state regulators, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board staffers proposed fining Boeing $471,190 for 79 water-quality violations over 15 months.

Staffers doubled the mandatory minimum penalty because of the toxicity and frequency of the pollution violations from October 2004 to January 2006.

"Really, the issue here is that they should have been able to stop the violations a long time ago," said Michael Levy, senior counsel to the L.A. water board.

Plans to expand Providence Holy Cross Medical Center could hit a snag today when hospital officials seek city Planning Commission approval to build a $143 million, four-story tower that would include 101 beds. Daily News.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the area, said many community residents want Providence to conduct a full environmental impact report that would analyze the effects of traffic and other factors - but could delay the project for 18 months.

"This is a tricky part of the area, with only one access road into the hospital," Alarcon said. "We need to look at that, as well."

But hospital officials say they have studied the issues and found there would be no significant impact on the neighborhood. And they say Alarcon is stalling for time to give labor unions a chance to organize workers, something they tried to do three years ago.

Organizing, busing and outfitting residents to testify at City Hall in support of Home Depot's planned Sunland-Tujunga site could cost the retail behemoth more than $24,000, according to a memo written by the public-relations firm working for the store. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The memo by Rick Taylor with Dakota Communications lays out a game plan for getting 150 supporters in orange T-shirts to pack the council chambers Tuesday when the City Council is set to vote on whether to reconsider a Home Depot store on Foothill Boulevard.

The two-page memo sheds new light on the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes orchestrations of companies seeking to sway city leaders and win approval for their projects.

As the turf war between the federal government and local officials over medical marijuana continues, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to block more medicinal pot shops from opening over the next year. Kerry Cavanaugh and Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.

City officials aim to weed out dope peddlers who are ignoring the intention of 1996's Proposition 215, which allows Californians to obtain marijuana for treatment of chronic pain, anorexia, cancer and other serious illness.

Since Los Angeles doesn't currently regulate or license shops - estimated at several hundred - the City Council voted to temporarily halt new stores while it develops a policy to separate ones selling the drugs for medical use from ones masking recreational sales under the banner of compassionate care.

It might be hard to believe, by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turns 60 next Monday.

And, in addition to any celebration the governor might be having with supporters, the internet has been abuzz with all sorts of recollections of his career as a bodybuilder, in movies and as a politician.

One of the best, however, comes here from the folks at 60 Minutes who have offered a series of their interviews with Schwarzenegger over the years.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein lashed out at a television reporter who dared to raise a question over Sen. Hillary Clinton's endorsement from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his recently exposed marital infidelity.

The question about Villaraigosa came as Feinstein officially endorsed Clinton for president. Clinton, asked in a telephone press conference how she feels about mayor’s endorsement given his acknowledged extra-marital activity with Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas, almost didn’t get the chance to respond.

“This is Dianne Feinstein,’’ California’s senior senator piped in.``I’m surprised at your for that question. My goodness. Hillary is running for president of the United States. She doesn’t need to get
into this.’’

When the reporter did not back down, Clinton offered her own perspective _ not as a the cheated-upon wife she has been, but ratheras the politician she is.

Noting she has spoken with Villaraigosa since the affair become public, Clinton said, `I think his work on behalf of the many issues that I care about is very significant, and I will continue to welcome his support.”

--From Lisa Friedman

A Los Angeles City Council committee gave its initial OK to a new mansionization ordinance that would limit the size of big homes on smaller lots. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The Planning and Land Use committee asked the City Attorney's Office to draft the ordinance, which will come back to the commitee in September for approval and then pass to the full City Council for a vote.

The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance would limit square footage on homes based on their lot size and neighborhood zoning. For example, on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot, a property owner can now build a 7,000-square-foot house. The proposed ordinance would restrict a house on that lot size to between 2,500 to 3,000 square feet.

Buoyed by momentum to help the nation's largest homeless population, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave initial approval Tuesday to providing an array of services designed to stabilize transients' lives. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

County action comes after an announcement in March by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that he plans to spend $137 million to build 18 affordable-housing projects citywide, including six in the east San Fernando Valley.

The funds are part of more than $329 million recently allocated by city and county officials to address the homeless crisis. Some of the money is now being spent, and requests for proposals have been issued.

Foreclosures soared an annual 799 percent in Los Angeles County and California in the second quarter - a record 17,408 homeowners couldn't make their mortgage payments and lost their property in the state. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

In the county, 2,581 properties went into foreclosure, up from 287 a year ago, DataQuick Information Systems reported Tuesday.

Parts of the booming Inland Empire area were hit even harder, with foreclosures jumping 986.9 percent.

"The housing industry is in a recession, pure and simple, and it's going to last until 2009," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

Foreclosures are important to state and local governments as impacting a major source of revenue to operate programs.