October 2007 Archives

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, aiming to showcase his conservative credentials in California, touted the support of one of the state's most relentless Republican critics of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - while acknowledging he has never sought the endorsement of the California governor. San Francisco Chronicle.

Thompson appeared Tuesday at a brief press conference - his first public event as a presidential candidate in California - at the start of a two-day fundraising trip that is scheduled to take him to Carmichael (Sacramento County), Los Gatos and San Francisco Wednesday.

The former Tennessee senator stood proudly at the Sacramento Convention Center before a lineup of GOP legislators including his newly named California campaign chairman, state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) - a conservative icon among the activist GOP grassroots in California who has lambasted the Republican Schwarzenegger on issues ranging from taxes and spending to "post partisan" cooperation with Democrats.

Support for a state ballot initiative to modify the length of time legislators can remain in office is dropping, according to a survey released today. Mercury News

Proposition 93 is now favored by 49 percent of registered voters, the Field Poll found, down from 59 percent just two months ago. While opposition to the initiative remains about the same as in August, the number of voters who are undecided has nearly doubled to 20 percent.

The measure on the Feb. 5 ballot asks voters to shorten from 14 years to 12 years the total amount of time that a state senator or Assembly member can serve in the Legislature.

Six months after the violent May Day confrontation between LAPD officers and hundreds of immigration protesters, internal affairs investigators told a skeptical Police Commission today they have identified most of the officers who used excessive force that day and expect to start discipline proceedings by next year. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News

Deputy Chief Mike Perez, who is overseeing the internal investigation, would not reveal how many officers or supervisors have been singled out for discipline but said 48 officers have been interviewed.

"We have a good idea of which officers used force," he said. "Our problem is matching officers who used force with complaints."

Even as the Los Angeles City Council weighs a proposed DWP rate hike, surcharges for natural gas, renewable energy and imported water are expected to push ratepayer bills even higher. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

While the surcharges pass along the fluctuating costs of power and water purchases and are already in place, they are expected to increase again next year.

And the charges come on top of the Department of Water and Power's base rates, which are proposed to increase 9 percent over three years for power and 6 percent over two years for water.

After a 20-year standoff with the Coastal Commission, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan that - if approved by the commission - would allow the county to take over coastal development permitting responsibilities in the Santa Monica Mountains. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Los Angeles County is the last major jurisdiction in the state that hasn't complied with the 1976 Coastal Act, which required local governments to take responsibility for issuing permits.

The county plan will now go to the commission for its approval.

Classrooms will become bedrooms for the Santa Clarita Valley's homeless under a deal approved Tuesday by the county to buy up to four modular buildings for the community's winter shelter. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.

The county Board of Supervisors, acting as the Community Development Commission, unanimously approved the $20,000 purchase of surplus modulars from the Hart Union High School District to house the homeless.

"It's a great step in the right direction," said Tim Davis, executive director of the nonprofit Santa Clarita Community Development Corp., which has tried for more than a decade to open a permanent shelter.

The players may have changed in a revived effort to award California's precious electoral votes by congressional districts. But the dots, Democrats claim, still connect to one person: Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani. Mercury News.

Exhibit One in the Democrats' case for conspiracy is Anne Dunsmore, who is leading the ballot measure's fundraising effort, which organizers hope to get on the June 2008 ballot.

Dunsmore is a veteran GOP fundraiser who brought in more than $200,000 for President Bush in 2000 and 2004. She also happens to have been Giuliani's top fundraiser before quitting Sept. 26.

U.S. Sen. Arnold Schwarzenegger, rubbing elbows in the upper house with his uncle, Democrat Edward Kennedy? Sacramento Bee.
Mercury News.
Don't laugh. It could happen, according to a Field Poll released Monday.

The Republican governor, termed out of office in 2010, remains very popular with California voters and would give incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer a fight in what has been a solidly Democratic state, the poll found.

In a modern-day twist on a Wild West battle over land, a Los Angeles County plan for an 81-mile swath of the Santa Monica Mountains is set for a showdown with the Coastal Commission today. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.

The plan bans construction in the most-sensitive habitats - including riparian areas along streams and canopied oak areas - and limits development in other significant woodlands, savannas and watersheds.

But critics - including the commission's staff - say the plan doesn't go far enough to protect sensitive areas from overdevelopment.

After years of struggling to raise money, the Children's Museum of Los Angeles has landed a $10 million donation that provides a key boost toward building the San Fernando Valley's first major museum. Kerry Cavanaugh and Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.

The anonymous donation is the largest single contribution and means the museum board is closer to reaching a price tag that has soared to $53 million for construction and exhibits at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area facility.

"This definitely gets us on track," said Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, the museum's chief executive officer who was brought in this year to spur fundraising.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pick to lead the Department of Water and Power pledged Monday to promote openness and transparency in the massive utility's $3.9 billion budget and proposed rate increases. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The naming of attorney and environmentalist H. David Nahai for the job came just three days after longtime chief Ron Deaton announced his retirement.

Nahai, who served two years in a voluntary post on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, vowed to push for reform at the nation's largest public utility.

Los Angeles city officials were urged Monday to put tight restrictions on hiring and spending as the city grapples with projected shortfalls of $75 million this year and upward of $300 million within two years. Daily News.

City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson said officials are concerned about the impact of a slowing economy - including a sharp downturn in the housing market - that will reduce revenue to the city.

California faces a potentially grim economic outlook as the effects of growing foreclosures amid a faltering housing market ripple statewide, experts warned Monday. Daily News.

"We are on the verge of recession," economist Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute said at the institute's annual State of the State Conference in Beverly Hills.

And DeVol, part of a panel examining the impact of problems in the subprime-mortgage industry, said a drop in home sales affects everything from employment and consumer confidence to retail sales and tax revenue.

Iowa Republicans and Democrats will have two days to shake off their New Years hangovers before braving the bitter January cold to cast the first votes in the 2008 race for the White House CNN Political Ticiker.

"This date maintains the important common-sense principle of beginning the delegate selection process in the same calendar year as the election for which we are selecting delegates," Scott Brennan, chairman of Iowa Democratic Party, said in a statement.

"But the overarching principle is to retain the importance of the caucuses. Holding the caucuses on the same day as the Republican Party of Iowa shows solidarity and unity in working to protect Iowa's First-in-the-Nation status, an important argument in the years to come."

Even as firefighters battled last week against the raging infernos encircling communities from the mountains to the sea, officials and experts were debating whether stronger local regulations would have averted the disaster. Kerry Cavanaugh and Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

While analyses after previous wildfires have led to construction of more fire-resistant homes, few communities have limited or prohibited development in high fire-risk areas.

New subdivisions continue to sprout near wind-blown canyons, while dream houses spring up in the brush-covered hills above Malibu and the forests of the San Bernardino Mountains.

California's share of federal spending has sunk to its lowest level in decades, the apparent result of war dollars shifting from air defense to ground weapons. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

New Census Bureau statistics for 2005, the latest figures available, show that the share of federal spending in the Golden State dipped to 10.8 percent from 11 percent.

While it's a tiny dip in percentage points, economists said it represents a significant symbolic drop.

The waning numbers are being driven by a decline in the share of federal procurement funds being funneled to California, said Tim Ransdell, executive director of the California Institute for Federal Policy Research.

Tipoffs: Chief William Bratton defends record at swearing in; Councilman Bernard Parks and Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas prepare for face off.

During the ninth Congress of Neighborhoods on Saturday, the question was not how the city's 89 neighborhood councils can get power, but how to wield their increasing influence. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Some 350 people attended workshops at the four-hour convention on themes ranging from how to get what you want from city departments to how to craft a media message - signs that neighborhood councils are getting more sophisticated and flexing their political muscles.

Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council President Doug Epperhart said some neighborhood councils are ready for graduate-level workshops on empowerment.

After months of controversy and several meetings drawing standing-room-only crowds, a grass-roots group has launched a recall drive against three Lancaster City Council members accused of trying to fire the city manager. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.

Mayor Henry Hearns, Vice Mayor Andy Visokey and Councilman Ron Smith were served with recall notices at Tuesday night's council meeting, when they were slated to discuss a buyout offer extended to City Manager Bob LaSala.

"They have insisted they want to fire our city manager, and every time we turn our backs they try to have a meeting to fire him, and people keep showing up to let them know it's not going to be that way," said Darleen Peterson, a recall leader.

Countrywide Financial Corp. lost $1.2billion in the third quarter as its mortgage business took a huge hit from the credit crisis and home sales slump, the company said Friday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

It was the first quarterly loss in 25 years for Calabasas-based Countrywide - and the company claimed the last by predicting it would return to profitability in the fourth quarter and next year.

The optimistic forecast sent the company's stock price soaring 32.3percent, to $17.30, after hitting a 52-week low Thursday. The share price is 64percent under the 52-week high of $45.26.

Ending a four-decade career as one of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles city government, Ronald Deaton announced Friday that he will retire as head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

A longtime City Hall insider and an ultimate behind-the-scenes dealmaker, the 64-year-old Deaton has been on medical leave since July after suffering a severe heart arrhythmia while vacationing in Costa Rica with his family.

Since then, there has been speculation that he would soon retire. Attorney H. David Nahai has even resigned from the DWP board in a move seen as preparation to be named the new general manager by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

On Friday, Deaton made his resignation official.

Taking another step in the fight against street gangs, Los Angeles city officials vowed Friday to redefine prevention versus intervention and spend more money on programs to quell the most serious gang crimes. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Councilman Tony Cardenas, head of the city's Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence, said he and more than 30 groups that work with gangs came up with a new plan after months of frustration about how the city spends roughly $78million a year on gang prevention, intervention and suppression.

"At the core of what this comes down to is credibility," he said.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is seeking $1 billion in emergency fire suppressing funding.

She also told the Daily News on Friday that she intends to convene hearings on federal fire suppression policies and what she described as perennially insufficient funds for hazardous mitigation throughout the country.

"We keep borrowing from other line items to meet the fire need," Feinstien said. "We can not keep going the way we're going."

In a letter to the heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees, she called the requested funding "critical to support firefighting activities and reduce the risk of fires on our nation's public lands and in the communities that surround them."

Specifically she asked for: $225 million to repay money borrowed by the Interior Department and Forest Service for emergency firefighting activities, and $775 million for suppression, hazardous fuels reduction, restoration and reconstruction.

Feinstein said she spoke personally to President Bush about the need for funding while the two toured fire-ravaged regions.

"He did not commit," Feintsein said. But, she added, "I believe he'll think about it."

Feinstein chairs the Interior and Environment subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She signed the letter with her counterpart from the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Norm Dicks of Washington state.

In summer 2003, Brenda Piedra was getting supplies in the streets of Baghdad - "shopping," as she calls it. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.

But it was nothing like a trip to the mall. As an Army private on a supply mission, Piedra came under fire that August day. A soldier in the Humvee in front of her was killed, and Piedra spent a long 20 minutes dodging bullets, pulling injured soldiers out of the street and firing back.

Before leaving active duty in 2005, Piedra rose to the rank of sergeant, pulled guard-duty shifts and supervised crews of Iraqi construction workers.

The blazes in California this week sparked a political firestorm in Washington on Thursday as House Republicans tried to block a vote expanding children's health insurance. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

With seven GOP lawmakers in the Southland touring fire damage and helping evacuated constituents, Republicans asked Democrats to delay until next week votes on a revised but still-controversial bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Democrats refused. The Californians' absence would not affect the final outcome, they contended, while also noting that the House conducted critical votes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina even though Louisiana and Mississippi lawmakers rushed to their home states.

Just a single San Fernando Valley school is in the running to participate in two key reform efforts widely touted by the mayor and schools chief as a key to boosting performance at Los Angeles Unified. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Superintendent David Brewer III said Thursday that he has cut five of the six Valley schools named in his original reform effort targeting 44 low-performing sites.

And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has 34 confirmed meetings with LAUSD schools through November to determine which two high schools and their related elementary and middle schools he'll manage - but none of them are in the Valley.

Still feeling the anger

LAPD Chief William Bratton's BlackBerry went off over the weekend after a car-to-car drive-by shooting in Arleta left a 23-year-old man dead. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Investigators were sending Bratton details of the homicide, as they do with every such incident shortly after it happens.

Since taking the helm of the department in October 2002, Bratton has received 2,455 such messages and thousands more about shootings that fail to kill.

Chief touts success
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton earlier this week touted his achievements to the new Police Commission and laid out future goals. Crime is down in all categories since he took office in 2002, with violent crimes down 31percent and property crimes down 25percent, he said. Daily News.

"The credit goes to the men and women of this department who have been able to achieve this with virtually no increase in the size of the department," Bratton said. "We are only beginning to see the impact of new hires on the department."

Even as San Diego County touts its use of a "Reverse 911" system to send out automated evacuation phone calls to thousands of residents, Los Angeles County relied on personal evacuation notices by hundreds of sheriff's deputies and other officials. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

That's because Los Angeles County hasn't purchased the new system yet, although officials say requests for proposals have been issued and they are evaluating the bids.

But while some are questioning why Los Angeles County hasn't taken better advantage of new technologies, county officials are defending their handling of the evacuations.

Concerned that Angelenos selling their condos have been hit with a $150 fee under an old, unused affordable-housing ordinance, the City Council voted Wednesday to study whether to update or repeal the law.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Under the 33-year-old ordinance, the city has the right of first refusal to buy condos built after 1974. But with little extra money, the city has almost always waived its right to purchase units.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Housing Authority enacted a $150 fee to process the waivers.

But R

Sen. Hillary Clinton celebrates her 60th birthday on Friday but will hold an intimate affair tonight with a few hundred of her closest friends.

CNN reports on its Political Ticker that the leading Democratic candidate for president will b at a New York City party hosted by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and entertainer Billy Crystal.

Among those entertaining are Elvis Costello and The Wallflowers. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, New
York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-New York and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, are also scheduled to join
in the festivities.

It is the presidential campaign that all the major candidates want to deny, but is becoming as popular as, well, say, Dr. Pepper

It is the candidacy of Stephen Colbert, who is running as both a Democrat and Republican in the South Carolina primary.

It was only a matter of time until corporate America caught on.

And, they have.

In an open letter to Colbert, the folks at Dr. Pepper proposed an alliance:

Read on...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger defended the state's response to this week's wildfires during an appearance today on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Scott Whitlock of the blog, News Busters, said:

"At one point, Governor Schwarzenegger cut off Shipman's pleas for negative assessments of the effort by grabbing her arm. He bluntly scolded, "Trust me when I tell you, you're looking for a mistake and you won't find it because it's all good news, as much as you maybe hate it, but it's good news."

California's attorney general said Tuesday he will postpone a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency because of the massive wildfires in Southern California. AP in the Daily News.

Attorney General Jerry Brown told The Associated Press that California would not sue the agency today as he had planned. Instead, he will likely sue next week.

"The governor would rather do this next week," Brown said. "He's totally focused on the fires."

Unable to slow, much less stop, many of the wildfires that have charred Southern California, some local officials lashed out Tuesday at what they described as state authorities who offered inadequate help and seemed unprepared for a foreseeable disaster. Associated Press in the Daily News.

Most blistering in his critique was the head of Orange County's fire authority, who said a quick deployment of aircraft could have corralled the massive blaze his crews were fighting near heavily populated Irvine.

"It is an absolute fact, had we had more air resources we would have been able to control this fire," Chief Chip Prather told reporters.

Sparking fears that the San Fernando Valley could lose another hospital, the head of Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center has asked the community to pressure the landlord to sell the complex to another hospital operator.
Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The operator, Tenet Healthcare Corp., put the two-campus hospital up for sale nearly four years ago and wants to find a similar company to take it over before its lease on the buildings expires in February 2009.

But a complicated legal battle between Tenet and HCP Inc., the landlord of the Tarzana campus, has stalled a potential sale. One of the key issues is whether the landlord or tenant will have to pay for the millions of dollars in seismic upgrades that must be completed before 2013.

Former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run on a national ticket for vice president, will see the "Geraldine A. Ferraro" hybrid tea rose created in her honor by Ferraro by Jackson & Perkins, the nationally renowned rose hybridizer

Sale of the flower will reaise funds for multiple myeloma research.

The presentation will take place Wednesday at the Exposition Park Rose Garden outside the Natural History Museum Councilwomen Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn and Jan Perry will be hosting the event.

The California Republican Party has revived its effort to change how California apportions its votes for presidents.

Rather than the current winner-take-all system, the GOP has revived an initiative campaign to allocate the votes based on returns in Congressional districts _ a plan that fell apart earlier this year when the financing of it fell short.

Now, the FlashReport says, a group calling itself "California Counts Committee" and is reviving the effort to qualify a measure for the June ballot.

The report said the fundraising effort is headed by Anne Dunsmore of Capital Campaigns, with Ed Rollins serving as senior advisor and spokesman for the effort. Also backing the effort is National Tax Limitation Committee President Lew Uhler is playing a key role.

The group said it will be able to keep the 110,000 signatures gathered for the earlier effort and needs about 540,000 more to qualify for the ballot.

California Democrats are already organizing the fight the new effort.

Party Chair Art Torres is calling it a Halloween trick.

"Just in time for Halloween, phantom GOP forces are attempting to bring the electoral power grab initiative back from the dead. The Republicans may mistakenly think that Californians have a short memory, but this latest crass attempt to rig the presidential election is downright insulting.

“The Republicans’ first attempt with the initiative intended to rig the Presidential election became so entangled in its web of deception and fraud that it finally collapsed under its own weight. It appears as if whoever is truly driving this latest effort is making the same costly mistake."

Taft High School will get a royal visit on Wednesday when Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan visits the Woodland Hills campus as part of a trip sponsored by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.

The queen is the world's youngest monarch and will meet with student leaders regarding their efforts to reduce and eradicate prejudice and promote more cross-cultural understanding.

Councilman Bernard Parks and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo approved a $95,000 payout Monday to former Department of Transportation General Manager Gloria Jeff, who complained she was unfairly fired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The mayor personally recruited Jeff to head the DOT in March 2006, but fired her last month amid complaints from city and community leaders about her management style.

Under the Los Angeles City Charter, the mayor has the right to hire and fire general managers, but Jeff decided to fight her termination.

Facing a dwindling number of available phone numbers for a growing number of San Fernando Valley residents, California officials began holding a series of public hearings Monday on how to introduce a new 747 area code within the 818. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.

Officials are weighing whether the Valley should be split into two zones - one area keeping 818 and the other getting 747 - or whether to "overlay" 747 across the region by assigning the new area code only to new users.

Michael Evans, a regulations analyst for the PUC, said that if a new area code is not introduced, the Valley will run out of available phone numbers by summer or fall of 2009.