January 2010 Archives

Voter apathy among Latinos and other minority voters threatens to turn traditionally blue state California into another Massachusetts-like shocker in this year's midterm elections, political experts are warning.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The importance of the turnout among Latinos and other minorities, according to several political consultants and strategists, underscores the tenuous position of statewide Democratic candidates in a new Field Poll showing them in trouble with white voters.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer trailed Republican challenger Tom Campbell, 46 percent to 43 percent among white voters but leads him by 10 points overall because of Boxer's 74-point advantage among African-Americans and 36-point advantage among Latinos.

- Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman announced Saturday she was severing ties with an elected official from Santa Clarita who described himself as a "proud racist." AP in the Daily News.

The Whitman campaign disavowed Santa Clarita Councilman Bob Kellar's remarks one day after state Democrats called on the former eBay chief executive to distance herself from Kellar.

At a recent Tea Party-style rally in Southern California, Kellar blamed illegal immigrants for harming the economy. Located north of Los Angeles, Santa Clarita has seen a large influx of Hispanic immigrants.

In a sign the local real-estate market is improving - or that it had nowhere to go but up - home sales in the San Fernando Valley rose in 2009, an industry group reported Thursday.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors said the 7,793 single-family houses sold in the Valley last year represented a 9.9 percent increase from 2008, and the 2,494 condos changing hands marked a 15.4 percent increase.

House sales rose for the second year in a row following four consecutive declines, while condo sales broke a six-year losing streak - but each sector totaled roughly half its peak over the past decade.

With the state withholding start-up money for the project, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted Thursday to use local funds to kick start the $216 million Metro Orange Line Extension from Canoga Park to Chatsworth. Troy Anderson in the Daiiy News.

Faced with its own budget troubles, the state could not not give Metro $14.7 million in Proposition 1B bond funds to start the busway extension. So in a 7-0 vote, the Metro board decided to use voter-approved Measure R half-percent sales tax funds instead.

Metro officials hope the state will repay them later.

California will get more than $2.3 billion in federal stimulus money to help build an 800-mile-long, high-speed rail line tying Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles and San Diego. Daily News.

The grants announced by the Obama administration would fund the largest public works project in California history, with construction likely to start with a stretch from Los Angeles to Anaheim.

"I will say this about California, as typical, has been way ahead of the curve," Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood said during a Thursday morning conference call. "The people there have been working and planning for high-speed rail for more than a decade, and they are willing to put up their own taxpayer dollars."

Los Angeles city officials will receive a detailed report today that will suggest from where they should lay off 1,000 workers over the next five months to cover a $200 million deficit in this year's $7.01 billion budget.Daily News.

A preliminary report presented to council members earlier this week proposed cuts in some of the most popular public programs: libraries, human services and neighborhood councils.

The report by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana recommends that core services - police, fire and sanitation, as well as traffic programs - be preserved.

Los Angeles Unified officials released the district's second annual school report cards Wednesday, giving parents of 617,000 students access to detailed information about their children's schools, ranging from test scores to teacher attendance. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

For many parents, the report cards will convey good news. LAUSD schools on average showed gains in English and math proficiency and high-school graduation rates in 2008-09.

San Fernando Valley schools continued to lead the way in many key academic indicators. For example, elementary schools in the West Valley's Local District1 earned the district's highest overall proficiency rates in English (55 percent) and math (67 percent).

The City Council voted Wednesday to hire 10 LAPD criminalists and spend $377,000 to contract with outside firms to help process a stubborn backlog of DNA rape kits. Daily News.

The hiring of the criminalists had gotten caught up in the system of fiscal checks and balances imposed during the city's budget crisis - red tape that frustrated City Council members.

"We made a policy decision and voted unanimously on it last year," Councilwoman Janice Hahn complained. "This is one of those, `What the hell happened?' moments. This is a crime against women. At its core, there are criminals out there and we have the evidence to convict them - if it gets processed."

Even as President Obama tries to rekindle hopes for his presidency, many of his once-ardent supporters in the San Fernando Valley are nagged with doubts and disillusionment over perceived shortcomings and failures.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Officials of his Valley campaign, which made tens of thousands of get-out-the vote phone calls to states that swung the 2008 election, say they have seen a significant fall-off in enthusiasm and activism among supporters, a lot of it stemming from failure to pass universal health care legislation.

"People are not giving up on Obama - most still feel great affection for him... but there's a level of disappointment," said Peter Rothenberg, the Northridge-based head of the 2008 Valley for Obama effort, who is still active in the support group that has become the president's political arm.

VALENCIA - An overflow crowd crammed into Santa Clarita City Hall Tuesday night, most to support a councilman who called himself a "proud racist" and others to condemn his words as hateful rhetoric.Susan Abram in the Daily News.

Opposing demonstrators engaged in heated exchanges of name-calling, finger-pointing and American flag-waving prior to the city council meeting.

The demonstrations were sparked by comments from Councilman Bob Kellar, who called himself a "proud racist" during an anti-illegal immigration rally two weeks ago.

Already reeling from a series of financial hits in the past year, Los Angeles Unified School District officials recently learned that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new state budget plan could chop an additional $200 million from the district next year. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

LAUSD was already facing an expected budget deficit of $470 million next year. But officials found tucked in the fine print of the governor's budget an additional, unexpected cut of $250 per student for 2010-11, potentially raising the district's deficit to $670 million.

The discovery comes just six weeks before the district faces a state deadline to begin handing out pink slips to teachers and administrators who could be laid off next year.

As the state begins releasing thousands of prison inmates this week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he hopes to obtain detailed information on the prisoners to help deputies track their whereabouts and encourage them to enroll in education programs. Troy Anderson in the Daily News

"In sum, this presents a problem that we have not had before," Baca told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. "We intend to track them and offer them classes that would be appropriate for life-skills development and how to function at a more civilized level in their communities and hopefully not commit new crimes."

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Monday began reducing its 170,000-inmate prison system by 6,500 inmates over the next year as part of a new cost-saving effort.

After years of wrangling, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a medical marijuana ordinance that slaps tougher restrictions on pot clinics and will likely shut down hundreds of dispensaries across the city.Daily News.

The 9-3 vote drew loud protests from clinic supporters, who plan to challenge it in court, but was also blasted by medical marijuana critics who said allowing any clinics flies in the face of federal law.

"To us it looks like the council has a de facto ban on medical marijuana," said Kris Hermes, spokesman for the pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access.

aced with a grim financial picture, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned his department heads Tuesday to prepare for even more budget cuts, as City Council members described the city's finances as a "full-blown emergency." Daily News.

In a series of meetings throughout the day, the mayor and city officials worked on a plan to address a $200 million shortfall in this year's budget and a projected $400 million deficit for next year.

"We have never seen a time like this," Council President Eric Garcetti said at the end of a nearly two-hour closed door City Council meeting. "As a council, we are unified in the approach we have to take and in what we need to do to get on firm financial footing."

The state began reducing its prison population by 6,500 inmates Monday as part of a new cost-saving effort that also includes removing supervision for more than 7,700 parolees in Los Angeles County alone. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The state legislation that was passed last year amid the California budget crisis has alarmed law enforcement officials and victims-rights groups, who warned it would jeopardize public safety and reverse a years-long trend of declining crime rates.

Some law enforcement officials expressed particular concern about a provision that will reclassify 7,720 county parolees from supervised to nonsupervised status - allowing gang members to rejoin gangs and parolees to move wherever they want. Los Angeles County has about 34,000 parolees overall.

With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa due to meet today with department heads to discuss the city's budget, neighborhood council leaders say they want to have a bigger voice in how the city sets its priorities.Daily News.

Jay Handal, a member of the mayor's Neighborhood Council budget committee, and representatives of about 45 different neighborhood councils, signed a letter looking at various aspects of city finances and presented it to the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee.

"We want to have a place at the table and be able to do more than just provide advice to the city," Handal said. "We are concerned the city is heading toward bankruptcy and no one at City Hall seems to know how to stop it."

With the Los Angeles Police Department facing a growing backlog in processing rape kits, a Los Angeles city panel Monday pushed for new ways to speed DNA testing, from hiring more outside firms to changing federal laws. Daily News.

The City Council's Public Safety Committee recommended that the city spend $377,000 on private firms to help test DNA, in addition to existing plans to hire more criminalists. The funds were freed up because of bureaucratic delays in hiring the criminalists, a problem which frustrated some council members.

Also, City Council President Eric Garcetti urged the City Council's Public Safety Committee to exempt criminalists from the city furlough program, which requires them to stay home from work 10 percent of the time.

The sage green and beige apartments were supposed to open in Sun Valley this year, providing affordable and supportive housing to needy, disabled renters. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

But the 60-unit Glenoaks Gardens complex has been put on hold, along with hundreds of other affordable housing projects across California, all victims of the state budget crisis. With California delaying payments on voter-approved bonds, developers have been unable to get the bridge loans from commercial lenders they need to build the projects.

"We had expected to break ground in fall 2009," said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of Los Angeles Family Housing of North Hollywood, developer of Glenoaks Gardens. "(But) it's been delayed as we work out scenarios to resolve the state's financial crisis.

For some, saving a sick planet means going vegan, getting solar or plugging in an electric car. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

For others at the Go Green Expo in Los Angeles this weekend, it meant fishnet bikinis.

"Our products are made of (recycled) nylon fishnets," said Caitlin Wood, a model for Eco-Panda, sporting a black-and-white nylon top. "I feel like a fish. I feel like swimming around all day.

Tipoffs: Department heads angry at budget plans; city wants to get more money from parking scofflaws.

I cannot say it any more clearly- Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley should absolutely not run for Attorney General. Many of his liberal, pro-criminal rights positions - particularly his aggressive history of attempts to weaken 'Three Strikes' with criminal-rights Democrat Senator Gloria Romero coupled with a ballot initiative committee funded by OJ Simpson defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran's law partner - make him completely unsuitable for the office. Thankfully he is trailing in fundraising and endorsement support, and with recent poll numbers we can be somewhat reassured that California Republicans just won't nominate him. Mike Reynolds in the Flashreport.

Wrapping up a 16-month investigation into the deadly Chatsworth Metrolink crash, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a report issued Thursday the collision was caused by the engineer running a red light while text-messaging young railroad fans. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The report placed the blame squarely on engineer Robert Sanchez, who was killed in the crash, and said all mechanical systems appeared to be working properly. It did note, however, that the collision could have been avoided had an automated system - that stops trains in the event of human error - been installed.

The federal agency also voted to recommend that all commuter rail lines in the nation install cameras to monitor train operators.

With city officials declaring that "bankruptcy is not an option," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released a long-term plan for the city's finances Thursday, including several billion dollars in potential savings and possible layoffs of 1,000 workers. Daily News.

In a letter to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the mayor and City Council leaders called for the start of steps needed to make layoffs and perform studies on dealing with this year's continuing shortfall of $200 million and the projected $400 million deficit for next year.

"This mayor has no interest in going down the road to bankruptcy," said Deputy Mayor Matt Szabo, who has been assigned the task of developing the overall financial strategy for the city.

The five-page letter from Villaraigosa, also signed by Council President Eric Garcetti and council members Bernard Parks, Jan Perry, Greig Smith and Dennis Zine, sets the stage for a series of decisions to reduce spending in the city's $7.01 billion budget.

SAN FRANCISCO - A unanimous California Supreme Court has struck down a law that sought to impose limits on the amount of marijuana a medical patient can legally possess.
AP in the Daily News.
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that state lawmakers were wrong to change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The 1996 measure allowed for patients with a doctor's recommendation to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.

The Legislature, seeking to give law enforcement guidance on when to make marijuana possession arrests, mandated in 2003 that each patient could have a maximum of 8 ounces of dried marijuana.

SAN FRANCISCO - A unanimous California Supreme Court has struck down a law that sought to impose limits on the amount of marijuana a medical patient can legally possess.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that state lawmakers were wrong to change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The 1996 measure allowed for patients with a doctor's recommendation to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.

The Legislature, seeking to give law enforcement guidance on when to make marijuana possession arrests, mandated in 2003 that each patient could have a maximum of 8 ounces of dried marijuana.

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission voted Thursday to extend its contract with a high-profile lobbying firm that is trying to persuade Congress to go along with the city's version of the Clean Trucks Program. Art Marroquin in the Daily News

The additional $60,000 brings to $265,000 the amount that will be paid to Gephardt Group, the Atlanta-based company founded by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt.

Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the port, hired the firm in May for $150,000. A $55,000 contract extension was OK'd late last year.

The U.S Supreme Court decision Thursday allowing corporations to donate directly to candidates is not expected to have a major effect on most state or local races, officials said. Daiiy News.

However, it could impact California's U.S. Senate race, where Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer is seeking a fourth term this year.

"The state and city will not be affected since corporations are (already) allowed to contribute," said campaign finance expert Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies. "But where it will have an impact is in federal races, particularly the Senate race. Corporations and unions can now spend unlimited amounts of money either for or against a candidate."

Attorney General Jerry Brown, serving as acting governor, issued a state of emergency declaration on Thursday for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties as a result of the winter storms.
Brown, who is running for governor this year, has been serving as acting governor while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is lobbying in Washington, D.C.

Conventional wisdom says it can't happen here. Of course, until Tuesday night, conventional wisdom said it shouldn't happen in Massachusetts. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

The day after Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown captured the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy, politicos in California were wondering aloud.

Los Angeles took another step toward banning smoking in public Wednesday, adopting a measure to prohibit smoking in outdoor patio areas, outdoor food courts and around mobile food trucks. Daily News.

"As a non-smoker, I would have to pass through these smoking areas and it always bothered me," Councilman Greig Smith said. "I wondered why we didn't do more to control this. If it bothered me, I wondered what it would do to young children."

Another 1,000 city workiers might need to be laid off this year because of the city's drop in revenues, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has told City Council members.
In aletter to be released this morning, Villaraigosa said he has instructed City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to begin the work necessary to rfurther reduce the work force.
The decision, which had been in the making for several weeks, comes after the city reduced the work force by 2,400 workers through early retirement. The new reduction, however, is not expected to offer such a rich package to employees.
Villaraigosa said he also is looking for city departments to reduce their budgets for the second year in a row.

The Studio City Neighborhood Council is going after the city for failing to enforce its law against gas powered leaf blowers and has produced the above video, featuring Ed Begley Jr., to renew complaints over the devices and the lack of enforcement,
On the video, Begley urges homewoners to talk to their gardeners about not using the gas-powered blowers.
"It's a law that has never been aggressively enforced," Begley said..

Meet the new governor of California - Jerry Brown. California Weekly.

At least for a while.

Brown, the state attorney general and an all-but-declared candidate this year for governor, is acting governor because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature's top leaders are in Washington, D.C. seeking federal funding for recession-plagued California.

All business in style and substance, U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina came to the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday and said cuts in taxes and regulations can "restore California to the land of opportunity within the land of opportunity." Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Fiorina, one of three prominent Republicans vying to challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, pitched herself to a luncheon audience of 100 members of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association as a self-made star of the business world who wants to bring her experience to Washington.

"I think too many politicians either never knew what the real world is like or have forgotten what the real world is like," said Fiorina, the former chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. "I think we need a little more practical problem-solving (in Congress) and a little less back-room deal-making."

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that postponed the early release of 40,000 California prisoners, another 6,000 convicts are expected to be set free early from state prisons starting next week, alarming public safety officials and local leaders. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The 6,000 are to be released under separate legislation that is not affected by the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday.

The court rejected the state of California's challenge of a special judicial panel's order to release the prisoners early under an overcrowding lawsuit filed by the Berkeley-based nonprofit Prison Law Office.

After three years of heated debate, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a measure to rein in the rapid growth of medical marijuana dispensaries and regulate their operations. Daily News.

The measure is expected to pass in a final vote next week, but it left supporters and opponents of the controversial clinics equally unhappy.

Among other things, the plan prohibits dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, libraries and other "safe areas." It would allow 137 existing dispensaries to continue operating, but could force up to 98 of those to relocate.

Charter school operators, teacher collectives and non-profit groups will present their plans today to run Valley Region Elementary School No. 9 in Van Nuys, one of 36 public schools up for grabs under a Los Angeles Unified reform plan. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The meeting is one of a series taking place in the community of each of the 24 new schools and 12 existing campuses whose operations will be handed over to the best bidder at the end of next month.

In the San Fernando Valley there are five new schools open to bids and one existing school.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office announced Tuesday he has cancelled plans to be part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., this week because of the threat of local flooding.
Villaraigosa had hoped to use the trip to lobby for federal funding, but received reports of flooding in San Pedro in the afternoon and was warned the new storms coming in to the city could cause problems throughout the region.

Staff at the Union Rescue Mission downtown and Hope Gardens near Sylmar had a tough choice to make recently: Cut services to the poor and homeless, or take a salary cut and end their 401k matches. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

They chose the latter, and President Andy Bales is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California's other elected officials to make the same choice.

"I would look everywhere else before I'd look to put the cuts on the backs of those struggling with poverty," said Bales, who oversees the downtown mission and Hope Gardens, a transitional living facility that cares for 130 homeless women and children.

The sheriff's department has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Sgt. Patrick Gomez, who claimed retaliation in the wake of his failed 2002 campaign for sheriff, attorneys said Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The settlement was reached late Friday, after a seven-member federal jury found the department had retaliated against Gomez, said attorney Joseph Avrahamy, who represented the sergeant.

Dennis Gonzales, who represented the county, confirmed the settlement, but said he was not authorized to comment further.

A year ago, when events marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day doubled as celebrations of Barack Obama's inauguration, African-Americans said they hoped Obama's presidency would help to improve racial harmony. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Is that hope being fulfilled?

Local African-American leaders say although Obama is off to a rocky start in the White House, and racial issues are not close to disappearing from the national debate, they think the presence of a black First Family is indeed changing attitudes for whites and blacks.

Tipoffs: Insider top chjoice to succeed Auerbach; L.A. city officials looking at cuts

Despite neighborhood complaints, most medical marijuana clinics are not typically the magnets for crime that critics often portray, according to Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

"Banks are more likely to get robbed than medical marijuana dispensaries," Beck said at a recent meeting with editors and reporters of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Opponents of the pot clinics complain that they attract a host of criminal activity to the neighborhoods, including robberies. But a report that Beck recently had the department generate looking at citywide robberies in 2009 found that simply wasn't the case.

A Sun Valley design company builds a new headquarters, with a high-tech parking lot made of grass. A Mission Hills medical group expands its services. And a West Hills financial firm fills its docket with business deals. Dana Bartholomew in Daily News.

Though nearly one in eight Angelenos is out of work, many experts see new signs that the worst recession in modern times is easing.

"There are some good things happening," said Jack Kyser, founding economist for the nonprofit Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

The man brought on to revive the Los Angeles business climate is laying out an ambitious agenda to change how City Hall deals with the private sector, ranging from key personnel decisions to overhauling a bureaucratic culture. Daily News.

If he succeeds, Austin Beutner will help rehabilitate the city's image and its reality, along with the public approval of the man who hired him, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The mayor, working to recapture the public support he had when first elected in 2005, has restructured most of his top staff since winning re-election last yea

City Councilman Richard Alarcon admitted Friday that he and his family have been living outside his council district, but only because his Panorama City home was left uninhabitable by a destructive burglar who squatted there for at least one night.Dally News.

Alarcon is being investigated by the District Attorney's Office following an anonymous tip that he was not living at the home.

During a 24- to 48-hour period in October, Alarcon said, the burglar defecated in a bathtub, damaged doorknobs, tore down wall pictures, emptied closets and tossed clothes outside, where homeless people picked through them.

Advancing the efforts by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to cut through the city's red tape on development projects, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved the appointment of Bud Ovrom as director of the Department of Building and Safety.Daily News.

"It all comes down to customer service," Ovrom told the council as he was questioned about his plans. "I have no preconceptions about the department and I don't have a predetermined cookie-cutter approach, but I do know we need to improve."

The legendary soap opera "All My Children" will feature two Los Angeles politicos playing themselves to celebrate the show's return to shooting in California. Associated Press.

ABC said Thursday that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council President Eric Garcetti will both shoot episodes at the show's new production studio near downtown Los Angeles this month.

The show recently moved back to Los Angeles after 40 years of shooting in New York.

ABC says Villaraigosa will shoot a scene with Susan Lucci, who plays Erica Kane. Writers are still trying to figure out a plot twist that puts the mayor in the fictional city of Pine Valley, Pa.

The network says Garcetti will appear with actor David Canary, discussing making Adam Chandler's businesses "more environmentally friendly."

City Councilman Richard Alarcon was served with search warrants from the District Attorney's Office this week after someone complained he was not living in his council district. Daily News.

"The public integrity division within the District Attorney's Office executed search warrants at two residences on Tuesday after we received a complaint that Councilman Alarcon was living outside his district," spokeswoman Jane Robison said. "It is an ongoing investigation."

Alarcon said he was cooperating with the investigation and he was confident it would show he had done nothing wrong.

"When all the facts come out there will be no doubt that I live in the 7th Council District," Alarcon said. "I am cooperating fully with the DA, and my focus continues to be on serving the people of the 7th District."

The largest toxic waste facility in the West has rejected a proposal by Boeing Co. and NASA to accept tainted soil from the site of a partial nuclear meltdown. Daily News.

Chemical Waste Management, which operates the San Joaquin dump, sent a letter Tuesday to Linda Adams, head of the state Environmental Protection Agency, saying the facility would not accept the hazardous waste "because of the uncertainty and community concerns about levels of radioactive constituents in these materials."

The dump just outside the tiny farming town of Kettleman City, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is not licensed to accept radioactive waste. The dirt was dug up as part of a cleanup effort at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory near Los Angeles where thousands of rockets were tested and a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor took place in 1959.

In far too many cases at City Hall, the phone is ringing, but no one is home.
Daily News/
In fact, a new audit says Los Angeles taxpayers are paying nearly $3 million a year for nearly 12,000 municipal telephone lines that are no longer in use.

"With the city facing a massive budget deficit, we must look at every way we can save money," City Controller Wendy Greuel said at a news conference where she released the report. "While the policies are strong, oversight is severely lacking."

Assemblyman Kevin DeLeon announced Thursday he plans to run for the 22nd State Senate seat.
"It has been and continues to be an honor to serve the communities of our region as a member of the Assembly," De León said, "Today, I am announcing my strong desire to continue that work by running for the California State Senate.
"Now more than ever we need legislators who are dedicated to protecting vital public services, education, and public safety. These are extraordinarily difficult times and I will work tirelessly for the constituents of the 22nd Senate District."
The seat is held by Sen. Gil Cedillo, who is being termed out. DeLeon was first electged in 2006 and could run for another two-year term in the Assembly.
DeLeon had been trying to put together a coalition to become Assembly speaker, b ut lost to to Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles.

Former Rep. Tom Campbell, with the prospect of being outspent by millions by two opponents, announced Thursday he is dropping out of the race for governor and running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate _ where he will be outspent by only one opponent,
"I initially made the decision to run for governor because I believe that my level of record of public service (especially on the state budget), and my willingness to present specific, pragmatic solutions to our most pressing problems would enable me to help chart a better course for our state," Campbell said in a statement to supporters and video to supporters..
"...Today, I remain firmly committed on that path with an announcement that I'll be running for the U.S. Senate instead."
Campbell, who served as budget director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, is challenging former HP president Carly Fiorina for the nomination and the right to challenge Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach is to announce today he will not seek re-election to his $180,000- a year job this June.
Auerbach, who was first appointed assessor in 2000 and has won easy election since then, has been with the assessor's office for 40 years and believes it is time to move on, aides said.
The Los Angeles assessor's office is the largest of its kind in the nation, overseeing 2.3 million parcels of property.

The City Council agreed on some rough guidelines Wednesday on where medical marijuana clinics should be allowed to operate, but put off a final decision on a long-debated ordinance at least until next week.Daily News.

Council members seemed to agree that at least the 137 clinics that had filed for permission under the city's original rules should be allowed to remain open, but most of the others may have to relocate.

The governor's proposed state budget could mean a record loss of nearly $4 billion for Los Angeles County, putting hundreds of thousands of needy residents at risk of losing welfare checks, in-home care, health care and other services, officials said Tuesday.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

"It's very stressful for us when we hear the state budget has a $20 billion shortfall," said Gloria Molina, who chairs the Board of Supervisors. "We know there is going to be an awful lot of cuts made for many of our services... That is terrifying to all of us."

Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, Molina said, nearly 400,000 county welfare recipients could lose $1 billion in benefits.

In one case, a young man who spent most of his teen years in Los Angeles County probation camps was awarded a high school diploma - despite the fact he couldn't read or write. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

In another, teachers and administrators at Challenger Memorial Youth Center in Lancaster told students to leave classrooms to paint buildings and pull weeds - and then billed the state for instructional days as though the students were in class.

These and other allegations are outlined in a class-action lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and other legal groups filed Tuesday against the Probation Department and county Office of Education. The lawsuit alleges the practices at Challenger are among the "most egregious failures to deliver education and rehabilitative services to incarcerated youth ever documented in the nation."

The Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to approve a series of tougher standards for charter schools at a time when the district is embracing the publicly funded but independently run campuses more than ever. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

While charter school operators and advocates applaud LAUSD's recent embrace of their campuses, they criticized some of the new regulations, which they said create more bureaucracy for the alternative schools.

The new rules include increasing building safety standards to bring charters in line with district-operated schools. Also, members of charter school boards will now be required to fill out conflict-of-interest forms, similar to those filed by elected school board members.

Los Angeles Unified officials received 84 applications from charter operators, non-profit groups and teacher collectives for the district's bold reform plan that opens the doors for outside entities to take over public schools, officials announced Tuesday.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Officials said they received applications until just minutes before the 11:59 p.m. deadline Monday. The school board is expected to decide winners in February and daily operations will be turned over by fall of 2010.

The number of final applications is far fewer than the 220 initial bids submitted by outside groups two months ago under LAUSD's School Choice plan. The plan, approved by the Board of Education this August, will give control of over 36 new and underperforming schools to the applicants that present the most appropriate plan for the school as judged by the school board.

The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment needs to tighten its controls and review of spending by the 89 neighborhood councils in the city to make sure the $45,000 provided to each group each year is spent properly, according to an audit released Tuesday. Daily News.

Controller Wendy Greuel, in her first major audit since taking office, said DONE is far behind in reviewing expense statements and budgets of the neighborhood councils and has had "lax oversight that has allowed the NCs to operate with insufficient financial controls."

Among other things, Greuel found that DONE is late in reviewing more than 300 quarterly expenditure reports and 24 neighborhood councils are at least one year behind in submitting expenses. The audit also found the department was unaware of how much money was available to the neighborhood councils.

The new effort to sell Los Angeles began Tuesday, with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and jobs czar Austin Beutner reassuring business leaders they are prepared to listen and revamp the City Hall culture.Daily News.

Beutner, who turned down a job in the U.S. Treasury Department to become Villaraigosa's top deputy mayor, said he wants to make the city more appealing to consumers, as well as to business.

While his main charge is to leverage the city's assets within the Water and Power, Airports and Harbor departments, he also will be working with other agencies - Building and Safety, Planning, Community Redevelopment and General Services - on issues ranging from permitting to purchasing.

A special meeting of neighborhood councils this past weekend resulted in a recommendation to form a special committee to work with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the city's budget.
Members of 15 neighborhood council representatives will continue to meet with the mayor and another committee, compose of experts in finance and accounting was crfeated to help analyze the city's financial data.
In addition, a new website, www.budgetla.org, was formed as a way for neighborhood council members to offer feedback was created.

District Attorney Steve Cooley took one more step closer to getting in to this year's race for Attorney General.
A Republican, Cooley announced teh formation of an exploratory committee to guage public support of his possible candidacy.
"Many people from law enforcement and throughout the political spectrum are urging me to run for Attorney General," Cooley said in a statement.
"I am proud of my crime fighting record as District Attorney. As a career prosecutor and District Attorney of Los Angeles County I have the experience and drive to be California's top law enforcement officer. "California's Attorney General must be a law enforcement leader with a proven track record of reducing crime and fighting fraud and public corruption."
Cooley, 62, has been elected to three terms as District Attorney.

With charter school enrollment at an all-time high locally, Los Angeles Unified officials are expected to set tougher standards this week for the publicly funded and independently run campuses.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The new rules come as the district is expected to add even more charters under a reform plan that allows outside operators to run new and failing campuses.

But charter school advocates and other critics say the district's new rules will drown the innovative schools in paperwork, defeating the purpose of having campuses that are supposed to operate outside of normal red tape restrictions.

Reeling from state budget cuts and plummeting tax revenues, Los Angeles County officials are expecting a "serious" budget shortfall in the fiscal year that begins July 1 and have ordered departments to plan for cuts of up to 9 percent.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

County Chief Executive Bill Fujioka, who made the announcement shortly after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released his proposed budget Friday, said the combination of state budget cuts and falling tax revenues is straining the county's ability to provide public services.

"There is no doubt about it," Fujioka said. "It's going to be a very difficult year for us."

TIipoffs: Playing the what-if game at City Hall.

Councilman Paul Krekorian said Friday he will support Glendale School Board member Nayin Nahabedian to succeed him the state Assembly.
Krekorian, who took off this week as a Los Angeles City Council member, said he has work with Nahabedian on issues and believes she would be the best choice to replace him in the 43rd Assembly District.
"I think she is terrific and is exactly the person needed for the district," Krekorian said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to call a special election for the seat. It is expected to be held in April.
The primary would be an open election. If no candidate gets a majority than a runoff would be held among the leading candidates from the different political parties. Nahabedian is a Democrat.

The State Board of Education approved a plan Thursday that gives independent charter schools statewide more control over how they educate their special-needs students. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Under the plan, charters will no longer have to go through larger school districts like Los Angeles Unified to get their special-education funding, which will give the publicly funded and independently run campuses more control over how they run their special-ed programs.

LAUSD officials made an overnight trip to Sacramento in hopes of delaying the vote on the plan that they said would reduce services to local students with disabilities.

The city's efforts to fight gang crime were bolstered Thursday with the signing of a $200,000 contract to establish the first Violence Intervention and Training Academy to formally train gang intervention workers. Daily News.

"We have been known for exporting the gang problem to the nation," Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a City Hall news conference. "Now, we can export the solution."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the contract with the Advancement Project, which will open the academy in March with a rigorous program to enroll, screen and train 30 gang intervention workers at a time to try to deal with gangs.

A battle between Los Angeles Unified and charter groups could be decided today when the State Board of Education is expected to rule whether charters statewide can take complete control of educating their special needs students.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Publicly funded and independently run charters have argued that they should control special education funding, as they do for their general education student population. They accuse large school districts like LAUSD of controlling federal special education dollars and obstructing charters from getting their fair share.

But L.A. Unified officials say charters traditionally cherry pick special education students with less severe disabilities and leave LAUSD with severely disabled students who are more expensive to teach.

Latinos remained the San Fernando Valley's majority population in 2008, but their population growth is leveling off, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Latinos now represent 42.4 percent of the Valley's population compared with 41.8 percent for whites. Eight years ago, Latinos were 38.9 percent and whites were 44 percent, but they grew to become the majority group in the Valley about halfway through the decade.

By comparison, Latino growth in the 1990s was much sharper, nearly doubling as the Valley evolved from a white suburb to a multicultural, denser region.

Major crime in Los Angeles fell for the seventh straight year in 2009, with murders down 18 percent from 2008 and overall crime at its lowest level in half a century, city officials said Wednesday. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

The 314 homicides in Los Angeles last year were down from 383 in 2008, the fewest since 1967, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a news conference at the LAPD's new downtown headquarters.

Violent and property crime declined 8.6 percent, totaling 116,050 offenses, the fewest since 1959, the Mayor's Office said.

In his first day on the job, City Councilman Paul Krekorian took steps Wednesday to review a Planning Commission decision on a proposed Valley Village apartment complex that drew community anger during his recent campaign.Daily News.

Krekorian, who started work as the council's first Armenian-American on the day of Armenian Christmas, said he wanted a review of the decision that gave a bonus density for a 146-unit project at 11933 Magnolia Blvd. The bonus density was allowed under Senate Bill 1818, a state planning and development law approved in 2004.

Krekorian asked that the City Council consider overriding the decision.

Cerrell Associates Inc said late Wednesday that longtime president Hal Dash has taken over the titles of chairman and chief executive from founder Joe Cerrell, who in recent years had stepped back from an active role in the high-profile Los Angeles public relations firm he founded in 1966. Los Angeles Business Journal.

Dash, who joined the firm in 1977 and has been president for 21 years, helped guide Cerrell Associates's evolution from a largely Democratic campaign consultant to a full-service public affairs, advocacy and issues management agency.

"I am honored to lead the most talented and experienced team of professionals that Cerrell Associates has ever had into a new and exciting era of growth and prosperity," Dash said.

After taking the oath of office to join the Los Angeles City Council, Paul Krekorian said Tuesday he hopes to restore the public's sense trust and faith in local government. Daily News.

"I think the biggest issue my district faces is a crisis of confidence in government," said Krekorian, who was elected after winning a Dec. 8 special election over businesswoman Christine Essel.

The Los Angeles Unified school board agreed in principle Tuesday to accept new state accountability standards for teachers, principals and schools, potentially making the district eligible for millions of federal dollars.Connie LLanos in the Daily News.

At least 800 other school districts statewide have also agreed to implement new reforms in exchange for a shot at the $4.35 billion available in competitive federal "Race to the Top" grants. Those reforms could include using test data to evaluate teachers and pushing for the shutdown of low-performing schools - policies long opposed by teacher unions.

The board's approval came as the state Legislature also voted on two bills to change state law to allow some of the controversial reforms required by the Obama administration to qualify for the grants.

With heightened security measures in place at airports around the world, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa insisted on Tuesday that Los Angeles International Airport is safe for travelers, but said additional security steps are being considered to ease concerns about terrorism. Art Marroquin in Daily News/Contra Costa Times

The mayor met with police and airport security officials at LAX, and told reporters he supports the expanded use of full-body scanners at the airport.

"It's great to start off the new year thinking not only about the past year but also thinking forward," Villaraigosa said.

Heeding warnings that runaway production has reached the "crisis" stage, the City Council took steps Tuesday to create a commission tasked with marketing Los Angeles to filmmakers. Daily News.

With its 13-0 vote, the council directed the Chief Legislative Office to research how a film commission would operate and be financed.

"The loss of productions to other states is no longer a trickling effect; it is a crisis," said Pamm Fair, chairwoman of FilmLA, the nonprofit agency that coordinates film permits.

In a major boost for the candidacy of Attorney Genera. Jerry Brown, Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso announced Tuesday he will throw his support behind him in the race for governor.
Caruso, a registered Republican who many believe will run for mayor in three years, said he believes Brown is the candidate who can best deal with the state's challenges.
"The economic downturn has had a devastating impact on our state, and as a businessman and a CEO I understand the value of experience in solving problems," Caruso said in a statement.
"Our next governor needs to be someone who understands government and how it works, and that is Jerry Brown. "
Caruso cited Brown's work as Oakdland mayor along w ith his statewide experience as governor and Attorney GEneral.
Caruso is planning to host a fundraiser for Brown on Feb. 1. He was a major supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and served as co chair of the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney

When Milton Molina got a job as a Los Angeles County Fire Department inspector in 2003, he alleged his co-workers went to "nude bars" in county vehicles on county time. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

And when the Burbank resident tried to protect fellow employee Mary Villegas from sexual harassment at the department's hazardous materials facility in Sylmar, Molina alleges he became a victim of harassment and retaliation too.

The allegations, detailed in court records, came to light as part of proposed settlements the Claims Board considered Monday. According to the Claims Board documents, the county has proposed to settle the lawsuit with Molina for $150,000 and the lawsuit with Villegas for $325,000. The Claims Board, which recommends settlements of lawsuits to the Board of Supervisors, voted Monday to put off a vote on the two settlements and take the matter up again on Jan. 21.

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian will become Councilman Paul Krekorian today, nearly a a month after his election to succeed Wendy Greuel on the 15-member Los Angeles City Council. Daily News.

Krekorian will represent the city's 2nd District that runs from Studio City to Sunland-Tujunga.

Hosting a farewell party for his Sacramento staff on Monday, Krekorian will take the oath of office after the City Council certifies the election results today. But he is not expected to participate in today's council meeting, choosing instead to begin on Wednesday even though it is the Armenian celebration of Christmas. Krekorian is Armenian.

Calling it the civil rights issue of the new decade, Los Angeles officials on Monday helped kick off the 2010 U.S. Census - a $300 million effort to count every single resident of the U.S. Daily News.

The U.S. Census Bureau started its effort in Los Angeles and 12 other major cities with a Portrait of America road tour - a traveling van that features stories about Americans and explains how important an accurate census is to receive federal money in local communities and appropriate representation at the state and federal levels.

"We're engaged in an effort to make sure every Angeleno is counted," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said, adding it was an issue that would determine the region's political power in the future.

At long last, construction will kick off this month on a $1 billion, 10-mile-long carpool lane designed to ease the congestion on the northbound San Diego Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

But first will come three long years of lane closures, detours, bottlenecks and other headaches for homebound commuters. This may be the perfect time for Angelenos to put the relaxation techniques gleaned from yoga classes and therapy to the ultimate test.

"Make an attitude adjustment," said David Rizzo, a Fullerton-based transportation expert and author of several commuting books.

Tipoffs: Los Angeles Police Protective League and ALADS join forces to influence state elections.

A year ago, the joke was that with so much strife afoot, the only thing most people would look forward to in 2009 would be ... 2010. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.s.

It was funnier then - before 2010 arrived and it turned out we're still struggling to get out of two wars, an economic slump and a national political squabble.

The bright side? Here are 10 things to look forward to in '10.