From Steve Scauzillo's Opinion Desk

As if California needed more bad news.... there was this that came across my desk on Friday. A report from UC Berkeley quantified the state's real estate losses should the full effects of global warming be realized.

"The report finds that the state has $4 trillion in real estate assets, of which $2.5 trillion are at risk from extreme weather events, sea level rise, and wildfires, with a projected annual price tag of $300 million to $3.9 billion over this century, depending on how warm the world gets."

What was that noise? It was the sound of Karen Bass and Gov. Schwarzenegger putting their hands over their ears and yelling "la-la-la ... we can't hear you."

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has a request for President George W. Bush: Show me the money.

She is drafting a letter to the lame duck president, asking him for a $5 billion "cash infusion" (read: bailout) so the state doesn't have to make drastic, mid-year cuts to education to fill a gaping budget deficit.

"One of the things we definitely need is descretionary cash," she told a packed ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles today. Bass was the luncheon speaker for the 16th Annual California Policy Issues Conference held by the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs.

Her reasoning is well, creative. She wants the president and the Congress, which is considering a new stimulus package for funding public works projects, as well as a bailout for the U.S. automakers, to think of California not as government, but as industry.

California is the sixth largest economy in the world, is home to the largest public port, has the largest population of any U.S. state, and is responsible for creating jobs and boosting the economy. Just like the Big Three automakers in Detroit, or the big financial companies in New York, it should be propped up and "not left to fall off a cliff."

"We need to look at the state as an industry," said the Assembly speaker.

The federal bucks would be on top of raising state revenues through a 1.5 cent sales tax hike, by bringing back the vehicle license fee, taxing oil companies for extracting crude and hiking the state income tax. Though the numbers are still quite fuzzy, Bass indicated in answering a journalist's question after her remarks, that if the state got a federal bailout, it would not have to "decimate education" with draconian cuts.

A reporter asked her if that request has been made known to President Bush or anyone in Washington for that matter?

"I am in the process of doing that now," she answered. And earlier, she indicated such a request should be "placed on George Bush's doorstep."

Bass said California did not create this problem alone, but the state budget is bleeding red ink -- about $27.8 billion by June 2010 -- because of the record rise in housing foreclosures and the international credit and financial meltdown.

"This is not just California's problem and so it should not just be California's solution," Bass said. Twenty-nine states face budget shortfalls, including the Golden State.

Reminds me of the 1970s when New York City asked for a bailout from New York Gov. Abe Beam. When he refused, the New York Daily News ran a headline that said: "Gov to NY: Drop Dead."

We'll hold the presses on that one. Still, it should be interesting to see if Bass has that kind of influence in Washington, a place that usually has a motto when it comes to helping out California: ABC for Anyone But California.

Either way, California will have to get in line to receive the next federal bailout.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Local Obama volunteer Ralph Walker called this morning, like he's done so many times throughout this long presidential campaign, asking me "what's the word?"

"Historical. Change. Amazing," I uttered.

"I've heard that. Tell me something new."

I said: "Hope in a difficult time."

Walker, who lives in Covina but is a fixture in Monrovia both on his KGEM talk show and at the Obama for President table during the Monrovia Family Festival on Friday nights, started talking about Obama's army. The dedicated volunteers who mobilized on the ground for the candidate was an efficient, unstoppable force. As Obama said during his acceptance speech, they did a phenomenal job.

"It'll be interesting to me to see how Obama will be tapping into that electric current ... it is a standing army. Now that they've achieved their goal, they are waiting for what's next," he said.

Walker, who is African American, has been an Obama volunteer for 18 months. He began by putting an item in this newspaper (and on this blog) about a meeting in "the little green shack" in Monrovia's Library Park. Six people showed up that first Sunday and the multi-racial and multi-ethnic group of Obama volunteers grew from there.

Since then, they've registered more than 2,000 people to vote. Walker said he spent endless hours phone banking and knocking on doors. Some of the responses he received included "Why don't you go back to Africa," he said.

"In my younger days, I would've punched someone in the mouth. But not this time," he said. Instead, he endured racist remarks with the hope that this day would come. And on Tuesday, it did. America elected a black man as president.

"I'm still overwhelmed by it. I am still like pinch me," he said. "What can we equate this to? Jackie Robinson? This is different. This isn't baseball. This is the president of the United States."

While it still sinks in for the Valley's African Americans and other people of color, and white people as well, the question for the Obama volunteers is what should they do next?

Ralph will be back at his Obama table Friday night at the Monrovia festival. "I guess I just want to look at the faces," he said.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If today's presidential election was determined by children, Barack Obama would be the winner.

That according to Studies Weekly/Woogi World, makers of children's textbooks and kid-friendly Internet tools, who conduted a poll of the nation's school kids in all 50 states.

The kids picked Obama over Republican John McCain by a vote of 473,919 to 333,092.

The kids who voted were between the ages of 6 and 12.

"This is a significant sampling of children's opinions across the country. We had high student participation in all 50 states in the country" said Ed Rickers, President of Studies Weekly.

Well, good for them. Nothing like starting them on a hands-on course on democracy early. Next on the kids agenda will be a vote on playground equipment, followed by a survey on homework and schoolyard bullies. (I made that last part up).

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From my tiny neck of the woods, voting went swimmingly this morning.
I walked into my precinct in south Temple City, found the correct "table" and told the bevy of volunteers my name. I signed the book, got my ballot, put it into the inka-vote system, snapped it over the two pegs on top and began marking away.

When I took out my ballot, I checked to see if had black dots; it did.

I handed it to the poll worker at the ballot box and he showed me how to put it into the machine (sort of like an ATM machine that takes your card). He looked at the readout and said: "Perfect."

I felt secure that my vote counted.

The people were even nice. Like the young woman, a student at Temple City High School who asked if I was related to Andy Scauzillo,. "Yes, that's my son." She said, "Yeah, I know him, I play basketball." (Andy plays forward/guard on the TCHS Varsity basketball team and is sports editor of the high school newspaper Rampage).

As I was leaving, the tall gentleman in front thanked me for voting and told me "not to forget to get a cup of coffee for free at Starbucks."

He was busy directing voters to the right table and was keeping the line moving. This is a multi-precinct location, so each table has an aggregate of registered voters. It makes the lines go quicker (sort of like many cashiers at McDonalds).

I encountered three people waiting as I walked in at little after 9 a.m. The whole process was quick, easy and greatly satisfying.

I would highly recommend it if you haven't done so already. I even prefer the showing up in person and voting on election day routine. There's just something very democratic about seeing your fellow voters in the multi-purpose room of a church/school.

As I left, a steady stream of cars were turning into the parking lot.

I slapped the "I voted" sticker on my chest, puffed it out and walked to my car.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WEST COVINA -- JUST once, we'd like to hear a politician running for office say let's not reinvent the wheel when it comes to healthcare but instead let's look at replicating successful programs.

One of those success stories is the East Valley Community Health Center in West Covina, which christened its bigger and better facility Wednesday morning. (I first wrote about this in a July blog entry)

It's hard to find any good news these days, especially about health care. Yet this place is a good news story.

Now that they got the thing built, the problem will be: Can they keep it operating? And can they fill the building's capacity by expanding service? They may get some new money from the county, thanks to Supervisor Gloria Molina. But the state is talking more cutbacks. Stay tuned.

Really, why can't these healthcare clinics get funded from all that Prop. 5 money, the tax on cigarettes? The clinic operators should incorporate stop-smoking programs. That should fulfill the spirit of that law. Also, there is tobacco settlement dollars? It's time to fund healthcare, a need that is only growing as people lose their jobs and also lose their healthcare insurance.

It's that, or the emergency rooms get even more croweded with the uninsured.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A look at "Revelation 1" the largest painting of 17 attributed to Jackson Pollock which were on display at APU's Duke Gallery.

AZUSA - The folks at Azusa Pacific University may have achieved what they wanted. A lot of publicity.

When I visited the gallery to see the paintings potentially done by Jackson Pollock last weekend, there were two men there who were asking a lot of questions. Both were interested in learning more about the largest canvas, the one in the photograph at the top of this entry. They wanted to see the back of the painting, to see if the paint had bled through. They wanted to hold the canvas up to a light source. They even wanted to know how the painting got its title.

I'm hearing that the university has had offers to buy the paintings. That could generate millions for the university, since the owner is willing to donate some of the proceeds from a sale. The last authenticated Pollock sold for $140 million.

Of course, these have not been authenticated. And therein lies the rub.
The university's newspaper, The Clause, quoted APU Executive Vice President David Bixby as saying: "there is a significant difference in the price of paintings attributed to Pollock -- millions of dollars difference."

It's too bad that the paintings could not or have not been tested. The university exhibit included a letter from a University of Oregon scientist who studied the fractal patterns of this works verses other Pollocks. He said they resemble those of the 20th centurty abstract expressionist.

Bixby was quoted as saying "There is growing evidence that these are, in fact, Pollock's ... the evidence is very compelling."

It will be interesting to see what kind of price these paintings are sold for. Of course, let the buyer beware.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

THE economy is in the toilet, unemployment is off the charts and there are two presidential candidates that I don't think know much about derivatives or their bastard cousin, credit default swaps.

That being said, I went looking to bury my head in a distraction. In October there's no better way to do the ostrich thing than at a baseball game.

Baseball has been on my mind lately because of the looming destruction of Yankee Stadium. That grand old place in the Bronx was where my father, myself, and my brother and sisters would experience an American distraction together.

As Yogi Berra said, they can tear it down but my memories of the place will never be destroyed. Memories of walking past the endless marble steps of the U.S. courthouse to get to the stadium. Of that splash of green that hits the eye like a fluorescent Warhol at the end of the upper deck tunnel. Of talking baseball minutia with other grandstanders whom I had never met until that day.

My dad liked doubleheaders. In between games, I'd find my way down to the Yankee Stadium Museum and lift up the phones that played the famous calls: Lou Gehrig's farewell; Don Larsen's perfect game during the 1956 World Series; Mickey Mantle's 500th homer. Chills would run up my back and tickle the sweat beads there as I listened to the scratchy recordings.

"We usually sat in the upper grandstands. Dad liked that the best. We'd be under the overhang," wrote my older sister, Loretta, who lives in Upstate New York. "Mom would make us like 10 ham and cheese sandwiches and a soda in a big bag. Then, Dad would buy us an ice cream or something special."

I was born the year the referendum allowing construction of Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine passed -- 50 years ago in April. Dodger fans have memories there, as I do of Yankee Stadium, that could fill a lifetime.

What sears baseball memories into the brain is not nine guys playing a game in baggy pants, but rather, a family connecting through baseball's timeline. Since they've been playing this game for more than 100 years, each generation of fans can connect through the timeless game. When my dad would tell me about sneaking into the Polo Grounds, it reminded me of a friend of my wife's who told me Thursday night she would get into Yankee Stadium by climbing through an 18-inch gap between the subway platform and the House That Ruth Built.

Since 1979, I've become an Angels fan (it started while I was attending UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton) and have had my share of bonding moments at Angel Stadium. My wife and I would take our sons and sit out on the picnic tables in center field. Our oldest, Matt, 18, grew up liking former Angel great Tim Salmon. As a toddler, he cried during the homerun fireworks, I'll always remind him.

As I got busy with marriage, work and starting a family, baseball took a back seat. Funny, once I became a father it became more important. It became more than a distraction. Being a baseball fan meant extending a family connection.

My younger sister, Grace, who lives in Kansas with her husband and family, will never forget our baseball moment. On Oct. 14 1976, we watched Chris Chambliss smack a walk-off homerun into the seats of Yankee Stadium, sending our Yanks to their first World Series in our lifetime.

On Wednesday night, I went looking for some distraction but that turned to numbing reality. There would be no joy in Anaheim that night. The Angels had lost.
As I write this, I'm waiting for my younger son, Andy, 16, to meet me here at work so together we could see Game 2 of the Angels-Red Sox playoffs Friday night. Win or lose, joy or disappointment, we'll be making a new memory.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'VE always been a logical guy when it comes to elections. I advocate looking at each candidate's platforms and deciding who to vote for by what they promise to do once in office.

On Friday, as I write this, I decided to turn off my brain and go with my gut. No facts, just feelings. After all, that's how most people vote. In today's gerrymandered districts and split electorates, candidates' stands aren't really that different. Voters end up deciding by personality or whether they like the candidate's spouse.

I sat mesmerized by Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night. I was alone, watching from my living room uninterrupted. His words moved me.
I remembered his speech delivered back in 2004 at the DNC. The part that gave me goosebumps then was the stuff about "not being a country of red states, of blue states, but of the United States."

That kind of pragmatic politics makes me smile. I got all tingly again when Obama read that line Thursday, even though my head says bipartisanship is about as likely as me buying a retirement condo on Mars.

Likewise, I like the way McCain has said he would "follow bin Laden to the gates of hell." Goosebump city. But my head says: We're no closer to capturing bin Laden than we are to erasing the federal deficit.

Gut politics, however, is more than listening to speeches. It is looking at personalities. I like to call this the psychology of politics.

Obama is trying to be more human so the video montage focused on his upbringing, being raised by a single mother who was white, along with his white grandparents who would take him fishing.

I see him as a man who remembers his mother, who died of cancer. Her words gave him that sense of right and wrong, that feeling that he must respect others. I think McCain is a kick sometimes -- funny, charming, but I'm not sure about the influences of his mother being well, fresh in his mind. And I don't like his wife, Cindy. She was on YouTube saying the only way to get around Arizona is by private jet, so, she bought herself one.

Obama's wife doesn't do much for me, but she appears strong and intelligent. Oh yeah, she raised darling daughters -- an emotional plus for me, a family guy.

Obama comes off arrogant. Heck, anyone that goes to Harvard has to be confident. As I watched the video of him going to the gritty parts of Chicago to help people go from welfare to work and to help those who lost their jobs, I was impressed.

I've done some volunteer work with the down and out at my former church in Pasadena, even attended conventions where other Christians doing charity work -- some from Chicago -- would talk about helping the poor, building affordable housing, getting people health insurance. I could never measure up to those giants, but I got to know some of them and admired them. They made me feel like I was going something, something good.

Listening to Obama makes me revisit those days. Those warm and fuzzy feelings came back.

"It's politics. It is rehearsed, orchestrated ..." my colleagues reminded me. But for just one day, I am going to see this as most Americans do -- with their gut, not their brain.
Sorry, you can lament that all you want but it is a fact. I've fought that approach my whole life, even when I was first exposed to politics at age 10, when I helped staple Richard Nixon posters to telephone poles in Long Island.

I remember my best friend's mom took us to the Turnpike to watch Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey ride into town in a motorcade. That's still one of my most cherished childhood moments. That year, 1968, the race was so close I remember waking up and my mom greeted me with the news: "We still don't have a president." I didn't understand.
But politics is not based on logic. It is based on feelings, on a fleeting moment, on how a candidate makes you feel.

This race -- though historic in that it features the first African-American nominated by a major party -- is no different.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

DO the Olympic games bring countries together or foster antagonism?

I was intrigued by the question after I heard former Los Angeles Times TV critic Howard Rosenberg on NPR this week say he doesn't believe in the pollyanna view. He said they don't bring countries together but rather, with the focus on medal counts and winning at all costs (including cheating), they ramp up nationalism and increase global friction.

Certainly, there isn't any love being shown to the Democratic, western-leaning country of Georgia by Russia. And inside China, the government's clampdown on free speech -- the jailing of dissident group members and underground church pastors -- hasn't produced a "We'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" Coke moment.

Add this to the usual gymnastic judging disputes, throw in the latest wrinkle of athletes playing for other countries for the money (see: South Dakota's Becky Hammon earning $2 million to play basketball for Team Russia) and your Olympic bubble is burst.

So many of course had their bubbles popped during the doping scandals of recent years. In Sydney in 2000, American television could not get enough of track star Marion Jones. But she was stripped of her five gold medals after lying and eventually admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs. She watched these games from a jail cell.

There is a feeling of distrust that lingers every time an athlete breaks a world record. You can't help but hear the whispers. I certainly hope that is not the case with the winners in Beijing. And so far, for the most part, the athletes have not flunked drug tests.
Now, bad feelings between China and the United States are growing because of an investigation into the age of Chinese gymnasts who under IOC rules, must be 16 years old.

One can't escape the cloud of past cheating that lingers over the games like a blanket of Beijing smog. And Rosenberg may be right about the Olympics lacking a world peace bump.

But having been a spectator in two summer Olympic games, I can't shake the feeling of closeness to all peoples -- Americans, Europeans, Asians and Africans -- that pervaded at those games. I can only conclude that being there is way different than watching a delayed media event that is sanitized and jingo-ized before it reaches your living room.

As I look back, it was the little things that made me realize we are all human, we are all of the same planet.

In Los Angeles in 1984, there was so much of the positive. Recently I was reminded of that day we watched Carl Lewis win the 100 meter race, grab the American flag and do a victory lap. He later also won gold in the 200, a record that was broken just this week by phenom Usain Bolt of Jamaica.

That same hot day, my wife, myself and friends found shade under white tents at USC and drank cool ale in the "Olympic Beer Garden" set up by the U.S. and other nations. Today, if you go to USC, a small plaque marks the spot of that international watering hole.

I will never forget attending team handball at Cal State Fullerton's tiny gymnasium during the '84 Olympics and being swept up in Team Iceland fans' enthusiasm as they chanted "Ees-lund!" "Ees-lund!" The Iceland fans welcomed me in and taught me how to cheer Icelandic.

While the Atlanta games certainly had their problems, I'll always remember watching Michael Johnson run the 200 meter and set the fastest time. Again, as that record was broken this week in Beijing, the TV cameras flashed on Johnson. I thought he would be sad. Instead, he jumped and cheered -- again for Bolt -- who surpassed his record time by running the race in 19.30 seconds.

Johnson's sportsmanship, Carl Lewis's class, Iceland's fans, trading Olympic pins ... these are a few Olympic memories that may not bring world peace, but from time to time bring a smile to my heart.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

File this one under "Cheaper than therapy."

I heard about a couple of gas stations offering cheaper gasoline, so I went down there this morning on my way to work. I filled up at the Mobil at Durfee Avenue and Peck Road (at the 60 Freeway) for $3.95 a gallon (regular).

Sweet!

This felt better than any editorial I've written on high gas prices. Any editorial cartoon I've run showing oil company executives as fat pigs rolling in record-setting profits. It was economics in practice.
I just bought gas for under $4 a gallon! First time in at least a year, right? And it felt good. I was on such a high, I decided I could spring for a cup of coffee. As I pulled the handle down on the filling station's coffee machine, nothing came out. The cashier/manager told me he had completely run out of coffee! It was around 9:15 a.m. so I guess he was busy with customers earlier this morning.

So was the Shell station across Durfee, which also was selling gas for $3.95. My colleague here, Linda Alquist, said the Conoco/Phillips 66 station at Garey Avenue and Foothill Boulevard on the Pomona/Claremont border was also selling gas for $3.95. I've not seen it cheaper? If you have, do tell.

Now, this makes me feel like I'm sticking it to the man. It beats inflating my tires properly (although I do that, so don't go telling Obama.).

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've always thought highly of Vincent Bugliosi, the former L.A. County prosecutor who put Charlie Manson on death row, and the author of several riveting true crime books, including "Helter Skelter" which was about the Manson case, and "Outrage," in which he picked apart the flawed prosecution in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

I remember reading "Outrage" and after each page, becoming angrier and angrier over the sheer ineptitude of the prosecutors in that case. Bugilosi is a highly respected legal mind and a sharp writer.

So, when I heard he was speaking at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena Thursday night to promote his new book, "The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder," I had mixed feelings. Could he be for real? His reputation, and hearing him speak, gave me the answer. He's dead serious.

Bugliosi spoke with passion and conviction to a standing-room only crowd at Vroman's on Colorado Boulevard. Bugliosi is true to his word. He spoke clearly about how in his view George W. Bush misled the Congress and the American people into war in Iraq. He believes that such conduct is not only reprehnsible but criminal.

Whether any attorney general of any of the 50 states, or any county district attorney, would prosecute George W. Bush after he leaves office for war crimes is the $64,000 question (or considering the price tag of the Iraq war, it should be the $564 billion question).

One thing is certain. Bugliosi is not a nut and he's not gone whacko. He's still the same respected, legal mind that put Manson and almost every murder defendant he prosecuted behind bars.

It's too bad that very few media outlets will have him on their talk shows to discuss his new book. He said it is the first time he has been virtually shut out of all major media outlets from promoting a book of his. He said the media are scared of upsetting the right wing. Yet, despite the media blackout, it has jumped to 9th on the New York Times Bestseller list.

His point: America is no longer exercising its two main principles: 1. No one is above the law. and 2. We have freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The book was published by Vanguard Press in May, 2008.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

WITH Obama giving a stump speech in Berlin (Ich bin ein Illinoisan) and McCain visiting a German restaurant in the Midwest, I can say without reservation the silly season is upon us.

Well, not quite. The only thing missing are those robocalls in which the candidate -- or some worthy surrogate -- (Madonna? Susan Sarandon? Phil Gramm?) give a recorded spiel on how we should vote in November.

It's July, so people may have forgotten receiving a deluge of annoying, intrusive automated calls from candidates during the presidential primary in February, usually at dinner time or when your favorite show is on TV.

Shaun Dakin, a marketer who founded the Web site StopPoliticalCalls.org, hasn't forgotten. He's collected 50,000 names from people who want to block these political robocalls.

While the federal Do Not Call Registry has about 160 million phone numbers on it, most of these Americans don't realize that charities, market research and political calls are exempt.

"You can't get too angry at charities. But nobody likes politicians. No one is very happy with political robocalls," Dakin told me Friday morning.

Dakin is joined by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who co-authored legislation this year that would ban robocalls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. and restrict political calls to no more than twice a day per telephone number.

Feinstein was awakened to the issue in February when she taped a political message for another candidate. Thousands of California voters heard: "Hi. I'm Dianne Feinstein ..." when they picked up their telephones and were outraged. "They sent out the calls at 3 o'clock in the morning," Dakin said.

Talk about the phone call at 3 a.m.

After getting a flood of calls from very real and very angry constituents at her senate office, Feinstein said "she learned her lesson" and would not make another robocall ever again. And, she set out to regulate the practice.

Feinstein and other legal experts believe that it is a violation of free speech to outlaw political calls. So, she's chosen to regulate the worst practices.
Others wonder how effective these calls really are. In fact, some political strategists say they turn voters off.

But the issue gets down to money. Dakin said it once cost about 25 cents per call. Now, vendors have lowered that to 2 cents or less per call, making robocalls the cheapest form of political messaging. A Pew Internet & American Life Project study found it is the No. 1 form of congressional communication. The study found that 81 percent of Iowa voters received robocalls during the caucuses. Companies doing these calls would lose big bucks if the practice was stopped or curtailed.

There's also a matter of the law. The calls are illegal according to California Public Utilities Commission's own rules. Yet, the CPUC has not picked up a phone to call off these robotic nuisances. According to CPUC Code Sections 2871-2876 (http://law.justia.com/california/codes/puc/2871-2876.html), the call must begin with a "live" caller and he must ask permission of the person being called before hitting the play button. The "live" person must also identify the organization making the call.
This almost never happens.

As Dakin said, using live people would defeat the purpose.
Dakin said he's received thousands of e-mails from people who are fed up with robocalls from political candidates.

Many are people who work at night and have had their sleep interrupted. Others are stay-at-home mothers whose infants are awakened from naps. Senior citizens -- a high propensity voting bloc -- report getting 15 or more calls a day.

If the state were to abide by the law, the caller would have to be live. At least the person answering the phone could have the satisfaction of venting to a live human being.

-30-

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The new East Valley Community Health Center at 420 S. Glendora Ave. in West Covina opened its new facility last week.

Alicia Mardini, chief executive officer, stands in front of waiting room. The day the clinic opened the new building was filled to capacity.

WEST COVINA -- There are those who talk about healthcare and those who do something about it. In the doer category are Alicia Mardini and the folks at the East Valley Community Health Center.
This place opened its new, 25,000-square-foot building about a week ago here. It is three times the size of its old building. One the day it opened, the patients waited outside the building. The clinic reached capacity that same day.
Filling a need -- helping the poor and the uninsured get basic healthcare -- is what Mardini and East Valley Community Health Center do. They see 120 patients a day (and that doesn't count those here for blood work or lab visits). It adds up to 45,000-50,000 patient visits a year.
"About 90 percent of our patients are people who work,'' explained Mardini. "Some of them have more than one job."
The bulk of those patients are in their 40s and 50s. They work at blue collar jobs for employers who do not offer healthcare insurance. These are the working poor. They do not qualify for Medi-Cal because they work!
Mardini said it is crucial for the clinic to see Medi-Cal patients as well because the state reimburses for those. However, looming state cutbacks has put that revenue supply in jeopardy.
Also, with the state cutting back on the payments for doctors, fewer and fewer specialists are taking Medi-Cal patients.
It's incredible that in our country, right here in West Covina, people can't get to see a doctor. In Los Angeles County, all the public-private clinics and county clinics running at full capacity can take about 1 million people, leaving almost 2 million uninsured residents without access to healthcare. That's just in the county.
"These are the people that if we don't treat them, they end up in the emergency rooms," Mardini said.
The group took a big chance when it decided to build a new facility. It received $6 million from private donors, including the Ahmanson Foundation. But it still needed to take out a mortgage for the balance -- about $4 million. That gives Mardini more wrinkles on her forehead.
But the idea was to expand staff and see 50 percent more patients within the next five years. Those expansion plans are on hold. In fact, that may not happen because it faces state budget cuts that may require the clinic borrow money to stay open in the second half of the fiscal year. Instead of hiring additional medical staff, it may have to use that money to paying off its loans.
"We know we will make it. It is just very hard,'' Mardini said.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)