Mayor's Budget Day - Strike Two.

If anything proves the Neighborhood Councils are a work in progress, today's Mayor's Budget Day did. Last year, each Neighborhood Council was asked to list five categories they would like to see better funded. Then each of the five regions of the eighty odd NC's were to meet and vote on their collective five highest priorities. The biggest hitch was that the priorities were so broad - and also already in the budget - it was impossible to quantify if anything actually happened because of our lists.

Now this year the Mayor's office tried something a little different. They gave us four categories of priorities and asked us to rank them, and to then sub-rank smaller categories within each of the larger categories.

Unfortunately, the categories make no sense. Under economic development were homelessness services and low income housing while under livable neighborhoods (which would seem to suggest... housing, but which was not addressed there) were social programs such as the status of women, civil rights and AIDS assistance programs, which should have a fifth section of their own. And infrastructure issues were mysteriously split between neighborhoods and mobility.

But the biggest problem is that we are not being asked which (often politically motivated) programs we would like to cut or drop. Nor are we going to be engaged in the examination of the programs we are being asked to endorse. Plus nothing as sensitive as pension reform is even hinted at. Lastly, there is no way of quantifying if any of our input has any impact at all. Not surprisingly, not a single member of a Neighborhood Council was involved in the development of the survey.

LA Cowboy... Returns!

Shortly after I started this blog... my life abruptly changed, a not too uncommon occurrence in my life; hence my recent hiatus.

To my surprise, I found myself elected the president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC). I also was appointed by the Mayor to DWP Green Ribbon Commission. Additionally, I was already serving on a number of committees that deal with many of the city's agencies.

So, more than just being an observer - I am now, increasingly - more of an active participant in many of the issues facing this city.

To back track - the City of Los Angeles a few years back started an experiment in democracy called Neighborhood Councils. More than eighty of a projected over a hundred councils have already been certified citywide and each council is elected by the stakeholders of each community. Depending on the individual council, seats can be held by business owners, residents, workers, non-profits, the arts, social service agencies - among many other stakeholder groups - and - in our case - even the homeless.

Importantly, this is the first time the city has charter mandated stakeholder groups that directly communicate with the Mayor and the City Council, along with city agencies. It is also, even more importantly - the first time each of the different groups that make up all the communities of LA can sit down and... talk to each other and get to know and, most importantly - understand each other.

It will also be the first time that any one other than the lobbyists and special interest groups will consistently be at the table every time any issue of importance comes before the City Council or before any city agency. But rather than detail the history/current status of the Neighborhood Council - check out the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) website at www.lacityneighborhoods.com/sitemap.htm for further information.

So along with the life, politics and culture of Los Angeles I had planned on essaying about - this blog will, from now on, also report on (and, sometimes, opine on) the birth pains of this new grass roots experience in local, town hall style democracy. Neighborhood Councils.

So - Cowboy Up!

It's going to be an interesting ride.

Reagan Dead

An era of American and world history ended today with the passing of former President Ronald Reagan.

The first time I ever met Reagan was in 1965 when I was still a high school student. I had volunteered at the Spencer-Roberts Public Relations firm, then the powerhouse political firm in California, after Reagan had formed an exploratory committee while he considered running to become the governor of California.

From that very first meeting and during each of the times I had the honor of either being a guest in his home or to otherwise meet him, the one thing that stood out most was his belief and confidence in the American people. No matter what your political opinion of him was or is, if you ever had the pleasure to meet him, you could not doubt the sincerity of his beliefs or his passion for this country.

All You Need To Know About The "LA" Times

One of the great civic benefactors of Los Angeles died yesterday, but you would never know it by reading the news sections of the Chicago, I mean, LA Times. Richard D. Colburn was the force behind and the major financial supporter of the Colburn School of Performing Arts on Bunker Hill and the major supporter of the soon to be built $80 million expansion designed to give Los Angeles a school equal to New York's Juilliard.

But Colburn's extensive obituary was buried on page ten of the 'B' section rather than being on the front page as the story would have been if he had lived in Chicago - or any other city in with a locally owned and operated newspaper. To do this, though, would have required bumping off urgently breaking front page stories such as one about a horse in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

I would like to say I was surprised by this, but this is the same out-of-town team that did not feel that even Ira Yellin's passing was worthy of coverage in the regular news section.

Unfortunately, this is the continuing price this city has to pay for a paper owned by absentee landlords and edited and published by outsiders for whom LA is just another temporary pit stop in their careers.

The Last Of Perino's

In today's LAT, Bob Pool covers the impending demolition of the historic Wilshire eatery, Perino's - the site of so much of Los Angeles's social and political history. He also details the efforts by the developers to save many of the Paul Williams designed building's architectural details for re-use both on and off-site.

What is not discussed is that in many other cities - San Diego and San Francisco to name just two - buildings of historic value are far more often moved to new locations - including structures that are far larger and more difficult to move such as large, unreinforced brick warehouses.

There precedents demonstrate that there is no reason why an elegant structure of Perino's compact size can not be moved to another commercial site before its scheduled August demolition.

What would, however, would make this far easier to do is if Los Angeles had a revolving trust to buy, move and restore historic structures - like many other cities do. The buildings are then protected with easements and re-sold, with the funds then used to buy, move and restore another building.

I can think of few things that would have a more beneficial impact on the quality of life in LA than the establishment of this kind of civic institution.

Does anyone know the phone number of the Getty Trust? Or Eli Broad?

Forget ChinaTown, Jake - It's El Pueblo We Have To Worry About!

Two events have finally pushed me over the edge into the living hell that is blogdom. FIrst, both the process and the end result of the Grand Avenue competition for redeveloping Bunker Hill around Disney Hall, which I will delve into later.

Second, was Laura Chick's audit (and she is our watchdog of a city controller) of El Pueblo, which 'runs' Olvera Street and the historic buildings for the city around the Plaza. The initial story of the audit was followed by a second story in this week's Downtown News about just fired employees allegedly breaking into the El Pueblo offices and shredding files and possibly even destroying computer hard drives. And there is a reason why I am interested in 'Pueblo-gate'.

When I wanted to do an art show in one of the vacant buildings several years ago, I tried to find out who was in charge. And it only took one day to discover that there were large numbers of city employees being paid to do ... absolutely... nothing... and that many of them were not even bothering to show up at their non-existent jobs while they worked their real jobs.

But when I went with that information (along with two volunteers willing to go on record) to the council office, to the Mayor's office and to the press - I could not get even one person to listen to what was going on - much less do anything about it. It just seemed to be accepted that this type of Chicago-style political patronage was acceptable in El Pueblo and that there was something wrong with me if I had any problem with it.

What will be interesting to find out - assuming there is not a cover-up (a not very safe assumption, of course) - is exactly who has been the political protectors of this criminal activity for so many years - if not decades.

LA Cowboy - Politics, Culture and Art in LA

Accepting a dare from Matt Welch of the late, and greatly lamented (other than by the LA Times, of course), LA Examiner - I am going to take a stab (which may soon prove to be, an all too relevant verb) at starting a much needed - civil debate about politics in Los Angeles, along with all of the other aspects of life in LA that can make life here - both exciting and despairing. So... as soon as I figure how the hell to make this damned thing work with a 1997 browser.... this particular LA COWBOY.