Downtown Fashion Walk Wants Some Steampunk!

After the success of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk the second Thursday of the month - we are now starting Fashion Walk the third Thursday of each month along Main, Spring and Broadway. That same night, we are also launching an entertainment and other all other arts Broadway Walk along Broadway from 2nd to 9th Streets.

Both events will be on the third Thursday of each month. And both events would like the extend an invitation to the steampunk movement to join us. We want to build upon the excitement - and wonder - of the recent Edwardian Ball at the Tower Theater and success of Los Angeles based circus - Cirque Berzerk - currently playing to rave reviews in Downtown's Cornfield Park.

And if you have not yet seen Cirque Berzerk and the one a kind... spectacle... it produces - their shows have just been extended - yet again - until August 9th. (see above link for ticket details).

These two new monthly Downtown walks will debut - side by side - Thursday night August 20th and they will run from 5:30 PM - 10 PM. And since many of the area's buildings (and interiors) date from the steam punk era, the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood will provide an excellent environment to display and photograph all things steampunk.

Ad we will soon post more information about these events later. But, first, we are looking for any steampunk - or any other alternative clothing life-style - designers and dealers who would like to showcase their goods during Fashion Walk. We are also looking for unique entertainers to participate in our Broadway Walk.

So if you are interested, contact Brady Westwater at.... bradywestwater@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Economic Development Committee Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council July 28th Meeting 7 PM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Economic Development Committee Agenda
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLANC_ED/
Committee Board Co-Chair David Hurtado @ davidhurtado@gmail.com
Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater • 213-804-8396 •
BradyWestwater@gmail.com

Tuesday • July 28th, 2009 • 7:00 p.m.
1100 Wilshire Blvd. Community Room – Los Angeles, CA 90015

Park on the street, nearest subway stop is at 7th and Figueroa. When
you enter the building, let the security guard know you are there
for the Economic Development Committee and the security guard will
direct you to the room we are meeting in. If you need help, contact
Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater bradywestwater@gmail.com
213-804-8396 (cell)
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Mailing office DLANC POB 13096 LA CA 90013-096
TELEPHONE: (213) 473-6451
www.dlanc.com MAIL STOP: 968-01
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENTwww.lacityneighborhoods.com

CITY OF LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OFFICERS:
J. RUSSELL BROWN, PRESIDENT
BRADY WESTWATER, VICE-PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION
PATTI BERMAN VICE-PRESIDENT OF OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION
ALEX CHA, TREASURER
ANNA DANIELLE DURAN, SECRETARY

MEETING AGENDA
1. Call to order.

2. Public comment on non-agenda items.

3. Approval of minutes of prior meeting.

4. Discussion of plans for future mixers.

5. Discussion on Fashion Walk and Broadway Walk publicity.

6. Discussion and action on DLANC participation on Fashion Walk, Angel's Flight Walk, Broadway Walk and promoting local businesses to hotel guests and new residents and $1,000 towards website and marketing materials.

7. Discussion and action on outreach for two proposed City West boundary expansions.

8. Discussion and possible action on Downtown residential housing market.

9. Discussion on Downtown workers survey on what changes people need before they would move Downtown.

10. Update, if any, on CEDS program and possible partnerships to get grant money for the community.

11. Discussion and action on promoting Downtown ED activities on DLANC website and other on-line forums.

12. DIscussion and action on helping create economic development incubators.

13. Discussion and action on what ED activities could support SDAT project focusing
upon financially sustainable housing and walkable neighborhoods.

14. Discussion and vote on committee budget priorities for next fiscal year.

15. New/old business/future agenda items.

16. Board member comment.

17. Public comment.

18. Adjournment.

The public is requested to fill out a "Speaker Card" to address the
DLANC Planning & Land Use Committee (Committee) on any item of the
agenda prior to the Committee taking action on an item. Comments
from the public on agenda items will be heard only when the
respective item is being considered. Comments from the public on
other matters not appearing on the agenda that is within the
Committee's subject matter jurisdiction will be heard during the
public comment period. Public comment is limited to 2 minutes per
speaker, unless waived by the presiding officer of the Committee.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on
the basis of disability and upon request, will provide reasonable
accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and
activities. Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices,
or other auxiliary aids and/or services may be provided upon
request. To ensure availability of services, please make your
request at least 3 business days (72 hours) prior to the meeting you
wish to attend by contacting Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater at
213-804-8396 or bradywestwater@gmail.com.

SI REQUIERE SERVICIOS DE TRADUCCION, FAVOR DE NOTIFICAR A LA OFICINA
3 dias de trabajo (72 horas) ANTES DEL EVENTO. SI NECESITA
ASISTENCIA CON ESTA NOTIFICACION, POR FAVOR LLAME A NUESTRA OFICINA
AL 323-224-2316

--

It's the National Day of the Cowboy!

But this cowboy is along ways from his cowboy homes and even further away from this cowboy roots. So all you guys out there living the cowboy way - cowboy up while you can.

It doesn't last forever.

Join The Broadway Walk! And Fashion Walk, Too!

Broadway Walk Call for Projects!


If you are interested in Downtown – or Broadway – or both - or if you are involved in the performing or visual arts - you don’t need to read the article linked to above (and below) to know how the Art Walk has totally changed Main and Spring (but read it any way).

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/07/la_observed_on_kcrw_downt.php

What you do NOT know, though – is that it’s now Broadway’s turn to have its own walk. But rather than just visual arts – beginning on August 20th – on the THIRD Thursday of the money – the week after second Thursday Art Walk – Broadway will showcase ALL of the arts each third Thursday of the month.

And just like Art Walk started with only a handful of pioneers – we are looking a dozen cultural organizations and about that many individuals willing to perform or exhibit in vacant storefronts, in restaurants, on vacant upper floors of buildings, on sidewalks - – or … possibly… maybe even in a theater – or its lobby.

That same night we will also be holding our first Fashion Walk, on Main and Spring - and on Broadway, too - with over twenty boutiques being open - plus special events. So feel free to come to both events dressed as your real, your fantasy or your forbidden selves.

So – if there is anything you'd like to do on Broadway – or anyone you think we should be talking to – let us know.

August 20th, 2009 will go down as the date Broadway nightlife – finally - first came back to life.

And how often are you given a chance to create history?

Brady Westwater
bradywestwater@gmail.com
213-804-8396

Julius Shulman, Dies at 98

To say an era has passed with the death of architectural photographer Julius Shulman is inadequate. It is the end of several eras.

At 98, Shulman was the last person living who knew or worked with every member of the generation of modern architects who came to prominence in the Los Angeles of 1920's and 1930's. He then worked with each new generation of architects who came after them during the 70 years after his first job with Richard Neutra in 1936.

He was also the last of that early generation of architectural photographers remaining just as he was one of the first to specialize in that field. He was also one the few Angelinos left with memories of what it was like to live in the Los Angeles of the late post WWI era and the boom times of the 1920's. He was also - possibly - the last of his generation to be an active participant in civic life well into the 21st Century, right up until his death.

The time I first met him - in a class at UCLA back in the 1960's - I remember how impressed I was by the energy of such an 'old' man - particularly one from such a distant era. I was also impressed by how surprisingly candid he was in all his answers to our questions. And when we met last a few years ago - forty years after our first meeting - I was just as impressed.

Below is the opening of the LA Times article; but, better yet, just hit the link above for the whole piece.

Julius Shulman dies at 98; celebrated photographer of Modernist architecture
Shulman died Wednesday at his L.A. home. One observer says he had 'a profound effect on the writing and teaching of architectural history ... especially Southern California modernism.'
By Claudia Luther

12:03 PM PDT, July 16, 2009

Julius Shulman, whose luminous photographs of homes and buildings brought fame to a number of mid-20th century Modernist architects and made him a household name in the architectural world, died Wednesday night. He was 98.

Shulman, who had been in declining health, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to gallery owner Craig Krull, who represented him.

Starting with Richard Neutra in 1936, Shulman's roster of clients read like a who's who of pioneering contemporary architecture: Rudolf M. Schindler, Gregory Ain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Eames, Raphael S. Soriano, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, Pierre Koenig, Harwell Harris and many others. His work was contained in virtually every book published on Modernist architects.

"He has a sense of visual bravura of composition," wrote the late Robert Sobieszek, photography curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "so that he can take a rather mundane house and make it look exciting, and take a spectacular house and make it look triply spectacular."

Shulman had "a profound effect on the writing and teaching of architectural history and understanding architecture, especially Southern California modernism," said Thomas Hines, UCLA professor emeritus of architecture and urban design. And Newsweek magazine's Cathleen McGuigan wrote that some of Shulman's photographs of modern glass houses in Palm Springs and Los Angeles "are so redolent of the era in which they were built you can practically hear the Sinatra tunes wafting in the air and the ice clinking in the cocktail glasses."

After the Depression, Shulman's studio was one of three in the U.S. to which Arts & Architecture, Architectural Forum and other magazines turned to document the exciting new work being done in architecture. The others were Ezra Stoller's firm in New York and the Hedrich Blessing firm in Chicago.

Shulman's 1960 photograph of Koenig's Case Study House #22 -- a glass-walled, cantilevered structure hovering above the lights of Los Angeles, became one of the most famous architectural pictures ever taken in the U.S. It was, as architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote in the New York Times, "one of those singular images that sum up an entire city at a moment in time."

But Shulman's work went well beyond merely taking beautiful pictures of houses and buildings. His mission was to use his photography to build the reputation of the architects who were bringing innovative design to the West. Indeed, his photographs were, by and large, all that most people would ever see of noted architects' works, many of which were later destroyed.

Neutra, whose association with Shulman lasted 34 years until the architect's death in 1970, acknowledged this.

"Film [is] stronger and good glossy prints are easier [to] ship than brute concrete, stainless steel or even ideas," Neutra said.

Shulman was born Oct. 10, 1910, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Soon after his birth, the family moved to a farm in Connecticut, where they raised cows, grew corn and had a small fur business.

It was on the farm that Shulman first developed a love of nature that, he said, awakened him to light and shadow and influenced his life's course.

When Julius was 10, his father moved the family to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, which at that time was predominantly Jewish, and opened the New York Dry Goods Store on Temple Street. His father died of tuberculosis in 1923, leaving Julius' mother to run the business and raise five children.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School -- where he took what would be his only course in photography -- Shulman spent seven years as what he called an "academic drifter," auditing geology, philosophy and other courses at UCLA and UC Berkeley. He returned to Los Angeles -- without a degree and still unsure what he wanted to do.

He was, by then, however, earning rent money from pictures he took at Berkeley with an Eastman box camera. And one photograph of the 6th Street Bridge over the L.A. River had won first prize in a national magazine competition.

It was a chance meeting with Neutra in March 1936 -- two weeks after Shulman left Berkeley -- that would open up the possibility of becoming an architectural photographer. A man who was renting a room from Shulman's sister, and who was working as a draftsman for Neutra, invited Shulman along one day to see Neutra's Kun house, which was under construction near Fairfax Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.

As was his habit by then, Shulman took along a vest-pocket camera that was equipped with a bellows that unfolded.

"I had never seen a modern house before," Shulman said. It "intrigued me with its strange forms -- beyond any previous identity of a house in my experience."

Shulman developed a few of the pictures and sent them to the draftsman, who showed them to Neutra. The architect, then in his mid-40s, sent for young Shulman and ordered up more prints.

With Neutra's invitation to photograph other projects, Shulman was suddenly a professional architecture photographer....

(REST OF ARTICLE AT ABOVE LINK)

Weird - Even Scary - G-Mail Experience.

I just sent an email and mentioned I have been hit by a bad case of my mold fungus allergy. Then when I sent it - rather than the screen going back to g-mail - it came back to a company that removed... mold fungus.

Scary, huh? Anyone else ever have that experience?

http://www.amoldspecialist.com/

National Archives of the Pacific Region To Be Hidden Away In Warehouse

Below is a warning from the Huntington Library's Carolyn Powell:

Notice to all researchers:

The current acting Archivist of the United States has proposed to close the Laguna Niguel branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and move the materials to the Federal Record's Center in Perris (Riverside County). The Perris facility is a warehouse with no reading room. This proposal is part of a larger plan to reduce the number of National Archives branch facilities by closing some and turning others into "storefronts" with reading rooms only and off-site records storage.

Considerations:

NARA's Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel) has more than 35,000 cubic feet of archival holdings dating from about l850 to the l980s. In addition to textual records there are architectural drawings, maps, and photographs. These holdings were created or received by the Federal courts and over 50 Federal agencies in Arizona, southern California, and Clark County, Nevada. Federal law requires that agencies transfer permanently valuable, noncurrent records to NARA.

The National Archives facility in Laguna Niguel has been in its current location for over thirty years, since the early 1970s. From this location, researchers have easy access to National Archives records and can also conduct research at the many other archival facilities and libraries in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.

There is no public transportation available to the facility in Perris. The current facility in Laguna Niguel is freeway-close and is serviced by the Orange County Transit Authority with connections to area Metrolink and Amtrak stations. It is 15 miles from John Wayne Airport (SNA).

The National Archives has a potential opportunity to move its Laguna Niguel facility to the proposed Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, where it will be part of a museum district / cultural terrace. This location will be approximately 10 miles to the northwest of the current facility and will increase traffic and visibility for NARA (rather than the warehouse in Perris, which will likely do the opposite).

How You Can Help:

Write a letter of concern to: Adrienne Thomas, Acting Archivist of the United States, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 (Fax: 301-837-0483).

If you live in Orange County, California, write a letter of concern to your Congressional representative as well.

Spread the news to others in the archival, historical, genealogical, and library fields to help garner support and generate more letters of concern to help keep the NARA facility in Laguna Niguel.

Contact Information:

National Archives - Laguna Niguel (Pacific Region), 24000 Avila Road, 1st Floor , Laguna Niguel, CA, 92677-3497

(949) 360-2640; laguna.archives@nara.gov; www.archives.gov/pacific/laguna/

Have Any Of You Cowboys Ever Tried 'Hiving' Calves From A Herd? Well - That's What The New York Times Says We Do!

According to the New York Times, whenever it's branding time - and time to turn little bulls into little steers, all us cowboys take our best cutting horses to perform:

"...a timeless ritual, hiving off calves from the herd..."

Well, I've been on ranches in most of the Western states, though its been quite a few years since I have been accused of 'hiving' any calves - but I have never once heard that 'timeless' expression used before from any cattleman or woman.

So I looked up the phrase "hiving off calves" in GOOGLE and I got exactly - one... hit.

And that was from this article.

I then tried cows, cattle etc - and still failed to get a single hit. So I next tried every possible variation of the verb 'hiving' or 'to hive' with every possible variation of noun describing anything bovine in nature - and I still could not get a single hit.

Now the verb 'hiving' usually means when part of one bee hive swarms off and sets up its own hive. The verb 'hiving' can also mean to move any part of a group from the larger group, though mainly (though not always) it means to set up another residence and not just a temporary separation. It can also be used as a medical term.

But those are still very rare uses of the word - and even then it is mainly used in the UK - and not the US, much less the American West.

Now as far as the rest of the article - it is excellent as one would expect from one of the New York Times finest and most respected writers, Erik Eckholm. I can recall many articles of his over the years and I have read a number of his books.

This article is also a detailed and highly sympathetic look at one of the latest challenges facing independent ranchers - and I highly recommend anyone who is cattle minded reading it.

But, still... I would like to suggest to Mr. Eckholm - that in any of his future forays into our cowhand culture - whenever he is describing a "timeless ritual" of us cowboys - that he might try for a slightly more... timeless... way of describing what it is we are doing.

MOCA Starts Its Comeback

First, the above link is to the LA Times post on the MOCA financial story and below is the full press release on the current financial status at MOCA and the announcement of its new trustees and officers for 2010. MOCA has managed to raise over fifty-seven million in just six months (with over eighteen million from the trustees and three million from other patrons) in difficult financial times and when the museum's continued existence was questioned by even many board members.

Significantly, the amount raised by trustees and patrons almost equals the thirty-million Eli Broad has pledged to MOCA over a period of five years - in just one half of one year.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 26, 2009

MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT
ASSETS; NAMES THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Los Angeles, CA—The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), has raised nearly $57 million in the
last six months, and the museum’s Board of Trustees voted June 25 to contribute $4.25 million to MOCA’s
endowment assets, which will be matched by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, for a total $8.5 million
contribution. Additionally, the Board elected three new trustees and its officers for 2010.

Since December 2008, MOCA has undertaken an aggressive fundraising campaign, raising $56.9 million, including
$15 million from The Broad Foundation for exhibition support over five years and $15 million from The Broad
Foundation to match contributions that replenish the endowment. Other notable gifts include $16.4 million from
trustees, in addition to their $1.9 million in annual giving, and $3 million in individual gifts from patrons.

“This is the biggest turnaround of any cultural institution in recent history,” said Eli Broad, a life trustee and
founding member of MOCA, who serves on numerous arts boards around the country. “MOCA has attracted nearly
$57 million in just six months, clearly demonstrating this institution’s importance to the local, national, and
worldwide arts community.”

In addition to MOCA’s dramatic turnaround, the Board elected three new members: Carolyn Clark Powers, Darren
Star, and Marc I. Stern. The board also elected its leadership for the upcoming year: David G. Johnson was re-elected
as co-chair for a second term; Maria Arena Bell was elected as co-chair; Jeffrey Soros was re-elected as president for a
second term, and Fred Sands was elected as vice chair.

“I am pleased that we have enabled a successful turnaround in such a short amount of time,” said MOCA Chief
Executive Officer Dr. Charles E. Young. “The process of right-sizing the institution has not been easy, but these
changes were necessary to ensure the museum’s solid future. This could not have been achieved without the
continuing generosity of The Broad Foundation, the Board of Trustees, major donors and members, as well as the
dedication of the many artists and friends in both the Los Angeles community and around the world.”

“MOCA has achieved an unprecedented level of fundraising during the past six months, while at the same time
reducing expenditures to a sustainable level,” said David G. Johnson. “We are making a substantial contribution to
the endowment assets at this critical time and welcome new trustees, who bring exceptional experience and
commitment to MOCA. Building a dynamic board of trustees is essential in enabling the museum to move forward
with a clear vision for the future and to continue presenting outstanding exhibitions, providing vital education
programs, and expanding one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world.”
- more -

MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 2 of 4

The three new Trustees bring diverse perspectives to MOCA’s Board.

Carolyn Clark Powers has a strong history of involvement at numerous arts, cultural, and educational institutions
around the country. In Aspen, Colorado, Powers serves on the boards of directors of the Aspen Art Museum, the
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. She also serves on the National Council for the Aspen Center for
Integrative Health, as a President Society Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and on the National Council of the Aspen
Youth Center. In Los Angeles, Powers currently serves on several groups that support the Music Center, including
the board of directors for Blue Ribbon, the Center Dance Association, and the board of overseers for the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. She also serves on the Collectors Committee and is a member of the Presidents Circle at The Los
Angeles County Museum of Art. In addition, Powers has served on the board of directors of P.S. Arts since 2006.
At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Powers served on the executive committee of the National Committee
for the Performing Arts from 2004–08.

Powers has a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree
in clinical psychology from Antioch University. Powers and her husband, William C. Powers, reside in Manhattan
Beach, California, and in Aspen, Colorado, with their three children.

Darren Star has been a member of MOCA’s Acquisition and Collection Committee since October 2008 and a
MOCA Partner since February 2008. He has also been a major supporter of MOCA’s annual auction.

Star is the creator and executive producer of three of the last decade’s most popular television phenomenons:
“Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Melrose Place,” and the three-time Golden Globe®-and Emmy® Award-winning HBO
comedy series “Sex and the City.” In each series, Star’s multi-dimensional characters, captivating settings, and
layered plot lines hooked viewers, and became significant elements of contemporary pop culture. Star recently
released the “Sex and the City” film, based on his award-winning work on the series. The movie grossed more than
$415 million worldwide, and a sequel is in development. In addition, Star served as executive producer of the series
“Cashmere Mafia,” starring the award-winning actresses Lucy Liu, Frances O’Connor, and Miranda Otto. Star has
also revisited the widely popular “90210” project, serving as a writer for the updated series for the CW network. He
is currently working on a project for HBO.

Star’s dedication to his projects speaks to his commitment to engaging, and thought-provoking material. Star
attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he majored in creative writing. Star currently lives in
Beverly Hills, California.



- more -



MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 3 of 4

Marc I. Stern has vast experience in business and as a major supporter of cultural institutions in California and
around the country. Stern is vice chairman and at the end of June will become CEO of The TCW Group, Inc., an asset
management firm based in Los Angeles. Prior to his appointment as vice chairman, Stern served for almost 15 years as
president of the company. Stern is also chairman of Société Générale’s Global Investment Management and Services
in North America (GIMS) and a member of the management committee of Société Générale Group, the parent company
of GIMS and TCW. Stern currently serves as a director of Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ), and of Rockefeller & Co., Inc.
and is a member of the advisory board and an owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. Stern has a strong commitment to the
arts and to education. He serves as chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles Opera, leading the drive to bring
Wagner’s Ring Cycle to Los Angeles. He also sits on the boards of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles
County, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the
Humanities, the California Science Center, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the California Institute of
Technology, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

A native of Vineland, New Jersey, Stern received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Dickinson
College and a master’s degree in government and a law degree from Columbia University. Stern and his wife, Eva,
reside in Malibu, California. They have two children and five grandchildren.

MOCA’s new board leadership for 2009–10 includes two previous officers and two first-time officers.

David G. Johnson has served as co-chair of MOCA’s Board of Trustees since June 2008, and he will continue
serving in this role through June 2010. He was first elected to serve as a MOCA Trustee in December 2005 and has
served as a member of the Acquisition and Collection Committee since 2004.

Johnson is a partner of the Johnson-Roessler Company, LLC., a film entertainment company. He also serves on the
boards of Children Now, the Dream Foundation, KCET, and Reach Out and Read. Johnson is former chairman and a
current board member of Public Counsel Law Center and is a member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Economy and Jobs
Committee and the California Council for the Humanities. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.
Johnson and his wife, Suzanne Nora Johnson, reside in Los Angeles, California.

Maria Arena Bell has been elected co-chair of MOCA. Bell and her husband, William J. Bell, Jr., have been involved
with MOCA for many years and have made significant financial and art contributions to the museum. Bell is chair of
MOCA’s Acquisition and Collection Committee. She also served as the chair of the Opening Gala for ©
MURAKAMI. Maria Bell became a Trustee in 2008 after her husband served from 1997–2008.

Bell is a television executive producer and writer. She is currently the co-creative producer and writer for “The
Young and the Restless.” She is a frequent essayist and contributor to publications including T The New York Times
Style Magazine, C Magazine, Aspen Magazine, and Women’s Wear Daily. Bell serves on the boards of numerous
arts-related non-profit organizations, including Center Dance Arts, Americans for the Arts, Dicapo Opera Theater
and as president of PS Arts. She also serves on the Education Committee of the Guggenheim Museum, the Blue
Ribbon, the National Council of the Aspen Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the
advisory board of Phillips de Pury & Company. Bell was appointed by Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger as a state
commissioner on the California Commission on the Status of Women.
- more -
MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 4 of 4

In addition to being prominent supporters of the arts, the Bells are active collectors of contemporary art. They reside
in Bel Air, California with their two children.

Jeffrey Soros has served as president of MOCA’s Board of Trustees since June 2008 and will continue in this role
through June 2010. Soros has served on MOCA’s Board and on its Acquisition and Collection Committee since
2003. Soros is also an avid supporter of arts education and served as chair of MOCA’s Education Committee from
September 2006 through June 2008 and as vice chair from September 2005 through September 2006. Soros and his
wife, Catherine, have been avid supporters of MOCA, through the donation of funds, artworks, and major support for
the museum’s fundraising events, most notably the annual auction and gala.

Soros is president of Considered Entertainment, an independent film production and finance company. He also
serves on the boards of Creative Capital, The Screenwriters Colony, and The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for
New Americans. Soros and his wife have been members of the MOCA Director’s Forum since 1997. They reside in
West Hollywood, California with their two children.

Fred Sands has been appointed to serve as vice chair of MOCA’s Board. Sands was first elected as a trustee in 2002
and currently serves as chair of the museum’s Investment Committee. Sands is involved with several cultural
institutions in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Opera, where he serves on the board. He was also
appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and liaison to the
Kennedy Center, and by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Arts Council.

Sands is chairman of Vintage Real Estate, which develops regional malls, and of Vintage Fund Management, LLC, a
private equity fund. He is the former chairman and sole shareholder of the second largest real estate and financial
services companies in California and the seventh largest in the United States, which merged into Coldwell Banker in
December 2000. Sands’s background also includes acquisition and turn around of distressed companies, including
radio stations, insurance companies, and commercial real estate projects. He was honored as the recipient of the
American Academy of Achievement Award, was named one of the “Top 25 CEOs of the Decade” by California
Business magazine, and named one of the industry’s top 13 “Movers and Shakers” in the country by the National
Association of Realtors. Sands and his wife, Carla, reside in West Los Angeles, California.



MOCA—Celebrating 30 Years as the Nation’s Leading Contemporary Art Museum
Founded in 1979, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), has achieved astonishing growth in its brief history—with three
Los Angeles locations of architectural renown; more than 17,000 members; a permanent collection of nearly 6,000 works international in
scope and among the finest in the nation; hallmark education programs that are widely emulated; award-winning publications that present
original scholarship; and groundbreaking monographic, touring, and thematic exhibitions of international repute that survey the art of our time.
MOCA’s mission is to be the defining museum of contemporary art. MOCA is a private not-for-profit institution supported by its members,
corporate and foundation support, government grants, and admission revenues. MOCA Grand Avenue is open 11am to 5pm on Monday and
Friday; 11am to 8pm on Thursday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday; and closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. General admission is $10
for adults; $5 for students with I.D. and seniors (65+); and free for MOCA members, children under 12, and everyone on Thursdays from 5pm
to 8pm, courtesy of Wells Fargo. MOCA Pacific Design Center is open 11am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and
Sunday; and closed on Monday. Admission to MOCA Pacific Design Center is always free. The Geffen Contemporary is open whenever there
are appropriate exhibitions for that space. For 24-hour information on current exhibitions, education programs, and special events, call
213/626-6222 or access MOCA online at moca.org.

National Home Sales In May Rise - And Fall - With Five Different Figures - In Morning LA Times

Below are two of the top three headlines on the LA Times website's Business section:

BUSINESS »
•
U.S. home sales fall in May despite low prices and tax incentives

•
Home resales in U.S. rise 2.4% in May to 4.77 million rate

Now the 3.6% fall in the Peter Hong LAT article is from May of last year to May of this year - while the increase of 2.4% in the Bloomberg wire report is from the prior month of April of this year to May of this year.

Even more confusing is that the Bloomberg prices are going up article has a typo when it mentioned the 3.6% fall:

"Sales were 3.6 percent compared with a year earlier."

Yes, according to Bloomberg - sales this May were only 3.6% of May of last year - a staggering over 95% decline in sales!

Also in Bloomberg's LAT wire piece are details of the yearly 2.4% increase:

"Purchases increased 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.77 million, lower than forecast, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington"

Then in Peter Hong's LAT piece, he leads with the 3.6% year to year decline and he explains how that figure is arrived at:

"May home sales were down 3.6% from the same month last year, the National Assn. of Realtors reported. The industry group based that figure on the seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales, which is the number of homes that would sell for the entire year based on May's sales rate."

Hong then addresses the April to May increase - but he now uses a different set of figures - the absolute number of sales that month as opposed to the adjusting the stats on an annual basis, which he does explain :

"The total number of homes sold in May was 451,000, or 6.6% below the year-earlier number, but it was up 9.2% from the 413,000 homes sold in April."

So now instead of the 3.6% decline - and the 2.4% increase - we now have 6.6% and 9.2%! And the scary point is - other than the typo - all of these figures are correct!

They are just using different metrics.

Now as for how all this confusion could have been prevented - Peter Hong's piece had more details and a better explanation to a lay person of what was really going on and how the various figures compared with each other. There was really no need to run the Bloomberg piece which just confused the issue. At most, the additional figures also in the Bloomberg article could have been added to the Hong piece - which would have left everyone a lot less confused then the present dueling headlines.

Why Isn't The US - And World Press - Headling The London Times Story Proving the Election In Iran Was Stolen?

And why did the London Times bury this is the middle of their story - and give so few details of the poll?

"Private polling of 5,000 voters conducted for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and seen by The Sunday Times, suggested the reformist candidate would win at least 58% of votes across Iran. However, the official result gave him just under 34%."

This proves who has fixed this election. This story needs to be gotten to the people of Iran. But even the paper that has the story - has dropped it from the new stories

They also don't break down the figures for the other candidates. The US and world press needs to keep the facts of how this election was stolen on their front pages and and give support to the people of Iran in their efforts to overturn this election.

LA Times Covers Rebirth Of Downtown's Main Street

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-main-street11-2009jun11,0,4047200.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Ordinance brings new life into downtown L.A.'s Main Street
The stretch between 4th and 6th was once the scene of homeless encampments. Today, boutiques and cafes cater to new residents. The catalyst was the adaptive reuse ordinance, launched 10 years ago.
By Cara Mia DiMassa

9:54 PM PDT, June 10, 2009

A decade ago, the stretch of downtown L.A.'s Main Street between 4th and 6th streets was a desolate collection of empty buildings and homeless encampments, an area where drug dealing was conducted in the open, and the only longtime residents lived in residential hotels. These days, that stretch resembles a bustling small-town main street.

There's the neighborhood bookstore, where an attentive shopkeeper knows her customers by name. A DVD store that stocks the kind of films that appeal to the hip residents who live in the building upstairs. And shop owners and customers who live side by side above the stores.

While much of downtown is struggling to attract the kind of ground-floor retail that many urbanists say is essential to turning a cluster of residential units into something more like a neighborhood, downtown's historic core has been seeing a surge forward lately.

Some downtown boosters who track such developments say that the vast majority of retail space along Main Street, from 4th to 7th Street, is now leased -- an accomplishment that they are touting as a sign of the neighborhood's successful reinvention.

The changes along Main Street -- and in downtown's historic core in general -- were launched 10 years ago this month, when a new city ordinance went into effect that made it easier to convert former bank, office and industrial buildings into residential and small retail spaces.

The ordinance was little noticed at the time. But the adaptive reuse ordinance, as it is known, has profoundly changed the way the city thinks about its long-neglected urban center. It streamlined the city's permitting process for those seeking to re-purpose the old buildings and allowed for flexibility in the city's zoning and code requirements.

"After decades of beating a dead horse, they realized that commercial was not going to come back to this neighborhood the way it was," said Bert Green, owner of an art gallery at 5th and Main. "It made sense to change the use of the buildings."

In 1999, downtown Los Angeles was an area very much in transition. The Staples Center had just opened. Walt Disney Concert Hall, L.A. Live and other downtown attractions were still years away from opening. Only 18,000 people lived in the city center.

"We had offices, we had some cultural attractions," said Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., a business advocacy group that pushed for the change. "But the one thing that we knew we needed to make downtown survive and thrive was residents."

While bigger, more extravagant projects for downtown were announced, and some even got underway, Historic Downtown kept plugging away.

"It may have been constructed," said developer Tom Gilmore, who many credit as the architect of the historic core's reinvention, "but it's not contrived."

Apartments and lofts in buildings were rented; some condos sold and retail spaces slowly began to fill along both Main and Spring streets. An art walk highlighted the assortment of galleries in the area. Restaurants began to draw people from beyond downtown.

"The community was organically grown by seeing what was needed and what could survive as destination retail," said Brady Westwater, a local activist and the former president of the Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council, who has been instrumental in bringing businesses to the area.

Still, life in Historic Downtown is not for everyone. The area, just a few blocks away from Skid Row, continues to be a magnet for the homeless. It is still gritty and lacks the sort of luxurious high rises as other parts of the city center.

But even as other parts of downtown have seen some large-scale projects canceled and other condo developments switch to rentals as a way to ride out the economic storm, Historic Downtown has continued to collect new businesses: clothing stores, restaurants, bars and other amenities. Two new affordable housing projects are being developed.

Residents and shop owners in the area say that the relatively low cost of space in the area, combined with a certain amount of flexibility, has allowed them to take a chance in the area.

Jose Caballer, who lives in Gilmore's San Fernando building and runs a digital design firm out of an old bank building a few doors to the west, said that part of the appeal of the area is that it's like a sort of undiscovered country. "You can go and look at buildings and say, I want to do events here. If you are creative and resourceful enough . . . you can do it."

Brittany Hoa Pham, owner of Fremont clothing, said that her location along 4th Street has meant that, "We get an interesting group of people." But she admits that "once in a while, a homeless man or woman comes in and frightens me."

The challenge now for Historic Downtown, said Gilmore, is "how we end up a sustainable neighborhood, not a flash in the pan."

That's something that has been taking up a lot of Westwater's time recently.

After seeing success along Main and Spring streets, he has turned his attention to Broadway, where recent community efforts have focused on finding new uses for a collection of old movie houses and retail and office space along the street.

"We showed we could fix Main Street," he said. "Now, the challenge of developing a Broadway that works for everyone is the next step."

cara.dimassa@latimes.com

Bernard Zimmerman, FAIA RIP

Few people loved architecture and Los Angeles as passionately as did Bernard Zimmerman - and none more than he did. I first met him in the successful fight to save John Marshall High School and later during countless AIA functions and events. Below is the memorial notice from the AIA:

Our beloved Bernard Zimmerman, FAIA, peacefully passed away on Thursday, June 4th. His family cordially invites you to be present at Bernard's funeral service. The service will commence on Monday, June 8th at 12 noon at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive,
Los Angeles, CA.

Following the service, you are invited to a reception to celebrate Bernards legacy at Temple Sinai of Glendale, 1212 N. Pacific Avenue, Glendale, CA. Food will be provided at the reception.

Map and directions here.


Bernard Zimmerman: The Conscience of the Architectural Profession

Bernard Zimmerman, FAIA, Architect, Planner and esteemed Professor of Architectural Design at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Department of Architecture of which he was a founder, passed away on June 4th, after a long illness, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 79.

In honor of his "selfless and relentless love of architecture and design excellence, and the tremendous effect, over many decades, of that passion on the life and culture of Los Angeles, its architects, students and its architecture," the American Institute of Architects/Los Angeles recognized Zimmerman's many contributions by honoring him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, in 1999. By way of introduction, Ray Kappe, FAIA, Founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture SCI-ARC, stated: "During the last 50 years no architect has been as concerned about the state of architecture in our city as Bernard. No one has been more concerned about the education of our future architects than Bernard. Throughout his lifetime, he has unsparingly donated his time and energy to further and promote the professional status of American architects and architecture, particularly Los Angeles architects and their architecture."

Bernard Zimmerman was a leading practitioner of architecture for over 40 years. He was president of Zimmerman Architects and Planners, and was a partner in the Collaborative for Environmental Design, Pulliam Zimmerman & Matthews, Zimmerman & Robbins Architects and Zimmerman/Stafford Architects. He was previously associated with Richard Neutra Architects, Welton Beckett & Associates, Victor Gruen Associates and Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall. Mr. Zimmerman was involved with a wide range of architectural and city planning projects including: the IBM Pavilion, Osaka, Japan; Citrus restaurant, Los Angeles; Twin Towers, Century City; Bunker Hill, Los Angeles; Old Town Pasadena; Olympic Building, Los Angeles; Sunset and Vine Tower, Hollywood; Case Study House #29, Silverlake; Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles. He made a special contribution in the area of chain stores such as Zeidler & Zeidler Men's Stores and Standard Shoes, by elevating the level of design, architecturally and graphically. His work has been published in national and international design reviews such as "Arts & Architecture", "Architectural Record", "Domus", "L'Arca" and "Progressive Architecture".

Throughout his career, Bernard Zimmerman vigorously expressed his social and design concerns through dialogue with national and international architects and organizations, an active involvement on a local and national level with the American Institute of Architects, and numerous community projects. He created and directed the AIA "Architectural Panel" in the 1950's, the first organization to offer exciting and important public programs in Los Angeles. Through the 1960's, he chaired the AIA Program Committee. The most important program he created was the "Masters of Architecture" lecture series, founded in 1991. It is held annually at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and is a very successful collaboration between LACMA and AIA/LA, to which the public is invited.

In 1999 he conceived the "9 in 99" Conference held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), featuring outstanding architectural thinkers, sharing "Big Ideas" for Los Angeles.

He was a board member of "Architects, Designers & Planners for Social Responsibility", and founder of "Architecture for Peace". He successfully provided leadership and generated support for countless committee initiatives to benefit threatened Los Angeles landmarks, such as the Angels Flight, the Dodge House, Hazard Park, Marshall High School, the Hollywood Sign, the Schindler Kings Road House and the Watts Towers. The "Citizens Committee to Build the Disney Concert Hall" which he spearheaded provided the incentive for the subsequent successful fund raising campaign.

Exhibitions on the work of Los Angeles architects and designers, conceived and directed by Bernard Zimmerman include: "Roots of California Architecture", "Irving Gill Architect", "Felix Candela Architect & Engineer", "Project Environment USA", "74 + 74: Best in the West", "Los Angeles 12", "L.A. 12+12+2", "L.A. 12+12+12", "Los Angeles: City on the Move", "100 Projects/100 Years" and "101 New Blood". These exhibitions were shown at venues such as the Milan Triennale in Italy, Pacific Design Center and the Yale University School of Art and Architecture Gallery. In the more recent exhibits, working with a younger generation of architects and designers, helping them to organize exhibits of their architecture, he had the amazing ability to inspire and energize them as he had energized his students throughout his years of teaching, which was so important to him.

A graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Architecture, Bernard Zimmerman was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He completed his Masters in Planning at the University of Southern California (USC). He was a member of the American Planning Association and of USC's Architectural Guild that honored him in 2003 as "a Distinguished Alumnus who has enriched and honored the profession of Architecture". He was recognized by Mayor Tom Bradley for his architectural, planning and exhibit work. He was interviewed on PBS by Maya Angelou on the state of architecture and urban design in 1975, for the series "Humanities Through the Arts". As a founder of the Architecture for Peace, he traveled to Russia on a Peace Mission in 1978 and was subsequently honored with an invitation to the White House for the celebration of the Peace Accord between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachov. In 1995, he was inducted as one of Pacific Design Center's "Stars of Design". The Los Angeles Institute of Architecture & Design (LAIAD) that opened in 2001 was also co-founded by Bernard Zimmerman. One of the last Zimmerman inspired ideas was to establish the Architecture + Design Museum, located across the street from LACMA.

Bernard Zimmerman was an irreplaceable human being, who has touched so many of our lives. He will be greatly missed, and forever remembered as a passionate advocate for the profession.

The funeral will be held at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, 5950 Forrest Lawn Drive, in Griffith Park, on Monday, June 8th at 12:00 noon. A memorial is also being planned, to be announced.

Bernard Zimmerman is survived by his sons Eric, Josef and Derek; their wives Adela, Mamie, and Tamara; his daughter, Karla, her husband, Tom; his six grandchildren Katelyn, Kimberly, Kassandra, Thomas, Siren and Elijah; and a host of loving friends.

LA Times Confuses Wilshire District/Koreatown With Westlake District - With - Downtown!

Whenever I see a headline on the LA Times website about a shooting near Downtown - I always fear for the worst.

Not for the victims - though I do worry about them - but at how wrong the headline usually is. And this time - near Downtown - is... supposedly... at 6th and Virgil - which is just before Vermont. And that is a lot nearer to Hollywood than Downtown. It is also in the heart of the Wilshire District, parts of which are often called Koreatown.

But that area is mistakenly - called Westlake - on new new Times map - nothing even near it has never been called since Westlake - and Westlake historically ended at the east side Westlake/McArthur Park itself. Wilshire started at the park - and that is where the Wilshire District started.

And even today - if you want to use non-historical demographic date - the furthest west Westlake can be said to go is Rampart since the demographics of population living starting just west of Rampart is far more like as the rest of the Wilshire District and Koreatown then the demographics of the true Westlake - east of the Park.

The article also says the shooting took place just west of McArthur Park - which it did not - it took place just west of Lafayette Park - which is itself - well west of the Westlake District which is west of Pico-Union which is west of Downtown. And that neighborhood is not a low income community as stated in the article. It is largely a middle class area with many condos and even several streets of upper middle class single family homes.

And, of course, none of these areas are adjacent... much less near.... to Downtown.

Two wounded in shooting near downtown L.A.
5:20 PM | June 6, 2009
At least two people have been wounded in a shooting in Westlake and one person has been arrested, authorities said.

Police are searching for additional suspects, said LAPD Officer Jason Lee. The shooting occurred today shortly before 4 p.m. at 6th Street and Virgil Avenue, where a fight had broken out between two groups of men, Lee said.

By late afternoon, the intersection had been blocked off as police interviewed possible witnesses. Dogs were helping officers search for additional suspects as a police helicopter circled overhead. About two dozen helmeted officers stood by near a command post that had been set up in the neighborhood.

The shootings occurred in a low-income community in Westlake just west of MacArthur Park.

--Ruben Vives and Robert Lopez

Sleeping With The Dead

It took awhile after I woke up late Friday morning before I realized it was… Friday and not Thursday.

And that realization was only possible after I first ruled out it being Wednesday since I didn’t recall much of that day either. But that’s how mornings are when one is still getting used to a life filled with extended periods of sleep separated only by brief and often barely remembered moments of transitory wakefulness.

But then I realized something more. I had just slept though Art Walk. Both the day of it and the night. I had missed my first Art Walk since our inaugural event at which 17 of us - which is one of two or three official head counts - first showed up so seemingly many years ago.

I then realized I didn’t know if the new restaurant owners I had helped with their utility problem at 5th and Main got their lights so they could have their doors open on Art Walk night to say hi to all their new neighbors. Nor did I know how the brand new Art Annex at the Farmer’s and Merchant's Bank did. And I also didn't how the ladies with the 3-Day pop-up store in the Annex filled with hats, purses and jewelry - whom I had brought there to try out Main Street before they opened new a store of their own in our latest Main Street incubator – had fared.

I equally had no idea what had happened at the still new vendor’s parking lot or how the local band was in their new place or anything about any of the dozens of other places, events and people that make up our community of Art Walk other than knowing that – one way or the other – it all managed to work out.

So I did the only thing I could do.

I went back to sleep.

And I dreamed of cowboy days and fighting nights and a time when my brain had more dopamine than sense. And I silently smiled and awaited the day I would soon be happily back with them all in the longest sleep of them all.

Communities Come Together to Celebrate Lesley Taplin

The above link at blogdowntown describes the Lesley Gilb Taplin Memorial Celebration last night at Vibiana. At some point I will be able to write about Lesley and what she meant to all of us Downtown, but not quite yet.

Dopamine, Dopamine, Dopamine

My brain's life long craving for dopamine has finally run out of options.

Meanwhile, I keep intending to lay out the whole history of that battle online to see if there is any doctor out there who has ever seen a case like mine - and who might know if there is anything that can be done about it.

The reality today, though, is that the last drug that worked well enough for me to be something resembling normal stopped working so long ago, I can't even recall when that was.

The last drug that did anything to help me maintain a level of 'alertness' finally stopped last summer. Next, a couple weeks ago, the last drug that even kept me awake stopped working.

And then when one drug yesterday seemed to be able to keep me awake, it turns out to spiked my blood pressure by over a hundred points within hours of my taking it. Or at least that seems to be how high by blood pressure jumped when I was out last night based on my blood pressure today that many hours after taking the drug. My actual memories of last night, though, are ... shall we say.... close to non-existant.

And the hope that I would be able to somehow activate my 'fight or flight' syndrome and wrestle my way out of my problems - as was predicted by Thelma Moss of UCLA back in 1966 - now seems to be a hopeless one as finding the right sparring partners at the same time my body is injury free enough to grapple, seems to be an impossible equation.

So this post is just to goad me into finally laying out the whole story of this dopamine battle in the hopes that some doctor somewhere - will have treated someone like me and have some idea of what to do next. And... hopefully... I can stay awake enough over the next week to do that.

LA Weekly On LA Cowboy As One of LA's 100 People!

LA PEOPLE 2009: URBAN COWBOY — BRADY WESTWATER
BY LINDA IMMEDIATO
Published on April 20, 2009 at 4:35pm
At a BOXeight Fashion Week show, you expect to find the standard batch of bony models, fashion-forward magazine editors and flamboyant buyers, but who’s the silver-bearded cowboy? That’s Brady Westwater, a.k.a the L.A. Cowboy, director of Economic Development for BOXeight. He was instrumental in getting the event off the ground. If he seems slightly out of place runway-side, Westwater is right at home downtown, where nearly every resident and business owner knows who he is. They call him “the unofficial mayor of downtown,” or the “go-to guy.”

Westwater serves pro bono on 29 boards and committees, but much of his day to day is spent doing what he calls, “curating downtown.” The nonpaying job involves a lot of leg work. On a recent weekday, we snake up and down Main, Spring and Broadway, for blocks on end, as he makes his usual rounds.

“I walk around, see what’s happening, ask business owners what they need, if they have any problems, see who’s new to the neighborhood,” he says, taking strides at a steady clip. “This is a place where the impossible happens every day. We’re the only neighborhood where businesses are still expanding. We’re bringing in new business. Of the 50 business I brought downtown, every single one of them survived.”

When Westwater says he “brought” businesses, he means everything from leaking the availability of a space to the right people before it goes on the market and advertising on craigslist to handling the responses and actually brokering a lease. “I hear about people who need a certain space, or people who have a certain space, and then I refer them, or negotiate the lease. It’s a lot of referrals. Did you know there are actually only three people in L.A.?” He laughs. “The rest is done with mirrors.”

Curating downtown, creating the perfect resident-business symbiosis for an organic vibrant artistic community, is a labor of love for Westwater, who has spent his entire life downtown. His father’s law office was on Third and Spring. “All the theaters on Broadway and the department stores were still open,” he says, scanning the old buildings. “I’m the last of the generation who remembers that.”

Along our sidewalk travels, one business owner puts in a request for a public parking structure, another asks about a vacant building, then someone else asks if Westwater knows where to get cheap mannequins. At a 9,000-square-foot space Westwater calls the “incubator,” leaseholder Jose Caballer comes out to say hello. “The city owes a lot to Brady,” he says. “I don’t know how they’re ever gonna pay him back. I guess his legacy will be in the history books.”

Westwater has a real-estate license but doesn’t use it, and refuses to take any money for connecting the dots. That has to do with living the cowboy way, an ethos he adopted one fateful night when he was 17. He had decided to drive to Owens Valley. He wasn’t sure why, but something told him to go. On the way, he picked up a hitchhiker, a man 6 feet 2 inches and about as wide. They got drunk and became fast friends, and the evening ended with Westwater losing his virginity in a brothel in Nevada. He became a part of this man’s posse, with whom he earned a living catching and breaking wild horses in Wyoming and Montana, repossessing airplanes in South America, and traveling the underground street-fighting circuit to Turkey and India. Part of the cowboy way is to be an independent contractor, a free agent, and Westwater, who roams downtown L.A. like it’s his own Ponderosa, has never had a steady job or been on a payroll. “The cowboy life,” he says, “ is just adventure. Every morning waking up and talking life.”

LA Times Hosts LA Cowboy And LA Observed

When I walked into LA Times event last night, one of the first people I saw was frequent LA Times critic - LA Observed's Kevin Roderick. I then wondered if someone's head was going to roll in the morning once the powers that be realized someone had invited not just one of us - but both of us to the LA Times forum featuring Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But all the appropriate authorities seemed friendly enough when they greeted us, so hopefully there will be no more LA Times layoffs - at least this week.

As for what happened when LAT Opinion Editor James Newton interviewed Arnold - the above link will detail that - along with showing a photo of Bob Hertzberg - aka 'Huggy Bear' - hugging the Governator.

I, however, got a sharp punch in the shoulder from the former speaker of the Assembly when he greeted me in the buffet line - since his right hand was filled with Italian spring rolls. I then retaliated with a stiff left jab - and made my get away.

I next tracked down a number of people from the business community and the green movement to ask them each about their true, off the record, opinion of the Mayor's proposed Green Tech manufacturing corridor along the LA River. Strictly off the record - they each used the term - bull shit. I then asked them if they had told the Mayor or his staff that - and they all looked at me as if I had just landed from the planet Mars.

Finally, just before we went into the room to hear the speakers, I was cornered by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block - and one of his henchmen - and they politely demanded of me why I was wearing a Bruins Wrestling sweat shirt - and why was said shirt in red and gold - which are the USC colors.

I equally politely replied that I was a second generation - on both sides of my family - Bruin - but that I now lived in occupied USC - i.e., Downtown LA - territory. So once I saw this shirt on e-bay - I knew I had to get it just to screw with everyone's minds.

And so far - my plan has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.

DLANC Founder and Friend Lesley Taplin Killed In Car Crash

One of the founders of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, Lesley was killed early Tuesday morning in a car crash. The neighborhood council movement, all of Downtown - and every person who knew her had no greater - or more supportive or more loyal friend. There is so much more I would love to say about her - but I am still in too much shock to even believe she is no longer with us.


From: "Qathryn Brehm"
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:19:16 -0700

To: Qathryn
Subject: Lesley Gilb Taplin
Friends,



It is with a heavy heart I pass on the news of our friend, Lesley, who was killed in a freeway accident early this morning.

Lesley’s passion for life, her love for the whole of us she held so dear and the encouragement she showered on each of us will forever remain.



Details of a remembrance are being worked out. Please let me know if you wish additional information.



Qathryn Brehm

Is Anyone Home At The Los Angeles Times? UPDATE! Over 24 HOURS Late - LAT Finally Posts The Rest Of The Story!

Liberals & Limbaugh
When this glitch first appeared on the Los Angels Times website - at least 24 hours ago - I was tempted to mention it - but didn't call it out since I assumed it would be shortly fixed. Well, now it's Sunday - and it's still not fixed. The below article is a challenge to four 'liberals' to listen to Rush Limbaugh - which I have to admit, I never have - and it then asked for their response.

And as you can see by the blank white space at the bottom of their proposal - evidently- not a one of them had a single word to say....

April 5, 2009

Last week in these pages, Andrew Klavan, a conservative who writes for the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, addressed himself to liberals, insisting that "whatever you claim, you still haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh."

He concluded with a proposal: "I am throwing down my gauntlet at your quivering liberal feet. I hereby issue my challenge -- the Limbaugh Challenge: Listen to the show. ... Ask yourself: What's he getting at? Why does he say the things he says? Why do so many people of goodwill -- like that nice Mr. Klavan -- agree with him?"

We asked four local liberals to take that challenge, and one fallacy in Klavan's argument quickly became clear: They all had already listened extensively to Limbaugh.

Here's what they concluded from the experience:

Yes, for 24 hours now there is not a single word there which means that for 24 no one at the LAT seems to have bothered to read the article on-line and notice that.

UPDATE - OK - after I finally called in the error to the weekend staff - it at last go fixed. But it was still the ultimate non-story that wasn't worth reading in the first place.

New Downtown Ed Hardy Store Has Sneak Preview Sale!

The new Ed Hardy Store at 433 S. Spring - which is scheduled to open in about a week - is having an unadvertised two day only end of season warehouse sale from 10 - 6 this Saturday and Sunday. 25 item per person maximum.

Last Of The South Coast Cowboy Life!

The appellation cowboy is often used - but rarely earned.

One of the last local representatives of the old style breed is Steve Tellam of Ramona in San Diego County. The above linked story explains why he is the last full time traditional cowboy of his family - and likely one of the last in that part of San Diego County.

But the future of the American cowboy (though on my old range - cowhand - or just 'hand' - was preferred) is - fortunately - not restricted to the daily interaction of man and cow.

In my case, while I did my share of turning little bulls into little steers - though I declined to use my teeth for the task - and while I pulled more than my share of reluctant calves out of recalcitrant cow's rear ends - I found myself quickly gravitating to the catching and breaking of wild horses and - eventually - the training of rodeo stock.

But soon the ten of us found ourselves overseas and rather than roping up wandering cattle - we found ourselves lassoing stolen airplanes for insurance companies. And then - just when we thought we had gotten as far away from our Western ways as we could - there was the day that... well.... that's another story in the life of a 20th Century cowboy....

Steve Hymon Out At Los Angeles Times!

Read Kevin Roderick's post above on just some of the reasons why the Los Angeles Times layoff of Steve Hymon is unimaginable.

What he doesn't say is that with the paper having more than a few reporters who know barely enough to even find their way around the city - and one LAT reporter in particular having proven himself - repeatedly - to be more interested in pushing his own personal agenda than telling the truth - the firing Steve Hymon is also morally indefensible.

Just Watched The First Ten minutes Of The New NBC TV Series - Kings....

But I'm having a hard time figuring out what language the script was so... badly.... translated from.

My guess is one of the more obscure tribal languages of the Southeast Asia mountains. That would explain why the syntax is totally unrelated to English.

But - on the plus side - with a little editing and the addition of a laugh track - it might be a real hit!

Tickets For BOXeight Fashion Week Shows Now Available!

The final line-up for BOXeight's fifth season of fashion shows once again at the Historic Los Angeles Theatre - this Friday, Saturday and Sunday - is now on-line and tickets are going fast!


FRI, MARCH 13

GEN ART LAUNCH EVENT*


7-10pm Gen Art's Official Launch of BOXeight Fashion Week
8pm Raquel Allegra
GRAI
Society for Rational Dress



10-2am BOXeight Afterparty Event
& KIN Pop-Up Nightclub
11pm Sonia Vera Swimwear
12am JGerard Presentation


*BOXeight ticket not valid for Gen Art, got to www.genart.org to attend 7-10pm shows)


SAT, MARCH 14


2pm Jen Awad
4pm Smoke & Mirrors
5pm David Alexander
6pm COA
7pm Future Heretics
8pm martinMARTIN
9pm LAEKEN
10pm SkinGraft
11pm UNIF + KIN (Young Hollywood Presentation)
10-2am BOXeight Afterparty Event
& KIN Pop-Up Nightclub



SUN, MARCH 15


3pm Mike Vensel
4pm Hayley Starr
5pm The Battalion
6pm Sahaja
7pm Yotam Solomon
8pm Sjobeck
9pm Maxine Dillon
10pm Li Cari by Jazmin Whitley
10-2am BOXeight Afterparty Event
& KIN Pop-Up Nightclub

Oh, God! Please Shoot Me If Ever Read The LA Times Again! Now They've Misplaced The Plaza Church!

I realize this is my FIFTH post about an error in the LA Times this weekend - but - seriously - I had no choice! They made me do it!

Even though working on the upcoming Fashion Week and writing the new website for the Historic Downtown Los Angeles BID and a dozen other projects has left me with barely even time to skim over the LA Times website this weekend - every single time I have, well.... read below the latest crime against God, man and nature.

And just in case you were recently dropped into LA from another planet - or you are a writer for the Los Angeles Times - the old Plaza Church is - and has always been on Main Street.

Quinceañeras get a special Catholic prayer book
The new booklet, developed over a decade, has the Vatican's blessing, but few priests seem to know about it. The aim is to ensure religious meaning in what is often just a lavish celebration.
By Alicia Lozano

5:16 PM PDT, March 8, 2009

As she sat primly under a portrait of the Virgin Mary, 15-year-old Angelica Arroyo's silver tiara glistened against the gold-plated altar of La Placita Church on historic Olvera Street.

Yes, no one at the Los Angeles Times can even tell the difference between Main Street - and Olvera Street.

I Didn't Mean To Make This A What The Hell Is Happening At The LA Times Weekend - But - When Did Lincoln Height's Avenues Become Part Of Downtown?

With the 'ID the neighborhoods project' going on at the LAT - how can a man be killed in Downtown in one sentence - and then also killed in Lincoln Heights in the next sentence? And yes, that area is NEAR Downtown - but it is - as the story says - in Lincoln Heights.

Police are searching for killer of homeless man
4:42 PM | March 8, 2009

Los Angeles police are continuing to search for a suspect in the stabbing death of a 66-year-old homeless man downtown over the weekend.

Carlos Green was pushing a shopping cart on the sidewalk on Avenue 19 in Lincoln Heights about 11 a.m. Saturday when he was attacked by an unknown assailant who stabbed him several times, according to Los Angeles police.

Why Did The Los Angeles Times Withhold A Key Story Point Until The Very End?

In the above linked story, a family accuses the Army of covering up their daughter's murder by saying it was a suicide, and they present some compelling evidence. The article also suggests there might be a pattern of covering up such murders.

Then, further into the article, the Army makes its case and it seems hard to reconcile the two points of view. Then at the end of the article, it turns out the family also hired their own private coroner and in paragraph 41 of 48 paragraphs - if you are one of the few who have made it that far - you will find his conclusion:

"I saw no evidence that it was not self-inflicted," Graham said.

Wow!

That is what the family's own privately hired coroner told them.

Now that is something if I had known earlier, I would have looked at everything else in the article ... a bit differently.

However - since their private coroner was still lacking some key evidence - his verdict is not a final answer to the story (and he does state that) - and there are other important issues the family does raise which still need to be addressed.

But by this point, I am just a little suspicious about everything I just read. When I read fictional murder mysteries, I always enjoy a good surprise twist at the end. But in news stories - not so much.

Reason #4,673 Why Los Angeles Needs A Museum Of Its History!

In today's Los Angeles Times, Steve Harvey does his usual excellent job on the re-opening of the historic Cole's bar/restaurant in the old Pacific Electric Building - but he also repeats a few of the older urban legends of Los Angeles.

Cole's occupies the bottom floor of the 10-story Pacific Electric Building, the city's tallest skyscraper in the early 1900s and for years the terminus for the Red Car trolley line, which clacked over more than 1,000 miles of track in Southern California.

Founder Henry Cole moved into the former headquarters of some horse-drawn streetcars. One of the first things he did was sprinkle sawdust on the floor.

First, the building, as it states on the owner's own website - is nine stories tall and not ten.

Second, it was never the city's tallest skyscraper - or it's first one, as other sources have claimed. The Braly Building - which is now the Continental - at the SE corner of 4th and Spring - reached 174 feet in 1903. The City then passed a 150 foot height limit on all future buildings in 1904. But even though the PE Building was designed in 1903, built in 1904 and opened in January of 1905 (which is why those three dates are given in different sources) - it was still built well below even the new 150 height limit.

Third, as far as Cole's being the former home of horses for horse drawn street cars in a building opened in 1905, I have always heard that horse drawn street cars were all replaced first by cable and then by electric cars by the mid/late 1890's before Huntington bought any of his lines. And I do know that the last cable line was electrified in 1902, by which time there were no horse drawn lines. So it is impossible for Cole's to have ever housed any horse drawn street cars.

http://www.historyoftechnology.org/eTC/v48no4/post_v48n4.html

Lastly - one often quoted fact NOT stated is that the PE Building was the largest building in square footage west of Chicago for many years - though some sources have amended that by saying, largest office building. Now I have no idea if that is true or not, but it would seem to me that some building in San Francisco or Kansas City or St. Louis (if those last two cities are considered west of Chicago, of course) should been larger - but I'll leave that for someone else to fact check.

Update - I just did some very cursory research on the size of the largest office building in the major Western cities in 1905 - and it appears the PE Building... probably... was the largest Western office building in square footage.

FURTHER UPDATE - info on the last horse drawn street cars in Los Angeles - and the date of 1896 I had in my head - turns out to be pretty close - by a few months:

In "Street Railways and the Growth of Los Angeles," Robert C Post says that the Los Angeles Railway's last horse car line, West Ninth Street, last ran on 08-June-1896 (page 131). The Main Street & Agricultural Park's last horse car ran in April 1897. If there were other indepedent lines that converted later, I couldn't find them in the book.

By the way, it's been ten years since I wrote up the Los Angeles cable car lines on my website, so I've been updating the articles. This month I also added a nice article by James Clifton Robinson, General Manager of the Los Angeles Cable Railway/Pacific Cable Railway. I also added contemporary newspaper articles about the Second Street and Temple Street cable lines. Next month I'm updating my article about the San Francisco cable cars that ran around the parking lots at Knott's Berry Farm.

Regards,
Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-Apr-2009)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 30-Sep-2008)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-Oct-2008)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/index.html
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated erratically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com

MORE UPDATES ON HOSRE DRAWN STREET CARS!

Here's a little more information, all from the Los Angeles Times archive, which includes the inevitable new questions that seem to accompany new answers.

The June 9, 1896 edition confirms Joe Thompson's mention of the West 9th St line, "Electric cars are now running regularly on the Ninth-street line. The work of tearing up the old horse-car track and replacing it with a heavy modern track of big ties and heavy rails has been pushed to its completion." And so on.

The May 5, 1897 edition seems to be pushing the Agricultural Park horsecar line's finale from April into at least May, 1897, "By the end of May, the Main-street car line will be entirely changed to an electric system. At present, the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railway Company's new electric cars are running as far as the corner of Grand Avenue and Jefferson Street. From that point, passengers are carried to the end of the line, at the entrance to Agricultural Park, by the clumsy little horse cars." It goes on to cite late delivery of rails as the reason for the delay, and the expectation that all would be completed "perhaps within fifteen days." I could not find the exact date on which it finally happened, but the article goes on to mention that this will be the last horsecar line in the city "except the old Mateo-street line which runs parallel with the Santa Fé tracks, beginning near the Santa Fe Depot."

A lengthy article about Agricultural Park on September 28, 1897 simply gives April 1, 1897 as the date on which the Main & AP electric line opened, so that may be a reason for the discrepancy about the date, not asterisking the trackage south of Jefferson and Main.

Looking for the Mateo Street horsecar line, I found a few Times references before and after April 1897.

June 14, 1896, "Reopening the Santa Fe-avenue Horse-car Line." "The new car service on the line of the Mateo street and Santa Fe avenue Street-car Company was inaugurated yesterday afternoon" and on, describing the 15-minute headway in each direction and 22-minute running time for the three-mile trip, and that "Fifteen unusually large and fine horses have been purchased, and good service is assured." It also says that "as soon as Mateo street has been opened [completed?] the line will be double tracked and electrized (sic)."

The following year, on June 5, 1897 is mentioned that the city Board of Public Works recommended that the petition "from the Mateo-street and Santa Fé avenue horse-car line" asking for an ordinance legalizing the "straightening of the track."

If anyone has maps and interest, the 6/14/1897 piece gives this line's route as being from the Santa Fe depot south to Le Grande street, then east to Santa Fe avenue, then south to the city limits. That is a head scratcher, since the Santa Fe La Grande depot was on Santa Fe Avenue, but who knows what the streets did at that time, or what became of Le Grande Street. It also states that the line passed "the Southern California's roundhouse [?], the Los Angeles Rolling Mills, the Crystal Salt Works, the Ninth-street Oil Refinery, the Stimson lumber yards, the Union Oil Company, the Producers' Oil Company, and the city crematory."

There is information about the Mateo street line in http://www.erha.org/railwayhis.htm which mentions in one place that its motive power was horses, and then says that the Los Angeles Railway acquired it in April,1901. It doesn't say whether it was horse-car, cable, or electric at that time, but a May 16, 1901 Times item talks about residents on Mateo between Le Grande Street and Palmetto wanting LARy to clean the street up, as the company tore it up and scattered dirt all over the street when they "electrized" the line. Did it remain horse-powered until 1901?

See, we're right back to the question we started with.

--
Paul Jackson

Staggeringly Inaccurate Los Angeles Times Headline - And The Story Isn't That Much Better!

There has been a battle for up in the Owen's Valley Inyo County over - what else? - water rights.

But instead of the local residents fighting the City of Los Angeles for taking their water - they are battling a power company that wants to pump more water out of the aquifer which would lower water levels throughout the area, damage local rural resident's wells, possibly drain a lake owned by a hunting club and likely damage the entire rural environment. So the local water committee supported the rural residents and the hunting club and recommended that Inyo County reject the plan.

And that is what the story very clearly says. But what does the headline say?

Well....

Inyo County weighs rural residents' water needs against hunters' interests

The Planning Commission is expected to vote next week on whether to back a geothermal plant's request to pump water from an aquifer that also supplies a hunting club's scenic lake.

By Louis Sahagun

March 7, 2009

The Inyo County Planning Commission is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to recommend approval of a permit that would allow a geothermal plant to pump water from an aquifer that is the lifeblood of a 50-year-old hunting club, Little Lake Ranch, and its wetlands along U.S. 395.

Coso Operating Co. said it needs an additional 4,800 acre-feet of water a year to keep operating what it calls environmentally friendly steam-driven turbines already providing about 250,000 homes in the region about 200 miles north of Los Angeles with electricity.

Attorneys for the club of mostly Southern California hunters have argued that the pumping would irreversibly damage their scenic lake, local wells and the surrounding environment within a few years. The Inyo County Water Commission agreed and recently recommended that the county reject the proposal.

Yes, the water is being taken FROM the rural residents - as well as from the hunters. It is not the hunters versus the needs of the rural residents.

And then there is the error at the end of the 2nd paragraph - the claim that the plant services the 250,000 homes in the area. Well, between Inyo and Mono County combined - they don't even have 20,000 households - much less 250,000. The power is all sold to Southern California Edison and just added to the grid.

And not mentioned in the description of the 'environmentally-friendly' description of this project is the fact that this plant will ultimately destroy the existing aquifer - just as in just 20 years it already almost completely destroyed the aquifer it has been drawing water from. And the reason why this destruction of natural resources is being allowed?

Well - it's the state requirement that we generate 20% of our power from renewable resources - even though - in the long term - this type of energy generation is more damaging to the environment than coal.

Roberta Smith On The Heirarchy Of American Art

New York Times art critic Roberta Smith indulges in the guilty pleasures of 18th and 19th Century American naive painting - and then bemoans the lack of imagination of museums in displaying pre-20th Century American art.

And I agree with every word.

Jeremy Strick Deconstructs MOCA Disaster

CultureGrrl blogger, Lee Rosenbaum, has an exclusive interview with former MOCA Director, Jeremy Strick reachable by the above link.

The coda for this whole story is the time honored mantra - it seemed like a good idea at the time. The only real income MOCA had was donations for programming and if they cut back on programming, donations fell so they had to keep on programming.

But without major gifts, government funding or a large endowment, even in good times, they was never quite enough money to cover the bills and then when things got tough - things got very bad real quick.

Prop B Has Lost - But Times Still Has Hours Old Story On Website!

After earlier saying that Prop B was going to win, the Times' last update before everyone at the paper went to sleep was before the 'no' votes took the lead. And the article doesn't seem to understand that for an incumbent Mayor with not a single credible opponent -and unlimited funds - to only get 55% of the vote is a staggering upset.

Hopefully, this will be a wake up call to City Hall that the status quo has to change and the selling out of the city to campaign donors and special interest groups must stop.

PROP B - LOSES! With over 99% of the votes counted - Prop B appears to have lost!

The neighborhood councils of Los Angeles and the people of Los Angeles have defeated the lies and deceit and the money of the local power structure.

If You Live In The City Of Los Angeles - Vote NO On 'B' - TODAY!

The above link has the Los Angeles Times editorial against the phony solar energy measure that's on today LA City ballot along with other editorial and articles explaining that besides possible costing us an extra billion dollars - or more - that this is the worst possible way to get green energy.

The fact that this is also one of the most corrupt actions every taken by the City of Los Angeles is yet another reason to oppose this measure.

NO on B!

14 Pigs Spotted Flying In Sacramento!

Now that the state of California is tens of billions of dollar in debt - and the situation for the next two years looks even... worse.... the state Assembly has finally decided to investigate if - just possibly - there might be some fraud and waste in all the rapidly expanding entitlement programs. Now I have seen estimates that as much as 1/4 to even 1/2 of Medi-Cal expenditures are fraudulent - or unnecessary - but no one really knows.

But I do know that Medi-Cal pays for all drugs are being sold on street corners throughout this city by drug dealers and that vans drive into Skid Row ever day to pick up 'patients' for $5,000 or $10,000 work-ups and treatments.

I also know the local gyms are filled with weightlifters during the day who are collecting workman's comp since they are too injured to work and I also know many if not most of the local drug dealers live in government subsidized housing.

So if this is what can be learned just by walking down the street - do the math and figure out how much organized, sophisticate fraud there is going on in these programs. And it's not just the taxpayers who are paying for this fraud - it is also the people who rightfully deserve these benefits who are now seeing their benefits being cut.

Below are excerpts of George Skelton's LA Times column on the subject:

New Assembly panel goes on a quiet hunt for Capitol waste
If it works, it could mean the budget deficit had one positive aspect.
George Skelton
Capitol Journal

March 2, 2009

From Sacramento — In a small hideaway hearing room at California's Capitol, something unique happened last week. A new legislative committee convened with the single goal of making state government more efficient and less costly.

The event drew no attention. There were more committee members (14) than people in the audience. No reporters.

But, unlike most low-profile committees, members here didn't duck out soon after a quorum was counted. They hung around attentively, participating for the entire two-hour hearing. They seemed to be curious about whether this committee concept might actually work.

Creation of the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee -- an eye-glazing name, unfortunately -- is at least one positive result of the state's deficit debacle.

Democrats now are acknowledging that waste -- if not its fabled cousins fraud and abuse -- exists throughout state government. And they intend to work hard at rooting it out. That's what they say.

It's the least Californians should expect after being told to dig deeper for $12.5 billion in higher taxes to help rescue the state from a $42-billion budget deficit. It's less about the dollar amount of any savings than about a sincere effort to eradicate government waste.

The committee chairman, Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), describes government as "an onion," with politicians "layering on programs and pet projects layer after layer."

"Nobody ever doubles back and checks to see how the money is being spent and whether it can be spent better. This committee will be about looking back."

And why don't lawmakers reexamine their products?

"Term limits," replies De La Torre, who plans to run for state insurance commissioner when he's termed out next year. "Nobody cares to look back when your time is up in only six years. It's not sexy. It's the grunt work of government.

"Most politicians prefer to check the boxes. Do an education bill. Check the box. Do a public safety bill. Check the box. Do a healthcare. . . ."

The committee was De La Torre's brainstorm. "I'm a cheap progressive," he asserts.

The assemblyman was looking for a new gig last year after being fired as Rules Committee chairman by then-Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). De La Torre had opposed Nuñez's proposal to provide "golden handshakes" for Assembly staffers who retired. The shakes were approved, and 55 aides grabbed them. Some were leaving anyway.

"I was cast out in the wilderness," De La Torre recalls. After Nuñez left, he proposed the anti-waste committee to new Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles). She endorsed it.

Republicans have been advocating such an effort for years. But they're perpetually the minority party.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland of Thousand Oaks, says she's "very hopeful this will turn into an opportunity to look at the fraud, the waste, the abuse."

"I don't know why we can't make that No. 1," she says, "rather than always cuts in programs for foster kids and seniors and pink slips to teachers."

What fraud? I asked. She cited the filing of charges last summer in Los Angeles County against 21 people accused of bilking more than $2 million from a state-funded in-home care program for the disabled and elderly. Some defendants have pleaded guilty; other cases are pending.

"If that's the tip of the iceberg," Strickland continues, "we have a lot of work to do."

In fact, the state Senate is looking hard at the $1.6-billion program, called In-Home Supportive Services.

"It's one of the fastest growing programs and gets accused of having fraud, waste and abuse," says Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). "I feel very strongly about its need. When people can get support inside their home, they don't end up as often in nursing homes that cost the taxpayers a whole lot more money."

But Steinberg adds that Democrats who advocate such social services have an obligation to make sure they're run efficiently and as intended. So he has created a new Office of Oversight and Outcomes to investigate their effectiveness.

The Senate's new "strike force," as Steinberg calls it, also expects this year to look at Medi-Cal, prisons and education.

Legislators have a special motivation to probe costly programs. Hardly anyone expects the recent deficit-reduction plan to hold up. They're anticipating that hard times will continue and tax revenue will keep slipping below projections. So they'll be forced to make more spending cuts.

During the maiden meeting of the Assembly committee, it learned about one striking example of inefficiency and incoordination. The Legislature over the years has ordered up more than 2,800 reports from state agencies that still haven't been delivered. Some are "in the mail." Some have been ignored. Some no longer make sense, if they ever did.

"This is a snapshot of state government at work and some of its inefficiencies," observed freshman Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills).

In truth, many report requests are sops to lawmakers whose bills have been killed and who, as a consolation, are allowed to order up a study.

The committee told the agencies to compile lists of useful and wasteful reports -- and report back for orders.

I suppose it's a start.

george.skelton @latimes.com

Los Angeles May Still Not Be The Most Corrupt City In The Country

With the underhanded way Measure B - the fraudulent 'solar power' ballot measure (which exists only to payback to union bosses for campaign contributions) - was put on Tuesday's ballot - it would seem with this multi-billion dollar give way of money from the pockets of Los Angeles citizens, it would seem that LA does deserve the title of the most corrupt city in the country. But with the way public officials have their hands out in New York and Chicago at every level of government, we may still be a few years from claiming the title.

As an example - look at the 'pay for play' game as it is played in the Bronx. And the only reason this was even noticed in New York - is that the person who got the pay - is about to run urban policy for this country:

Buildings sprang up as donations rained down on Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion

BY BENJAMIN LESSER AND GREG B. SMITH
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Updated Sunday, March 1st 2009, 1:35 PM

The man who is President Obama's newly minted urban czar pocketed thousands of dollars in campaign cash from city developers whose projects he approved or funded with taxpayers' money, a Daily News probe found.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion often received contributions just before or after he sponsored money for projects or approved important zoning changes, records show.

Most donations were organized and well-timed.

In one case, a developer became a Carrion fund-raiser two months before the borough president signed off on his project, raising more than $6,000 in campaign cash.

In another, eight Boricua College officials came up with $8,000 on the same day for Carrion three weeks before the school filed plans to build a new tower. Carrion ultimately approved the project and sponsored millions in taxpayer funds for it.

Carrion resigned as borough president effective Sunday and begins his new job as director of the White House Office on Urban Policy Monday.

Much more at the above link.

Thirteen Things To Keep You Awake At Night

Even if you're not a science freak - these 13 mysteries... about how little we know about ourselves and the world we live in.... is pretty cool.

Can Jordan Downs - Or The Los Angeles Housing Authority - Be Saved?

First, the good news. One of the most crime ridden, dangerous, gang run housing projects may be demolished and replaced with a mixed income community - including the existing residents. This is a project that has long been asked by all of the Watts residents I know.

The bad news is that this will all be done by the Los Angeles Housing Authority - the single most corrupt, dishonest and incompetent of the local government agencies. And from my every dealing and encounter with anyone at this agency, I can verify that the corruption and incompetence in this agency has run from the very top to the very bottom.

It is also filled with people who are not there to serve the people of Los Angeles or the people who live in its housing - but only to push their own political agendas.

Supposedly, the revolving door of new leadership at the top has improved the situation - but some time ago I gave up dealing with the agency - after being unable to find even a single honest or competent person to deal with - so I can't personally speak for the present situation.

But merely changing the people who run the agency won't even begin to fix all the problems of that agency and - so far - I have not seen the slightest internal interest in even investigating much less fixing those problems.

So the only hope for the residents of Watts, is that the private developer is insulated as much as possible from any dealings with the housing agency's staff. Below is a brief description of the project - with the rest of the LAT story at the above link.

L.A. officials envision revitalization for Jordan Downs housing project in Watts
The city is making plans to replace the 700 rundown units with a $1-billion mixed-use development, in hopes that bringing businesses to the area will reduce the influence of gangs.
By Ari B. Bloomekatz and Jessica Garrison

February 28, 2009

Los Angeles officials are embarking on a $1-billion plan to tear down the notorious Jordan Downs housing project and turn it into a "new urban village" -- an effort aimed at transforming the Watts neighborhood that would be one of the city's largest public works projects.

The city wants to replace the project's 700 dilapidated units, which were built more than half a century ago, with taller "mixed-use" buildings that would house not just low-income residents but also those paying market rates. The new development could include as many as 2,100 units.

By creating a denser community that serves people of different incomes, officials hope to draw businesses to the complex, such as coffee houses, supermarkets and eateries. Officials believe this would help reduce the influence of gangs in an area that has long been the base of the Grape Street Crips and create better lives for Watts residents. Included in the price tag is a proposal to turn Jordan High School into what officials describe as a cutting-edge model campus.

"This will have a transformative impact not just on the Jordan Downs housing project but on the surrounding community as well," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "In order to make these communities thriving, you have to have a . . . retail component."

Already, L.A. officials have spent $31 million to purchase a 21-acre piece of land adjacent to the existing project on which they plan to expand. They have earmarked millions more for planning. The financing for the project would combine federal redevelopment money, state tax credits and private investments from retailers and developers of market-rate housing. Officials hope to get some money from President Obama's stimulus package and from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

City officials plan to hold their first meeting between the private planning firm they have hired, WRT-Solomon, and community members at Jordan Downs today.

What remains to be seen is whether Los Angeles and its housing authority, which until recently has been plagued by scandal and mismanagement, can carry out such a bold transformation, especially in such grim economic times. Past efforts to modernize Jordan Downs have ended badly, with housing officials fired or forced to resign amid allegations that they broke rules or embezzled funds.

City officials argue that they have turned the authority, the largest housing agency west of the Mississippi, around in recent years. And they argue that the bad economy actually helps their cause, because in tough times, private developers find government-funded projects a safer investment than the vagaries of the open market -- a point on which real estate experts agree.

Again, the rest of the story is at the above link.